Hi. I am building a rack for external synths recording with PC. But I also want use it for creative music making with only an extra ipad and Blackbox while on the road. I already have several modules and some still on my wish list.

ModularGrid Rack

Left side: mainly ins and outs
Befaco in = from BlackBox - 6 output > to ES-9 for live Jam. Or from different external Synths to Ableton.
Joranalogue in = external synth recording to Blackbox or to ES-9 for AUM or Ableton
ES-9 : AUM for live jam (all IOs mixed and Fabfilter plugins on the AUM channels) or Ableton for recoding
Midi on to ES-9 to CV control external synths
Still a few unused CV outs to send CV signals from Ableton or AUM.

Right = creative section

Any suggestions to further improve the creative section?
Any suggestion about the layout (position of the modules) to reduce patch cable lengths?
Can I free up more rack space? Which modules to remove and which ones to add instead?


I'm not going to have that much of a go at the b-company modules - it's a matter of (your) conscience and ethics if you buy them or not - but supporting small manufacturers (ie everyone but the b-company) - who are more likely to inovate - is definitely a better way to go imo & I'd replace all of those if it was me...

other modules that could be removed:

scales... midi to cv and pitch cv from Ableton etc should be quantized and Pams can be used as a quantizer (& random pitch source) amongst other things... so why scales?????

link... can you not just use 1/8" -> 1/4" cables???

magneto - it's very large in such a small system - there are many other delays out there...

btw the befaco instrument interface is great!

do you really need so many inputs???? not enough mixing capability to take advantage of them in such a small rack with so little processing???

which leads to not enough utilities to support the modules... (including mixing)

I'd suggest taking a look at my signature and spending some time thinking about it and how it relates bith to your rack and mission statement...

"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


Thank you for your feedback Jim. I appreciate you took the time to review and reply. I was replying to you last weeek but I think everything got lost because of an automatic logout from modular grid. I try again...
I agree with your b company. do not worry I already support small manufacturers a lot. Maths and Quad VCA... true. Plaits is a different story... Mutable Instruments stopped, right? Who will repair if I buy second hand?
All ins is because of the external synths that only have audio level. But when on the road I can indeed remove because I can connect Blackbox directly to Es-9 and move the befaco ins to a second rack for use in studio only.
ES-9 is my mixer for the outputs. But I will add a little mixer to generate complex signals.
Magneto indeed large, but I likecit a lot and keep it for now.
The 3.5 to 6.3 convertor attenuates to protect an external device. Indeed takes a lot of space. I need to find a cable with built in attenuator.
I keep Scales to generate scaled melodies from non scaled cv signals and from still to be developed own external devices.


OK

Plaits is a different story... Mutable Instruments stopped, right? Who will repair if I buy second hand?

there are plenty iof people who can repair mutable modules - all but beads are completely open source, both hardware and software... a lot of the other clone manufacturers - After Later Audio etc I suspect will repair their modules if they need it - b-company on the otherhand will probably just bin it and give you a new one - not very environmentally friendly!

"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