Ooh, I like This Modular Rack...

[Stefken]

Anyone using Ornaments and Crime?

People seem to like the experience more than Disting (i guess mainly comparing with the Disting mk4 which doesn t have a screen ).

It is pretty much CV only stuff, but no audio manipulation.

[ghettosynth]

Anyone using Ornaments and Crime?

People seem to like the experience more than Disting (i guess mainly comparing with the Disting mk4 which doesn t have a screen ).

It is pretty much CV only stuff, but no audio manipulation.

I have one, it has not been used yet because I just got it and my modular is incapacitated as I build the new rack. However, I think that it is a better day-in day-out CV manipulation tool than Disting. For me, I got Disting EX for the double audio algorithms with the other stuff being there for when I really needed it, or, for when I wanted to explore whether some idea that it supported warranted buying a standalone module.

My O&C has the standard OS at the moment, but after a breif discussion with foosnark, I will be putting Hemispheres on mine.

[imrae]

My uO_C (with original firmware) gets more use than my Disting Mk4. Mostly I use the quad quantizer (which is also a sequence generator) and dual sequencer modes, but the others have their uses. It lives next to Pam's New Workout and is usually clocked from it.

The Disting is growing on me as a sampler, actually. I had a good jam the other day using the Mono Audio Recorder and Audio Playback w/ Crossfade modes to capture some noisy textures and pitch them around.

[foosnark]

Anyone see any problems with organizing the rack this way?

• Row 1: VCOs

• Row 2: Filters & Envelopes

• Row 3: Utilities?

• Row 4: Fx

I've gone through many different methods of organization, including a similar scheme to that one for a pretty long while. They all have their compromises.

Some modules have specific placement needs (controllers at the bottom, expanders or i2c-linked modules next to their bosses, not cramming small modules together too tightly, etc.)

And of course how well you can stick to a plan depends on HP and how it's divided between modules -- if you have 86HP of VCOs in an 84HP case, it's not going to be perfect. And of course some modules fit multiple categories or defy categorization.

Any exceptions to a panel placement plan can impose more of a cognitive load. Mostly a small factor but it can matter sometimes. Probably a bigger factor with bigger cases.

My current arrangement is mostly by brand and panel color -- it seems like a pretty superficial choice but it's worked out fairly well. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if I decide to organize completely differently in the future if I change enough modules.

[elxsound]

Anyone see any problems with organizing the rack this way?

• Row 1: VCOs

• Row 2: Filters & Envelopes

• Row 3: Utilities?

• Row 4: Fx

I've gone through many different methods of organization, including a similar scheme to that one for a pretty long while. They all have their compromises.

Some modules have specific placement needs (controllers at the bottom, expanders or i2c-linked modules next to their bosses, not cramming small modules together too tightly, etc.)

And of course how well you can stick to a plan depends on HP and how it's divided between modules -- if you have 86HP of VCOs in an 84HP case, it's not going to be perfect. And of course some modules fit multiple categories or defy categorization.

Any exceptions to a panel placement plan can impose more of a cognitive load. Mostly a small factor but it can matter sometimes. Probably a bigger factor with bigger cases.

My current arrangement is mostly by brand and panel color -- it seems like a pretty superficial choice but it's worked out fairly well. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if I decide to organize completely differently in the future if I change enough modules.

If it works, it works!

I’m hoping for the least amount of rack placement changes, but I see from others that change will be inevitable at different points in time.

The Rackbrutes are 104hp, so it’s a pretty big step forward for me. This does give me large empty spaces which is scary for my wallet but the priority is finding good prices on discontinued modules.

I’m reworking my mockup now trying to envision my most tweakable modules to avoid what justin3am added with cable build up. Plus I’m basically swapping rows 2 and 3 for the chance that I’ll use each rack side-by-side.

For compromises, I still need to double check the depth, but per Modulargrid, 55mm is the deepest, and supposedly clearance is 73mm.

I couldn’t get Arturia support to confirm the depth where the power supply is, but the first RackBrute is hopefully coming tomorrow. Then I’ll get to see in person how this all works out.

[ghettosynth]

Sequencers is where it gets really overwhelming for someone who is just starting out.
I am looking at the pages on Perfect Circuit...EXPENSIVE! or OUT OF STOCK
Already mentioned I wanted to copy Mylar melodies and get a Turing machine, but of course I will need a more traditional type of sequencer. God knows - this is why I don't even want to start!

This was recently posted and just came across my feed. It's a pretty good high level discussion of some popular sequencers. On my radar now is QuBit Bloom.

[ghettosynth]

I’m hoping for the least amount of rack placement changes, but I see from others that change will be inevitable at different points in time.

This was a key motivator for my choices. I have very bad memories of my studio back in the day when everything was rack mounted and it was so painful to move things around. Weirdly, that experience is exactly what drives my current approach except that it's an improvement over the alternative.

I organize my modules in terms of functional panels or panel pairs. When they're pairs, I just intend for them to be one top of one another in the rack. This is partly inspired by how serge sells (used to sell?) their systems. Each panel is not set in stone, like a serge, of course, I can move modules around or between panels; however, the panel itself is intended to be more flexibly moved within the system, or removed, temporarily or permanently, to go in a different, e.g., portable system.

Each 84hp panel is then easy to construct, easy to add or move, and easy to remove. I can still move individual modules, but that is less likely to happen and I will still probably remove the racks that contain the modules first.

