NB: I'm also actually a tad AFRAID of the RD-8, for one specific reason: there will eventually be a point in time where I'll get curious enough to run its kick through one of my UBMs, and an UBM can turn a 606 "blip" kick into Marvin the Martian's "Earth-shattering KABOOM!". If you hear something about part of downstate Illinois being reduced to a smoking hole of rubble, that'll probably be the result.
-- Lugia

Yeah I noticed that TipTop was bring Buchla stuff over to euro, which is really cool. I might check out those modules and see what I can fit in. I do really love the west coast sound. At the moment I do own Elektron's fm drum machine called model:cycles. It can do some great kicks and hats on its own, and if I sample it I can make them shine. All Behringer hate aside, that RD-8 is a great piece of gear. Hopefully you can keep your ear drums and Illinois safe. UBMs are no joke.


Hey Lugia! I've been lurking in these forums for a bit and have seen your tips and advice, and they've helped a lot.

You know, I have been eyeballing Soma's Pulsar23. It would be better to bite the bullet and save for that some day than to waste hp in this case with drum stuff. In the mean time I can load samples up on my sampler and use those. Message heard loud and clear on the nerdseq expanders, and mults removed. I am going to go with some stackables. You make a fair point about the Castle, I'd be better off placing it in some sort of smaller case like that if I find that I still want it later.

Do you think I should make this case strictly centered on the Brenso and sampling? I am thinking about adding Supercritical's Demon core for some more cool sounds and chords and leave the rest to modulators, attenuators, etc.


I don't know if it's a matter of too many voices per say, as much as it is a matter of too many hp taken up with voices. Here are a couple things to consider:
-- Do you need the Nerdseq expanders? This is still a fairly small system, and I find it a little unlikely that you'll need so many extra triggers and CV outs.
-- Shakespeare

You are right. I forgot to mention that I would pair this with the semi-failed rackbrute setup I have which has about 4 voices and other things needing modulation. However, even then it is probably overkill.

As much as I don't want to get rid of Taiko, it does take up too much space so I think I will replace it. Stages will probably be a lot better use of the hp than the Megaslope. For vcas I think I was going to use the tangle quartets as mixers/utility, and then the exponential vcas for audio. Not sure if that makes sense, but I may have gone overboard. I am taking suggestions to heart in a duplicated rack, even removing the Castle to see what can take its place.

Thank you for the advice!


Hello! This is the first time I've asked for advice on my rack. I had put together a 6u rackbrute that had too many oscillators without enough utility or modulation. I am hoping for this new case to be more of a success. I've already had it custom-made and there are two power supplies in the case that can handle what I have now. Side note: the person that made my case goes by "Case From Lake" on Reverb and Etsy. Highly recommend you check them out!

Anyways, here is what I got. Starting with a Frap Tools ecosystem for complex oscillator and modulation options for some analog. Supercritical's filter seemed like a good fit. I originally wanted a BIA as well as the Akemie's Taiko to make samples for Squid Salmple, but quickly realized I was running out of space for utilities. After that is a Quaid Megaslope that might be able to be replaced, but I picked it for simplicity's sake. Akemie's Castle is something I have wanted since I first saw it on here, so I would rather not remove it. However, I may have too many voices at this point. Maybe I have to replace it with the BIA and more utilities?

Nerdseq is the perfect sequencer for me, and the expanders should add plenty more modulation and triggers in theory. Pamela's seems to be handy in a lot of situations so I threw that in as well. Finally, some more utilities along with a Warps clone and 6 exponential vcas (maybe not enough). I am using ES-9 for a lot of reasons. A big one being some extra EQ and effects in Ableton for a final mixdown of anything I decide to record. The workflow of the case likely needs adjusting as well. I am not worried about price as I plan to chip away at it over time.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you for reading or viewing my post!

ModularGrid Rack