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

[justin3am]

on the phone, the first one sounded a bit like a fart through a didgeridoo

That's about right. A particularly wet fart.
These recordings didn't go though any fancy outboard stuff, just output straight to Line Ins on my Focusrite A16R (which has tons of headroom, no attenuation needed). But I think the character of the synth is apparent.
Probably not everyone's idea of a "good sounding synth" but it sounds so raw and alive to me.

[vurt]

on the phone, the first one sounded a bit like a fart through a didgeridoo

That's about right. A particularly wet fart.
These recordings didn't go though any fancy outboard stuff, just output straight to Line Ins on my Focusrite A16R (which has tons of headroom, no attenuation needed). But I think the character of the synth is apparent.
Probably not everyoneone's idea of a "good sounding synth" but it sounds so raw and alive to me.

it's a cheap ass phone, has no bass below about 150, maybe even 200.
and no highs.
most things sound a bit farty
well anything with any weight to it anyway.

[Shabdahbriah]

most things sound a bit farty
well anything with any weight to it anyway.

[pro-tip] ... if it rolls or runs down your leg, and hits your ankle, and lands in your man slippers, and is smooshy... it's not a fart.

[vurt]

most things sound a bit farty
well anything with any weight to it anyway.

[pro-tip] ... if it rolls or runs down your leg, and hits your ankle, and lands in your man slippers, and is smooshy... it's not a fart.

i have more issues round the front than back when it comes to leakage

[elxsound]

I was trying not to ask, but I keep coming up with just the Make Noise and 4ms modules for out-boarding to an interface and headphone output.

I'm trying to find a module that at minimum, does stereo output at line level with an adjustable volume knob. The one I keep coming back to is the XOH.

Does anyone have a recommendation? It doesn't have to be the latest and greatest, but I'm just hoping it's something that works.

[vurt]

I recorded some bits with the Serge last night. Of course the first thing I did was ping the VCFQ and run that through the Wave Multipliers. I think that's obligatory. The real fun began when I started using the envelopes as oscillators. I'm not often surprised by a synth. Especially one that I have hyped myself on for so long...
https://soundcloud.com/justin3am/sets/dtg_sync

More than the sound, which is really special, so many things respond differently than I expect which allows me to have that beginner's discovery phase. That is something I'm constantly chasing.

I was pretty exhausted last night, so I didn't get to do much exploration. These patches are far from musical. Just thought I would share anyway because I'm excited.

yup, much more alive and squelchy on the monitors
some fabulous lows in the first!
i think the third is my fave of those, could hear various processing in my mind

[justin3am]

i think the third is my fave of those, could hear various processing in my mind

If you'd like, you are welcome to mess with the audio. If you click on the download link from soundcloud, you will get the uncompressed 24/48k .wave file.

[justin3am]

Does anyone have a recommendation? It doesn't have to be the latest and greatest, but I'm just hoping it's something that works.

I can recommend the 4ms Listen I/O for going to and from pedals but I don't use output modules very much. I tend to just use passive attenuators if I need to reduce the level going out. If I need to boost something before feeding into the modular... well, I have outboard stuff for that.

[vurt]

i think the third is my fave of those, could hear various processing in my mind

If you'd like, you are welcome to mess with the audio. If you click on the download link from soundcloud, you will get the uncompressed 24/48k .wave file.

although at the minute, im enjoying some native instruments "the giant", in morphagene, through mimeophone

[vurt]

Does anyone have a recommendation? It doesn't have to be the latest and greatest, but I'm just hoping it's something that works.

I can recommend the 4ms Listen I/O for going to and from pedals but I don't use output modules very much. I tend to just use passive attenuators if I need to reduce the level going out. If I need to boost something before feeding into the modular... well, I have outboard stuff for that.

at the minute, i use those doepfer things for getting pedals n stuff in/out.
the outs works as normal outs, and the ins as normal ins, not like it has to be the same thing going in and out
rosie gets used to pass stuff around inside or if i use headphones, its my only headphone socket over there <----

[pekbro]

I like to do the interpolating scanner thing with the xpan

[elxsound]

The Rosie sounds weirdly good for some reason imo, and the send is nice and cue useful. Maybe not the best output module available, still a very good and handy one.

yeah it has uses, just as an output alone, not awesome. cool for crossfading between the two inputs for example, but no stereo inputs.

depends on needs of course.

I picked up Rosie after finding it new on AnalogueHeaven. You can use it for stereo inputs... just patch the stereo signal to the returns and you can still mix that with your mono summed A/B signals using the return level and level knobs respectively.
I found a 6 year old make noise video and this was their response as the questions were the same about making the A/B stereo, which obviously you can’t change.

Rosie is my lil sis’ family nick name (and she’s still a baby compared to us aging brothers) so this will be cool for a similar reason. Not quite granddaughter cool but still cool.

For the Doepfer one, is it the Module A-138d?

I don’t need it yet, but I’ll keep in mind as I integrate the pedals more.

[elxsound]

I recorded some bits with the Serge last night. Of course the first thing I did was ping the VCFQ and run that through the Wave Multipliers. I think that's obligatory. The real fun began when I started using the envelopes as oscillators. I'm not often surprised by a synth. Especially one that I have hyped myself on for so long...
https://soundcloud.com/justin3am/sets/dtg_sync

More than the sound, which is really special, so many things respond differently than I expect which allows me to have that beginner's discovery phase. That is something I'm constantly chasing.

I was pretty exhausted last night, so I didn't get to do much exploration. These patches are far from musical. Just thought I would share anyway because I'm excited.

Yeah I hear the fart processed via didgeridoo on the first one too

“Beginners discovery phase” This truly is a good feeling

[pekbro]

In a small setup, multi-function modules are eminently useful. One of the fist modules I bought was the Subcon Voice Tail filter, it's 3 separate filters or a single and two pole, it's a mixer, it's a vca, it slices, it dices, it's super useful in other words.

And even in a fairly large system, it remains no less useful. Anyway, choose wisely young padawan.

[elxsound]

In a small setup, multi-function modules are eminently useful. One of the fist modules I bought was the Subcon Voice Tail filter, it's 3 separate filters or a single and two pole, it's a mixer, it's a vca, it slices, it dices, it's super useful in other words.

And even in a fairly large system, it remains no less useful. Anyway, choose wisely young padawan.

Sage advice. I’m gonna have go deeper down the rabbit hole... it’s too easy to get caught up because so many of these modules look amazing.

Im trying to keep focus with just supplementing the desktops 0-coast, Strega and soon 0-Ctrl because they can be converted into a bigger system down the road.

Then you have modules like Morphagene and Mimeophone (and yes I finally watched a dedicated video ) that can do way more than you’d think (plus they could potentially replace my MOOD/Blooper combo) and this is where that focus becomes a bit blurry.

So far I haven’t even gotten into VCA, VCOs, Encelopes, LFOs, or sequencers, because I want to hit that limitation first. Besides I think Whyterabbit might be right about the computer as a better sequencer. The closest I have to anything that flexible right now is just the 0-coast and Strega. They’re full of Make Noise bits with lots of surprises.

Yeah. I’d definitely be in bigger trouble if we had more space.