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Good call on the larger MDLR 14 case, I have one and it is fantastic! I recommend more modulation sources. Perhaps Acid Rain Technology Maestro that gives you six channels of modulation with many options to shape LFOs and so forth.
-- benscott
Yes, that case looks really solid!

hmm, thanks for the suggestion. I missed that module somehow. Cheers!

Good call on the larger MDLR 14 case, I have one and it is fantastic! I recommend more modulation sources. Perhaps Acid Rain Technology Maestro that gives you six channels of modulation with many options to shape LFOs and so forth.

@Toccata
Thanks. Actually you are right about FXs. I will think more about it. Just had the fear to miss something so that why I was kinda compromising. Will do more research about it! Thank you!

SSF Triptych looks solid. Need to check how it sounds from the studio. Thanks!

I have nothing to add to your rack but I will say the benefit to FX modules is having the ability to manipulate the parameters in realtime. Distortion, Bitcrushing, Phase and Pitch Shifting, Ring Modulation, Reverb, Delay, Comb Filtering, etc, etc. all become way more expressive when they are under your control with modulation. So a snare with say, a pulsating gated reverb tail or delay combined with some modulating bitcrushing and frequency shifting is gonna sound incredibly complex and wont mentally tax you, that is, you can quickly patch simple sources into dramatic and uniquely multi-layered creations with little effort—so you can focus more of your time on the actual quality of your ideas and not problem solving. I think with pedals you're limited by how many hands you can get on the knobs or you might just step on a phaser and be done with it. You know? Music is all about movement, or more specifically, the energy in the moving. #1 goal in modular building, like instrument playing, is finding the best way to maximize energy, control it, and do it efficiently.

Steady State Fate Triptych is worth checking out for distortion manipulation (and gives you another filter and flanging-comb fx): Steady State Fate Triptych Promo Video

EDITED Nov 7th 2022, 17:03

Hi to all the users who comes to see into this. I hope you all are doing well as its possible this crazy days!

I was dreaming about my first Eurorack for years now and finally, I have a chance to actually build it.

I know that it's better to start with the smaller system to understand and learn everything but I'm just not that type of person. Im diving into with all in (as I do always). Also, tbh I've started with 3U but after months of research - I came up with 14U 126HP. This is just how it is and nothing could be changed in that way as I've already bought this case from MDLRCASE: Click

So down to the case, my questions and something what I see in my every dream lately. I'm sorry if I will ask too many questions but that's the only way I can get the proper help/opinion from someone who has the experience here.

1. The idea:
I mostly produce IDM-ish stuff. Inspired by music from: Mike Parker, Squarepusher, Frank Bretschneider, Komet, Phoenecia, Pan sonic and so on and so on. The rack's idea firstly was to make Drum oriented rack but as you can see - it went further than that. But the idea did not disappear anywhere so its still important to have good drums here. I've researched a lot and came up with that modules drum-wise you can see here. In my opinion - I have all the tools here to produce strong sound designed drum elements. LMK if I'm wrong.

Drums: I have drum sequencer from Erica and LXR from them. I have 2 kick modules - Modbase and Kickall. I have BIA. Noise plethora for some perc/noisy sounds. Quark for some percussions. Plonk. Fracture by WMD. Quark's percussions from End Times Modular. Fracture from WMD. LO-FIVE from End Times Modular. SY0.5
'Synths': Piston Honda MKIII which I've already purchased. Shapeshifter. Generate 3.
Sequencing: Main sequencer for drums here should be Drum Sequencer from Erica.
I have octatrack mk2 and cv.ocd midi to cv converter. Also, I've finally got the chance to buy Cirklon 2 so its on its way with CVIO.
Anyways I've added the relatively small sequencer from Copper Traces to be able to easy sequence inside the rack.
So as I can see from here - there should be no probs with sequencing with all the tools I have on my hands. lmk if I'm wrong.
LFO's: I have Malekko's Quad LFO and thats only dedicated lfo I've added so far. There are some possibilities with Pam, Disting EX, Maths, ornament & crime. Do you think I need more? Do you recommend that quad lfo?
Envelopes: I've added Quadigy from Klavis; Quad Envelope from Malekko; Zadar; Percall for quad decay. and thats it. + ornament & crime; Disting; Pam; Do you think I need more of them? Is quadigy good choice? what about that one from Malekko?
VCAs: Ok. I have 3 Veils here. I've already bought 1. I also have that Quadratt 1U. Do you think I need more VCAs?
Gates: I have added that TRAM8 from LPZW which should work fine with My Octatrack. + CV.OCD Midi to CV has 12 gate outputs. Do you think I need more?
Quantizing: I have that quantizer from Mosaic. Some possibilities with ornament and crime. But I'm thinking about adding Intellijel Scales or something like that. Just another quantizer. What do you think?
FXs: I use bunch of pedals so I wanted to compromise here and go without fxs at all. Anyways, if you have another idea - lmk please.
Mixer: This is where I feel the weakest :D Just cant decide how many channels do I need and what to choose. What you can see here: 6 channels on LIFEFORMS and 6 channels on Panmix. I thought to route master channel from LIFEFORMS to PANMIX. So there will be 6 channels from LIFEFORMS and +5 from Panmix. The master output from PanMix should go to Output module which you can see there from Befaco. Is it a solution? Are these channels enough? Are these mixers good enough? Do you have better solution in my case?
Filters: 3 dedicated filters. One from Telemark which I just love because of some experience with Telemark synth; One that complex Rossum filter and one Wasp. You think I have enough of them? Do you have any other ideas?
Mults: I have one Passive mult from Mosaic (I've already got this with Quantizer for a good price) and 4 1U Buff Mult from Intellijel. Also I have ordered that stackable jacks. Do you think I will lack of them?