I find that I prefer small clusters of cables more localized with some to many longer cables as necessary. Obviously, I still have long cables and some modules are bottlenecks, but there's no way around that.

The other advantage of this approach is that my modular is very hybrid with some full rack mount things that aren't really modular but that fit well as well as giving me the ability to DIY in full width panels without having to restrict my power to Eurorack standards.

So, for example, rather than trying to adapt my diy Frac modules to Eurorack, I am just going to put one or two frack panels in my modular. This way I can keep the best parts of my Frac system without doing a bunch of work.

[Stefken]

supposedly clearance is 73mm.

I believe the depth is 80 mm in the rackbrutes and 73mm available depth were the ‘power couplings’ are (top row in the 6U).

[elxsound]

supposedly clearance is 73mm.

I believe the depth is 80 mm in the rackbrutes and 73mm available depth were the ‘power couplings’ are (top row in the 6U).

That’s what I’m assuming based on the depth of the power module, but I found it weird their support couldn’t answer that.

Doesn’t really matter though… I have nothing greater than 55mm and again, I’ll double check tomorrow *if it arrives.

The support was completely useless and gave weird responses. Maybe they’ve been replaced by ChatGPT. I mentioned it would be great if they provided their own accessory for powering 2 racks with one power supply, and they sent me a link to a power supply faq.

[ghettosynth]

supposedly clearance is 73mm.

I believe the depth is 80 mm in the rackbrutes and 73mm available depth were the ‘power couplings’ are (top row in the 6U).

That’s what I’m assuming based on the depth of the power module, but I found it weird their support couldn’t answer that.

Doesn’t really matter though… I have nothing greater than 55mm and again, I’ll double check tomorrow *if it arrives.

The support was completely useless and gave weird responses. Maybe they’ve been replaced by ChatGPT. I mentioned it would be great if they provided their own accessory for powering 2 racks with one power supply, and they sent me a link to a power supply faq.

They must outsource that to the lowest bidder. Seriously though, would you want the job? This is the kind of thing that used to be in manuals.

[whyterabbyt]

Anyone see any problems with organizing the rack this way?

• Row 1: VCOs

• Row 2: Filters & Envelopes

• Row 3: Utilities?

• Row 4: Fx

Nope, I have mine 'mostly' cased by category.

But you may want to sprinkle mixers round there a bit rather than under Utilities, depending on any aversions to longer cables.

[ghettosynth]

So back to simple CV/Gate sequencers. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add a second one, and, which one. Obviously I could just add a second 960, nice and cheap, but, there are these as well:

B.ARP Seqeuncer



This has the gate outputs on a header and so would allow for an easy DIY gate bus addition. If you've never used this kind of feature it's on the ARP 1601 sequencer and I really like it for performance. Each gate input is switched to one of several busses. I have a DIY sequencer from years ago where I had two busses with alt for each and center off. It's really nothing but an OR of the gate outputs, but I find it useful.

Nothing is stopping me from doing this with jacked gate inputs, of course, but that will cost more and add to more rack clutter.

TipTop.Buchla Sequencer



I like 4*5, it's different. I like the TipTop/Buchla 200 series stuff, but it's more expensive and I'm not sure if there's enough extra value here to drive the higher price. I might just be feeling that blue-knob on silver panel GAS. No easy gate bus for this one.

Doepfer A-155



This is probably the closest thing to my DIY project from days gone by. Trigger busses and glide built in. It can be expanded with the Doepfer expander. The thing is, now we're getting up there in cash and I find it harder to justify the expense for a simple sequencer.

After browsing through perfect circuit, I'm not seeing anything else that is cut from the same old-school cloth. That's probably reasonable as people want modern ideas.

I'm leaning towards the ARP for now unless someone can point me towards something brilliant about the TipTop-Buchla that I'm missing. Any other suggestions?

[elxsound]

Anyone see any problems with organizing the rack this way?

• Row 1: VCOs

• Row 2: Filters & Envelopes

• Row 3: Utilities?

• Row 4: Fx

Nope, I have mine 'mostly' cased by category.

But you may want to sprinkle mixers round there a bit rather than under Utilities, depending on any aversions to longer cables.

Good call… I have more voices than I used to after getting XPO, so a mixer would be smart.

No aversion to longer cables since they’re essential in my current setup, but without a mixer, I won’t really be able to use all of it if I wanted to.

[imrae]

I try to sprinkle utilities around the whole system so you don't have to patch too far away to quickly invert or scale a signal.

[Shabdahbriah]

Anyone see any problems with organizing the rack this way?

• Row 1: VCOs

• Row 2: Filters & Envelopes

• Row 3: Utilities?

• Row 4: Fx

Nope, I have mine 'mostly' cased by category.

But you may want to sprinkle mixers round there a bit rather than under Utilities, depending on any aversions to longer cables.

+1 ... and perhaps some 'mults', unless you don't have an aversion to spending stupid money on 'stack-able' cables.

Stating the obvious, but how one addresses mixing, routing/re-routing, and muting/attenuating (at any/every point in the equation) gives you options/potentialities, that will pay dividends regardless of the how the size of your rig varies over time. At the very least, it has saved me a lot of re-configuring, and jack wear and tear. I use several of each of these, peppered throughout:

8x8 buffered matrix.jpg

switch-4.jpg

mix-mult.jpeg

Wish I had scored six more of these:

Synthwerks SP-1P.png

... and three more of these, when they were $25 each :

Synthwerks MG-1.png