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I don't own a Rample, but from the fact that the stereo sample support was added later, and there is no mention of pan (only level) in the manual, I'm guessing it's mono.

Lugia's rebuild, as usual, is ambitious and gives much food for thought. I always learn a lot from these, even for situations that I'm unlikely to find myself in. I will point out that the Klawis Twin Waves is digital, replacing the Nano Ona, which is analog, if that makes a difference (it may not).

Does anyone know if the 'mix' output on the Rample is mono or stereo?
-- rextable

With only a single jack, it's almost certainly mono. Basically nothing is TRS/Stereo except occasionally output modules to headphones/speakers, when stereo does exist it's mostly as pairs of mono jacks.

EDITED Oct 24th 2021, 15:15

BTW

Does anyone know if the 'mix' output on the Rample is mono or stereo?

Hi

I'm a absolute newbie to euro rack, and I am looking to build a basis to learn but to also potential give a good scope for expansion in the future, I have picked out a few modules to begin with that seem ok but would appreciate any comments from experienced euro rack users or suggestions on where I could take it.

Thanks in advance for your help

Wow! Lugia, you put a lot of work into that post - thank you so much.

Ha! I thought that 1U module was just a misshapen PNG file

Regarding the IO: I'm confused .

The top right module is for the case's two back-panel outputs, correct? What about the two back-panel inputs? Also, the 2-in mixer in the top right corner: does that mix to line level? Wouldn't I need 6.35mm adaptors for the outside world, or am I being a derp?

My very first design actually utilised two of those send/return modules like you have here. However I took them out in favour of more open-ended functionality. My implementation of the extra IO could double as an extra mix bus or a stereo send/return or two mono, depending on my fancy - all without the need for adaptors.

From what I can surmise, your suggested system here is a waaaay, waaaaaaay more flexible - and as you rightly say 'multifunctional' - affair with a single stereo mix bus. Is that right? Regarding the 'multifunctional' modules. I was keen to not have too many of those. My thinking was "do less with more" hahaha.... :-P.

Seriously though, the rational for my first design was to have a stereo bus and a mono bus with 4 distinct sound generation workflows: a sampling pipeline, a stereo effects/processing pipeline, a stereo digital synth voice and a mono analog synth voice. Each module was placed where it was to do a specific thing relating to one or the other of my 'pipelines.' Quite a rigid and inefficient architecture I suppose. That was by design though. Is that a bad idea?

That said, I can see there is far more interoperability within your suggested system. You've suggested a lot of modules I haven't seen before. I clearly have a lot more reading and thinking to do. Right than, back to it. I'll post my next iteration soon

Thanks again

x

bought from @sswwiimm
great seller!
fast shipping and great communication, highly recommended!

Hi Garfield,
It would certainly be good to more things like this in the future, hopefully in the next 12 months we will be getting a bar up and running in our Town. I'd encourage a bit of modular or modular meets there.

:)

Looks interesting but I’m leaning toward something like the WMD SSM matrix mixer paired up with a WMD Performance mixer to use with my WMD percussion modules and IME Hertz Donut and Rossum Trident.

There's a number of problems here...for one thing, the tile row is a wreck. There's two tiles that aren't Intellijel-format, for starters. Then there's all of the I/O modules and extra jacks, which I'm not able to make sense of since the case in question already HAS the necessary jacks. If they're an attempt to integrate pedals, they're the wrong one.

Intellijel makes a specific tile for this, their Pedal I/O 1U, which utilizes the case's jacks. But using the line-level tiles currently in the build won't work well, as both the impedance and level for stompbox inputs is very different from typical line-level signal requirements. A far better result can be had with 3U modules that are specifically for pedals, something like Adventure Audio's Merge, which not only provides proper send-return capabilities, it ALSO adds CV control functions over the module, serves as an external preamp, and comes with an envelope follower so you can use extracted amplitude information to control other modules.

Now, as for the Lifeforms...yep, spot on, I'm going to tell you that it doesn't belong in there. But I'm going to explain one of the critical "whys" as to why that is...

Your Lifeforms module costs $649, takes up 48 hp.
The Intellijel cab costs $649 as well, and has 208 hp of 3U space. Without taking the tiles into account, this means your 3U spaces cost $3.12 each.
3.12 x 48 = $149.76 is the amount (more or less) you have to add to the Lifeforms' cost if you continue to house it in the Intellijel cab. Since I'm pretty sure that an SV-1 never streets for a hair under $800, which is what you get here, it becomes obvious that the convenience of this might not justify the cost. Plus, you admit you're short on space for things...but once you put the SV-1 back where it belongs, you've got space.