I still have place left for some 3U and 1U modules.

Im thinking about a distortion module... I have distortion pedal and compressor so it would be ok if I will use them instead. What do you think?

What I've already bought:
* CV.OCD MIDI To CV Converter Box
* SY0.5
* Telemark Filter Module
* Piston Honda MkIII
* Rossum Morpheus
* Erica Synths Drum Sequencer
* Intellijel Plonk
* Veils V2
* Befaco Kickall
* Idum
* Intellijel Shapeshifter
* Wasp Filter
* Links (1x)
* LXR DRUM
* Befaco Percall
* Mosaic 1U Quantizer
* Mosaic passive mult black
* Zadar

So, the biggest fear here is to miss something. For example Sound Sources. Do you think I have enough sound sources for the purpose I've already mentioned earlier? Do you think I have enough modulation? Any general suggestion and any opinion about any modules are highly appreciated! Just let me know what do you think if you have more experience than me (0).

OK. Now it seems like I've asked almost everything from the modular world :D But that's how it supposed to be I guess? Anyways, Thanks a lot to everyone who will come down to this and give me a reply.

Peace and Bleep
Levan

EDITED Nov 7th 2022, 15:52

Very nice track. And I love the motivation. I've been looking at stand alone noise/drone boxes like the Moffenzeef Stargazer, but I bought the Ongaku app instead and I love it! I didn't completely beat GAS, but I scratched that itch for a lot less $$$. :-) Thanks for sharing.

@Toccata and @JimHowell1970 Thanks so much for the detailed feedback and for thinking through some patching examples for this rig! As you say, finding out something doesn't work as intended after putting so much into this rig would be disappointing, to put it mildly. I hadn't even considered the possibility that I'd could reach a point of diminishing returns concerning the number of LFOs, attenuverters, etc. Planning out a system based on manuals and youtube videos is fun, but definitely misses the experiential aspect that would allow me to really get a feel for how the pieces interact with each other. I really appreciate y'all taking the time to guide us less experienced wigglers through this morass of modules.

You say in your layout description you have 'MIDI in the bottom left' but you have the ES-8 which is an Audio Interface, I think. You might be thinking of the FH-2 instead yes? That does MIDI to CV conversion so you can play from external USB devices and your DAW, etc.

Much appreciated, you're absolutely right. Thanks for catching a silly mistake!

Love the slowly morphing sounds in this. Sounds awesome. Cheers!

yes - buffered for pitch & possibly triggers/gates if you are re-patching whilst playing - otherwise passives are fine

@HGsynth,

You say in your layout description you have 'MIDI in the bottom left' but you have the ES-8 which is an Audio Interface, I think. You might be thinking of the FH-2 instead yes? That does MIDI to CV conversion so you can play from external USB devices and your DAW, etc. An interesting alternative to the Transmit 2 output is 4ms' Listen i/o. It's the same 6HP but has two mono inputs and stereo outputs, and both outputs can be used as headphone jacks. I play sounds out of my DAW, iPad, iPhone, acoustic instruments, (using the headphone output on my devices with a 3.5mm stereo-to-split-mono cable) through modular and then record them back into the DAW (with a stereo-3.5mm-to-dual-mono-6.5mm cable) using the line input on my audio interface. (I have it routed properly in my settings so there is no feedback issues). It works!

