ModularGrid Rack

Hi everyone.
This is my first post on the forum.
I'm new to modular synthesis and fairly new to synthesizers, as I come from a bass guitar background. Been in some bands over the years.
The last 8 years I'm experimenting and recording my music at home. Mostly electro punk-ish and ambient stuff.. My DAW is used only for recording/mixing my demos.
I'm also rehearsing with a fellow drummer. I use an affordable and sturdy small set-up for this, so I can transport with safety. A Polyend Tracker for samples and sequencing a MAM mb33 which I use for basslines with a Zoom ms60b. And a Microbrute + zoom ms50g for leads and fills.
I also have a Dreadbox NYX v2 which I'm only using at home (I love it but those little switches seem so sensitive to carry in a case) with a Keystep, a Boss looper and a Zoom ms70cdr pedal, for some ambient stuff and sampling sounds and phrases on the Tracker.

In short, I'd like to add an 84hp rack of modulators and cv modifiers to the NYX. Don't care much about osc and filters, at the moment. I really like the looks and can afford Doepfer stuff. Please tell me what you think of my rack planning so far.

Thank you all in advance. I have learnt a lot by this forum already.


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Got it. Cheers!!!


Here we go...I not only aimed to make this build modulation-centric, but I added a Doepfer A-119 so that you can pick that bass up again, plug it in there, and have both the audio from the bass PLUS envelope extraction for another modulation CV.
ModularGrid Rack
No, I didn't stick with Doepfer, but the overall cost seems to be about right for a 1-row device. Lots of stuff got switched around, in some cases in deference to other similar modules that do these things better, and in others just to build up a good, versatile modulation skiff. I did remove everything involving clocking, as there's no sequencer in the build. But this gave me room to seriously punch the modulation capabilities up. Here's what's there...

First up is the A-119. Then the Doepfer Noise/S&H, then an Intellijel Bifold, which can work either on the bass input signal, or it can be used to mess with modulation signals. Quad LFO after that, then the Mixer got repurposed so that you can create composite LFO signals.

Then Maths. By putting that in, I was able to remove the ADSR/LFO and the Delayed LFO because Maths can do that...and buttloads more! And it even comes in at a lower price than those two Doepfers. After that, you have a Happy Nerding 3xVCA to control modulation amplitudes, and a Frap 321 for mixing, attenuversion, and a few other tricks for creating complex modulation curves. Plus I added a Quadrax/Qx so that you can have four EGs there which can also be used as looping EGs for extra LFOs, and with the Qx you can cascade EGs in various ways based on whether you choose the EOR or EOF triggers to fire the next Quadrax stage. And last, I put in a Happy Nerding FX Aid XL so that you've got an extra stereo FX processor for signals coming off of the Nyx, or you could use it for your bass audio.

Now, I'm assuming that this is for a powered cab, since I didn't see any P/S in the module complement. If you DO need to add a power supply, my suggestion would be to pull the FX Aid XL then add a 4ms Row 25, leaving 2 hp open for something else. The 4ms supply is more than adequate for this, if necessary.


Lugia thank you for your time and effort, putting all this together.
I've read some useful threads in this forum, and you're constantly helping people by sharing your knowledge.
I'm not interested in modulating my bass really, but I guess if I was a guitarist I would be delighted. A nice amp and good pickups is all I ever needed...
I can understand that this rack option is way better than mine, but unfortunately it is twice the price of what I can afford/willing to spend at the moment.
I also think that I would be more comfortable with the simpler Doepfer modules, that can do that one thing and speak my language. It's what I'm used to, after all.


I posted that rack, in order to learn the flaws (other than it's already pricey lol),
and find out what's missing. What else I might need or what I should replace..
For example, you said there's no seq on the rack, so you excluded the clocking modules.
Well, what about my external gear? Can't they work with that A160/161 combination?
I was hoping those random and logic devices would work with that too.

PS. Maths can't be the only answer to every task. What about physics or chemistry?
Just kidding, of course... Thanks again.


Ok...let's have a look at this again. First up, if you're using Doepfer exclusively, the case size needs to be kicked up considerably. Their modules don't require chopstick-fingers and have clear layouts and great circuitry, but they tend toward the large side. So, before we get going here, we're gonna punch this up to 126 hp courtesy of THIS: https://www.ericasynths.lv/shop/enclosures/studio/1x126hp-skiff-case/ It's got way more space without being huge, the power is ample, and it supports up to 57mm depths...which is important with Doepfer, as a number of their modules exceed the typical 40-ish millimeter depth. Oh, and that's a kickass price (EUR 310) for something this sizable.
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100% Doepfer. And this time, I blew the timing section WAY up. What've we got here...?

First is your timing. The first module is a bidirectional switch that switch between two to four in/outs to a single in/out. Then the clock divider and the clock multiplier for ratcheting. Right after that are the trigger delays, then there's a gate/trigger "integrator" and a Boolean logic module, then a "PWM" module that can actually be used to square off other waveforms for LFO-dependant gates. This can also work as a waveshaper for external VCOs. Now, what's going on here is this...Boolean logic takes incoming gate signals and subjects them to conditional states that either output a gate or nothing. OR outputs a gate when any gate is present at the logic stage, but not when there's none or both. AND will output a gate when ONLY there's both gates present. And of course, the inverse versions are also present via the two inverters. This allows you to wholesale manipulate the timing pulses in ways that can't happen without a Boolean logic module and its "pals".

After that, five LFOs. The quadrature LFO is CVable, then there's four non-CV LFOs followed by a 4-in mixer to create composite LFO curves. As for the why behind the quadrature LFO, that module allows you to have four identical LFO sines, save that each one is 90 degrees rotated from the previous output. This is useful for a pile of things...automated crossfading, weird panning strategies, and with the "PWM" module you can take that and generate CV-dependant gate pulses. You can also mix quadrature curves to generate some very strange results.

Then for the "meat", I went with the large quad AD and ADSR modules because these also contain "end of..." patchpoints which can ALSO fire things off via their triggers. The Quad AD also has comparators on each stage to send a gate when the envelopes are either above or below the set voltage threshold. And between these two big modules, I dropped in a Matrix Mixer...basically, it's a "performance controller" for mixing/altering/attenuating any of the voltage curve signals, with four inputs and four outputs, allowing each output to have a different mixture of the incoming modulation signals.

The only thing I really didn't have the space for here would be the noise/random module(s). If this went to a 6U 84 or 104 hp cab, though, there would be ample room for those and a few more bits of troublemaking. But this starts to show the possibilities that open up when you expand the cab from the small 3U x 84 skiff. And it WILL fit the big AD and ADSR quads as far as depth is concerned.