Hm...let's mess with this...lessee...

OK...this got a LOT of reworking done to it. There was a lot in the previous build that could be handled better with the use of multifunction modules, one example being the pair of Klavis Twin Waves, which contain a pair of VCOs each, plus quantization, internal VCO sync, and some other surprises. This is key to Eurorack; since a typical build contains a comparatively small amount of space, multifunction modules are essential.

Tile row: This was fixed so that everything goes to the onboard jacks. The outboard stuff in here was moved, then the row was totally rebuilt so that it contains clocking, S&H, noise, a dual attenuverter/mixer, some FX, and a 2-in stereo mixer/output so that you can fly effects in over the main mix.

Top 3U: Buffered mult, as there's a LOT of pitch CV splitting possible here. Then the Rample, and after that is a 4-channel stereo mixer to sum the Rample's outs down to a single stereo pair. Mashed the Elements clone a little more, then you've got the Klavis VCOs, and a Joranalogue Fold6, a rather neat wavefolder in which you can "throw" two oscillator outputs at each other to sort of "cross-warp" them. After this is a Zlob Vnicvrsal Hex VCA to control the levels from the ATOM and Klavises, or you can opt to apply this to the Rample's mixer output, or...well, you get the idea. After that, an Omsonic unity gain panning mixer sums all of that down to a stereo pair. I went with a seriously over the top VCF, and since we're now purely in stereo, why not a stereo VCF? Hence the Rossum Linneaus...not at all conventional, and definitely potential-packed...including the ability to thru-zero it. Void Modular's M+Mix Stereo gives you six pannable inputs at the end of the voice chain, and this patches to one of the stereo pairs at the output mixer tile...leaving the other stereo pair for flying in the several processing options over the master mix.

Bottom 3U: Pam's...no sequencers here, but Pam's has a lot of other tricks up its sleeve. Then the Ochd, and yes, Maths. Sure, it's big. But it's a proven quantity as far as a modulation generator, and is just about perfect for this since it has SO MANY options. Then a Frap 321 and a Happy Nerding 3xVCA give you some crossmod capabilities, also with the assistance of the Quadrax/Qx combo. Then for FX, the Morphogene (obvious pick!), the Beads, and two Malekko SND/RTN modules for external processors. These also offer CV over wet/dry balance, which also has its own abuse potential.

Lots of other stuff got tossed, most of that being due to my work on trying to up the functional capabilities. Really, you don't want single-function devices in a small build like this, and so I attempted to make this VERY much an exploratory build for sound creation by cramming in those multifunctions, putting modules back that synergize with other modules (Maths!) and the like. Result actually has LESS modules than before, but those less modules are actually capable of MORE than the original, especially given that some of the utility bits got tailored to work with other modules...definitely a 1 + 1 = 5 sort of result!

EDITED Oct 24th 2021, 03:37

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Sounds indeed like a nice event with your help! :-) A bar with a modular synth, still need to find that over here!

The sounds that kicks in at 1:29 is great, after that you play a little more with, nice! Ha, ha, great that your cat is inspecting everything to see if you are doing everything the way the cat wants it ;-) Nice to see that at the end of the jam your cat is coming back to make sure you finish this off the way it wants :-D

Great to hear from you again and glad that the radio silence is over ;-) Kind regards, Garfield.

One very useful and uncommon thing about the Chronoblob/Chronoblob2...INSERT POINT! For the sake of what I have to assume is pure sonic troublemaking, Alright Devices put an insert point in the delay return so that you can alter the timbre, etc of subsequent echoes. LOADS of abuse potential there...and only a handful of manufacturers have something like this.

Suggest you look at Joranalogue Morph 4 and the Divkid video for that.

It's not strictly a matrix mixer, but it is kinda in the ballpark, and a really badass module IMO. I'm very pleased to have it in my setup.

A few thoughts, not a comprehensive answer. If you have a pedal board you like, I think it's best to use that at first, unless there is an effects module that you can't match outside the rack. Maths is indeed big for a case this size and if you're using it primarily for envelopes and LFOs, yes, there are smaller alternatives. Common wisdom on semimodulars that come with cases, like the SV-1b or the Moog DFAM/Subh/M32, is to leave them in their cases. That gets you space for modulation and utilities. There are smaller Elements clones, but ergonomics will be worse.

