Building your first build in a small case always leads to these kind of headaches. I'm not singling you out. But if you look at a lot of submissions, you'll see that people often fall into this trap on their first builds with a small palette or "skiff" type build. You're building a battleship in a bathtub.

-- Ronin1973

Its difficult to allocate $8000 to build something larger when you have no idea what you want or what you're doing. Hindsight is always 20/20 and this perspective is something that can only be gained by personal experience. The palette is designed to be accessible and lots of people employ them successfully.
-- drfear

A Mantis case is around $335. A Palette is $299 to $400. No one is saying to drop $8000 on equipment. What I'm saying is that you bought too small of a case for your first build. There's no flexibility in a space that small. But people keep wanting to buy super small cases and then paint themselves into a corner on the first build.

There's nothing wrong with your selections. There's nothing wrong with the amount you're spending. But you're going to have a hell-of-a-time getting a reasonable amount of features into such a small case, learn more about modular, then tweak your case to work better for you. You have no room for expansion.

-- Ronin1973

I built my case by hand. If i need to expand in the future I can spend an afternoon in my garage and build another one. Its part of the reason why I didn't buy a palette. A small case is attractive to people because looking at a large case is daunting to new people. I spent over a year hmming and hawing about whether or not to do this because I really don't know what I want. I know what people say I should want. I then realized that I just have to try it and figure it out as I go. I'm appreciative to anyone who is willing to give me advice, but ultimately my mental capacity and space requirements are limited to 84HP at least for now.


Building your first build in a small case always leads to these kind of headaches. I'm not singling you out. But if you look at a lot of submissions, you'll see that people often fall into this trap on their first builds with a small palette or "skiff" type build. You're building a battleship in a bathtub.

-- Ronin1973

Its difficult to allocate $8000 to build something larger when you have no idea what you want or what you're doing. Hindsight is always 20/20 and this perspective is something that can only be gained by personal experience. The palette is designed to be accessible and lots of people employ them successfully.


I think I've come up with a better tile row configuration:
ModularGrid Rack
Lots of changes. First up, there's a 4-channel CV expander for the Temps Utile next to the...well, Temps Utile. The expander gives you four CV inputs to control the six channel sequencer which does...

"7 modes, selectable per channel:
- trigger sequencer/sequence editor
- clock division/multiplication
- LFSR
- random w/ threshold
- euclidian
- logic (AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, XNOR)
- burst
- DAC (channel #4 only): random, binary, "Turing", logistic, sequencer/arpeggiator"

...which is a helluva lot more than the Steppy! Kicked that shiznit right OPEN! Then I swapped the Duatt for the triple attenuverter by Transient...same architecture, but MORE. ADSR EG is still there, swapped out the Mosaic VCA with Intellijel's, and then the Mosaic stereo out.

The addition of the T_u really opens up the timing and sequencing capabilities. Implement this row plan, and the build's game gets upped significantly.
-- Lugia

Soooo... unfortunately I bought a lot of stuff last night (and already had orders for maths and a couple others). My owned list has updated because some of the stuff I had previously ordered was out of stock and I made some changes. Also, a few of the modules you mentioned I couldn't find at any of the sites I have been shopping at which means I'll need to import them.

Some additional info... I plan to use my Elektron Analog Four to fill in some gaps (CV sequencing, gate, clock) while I build this thing. I also have CV capabilities with my OP-Z.

Heres the current list. I wish there was a way to say what I owned vs whats in flux on MG.

Maths (I know its big but I already ordered it and I built my case so if I need to make a bigger one in the future so be it), Disting, Row Power, Dual Linear VCA, Forbidden Planet, Surface, Duatt, Line output. Everything outside the skiff is currently out of stock and I was unable to order it. Feel free to make comments on those as well. I appreciate the help.


What's driving pitch in your sequences? Steppy handles triggers but not pitch. Noise Engineering offers a 4 channel 16 step CV sequencer by the name of Mimetic Digitalis that plays nicely with Steppy, but you're out of room.

Also, consider adding a small DC-coupled mixer like a 2HP Mix (check to see if the depth is okay for your rack). Mixing CV signals together is important, like combining LFOs and ENVELOPES...
-- Ronin1973

I can use the 1U VCA and ditch the micro vca to make room for Digitalis? Also, I can make use of Disting. I am using disting as a quantizer until I can get scales (backordered). I can also get rid of the 1U ADSR in favour of Maths, I can then get a 1U mixer.


If this is in an Intellijel Palette, I would strongly suggest removing the buffered mult and dropping this in instead: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/intellijel-stereo-mixer-1u This connects to the Palette's 1/4" jacks like a typical stereo out, but it has a parallel stereo input with a level control so that you can use it as an extra FX return post-mix. Plus, in a small build like this, multiples of this sort are pretty much a waste. In this case, you've got a dual buffered mult, but there's not enough destinations for a single CV to cause voltage sag. Stick with stackcables or inline mults instead.
-- Lugia

Hey, thanks for the comment. This is a custom case so I don’t get any of the built in stuff from the palette. Any other advice would be nice though.


Own as of 12/11/2021

4MS Row Power
Plaits
Disting
Chance
Line Out 1U
Steppy
Scales