Ooh, I like This Modular Rack...

[whyterabbyt]

Im having a think about a row or two of various bits and pieces that may or may not include another Turing Machine, and might include stuff in the same or related territory, ie clock division, shift registers, source of uncertainty, possibly with a few slew processors thrown in. Mostly Doepfer and DIY for cost.
In that area of things, I was wondering if anyone could suggest cheap-and-cheerful alts for these, all are discontinued...

Doepfer A-163 voltage controlled frequency divider (https://doepfer.de/a163.htm)
Doepfer A-167 Analog Comparator / Subtractor / Offset Generator (https://doepfer.de/A167.htm)
Doepfer A-172 Maximum / Minimum Selector / Rectifier (https://doepfer.de/A172.htm)

[SHall1000]

It has CV and Gate out so the quirky keyboard and sequencer might be fun to use with a modular rack.

Its also got clock in/out... There's a config change that I found that supposedly works very well in helping it track 'eurorack' clock much better, particularly at lower tempos.

Any thoughts on how to best integrate the Microfreak into a modular setup?

Without CV in, its mostly as either self-contained 'block' or as a controller, as-is.

Disting has a CV->MIDI-note algorithm so I might look into that in future, and whether it makes sense to build a MIDI panel for it... or try the one in the O&C hemispheres, which behaves as a class-compliant USB device (ie not on the panel)
The Sweet 16 does CV->MIDI CC, so potential for modulation...

Thanks. With no CV in it looks limited. CV to midi sounds like it could be a faff.

[justin3am]

In that area of things, I was wondering if anyone could suggest cheap-and-cheerful alts for these, all are discontinued...

Doepfer A-163 voltage controlled frequency divider (https://doepfer.de/a163.htm)
Doepfer A-167 Analog Comparator / Subtractor / Offset Generator (https://doepfer.de/A167.htm)
Doepfer A-172 Maximum / Minimum Selector / Rectifier (https://doepfer.de/A172.htm)

For the VC Divider, you could use a slope with an EOR or EOC output but there is this one from SSSR Labs: https://www.sssrlabs.com/store/vc_divider/
Of course I'd recommend an R*S NCOM for the comparator and VC divider but there is also Circuit Abbey's Trip Fire and Ladik has the J-120 for standalone comparator duty.
Mutable's Kinks was really nice for analog logic, since it was small and not too expensive but it's probably difficult to come by now. Maybe Elby has an version of the CGS Peak and Trough.

[whyterabbyt]

In that area of things, I was wondering if anyone could suggest cheap-and-cheerful alts for these, all are discontinued...

Doepfer A-163 voltage controlled frequency divider (https://doepfer.de/a163.htm)
Doepfer A-167 Analog Comparator / Subtractor / Offset Generator (https://doepfer.de/A167.htm)
Doepfer A-172 Maximum / Minimum Selector / Rectifier (https://doepfer.de/A172.htm)

For the VC Divider, you could use a slope with an EOR or EOC output but there is this one from SSSR Labs: https://www.sssrlabs.com/store/vc_divider/
Of course I'd recommend an R*S NCOM for the comparator and VC divider but there is also Circuit Abbey's Trip Fire and Ladik has the J-120 for standalone comparator duty.
Mutable's Kinks was really nice for analog logic, since it was small and not too expensive but it's probably difficult to come by now. Maybe Elby has an version of the CGS Peak and Trough.

Cheers!

[Shabdahbriah]

In that area of things, I was wondering if anyone could suggest cheap-and-cheerful alts for these, all are discontinued...

Doepfer A-163 voltage controlled frequency divider (https://doepfer.de/a163.htm)
Doepfer A-167 Analog Comparator / Subtractor / Offset Generator (https://doepfer.de/A167.htm)
Doepfer A-172 Maximum / Minimum Selector / Rectifier (https://doepfer.de/A172.htm)

For the VC Divider, you could use a slope with an EOR or EOC output but there is this one from SSSR Labs:

+1 ... for the excellent kit:

https://www.sssrlabs.com/store/vc_divider_kit/

[SHall1000]

Im having a think about a row or two of various bits and pieces that may or may not include another Turing Machine, and might include stuff in the same or related territory, ie clock division, shift registers, source of uncertainty, possibly with a few slew processors thrown in. Mostly Doepfer and DIY for cost.
In that area of things, I was wondering if anyone could suggest cheap-and-cheerful alts for these, all are discontinued...

