ModularGrid Rack

  • Behringer Brains (as synth voice)
  • Mutable Instruments Peak (LFO / ADSR)
  • Doepfer A-180-e
  • Z5000 (as multi FX)
  • TipTip Forbidden Planet (Filter)
  • Erica Pico DSP
  • kNob AGNI
  • Bastl Popcorn
  • Quad Quantizer
  • Quad VCA

Hey guys,
I want to build my first rack to accomplish DFAM & 0-coast. Something as a little synth for interesting bleeps & bloops for techno & basslines.
Brains is no-brainer for its price & versality.
Maths looks a bit complicated to me so i decided to pick up Peak instead.
- Curious about filter - is it nice or there are some better alternatives?
- Any interested but not wide & over-complex sequencers?
- I m planning to build it in Cre8audio Nifty Case so be able to sequence it alternatively with Ableton or AUM.

Would appreciate any advices / improvements / ideas.

My budget is around 1500 eur.


  • Behringer Brains (as synth voice)
  • Mutable Instruments Peak (LFO / ADSR)
  • Doepfer A-180-e

no need for a buffered mult - only 1 pitch destination - so passive is fine, better yet get some stackcables or headphone splitter type mults

  • Z5000 (as multi FX)
  • TipTip Forbidden Planet (Filter)
  • Erica Pico DSP
  • kNob AGNI
  • Bastl Popcorn
  • Quad Quantizer

why do you think you need a quad quantizer - you only have 1 thing that wants pitch? you mention recommendations for a sequencer below - how about one with a quantizer built in - a used metropolis for example would be a great starter sequencer...

  • Quad VCA

good - but get a veils whilst you can - 2hp smaller and better features imo!

Hey guys,
I want to build my first rack to accomplish

no you want to 'accompany' - accomplish is something quite different - please check with a dictionary... I don't usually pick on incorrect use of English, as your English is way better than whatever language you speak - but it's the second time I've seen the same mistake in 2 days and, well you know....

DFAM & 0-coast. Something as a little synth for interesting bleeps & bloops for techno & basslines.
Brains is no-brainer for its price & versality.

plaits is still available, buy that instead, it's 2hp smaller and you don't sell your soul to Uli...

Maths looks a bit complicated to me so i decided to pick up Peak instead.

I have both and I find Maths to be significantly easier than Peaks... as it's one function per knob, etc - Peaks I have to look up what each knob is doing in each mode - & if you include split mode and expert mode etc there are about 19 different knob combinations - have you managed to find a peaks - they've been discontinued for a quite a while!

  • Curious about filter - is it nice or there are some better alternatives?

no idea - there are always alternatives, it's very personal & the more the merrier - I have 8 or so actual filters in my rack (and a few external ones) - Plaits includes a filter so you could skip initially

  • Any interested but not wide & over-complex sequencers?
  • I m planning to build it in Cre8audio Nifty Case so be able to sequence it alternatively with Ableton or AUM.

don't get 2 multi fx modules & wait and get either the new xaoc one or an fx aid xl - should be available again soonish

get a tiptop mantis - more space, that you will need sooner rather than later/better power/manufacturer has good reputation/case has good reputation/seriously better bang for buck all round - and a used beatstep pro... don't worry about unused space in the case - but do at least make some cardboard blind panels & decorate them with doodles or stickers

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


Some observations here...

Cre8 case. Nuh-uh. Jim mentions the Mantis, and these days it pretty much is the goofproof workingman's synth cab. Lightweight, SOLID power, and expandable to a second Mantis via Tiptop's link brackets. And it's nowhere near this small, which is good because while you CAN make tiny modulars with 2-4 hp modules, these will be downright hellish to work with due to the dense panel space. For instance, you see that here with the Erica DSP and the 2 hp module to its right; unless you LIKE tweaking knobs with tweezers, don't do this.

Buffered mults are superfluous without multiple destinations that REQUIRE properly-scaled control voltages. You only have one module here that demands that, ergo no point in the buffered mult. Also, with builds this small, many of us recommend that you DON'T use mults of any sort in small-scale builds as you want as much functionality in the patchpanel, and mults eat this up.

+1 on the "why four channels of quantizing?" from Jim. Seriously, if there's only ONE oscillator, you only need ONE quantizer. And that even applies when you've got two oscillators, as you'll want one to detune a touch to get things HUGE.

Behringer Brains. No. When Uli makes something that hasn't existed in years/decades, that's...OK? I mean, he's still a total asshat, but he's being quasi-ethical with those (aside of handing Korg its own ass on a plate in the "2600 wars", which I thought was not only ethical given Korg's antics, but the only way for "normal people" to get the 3620 circuits) and the gear IS really useful. But when Uli goes at a small company, steals their circuits, steals their interface design, and tries to front that they cooked that up...oh, HELL no. And that, in a nutshell, is what he's done here. Actions like these are why you could make a mint by kidnapping him and setting him in a state fair-type dunking-booth at the next Superbooth..."C'mon folks and get a shot at an inhuman and totally unhousebroken corporate jackass! Only 3 balls for a dollar! Win yerself an actual Mutable Instruments Plaits! C'mon down, folks!" Pft.

OK...here's a shot at reworking the build...
ModularGrid Rack
This is in the same cab...1 x 84 hp. Again, I still think that you'd be better served by building this in a Mantis.

Left end has a Konstant Labs PWRchekr so you can have some visual feedback on your DC rails' performance. Then the sequencer is next, and I went with a Tenderfoot Lattice, which is sort of like a scaled-down Tiptop Z8000. I put an Erica PICO quantizer by that, and since you're not going to be frantically tweaking a quantizer, that placement should be fine. Then to substitute for Maths (saving panel space, y'know), there's a Befaco Rampage, which is their take on a complex Dual Slope Generator (see the Serge modules to check out the original). Then we're into the audio end with the Plaits, paired up with a Joranalogue FLD6 wavefolder. A pair of After Later VCAs, built on the same topology as the Mutable Veils VCAs, follows, and then a Happy Nerding MMM. The MMM is a dual state-variable, with LP/BP/HP outputs on both -12 dB filters...so if you feel the need to crack plaster with BASS, you can series the lowpass sections for -24 dB slopes. More VCAs follow, to control either a single or dual output from the MMM. To get things into stereo, I put in a Doepfer A-138s 4-in stereo mixer, and then the final bit is a Happy Nerding FX Aid XL for your stereo processing.

But like I and others have said/will say, don't build this in an 84 hp skiff. You WILL want to add onto it, and having to include a second skiff in that expansion's price will just make things (more) expensive, when you can drop $335 on a Mantis and be done with it.


You would be very wise to take everyones advice and get a Tip Top Mantis. You'll thank yourself as your module collection grows... BUT... Personally, I enjoy creating individual "instruments" from smaller cases, so I took a run at what I think would be a fun little 84hp inside the NiftyCase

ModularGrid Rack

PICO Seq is a surprising little sequencer. Pam's for all sorts of clocks and timed modulations. Plaits because authentic Mutable Instruments are the best (boo Uli). Forbidden Planet from your original build, but I like Lugia's MMM filter choice better. Maths because Maths isn't too complicated. Veils VCA as suggested above. Beads for granular and reverb. PICO DSP for another layer of FX. Mixup to finish everything off

To hit your 1500 Euro budget most modules can wait since you're planning to sequence (and presumably record / add effects) with Ableton. A great start would be: Plaits, Pam's and Maths, then add modules as you learn what you need


this user has left ModularGrid

or get an MDLR 14u case and not run out of space for essential utility modules :-)