Here's my take on utilizing random within pitch sequencing.
While it's great to have a source of random cv that can loop within a boundary of 8 or 16 steps (like marbles or turing machine) the actual listenability of those sequences can be hit or miss (and you don't want to take the potential 'miss' when you are jamming or god-forbid performing). I personally use an O_c for my turing machine purposes, and instead of sending the random sequence straight to an oscillator, I use it to address inputs on my sequential switch (plenty of sequential switches can do this), which all have simple cv sequences coming from my sq-1 or digitakt via midi-cv. This way there is still an element of unpredictability, but I am able to prepare sequences beforehand (on the sq-1 and digitakt) that will sound good when spliced together.

I find that this technique works really well for acid bass lines, but depending on the style of music you are trying to make, you might want to add your sequences together instead of swap between them. In my mind this is a good way to make long and virtuosic ambient stuff, where you have multiple sequencers clocked at different speeds that are then summed with a precision adder.

Thanks for the link. These features of the firmware sound very good.
I would be interested in how others from the forum build their rack if they want to play it completely live. Do you have a central module with which you control your system or do you have ready-made SEQUENCES? For example, melody, bass and drums? Before I invest in various modules, it is important for me to have a concrete plan for what I want to do. I think randomes is very interesting, but I also want to be able to implement specific ideas

This might be helpful:
https://forum.mutable-instruments.net/t/marbles-new-alternative-firmware/17905

Greetings ModularGrid peoples

This is my first post here.

So, the setup below is my initial design for a more-or-less standalone ideas/fun factory. It will be installed into an Intellijel's 7U 104 Performance Case. Roughly, the top row is all IO and utilities. the 2nd row is all sampling and percussion sequencing. The 3rd row is two synth voices. All this will be to be sequenced an controlled by an Arturia Keystep Pro.

What I want this system to do:

• be a inspiration factory in the studio
• integrate with my pedal board both at home and on the road
• be an accompaniment/effects processor for me during live performances both solo and in my band.

Plan A (at this moment) is to integrate this design with my pedal board and studio via a mixer of some sort - I can't decide which one. Said mixer needs to have at least two aux sends, 8 inputs and very as small as possible. Any ideas peoples?

As for this design itself: I'd appreciate your thoughts and advice. I'm an old hand with synthesis in general but have never built a earorack system before.

My current thoughts are:

• not enough stereo audio routing and control for all the sound sources
• no enough effects (my logic is that all the effects are in my pedal board. The more I think about it, the less I like this idea)
• Maths.... just.... why? It's very big. Will I reeeeally miss it if I swap it for a more compact envelope generator?
• which modules are totally redundant and what functionality is sorely lacking?

Advice would be much appreciated

Spanx

Hello, everyone,

I have a question about the different types of euroracks or how you set up your racks. I have a guitar background and have played in different bands. I have always been very enthusiastic about experimenting with effects pedals and different sounds. The entry into the modular system has always been a great wish of mine. I am currently playing with Mi Marbles, various oscillators and effects. Often I sit there for an hour and build a song on which steadily rises and varies. It's a lot of fun and you get to know the functions of the individual modules more and more.
Now to my real problem. When I play with other people, of course, my approach doesn't work. I would like to jam to songs or loops. To do this, of course, I need full control over my system. For example, when which tones come. Would intellijel scales be an option in combination with marbles? Or are there other modules that can control my system or a patch? Sequencers are a great thing, but I only want to program things to a limited extent beforehand. I would like to control everything only with modules,without an external controller.
The system should serve as an instrument rather than a workstation.

I hope I was able to explain my problem well and I am grateful for all answers

By the way sorry for my bad English

well i cant figure out how to set it up (patch it to work)with the doepfer clock divider?
-- Broken-Form

I've got this derived-square patch working on my system right now. Here's how I'm doing it:
1. square wave from any OSC patched to input of A160-2
2. take an output from A160-2: that's the result. Note this is POSITIVE voltage only.
3. apply a bit of offset (negative voltage) using a utility. I have ShadesV2 doing this. SISM would work fine, lots of others would work fine.

I'm getting a square wave at 1/2 rate. Varying settings on A160-2 gives me different pulse width on the output. Both audio and oscilloscope are showing me this works on my end. Note the result is just a lower version of the original square wave.

Of course, assuming you want to mix the original and the derived square, you'll need a copy (mult) of the original.
-- nickgreenberg

yes thanks for this,i got it working:)

I thought I better record this before I pull all the plugs out of it, we were a part of the National Science & Media Museum in Bradford UK, we were serving our beers and the Modular Synth was part of it alongside our bar.

