Thinking about a Serge rack

I've been thinking about a Serge rack and curious what people think about it. I have a very Euro-y rack I've been putting together recently with a ton of digital modules, but I'd also like to explore a more strict approach to synthesis, and there seem to be a lot of folks out there who just love Serge. I've taken a crack at it, and you can see it here:

There's a few non-Serge utility modules (do they not make any VCAs for Euro?), but it's 95% Serge. The biggest question I have right now is if the sequencer is really worth all that HP, so I'd love to hear thoughts on that and just Serge in Euro in general. Does it live up to the hype? Would it make more sense to just buy the old school Serge format racks like the Bestia? (I'd really love to chain my synths together though!)

Thanks in advance as always for any help!

A new contender has appeared: https://elby-designs.com/contents/en-us/d69_ES_-_Euro_Serge.html

Interesting wrinkle... anyone have experience with Elby?

Nothing new about Elby/Ken Stone. Ken's been a module designer for decades now, and has a history of adapting Serge circuitry for Eurorack purposes, as well as Elby's own "Euroserge" variants. Even other manufacturers use Ken's designs, such as Doepfer on their A-171-2.

FYI, if you expect to get Serge results out of 3.5mm jacked Eurorack, you're likely to be underwhelmed. Part of the Serge's appeal was the ability to branch signals off of a single patchpoint, because all points were banana jacks and therefore stackable. Typical Serge patches would sometimes output the same signal to several different destinations, which contributed to the "magic" of the format. As for interconnecting Serge with Eurorack, this is really simple, as Eurorack offers numerous banana-to-3.5mm adapter modules, plus there's standalone adapter boxes for this. But...VERY important...you have to establish a common groundplane between the Eurorack and "proper" Serge format gear, since the Serge relies on its own internal groundplane, and the patchpoints only connect "hot" input and outputs over a single conductor. It's easy enough...but necessary, as the two formats don't play nice with each other UNLESS they have a common ground.

Lots of helpful info there @Lugia, thanks for sharing. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a couple RS panels and see how that turns out, no magic expected per se but I'd like to supplement my excessively digital main rack with something a little more old school and that rewards reflection and understanding of synthesis.

Well, before pulling the trigger on some of RS's stuff, you might consider snagging a Kilpatrick Phenol. Less expensive, to start with...plus the working paradigm there is right out of the Serge playbook: all bananas, no separate signal paths, and it'll connect perfectly to actual Serge, RS, Elby, etc, in addition to Eurorack provided you use an adapter module/box and establish that ground. Bananaland is a bit of a different take from "typical" modular, and the Phenol would be a perfect intro...plus it's got plenty of useful features that'll play nice with any Serge-ish additions.

EDITED Jun 28th 2020, 22:18

The Phenol looks pretty cool @Lugia, I'll have to dig in and watch some videos. BTW, did you ever get that monster box you'd ordered? I wanna hear some tunes \m/,(> .

It's here, yep...although, the final design is dependent on a couple of modules that AE hasn't put out just yet. Which is fine, as the studio is also still not 100%, either. With luck, I'll hit both marks at the same time...

Keep us updated!