None of these need a buffered mult - a passive will be more than adequate

Don't worry, it's just an example, haha. He's already got two buffered multiples in the rack, I'm just patching his design. BUT... He listed his need to connect with 'external gear' and be 'a multi-voiced instrument'. So if he is pitch tracking from his DAW or keyboard split four ways by a passive multi into that Quad VCO and the voices sound out of tune—knowing full well he spent 13K on a rack and then cheaped out on passives just to save an extra $30 will make a dreadfully bitter jam to dance to.

That Music Modular Thing Four Big Knobs is a DIY project so you're gonna have to build it yourself or maybe find someone selling it already. If you don't have the soldering stuff you might want something else. I think you should check out Intellijel's Tetrapad as a potential substitute.

Anyways good luck! Hope you find your sound.

EDITED Nov 7th 2022, 13:23

Switchy Glitchy-Icicle Sound:
— Start with a Boring Sound > Send it to your Buffered Multiple and split it into 2 copies.
— Sound 1 goes into Data Bender and into Veils 1-2.
— Sound 2 goes into Beads (Scorched Cassette mode) and into Veils 3-4.
— Split a single LFO and invert one copy in 321. Send each to Veils 1-2, 3-4. (Split the inverted copy for later)
... Now the sound will rotate between two crunchy variations, call it "Data Blending Grains of Beads". Mix down in Stmix or send to Morph 4 for deeper crossfading with a another source.

None of these need a buffered mult - a passive will be more than adequate

Note: If you don't have them already, you'll wanna get Rings, Beads, and Veils ASAP as they have stopped production. If memory serves, Perfect Circuit is the last place that has Veils and Beads for sale. Rings is gonna be tricky to find available in a store, so you might have to swap in a Rings clone instead.
-- Toccata

ALA appear to be making full size clones - I'd goo with those if you have to go for a clone - there are some reasonably priced used modules available too, if you look hard enough!

You have quite a lot of LFO's. By my count, it's 62 separate sources. That includes not only the dedicated LFO modules but also things like Pam's, Data, Maths, Zadar, and the Cs-L (9 in LFO mode). That would be difficult to keep track of and tweak in large patches. And a lot of Polarizers, 17 or so I see, which may not all be so necessary when so many modules have built in attenuverters.

I'm really big into Buffered Multiples. I have 14 and it's not enough. I'll tell you why you should consider adding more using a simple idea from your system:

Switchy Glitchy-Icicle Sound:
— Start with a Boring Sound > Send it to your Buffered Multiple and split it into 2 copies.
— Sound 1 goes into Data Bender and into Veils 1-2.
— Sound 2 goes into Beads (Scorched Cassette mode) and into Veils 3-4.
— Split a single LFO and invert one copy in 321. Send each to Veils 1-2, 3-4. (Split the inverted copy for later)
... Now the sound will rotate between two crunchy variations, call it "Data Blending Grains of Beads". Mix down in Stmix or send to Morph 4 for deeper crossfading with a another source.

But you're entirely out of Multis and you've only made one sound! That idea expands out of your reach if you multiply Beads into not only Veils but another VCA and trigger the Freeze function using the extra copy of the inverted LFO that gated your Data Bender channel. Then you'd have a Data Bender Sound with Frozen Beads interspersed which could then be sent for further processing in FX Aid—all with only one LFO needed. But a typical LFO is too predictable; you could humanize your crossfading with Zadar as an LFO and modulate the shape of the envelope in realtime. You could control the volume curves of the crossfading using the Nin expander with your Joystick, but you'd need at least another 2 multiples to move that depth of modulation from a single controller. Or you could 'play' the crossfade with the knob control: Turn Left for the Data Bender, Right for Beads. As you can see, lots of potential for ambient, generative soundscape design when you can stretch Zadar envelopes over minutes with intricate reverb-soaked crossfading; or variations on full drum beats; or wavefolded melodic line madness, etc.

So it may be something to consider; keeping your most favourite LFO's, and multiplying those signals instead of reaching for 62 separate sources. You can only use so many time divisions before polyrhythmic modulation sounds sloppy. The expressive potential of modulation is in how the attenuverters interact with one another and that can be controlled very well with just a few sources multiplied subtly(!) across many inputs in complex routing schemes.

Make sense? So maybe a few more buffered multiples would be my advice.

Note: If you don't have them already, you'll wanna get Rings, Beads, and Veils ASAP as they have stopped production. If memory serves, Perfect Circuit is the last place that has Veils and Beads for sale. Rings is gonna be tricky to find available in a store, so you might have to swap in a Rings clone instead.