Here's the various links that will help make sense of this:
https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/whats-on/sound-check
https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/whats-on/sound-season
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVVl-RDq_rP/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVUsdMEqajt/

There was much crowd noise and I'm sure my patching sounded much worse on the actual night via a one-speaker PA and i forgot to take my headphones so I had no way to monitor what i was playing.

A fun experience.

The LB5 is a cleverly designed (with a beautifully finish!) module dedicated to logic functions. It allows very creative patching. I own one and no other of my modules can replace it. The Disting mk4 is a good Swiss army knife, it allows more or less to temporarily compensate for the absence of this or that functionality. Currently, for example, I use its delays a lot... while waiting to buy a true delay module like the Chronoblob.

Start with a dual filter, then. Something like the Intellijel Morgasmatron, which can work as a stereo VCF but which ALSO can work as two separate VCFs. You can also use this as a "mixer" to go from two sources to a post-filtered "sum" output. This is what I would suggest, as these filters have plenty of different modes as well as separate modulation paths...which, again, you can apply to BOTH filters if desired.

-- Lugia

So glad somebody made this recommendation to me ;) I have Sirius' Veil sitting between my Void Modular Gravitational Waves on one side and Instruo Ts-L on the other.

EDITED Oct 23rd 2021, 03:25

When I hear 5HP, I think Xodes LB5. Great logic module!
-- Sweelinck

Thanks for the recommendation! Have not heard of the LB5, looks very interesting. I was hoping between the CVilization, Boundary, and MK4 that I would have a decent amount of logic control potential but maybe I need to consider something additional.

In my case, I've got a MOTU 828 mkii connected to the multitrack, which is running Ableton's CV Tools. Totally open-ended, cheap, effective, and if you need to make adjustments, you can do most everything from inside the DAW.

Well, for what it's worth I just ordered some faceplates from Control and got them in maybe just slightly over a week?

I am more generally finding, like others in the US, that USPS is pretty slow lately, though I've been fortunate enough not to have the epic waits some are reporting above. I order at least something or other weekly for eurorack, be it from Perfect Circuit, Control, Reverb, or elsewhere, and haven't had a waiting time of more than maybe two weeks on anything from within the US.

I always ship my own Reverb sales via UPS. Maybe I should emphasize that in my listings more, since it's an extra cost that I eat and it seems to be more reliable. Which definitely isn't to say that UPS never has delays or issues of their own, but I feel like it's a better option, and the UPS store by me is much less unpleasant to stop in at than the local post office.

As for ordering from outside the US though, you're lucky if you can get around USPS. The costs to ship internationally via UPS are way over the top. I assume that's true with FedEx as well.

EDITED Oct 23rd 2021, 01:35

I’ve had the Steady State Fate Vortices on my shopping list for a while for this purpose. Really cool mixer. As far as doing it in the rack vs. plug ins, etc. the benefit is always cv and hands on control for me.

LOTS of options in this domain, I think many of them are good options. The ones I know about and would suggest:
-- top recommendation is to get something from the Expert Sleepers lineup as those are well regarded and you would get a robust hub/interface to the rest of your studio. It is probably more than you need presently, but kind of "future proofs" your setup some
-- Befaco also offers a good and fairly broad line of selections
-- Polyend Poly 2 is a good option if you need MPE support

Since the cheaper offerings for this function are not that cheap, IMO it makes more sense to spend up a bit and get a more robust module that will last in your setup for years to come.

Hi folks,

I've been getting into Eurorack percussion and am REALLY digging the results. I've got Tiptop, Erica, and WMD modules, and just latest added the Jomox kick unit which is awesome.

@sacguy71 was recently on another post saying how the combo of Jomox kick + Hexinverter Mutant Hot Glue (bus mixer with compression and distortion) produces his favorite kick sound. I would be interested in trying that kind of setup BUT I don't know about Hot Glue for me because:
1) I don't see it in stock at my normal vendors
2) functionally, it is maybe both more and less than I need
3) at $400 list, it is fairly spendy

SO, I wanted to ask:
A) do you folks know of good alternatives to Mutant Hot Glue especially for compression / distortion particularly for use on Eurorack percussion?
B) is there any great reason other than convenience to use a Eurorack solution for compression/distortion? I do have other hardware/software compression/distortion alternatives BUT the convenience of doing this in Eurorack (vs. having to link up to my broader studio gear) is on my mind.

Thanks for your ideas!