Doepfer A-163 voltage controlled frequency divider (https://doepfer.de/a163.htm)
Doepfer A-167 Analog Comparator / Subtractor / Offset Generator (https://doepfer.de/A167.htm)
Doepfer A-172 Maximum / Minimum Selector / Rectifier (https://doepfer.de/A172.htm)

Being a newbie, I am not sure how one would use those but I have been looking at the Klavis Two Bits logic unit.

https://www.klavis.com/all-products/two-bits

Is this in the same ballpark of uses?

[whyterabbyt]

Im having a think about a row or two of various bits and pieces that may or may not include another Turing Machine, and might include stuff in the same or related territory, ie clock division, shift registers, source of uncertainty, possibly with a few slew processors thrown in. Mostly Doepfer and DIY for cost.
In that area of things, I was wondering if anyone could suggest cheap-and-cheerful alts for these, all are discontinued...

Doepfer A-163 voltage controlled frequency divider (https://doepfer.de/a163.htm)
Doepfer A-167 Analog Comparator / Subtractor / Offset Generator (https://doepfer.de/A167.htm)
Doepfer A-172 Maximum / Minimum Selector / Rectifier (https://doepfer.de/A172.htm)

Being a newbie, I am not sure how one would use these but I have been looking at the Klavis Two Bits logic unit.

https://www.klavis.com/all-products/two-bits

Is this in the same ballpark of uses?

There is some of that, yeah, but its heavier on the logic gate side of things, and there Im already well covered as I have a pair of Tesseract VC Logics.

Looking about a bit, I think its possible the Frequency Central High Tower might be in the right territory for the clock/frequency division side of things. And that Ladik JS-120 seems a good start for a comparator, plus they have a min/max and other stuff in that territory. (Well, or so I think; boy do they have a vast range of modules! Makes Doepfer's range look tiny.)

But any thoughts are good. There's no plan here, just a vague notion of what could be used to build some interesting generative stuff...

[WatchTheGuitar]

For funky clock division stuff maybe the Make Noise Tempi would be worth a look though it’s probably not something I’d describe as cheap-and-cheerful.

[justin3am]

For funky clock division stuff maybe the Make Noise Tempi would be worth a look though it’s probably not something I’d describe as cheap-and-cheerful.

Frequency dividers are usually a little different than clock dividers. Some operate like a bucket that needs to fill up with a specific number pulses before spitting one out. Other frequency dividers act more like a timer in that you don't get an output pulse until an amount of time has passed since the previous one, no matter how many pulses are sent to the input in between.

The Serge DTG and NCOM are classic examples but there are others, SOMA's Ornament-8 works like the timer example.

Since these are usually pretty simple analog circuits, they can often be clocked at audio rates, so you can use them like an octave down/divide down effect.

[justin3am]

Sorry, that comes across as way more pedantic than intended. I was just trying to point out the difference between Doepfer's Frequency Divider and Tempi, not trying to say you are wrong.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Ah ok I hadn’t realised there was a difference, thought they were interchangeable terms, good to know.

[whyterabbyt]

Sorry, that comes across as way more pedantic than intended. I was just trying to point out the difference between Doepfer's Frequency Divider and Tempi, not trying to say you are wrong.

I think its as much my fault as anything because Im more or less lumping frequency division and clock division together as a thing Im thinking about. The Doepfer I mentioned is definitely a frequency divider, but clock division is fair game for the utterly vague and nebulaic aim Im thinking about.