EDITED Nov 6th 2022, 20:58

I don't have a Lyra, so my entry is an unqualified guess at the user experience with 4 voices instead of 8

4 voices from chord
4 complex envelopes from Zadar
4 VCA and mixer from Texmix
LYRA for FX
Touch Control from Pressure Points

Added some alternates:
Tetra instead of Pressure Points
A couple of the Noise Engineering FX instead of LYRA FX

EDITED Nov 8th 2022, 23:54

This setup is mounted on a nifty case that provides power, midi to cv in and a audio out. I'm satisfied so far with this setup even though I'd like to hear some suggestions about some module replacement. I'm thinking of 2hp Sine to be replace with a modular to line out for different mixing purposes for the pluck or other vcos. Comments are welcome.

We didnt do the deal, he was just late to grab the mutable rings and now he hit thumb down on my account, which was suposed to be pure, as my actions, which even when things got heaten by courier services was ALWAYS top notch for years.

Who do i contact or how can i make it work ? i make living out of eurorack cases this negative feedback means much to me :(

Hi,
I just wondered if it makes sense to correct something like this:
Varigate 4+ is listed with a street price of € 258:

on schneidersladen.de its currently available for € 318
i found some notes about including/excluding vat in this thread

street price of € 258 may was true some time ago but in my opinion the street price should be changed to € 318
Do you agree?

Thank you, I’ll check it out.

Looks like that was it. Thanks.

I just have done a instructional video in french with manually done cc.

I just have done a instructional video !

What I like about Lyra-8 is the interaction between me and the machine, which makes Lyra-8 more a de facto instrument than a generically defined synthesizer.
In Eurorack, there is a plurality of controllers and oscillators, modulation sources, and effects; in principle, it would not be hard to recreate a similar experience. I'm not referring to the actual structure of Lyra-8 but to the experience it offers.

Is anyone interested in this idea or has a similar desire? I propose to post racks (max 84hp 3U) that may offer a similar experience. Please feel free to explain your ideas in detail.

EDITED Nov 5th 2022, 11:11

Malekko has a whole ecosystem of modules that work amazing with the Varigate 8+. Rotating Clock Divider can take advantage of the bus clock sent by the Varigate

Swap the Tangle Quartet for the Malekko Quad VCA and your Varigate will save/swap presets on the VCA!

Voltage Block would be a great addition.

made some adjustments:

EDITED Nov 5th 2022, 05:32

Bought an ES-8 from @bassscience and had a great transaction...great communication and module was packaged with great care

I am sad as well and love WMD modules and have quite a few in my setup. Hope they come back one day.

There should be a link below each price that lets you toggle back and forth between euros and dollars. I'm guessing you accidentally clicked on it?

Thanks Mowse! Haha! Yes, back in the day it took an absolute age to render anything. These animations at 1280x720 took several hours each. I can render a 10 minute video overnight depending on the complexity. I have a 7 minute very complex fractal video rendering now that looks like it'll take about 30 hours on my M1 Mac Mini - this would have been impossible back then. Cheers!

For some reason, prices on my modular pages are showing up in Euros or something ( € ? ) now where they were (and should be) in dollars. WTF? Is there a new setting that I need to change somewhere? I'm in the US.

EDITED Nov 4th 2022, 16:37

I bought a NE Viol Ruina from @Thingue and everything was perfect. Very good communication and fantastic module.

As the title says.
Is warmstar electronics still producing modules?

I'm intrigued by their "Bends" module, but concerned that an order sent to their website won't go through.

Thanks for pointing that out. I have a Compare 2 now, mostly use it for the logic section. Still trying to figure out how to integrate it into my patches, to be honest.

The price of all of this with the NiftyBundle is $650 (minus the 2hp fx module)

I use an ES-9 to send everything to my iPad, where I use AUM to mix it. AUM can also add effects, side chain compression, etc, so I'm finding it very flexible. With it, you can record each track separately. I also send everything to a mix bus, on which I apply a final EQ (removing hiss if necessary, for example), and I record that as well for publication.

Hi dears
I'd like to record my session and experimenting with ambisonic and audio360.
My setup is eurorack modular (from vca out ti mixer), model-d and some DIY stuff. All mix with xenix1200fx
I'd like record every instruments in differenti traks.
What is a good solution on budget for recording?
Is Better an USB mixer like ZEDi-10FX (anybody use it?) or a sound card?

Thanks and synth the world

Excellent stompbox.

A relaxing ambient drone piece that arose from trying to avoid buying a Lyra-8.