EDITED Oct 22nd 2021, 23:52

I always thought that was an interesting set of chaotic modules. I can't say that I completely understand what they are doing, but Fourses and Sprott appealed to me when I was looking into them. I think they're getting harder to find nowadays.

Someone whose opinion I respect very much recommended them but I don't know where to start! If the only option was to buy one module to integrate into an existing setup that already has a little bit of everything, which module would you recommend and why?

Curiously, no one mentions Dfam. It's an amazing machine, solo or in conjunction with a modular.
Here, a performance among dozens of others on YT.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/tubbutec-%C2%B5tune-

My recommendation!

When I hear 5HP, I think Xodes LB5. Great logic module!

Excellent video, nice performance. The track is very pleasant to listen to. Ambient and space music can easily become boring. Here, it is not the case. Polygogo and Panharmonium are definitely on my list.

No prob...plus, the Chinese stuff is so cheap that if you DO happen to get something that doesn't fit, you're out only the money you'd need to take a family of four to MccyD's. But even so, some of the "doesn't fit" issues DO hide useful musical tricks. For example, the Mosky Spring Reverb really doesn't sound like a spring reverb...but when you get the "Dwell" control up too high, this tuns into something of a feedback generator, giving you a feedback "tail" without the need for amplification to get to that instead. The Chinese pedals are rife with useful tricks like that, where the reverse engineering wound up adding some odd capabilities to their emulative pedals. And this ALSO makes them useful in no-input systems, because you can get at sounds you normally wouldn't find in those.

This sometimes feels like a hardware version of Magic: The Gathering. The longer you play, the more different cards/modules you know about. And there are a lot of them. Surprisingly the prices are about the same as well if you want the good stuff.
-- chlb

Or Pokemon: "Gotta install 'em all!"

Part 2 sound exploration: feeding few outputs into Rings, with filter an reverb after.
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/pU9TWrdvhuJSzLF18

I may not be one to ask, because I chose Erica’s Techno System for my drum machine ; ) It is really worth it for what it does, and it is a joy to play. What it does NOT do is set and forget. It’s much more its own instrument/mini studio. That said, I’ve thought hard about getting Queen of Pentacles or Quad Drum Voice to add to my regular rack, leaning towards the latter because of its size and convenience. I also have a TR-8S which I love but don’t integrate with my modular unless it’s going into a sampler.

+1 to sacguy71's point that modular drums sound pretty damn good. I DO own several of the nicer "groovebox" hardware pieces. I kind of always love some parts and hate others--I generally like the sounds, but don't like the sequencers or internal song data structure...

In the last few months I decided to go ahead and jump into Eurorack percussion. YES it is expensive and takes up HP in a rack. BUT I get to use my favorite sequencers AND the sounds are very good. Tiptop's versions of 808/909 I think are very strong and also decently priced per unit. THOSE things give me the kind of bouncy electronica percussion sounds I've been looking for yet never achieved with other stuff including loads of software.

The Jomox bass drum just recently arrived for me, I have yet to get it plugged in and tried out. I heard so many people praise it, I decided to give it a swing, as a strong yet versatile kick is very important in my setup.

Save to say, there's a bunch of good options in Eurorack. Furthermore if all one needs is kick snare hat, that is not too spendy on $s or HP. Worth a thought...

That sounds amazing! Is Usta just feeding a slow sequence into Polygogo? Where’s the envelope coming from? Looks possibly like the attack is slowly modulated by a Batumi sine wave, but I’m just guessing. Cheers!

CHINA!

-- Lugia

LOL...I will take a look at some of these...I've zero experience with anything stompbox related so will need to do the research but the ability to sort of exponentially add flexibility to the 3U setup with a module that can add a couple of these sounds really interesting...Thanks for the references!!

Start with a dual filter, then. Something like the Intellijel Morgasmatron, which can work as a stereo VCF but which ALSO can work as two separate VCFs. You can also use this as a "mixer" to go from two sources to a post-filtered "sum" output. This is what I would suggest, as these filters have plenty of different modes as well as separate modulation paths...which, again, you can apply to BOTH filters if desired.

-- Lugia

Thanks again for the advice, Lugia.

This sometimes feels like a hardware version of Magic: The Gathering. The longer you play, the more different cards/modules you know about. And there are a lot of them. Surprisingly the prices are about the same as well if you want the good stuff.

Yeah I had bad slow experiences in the past with ordering stuff from Control. Since I am on the west coast here in California and they are in NYC may explain it. I try to order from Patch Werks in Seattle or DM and usually get stuff way faster. Had bad service experience with Control as well they were supposed to send me a replacement cable for one of the modules I bought a while back and never did that!