[justin3am]

If it's useful, I might also mention that modules like Tempi and I think Pamela's New Workout are clock multipliers which also do divisions. The distinction is that a multiplier acts like tap-tempo. It receives a few pulses, then does a calculation to determine how to evenly fit 4, 8, n pulses in between the next two incoming pulses. Since it's doing this calculation constantly, it doesn't handle changes in the incoming pulse rate very well. So ideally, you would feed Tempi a clock with a constant rate (or use it's internal clock) and if you want modulated clock rates, you would do that down stream. The benefit however is that you can get clock rates out, which are faster than the original clock. That's very useful if you are working with a 4ppq clock.

A pure clock divider just counts the incoming pulses and waits to output a pulse until a certain number of pulses have been received. Doepfer's A-160-1 is an example, also 4MS' Rotating Clock divider. These will handle fluctuating clock rates better (or I should say with more predictable results) than a multiplier. Since they don't care about the rate of the incoming pulses, these kinds of clock dividers can be used as gate skippers. For example, if I have a stream of pulses triggering a hi-hat, I can feed those triggers to a clock divider to trigger another sound or a sample and hold or something to only occur once for every 4, 8, n of those hi hat triggers. Then you get into mathematical divisions vs. musical divisions... This graphic illustrates the difference:

583_clock_divider_types_4.jpg

Most of the time I want musical divisions but sometimes if I want things to be less correlated, mathematical divisions is a better option. There are a few clock dividers which let you choose, like the RCD. The A-160-1 does mathematical divisions if I recall correctly.

I was really confused about all this stuff when I first started getting into sequencing in modular. I was trying to use an A-160-1 to clock a sequential switch but while it was doing something cool, it wasn't doing what I expected and that was because it was working based on mathematical divisions, so the switch was getting triggered on the last step of a 4 step sequence, instead of on the first step. It baffled me at the time!

[Shabdahbriah]

[...] The A-160-1 does mathematical divisions if I recall correctly.

Yes, it does.

The 4ms Quad Clock Distributor

Four CV-controlled Clock Divider/Multipliers

• Tap tempo button and five sync'ed clock outputs make the QCD perfect for head-of-the-chain "Master" clock module

• Tap clock output runs at the tapped tempo (even if other channels are being clocked externally)

• Create complex rhythmic patterns by patching multiple channels into each other's Div/Mult CV and Reset

• Each of the four channels has an independent clock IN, OUT, Reset and Div/Mult CV

• Divide or Multiply incoming clock from /32 to x16 on each channel:

• Detented knob to snap to integer division/multiples
  CV jack to modulate Div/Mult amount

• Reset jack (per channel) restarts the clock when a trigger is received (alters phase of clock)

• Clock input jacks are normalized downwards: Tap->Red->Black->Blue->Green

• Clock outputs stop automatically when incoming clock stops

• LEDs blink to output clocks' tempos

• 5V clock output pulses, fully buffered. Default is square-wave, and PW is controllable with expander

• Daisy chain multiple QCDs or other clock modules using Tap Out jack

• Header on the PCB to connect to Quad Pingable LFO (QPLFO) to provide four CV Skew-able, CV Div/Mult-able envelopes

• Interfaces with QCD Expander for more features (Pulse Width, Inverted Gate, attenuverters for CV inputs)

Kit:

https://4mscompany.com/p.php?p=824&c=11

[elxsound]

Not sure if this fits anything for clock/frequency division (as they list it in the description), but saw this as a new module on modulargrid:

Four Channel Voltage Controlled Switch Matrix

The Voltage Controlled Switch Matrix is a four channel voltage controlled switch that can switch a single input between two outputs or a single output between two inputs. With creative patching, the module can be used for square wave generation, pulse width modulation, wave shaping, clock/frequency division, step sequencing, inverting schmitt triggers, and much more. Internal normalizations along with the built in clock divider quickly provides rhythmic signal routing from a single gate input.

Precision resistors (0.1% tolerance) used in the signal path allow this module to be used with quantized pitch sequences with no impacts on tuning

https://www.shkrjn.com/modules/p/vcsm