Bit of an update. Let's see if the forum likes it...hmmmm....linking from outside oughta work liiiiiike...
Did it work? Why, yes it did, although the resolution still looks totally hammered. But that's my cheapo tablet cam doing what it does; I'd have gone out for batteries for the REAL camera, but...well, Covid-19 and all that...
THAT...is Gargantua, the largest (to date) Tangible Waves AE Modular factory build, on its stand that I cobbled up from various OnStage and Middle Atlantic bits, attached via a touch of Velcro and bespoke storm window clip-based lockdowns. And in the foreground, you can also see a Folktek Mescaline, rarebeasts Wicks Looper Acid, and my ancient but still stonkin' Mackie 1202, which handles submixing duties for the modular/patchables. And a can of DeOxit, of course. Must have DeOxit. Just behind the bottom cab, you can barely see a Tektronix PS282, which powers it and all of the other 9VDC devices (5A LINEAR supply, baybee!) in this area of the "modular sandbox" in the studio. Plenty of current left, too, as the entire AE only draws about 1.6A.
A 28 VCO rig has never been quite so TINY! But don't let the size fool you...this thing's got two Synthacon VCF replicas (two of eight VCFs, including the LPGs) in it that'll tear your head clean off in "wild" mode! Three 16-steppers, more trigger sequencing, THIRTY VCAs, dual springs, and on and on and on...and everything that you see that's empty now is already specced and ordered and will get filled when those modules are finally available.
So...uh, yeah. Some might note that I've been making a lot of noise about cost-effectiveness as of late. This is why. Hang on, because this next part's gonna HURT...BAD...
The answer to the inevitable question is "approximately $3900". Why, you could buy a whole 2/3rds of a Sound Easel for about that! Or populate an average 2 x 104hp Eurorack cab, but it won't pay for the cab you're populating.
Now...everyone building those Pr0nRacks, please note: this is as UNsexy as it gets! But the truth is that you don't, ever, never ever buy gear for its LOOKS, ultimately, when the real importance is instrumental capability. I did attempt an A-B comparison, pricewise, between this (Tangible Waves has its own "grid") and a Eurorack close-as replication while working this build out. The horrifying truth is that, no matter what I tried, the Eurorack variant would NEVER go below $19k, unless I severely crippled the module complement and made the Euro LESS capable than the AE. And yes, before you ask, that IS using Euro modules in the bargain-basement price range like Uli's. It was also HUGE; this thing's panel space is about 36" x 20"...think something like a 2 inch thick 12U Doepfer LMC cab flipped on its end...but in Euro, I kept running into sizes in the 5 or 6 tier range and the results came out to be really, REALLY unwieldy in my studio. But with this, I can unlink the top and bottom pairs, fold those pairs, and walk out of the studio with each half of Gargantua under each arm!
Soooo... how does it sound, you ask? Yeah, it's all that. When your rig is sporting what's basically six very extended versions in "primitives" of Buchla 258s in it, how else would it sound? The filters are beefy, sometimes really aggressive even. Everything else is nice and smooth...no weirdnesses that you wouldn't expect. Buyers remorse = exactly ZERO.