I have not found a portable drum machine that really sounds as good as modular drums. A friend loaned me his Elektron Rytm MK2 and while it sounds ok and has many nice features not quite the same. I say invest in one drum voice like VPME Quad Drum or Endorphin.es Queen of Pentacles and be done with it. That is my plan for my mobile Doepfer 6u case. Now for modular drums, I love running my Jomox bass drum module through Hexinverter Mutant Hot glue with distortion and compression. Hands down best kick drum bass sound ever!

Why ask someone to spend time programming a new feature when one could easily make a spreadsheet to track this information?

Sunny and funny! Thanks for sharing.

I've noticed this module as well...doing a bit of a closeup with it makes me think that this is sort of like the Serge Triple Waveshaper but with WAY more direct control (hand or CV) over what goes on behind the scenes. And a little more besides, such as the octave subdivider. Sheer brilliance!

The one thing I don't see is any sort of filter.
-- mog00

DFAM, Subharmonicon and Manis have built-in filters, so I think I can work with those before I have a more refined taste on what I want in a filter. And if I get the Bitbox, it has a built-in filter for the samples as well.

-- chlb

Start with a dual filter, then. Something like the Intellijel Morgasmatron, which can work as a stereo VCF but which ALSO can work as two separate VCFs. You can also use this as a "mixer" to go from two sources to a post-filtered "sum" output. This is what I would suggest, as these filters have plenty of different modes as well as separate modulation paths...which, again, you can apply to BOTH filters if desired.

Well, for AUX send-return stuff, start here: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/ladik-m-053-3-ch-aux-mixer This allows you to return three different stereo processors to a single stereo AUX return. As for the send part, I would suggest using buffered mults here to keep your send levels up and close to identical for all processors.

Now, as for transitional links, one potential solution would be to use a Tiptop ONE player with some prerecorded material (or suitable loops) so that you're "covered" while changing the rest of the patch. This also gives your live set a "ground point" to start with between each piece, so that if (or more likely, when) things DO fuck up horribly, you can at least return to a sonic point where you can regroup.

However, I have a few issues with the build as it stands now. First up, that DFAM doesn't belong in there. It might be convenient that way, but the truth is that you're wasting 60 hp in this cab on a device that already has power and a housing. That space is FAR better used for things that have NO power and NO housing. Secondly, the cost...one thing that puzzles me is, if there's so many modules in here, why are there so few sources? I only see two: the Verbos Harmonic Oscillator and the E-RM Polygogo. And much of the rest of the space depends on these large, spendy modules that might work better as smaller and less-expensive alternatives. Lastly, keep in mind that we're finally getting actual Buchla Eurorack modules starting around Xmas, and these are quite different critters from the Verbos modules in a number of cases. Take the difference between the Dual Envelope at 22 hp for $479 and the Tiptop Quad Function Generator 281t with 28 hp for a projected street of $210. I know what I would rather have...and not merely due to the huge price difference!

Hmmm...I've never looked at stompboxes...any suggestions on where to start?
-- jb61264

CHINA!

Seriously, there's a plethora of stompboxes coming out of China these days that are utterly jaw-dropping, both in capabilities AND price! Fave brands are Aural Dream (especially their Breath Delay and Super Ring), Rowin (I've got PILES of these), Joyo (their "white flanger" kicks the old MXR AC-powered ones out the window, and their high-end stereo boxes are to die for), Cuvave (FUZZ!!!!!!), Sonicake (great little things, super-clean), Mooer (more high-end), and on and on.

Much of this is going on on Amazon, but my personal go-tos out there seem to be the Brantford Pedal Mafia up in Ontario, with their cross-border inventory making sure the US users get the same free shipping as their Canadian customers. Check here on Reverb: https://reverb.com/shop/andrews-gear-depot-553 and on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/str/music4pros?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 LOTS of stuff to sift through! And the prices are such that you can haul off a bushel of these little widgets for as much as some high-end devices.

One other more "pro" device that's worth having if you're going to dive into pedals is this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TriParMix--electro-harmonix-tri-parallel-mixer This thing is basically abuse potential turned into hardware! Just a look-see at this will give you ideas for weeks. It convinced me so strongly that I put together a parallel system for the studio's rack FX processors, using a Studio Technologies 1->8 stereo distro amp and a Rane SM 26B splitter/mixer for the summed return.