2021: A Year in Gear (What You've Bought or Want to Buy in 2021)

[whyterabbyt]

(*) Anyone have a clue what the spade connector and cable specs are that Doepfer use, cant find a reference to it anywhere?

Can't say I know. I think the Doepfer e-mail list is still active. I still see messages from time to time.

good point, thanks for reminding me of the list...

Also, anyone tried retrofitting proper keyed box headers onto a pre-v6 Doepfer busboard?

Like desoldering the existing headers and replacing them? Or just smooshing a shroud onto the existing header? Both approaches seem fraught. Might be easier to make your own bus boards out of veroboard. I would do basically anything to avoid desoldering that many headers.

Yeah, basically desoldering and replacing, didnt even think about just forcing a shroud on.

Though now Im wondering if I could 3D-print a shallow sorta-shroud that would be easier to fit, a single flat shape for each 'half' of the 2 sets of 11 sockets on a Doepfer busboard. Doesnt need to be proper shrouds, its more about the keying than the box, if you see what I mean.

Maybe laser cutting would be more accurate, maybe in 3-4mm acrylic.

[justin3am]

Yeah, the keyed headers make life a lot easier... as long as you know all of your cables were made correctly. I had to replace a few from older modules, that were keyed in the wrong direction.

My Infernal Noise Machine arrived on Friday.


I put it in a 4MS Pod64X with a NE Desmodus Versio and a pair of SPDT switches. Looks like I messed up the panel for the switches. meh

[redlester]

Since the turn of the year I've built my first two Eurorack modules; the Music Thing Modular Radio Music, and the Befaco STMix. I have to say I'm loving the process of putting them together and also the huge sense of achievement when they actually work. The Befaco had a fault on one input at first, which needless to say turned out to be down to my soldering on one leg of a resistor.

Last week saw the arrival of Mutable Instruments Beads, the successor to Clouds, which I was lucky to get hold of as the first batch predictably sold out almost immediately.

The biggest purchase though is the Eloquencer, which arrived yesterday but have not even had time to fire it up yet. There just aren't enough hours in the day...
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/winter-modular-eloquencer

[justin3am]

Congrats on your first SDIY!
If you want to share your experience, we have a DIY section here: DIY: Build it and they will come

[pekbro]

Here's mine with the DC-2 and whatnot. I f*kin love this module

[pekbro]

Also bought 1 of these so far, need to make a couple more cases as I am out of HP. Will
bump me up to 1036 when both are completed. I decided to go full linear power with
the 2 cases as one will probably be dedicated to video synthesis. It's from L-1 synthesizer btw.

L_1_Power_1.jpg

[vurt]

not jealous at all of the infernal noise machines

[justin3am]

So... maybe a weird question. Does it hum?
The Power-One supplies I use are very quiet, electrically speaking but they produce an audible hum when they are on. This means I have to mount them in ways that dampen sound or it drives me nuts. I'm thinking about moving to a different type of PSU but it's something that I'm wary of changing. I have had a lot of bad luck with power and I'm very happy with the current setup I have... except for the hum.

[pekbro]

So... maybe a weird question. Does it hum?
The Power-One supplies I use are very quiet, electrically speaking but they produce an audible hum when they are on. This means I have to mount them in ways that dampen sound or it drives me nuts. I'm thinking about moving to a different type of PSU but it's something that I'm wary of changing. I have had a lot of bad luck with power and I'm very happy with the current setup I have... except for the hum.

Yeah I dunno, haven't got it yet, but I will report back when I do. I only got one so I can check it out
and decide if I want another. It's not a ton of power, but I plan to keep the case all analog so it should be ok.

[pekbro]

@justin3am

Have you thought of trying to noise cancel the hum? Seems like it wouldn't be too hard since the hum should be pretty consistent.

I suppose it would be ridiculous to try to set that up. Anyway, good point to consider when building
cases, certainly with some thought you could go along way to reduce the psu noise.

[justin3am]

I'm not sure if it would be worth the effort. I don't have the PSUs near any microphones, so it doesn't come through any recordings. It's just annoying if I have them on, when the studio is quiet. For some reason fan noise doesn't bother me but that constant hum does.

[pdxindy]

I'm not sure if it would be worth the effort. I don't have the PSUs near any microphones, so it doesn't come through any recordings. It's just annoying if I have them on, when the studio is quiet. For some reason fan noise doesn't bother me but that constant hum does.

I cannot stand fan noise or hum... I'm fussy that way and my studio is super quiet.

[pekbro]

not jealous at all of the infernal noise machines

vurt, you would probably actually summon cthulhu into your room with something like that.

[cptgone]

not jealous at all of the infernal noise machines

vurt, you would probably actually summon cthulhu into your room with something like that.

[cptgone]

I bought some zip ties, to fasten my PurPLL and Hedra pedals to the tilted pedalboard they sit on, upright. Works like a charm, now I don't have to worry about them falling over (I had already applied velcro to the front panel of both pedals, but I was afraid that over time, they would come undone).