Main patch notes: Generate 3 and Klavis Twin Waves II supply low end drones, while Odessa gives some high end. Odessa is multed. One stereo channel goes through Timiszoara (granular glitch mode) then into Melotus Versio (in Desmodus Versio mode). The other channel goes through Nebulae (in Mars Affects mode). Slight EQ in Ableton, plus Orion Valhalla reverb plugin.

Anyone know if the Enigma is compatible with a MK2 MTM Turing Machine?

One day the kids will see these expensive racks in old studios and get told "this is how we were making these sounds".

Of course there will also be WMD devices in there.

EDITED Nov 3rd 2022, 19:42

Hi all,

I just hooked up my new Hrad expansion module to my XAOC Devices Praga mixer and enjoy it quite a bit. However, one function still puzzles me. That is how the heck to use the send and return features on the module with my modular FX units! Any ideas?
I also have this question on how to use send/return on my Qu-bit Mixology mixer module. Instructions in the manuals are not clear or I am just dense.

Over the past 2 month I've been digging in to modular synthesis and come up with a rack aimed towards creating music such as jungle, idm, Ambient, hiphop and experimental. The idea was to mainly focus on drums but still have the possibility to create Ambient soundscapes.
I've been messing with music and synthesis for a while so I've designed the rack to be kinda familiar, for example not having to many hybrids but instead adding modulars that has specifik functions like delay, adsr doing its own thing. Ive added a good amount of different modulars, hoping it will give me a wide range of modulation and patching variations. Originally i added the buchla 258t but since its not available until January i added the Dannysound en129 and the MCO instead, i might even cancel the buchla 258t and keep DS en129, maybe!
fyi - i might sell the z5000 so i pulled it out of the rack.

equipment that i already own

Varigate 8+
vpme QD
Z5000
Chronoblob
intellijel mixup
Sample drum > arriving soon
Dannysound en129 > arriving soon

until know everything works as intended so that's great, but if there are any obvious mistakes, holes or just good ideas for further fine tuning, speak up.

EDITED Nov 4th 2022, 05:26

Yeah I have zero concept of space and workflow in this context so this commentary is gold lol

Added to ferranadsr's comment above this is moving me away from an 84hp bundle toward a 104hp "proper" system.

Making a system from nothing is way more intimidating though...

I suggest getting a bigger case and replacing all the 2hp modules with a doepfer equivalent. As you have it right now it would be very uncomftable to play while patched (because the jacks are super close to the knobs), not to mention I'm not even sure you can cram that many 2hp modules near eachother physically because of the power headers

I added Both to the options of the 1U tiles.
Now they can be of the type
* Intellijel
* Pulp Logic
* Both

IMO it makes more sense to display both Intellijel and Universal if Intellijel is selected as I would expect the most prevalent use case is to look for modules that will fit the user's rack

This is the way it is working now.
I did not call the new option universal because in more cases the modules are just available in both formats instead of that one combined universal format.
To not overcomplicate it the universal 1U should be entered as both. I think this is the best compromise and should address what users like to see but I am not very familiar with 1U. So what do you think?

Clank told me they don't make a silver panel, so I reverted the listing to the black version.

I really wish people wouldn't upload alternative panels to official module listings.

We now have a filter for Pulplogic 1U and Intellijel 1U modules.
-- modulargrid

Thank you !

If a module is universal and a user selects 1U Tiles / Intellijel in the filter should that universal module be displayed? Or should there be a third filter entry 1U Tiles / Universal ?
-- modulargrid

IMO it makes more sense to display both Intellijel and Universal if Intellijel is selected as I would expect the most prevalent use case is to look for modules that will fit the user's rack - the opposite would have users have to make a search twice to cover what is available to them.

Thanks, your English is good and so is your advice!

• Pamela's New Workout -- okay cool, I was looking at it bc it has a good reputation, so that goes straight in.

• The Cre8audio case has built-in audio and MIDI outputs, so that's covered here out of sight,

• Chipz and Cellz are mainly tempting because the ~£90 saving on bundle means you effectively get one for free. So fair point, but there's something to be said for a plug 'n' play system. Especially with a brain like mine.

• Envelope generators, noted, and I'm gonna check out some DMO demos as soon as I finish listening to this Terry Riley album, then update and maybe make a non-bundle version of this rack.

Thanks!

Hi,
I am a beginner, but imo:
-I would change the 3 modules 2hp of clock modulation from a Pamela's New workout, more functions, similar money, similar size.
-You will need an audio output, a mixer or at least something that attenuates the outputs of your voices (vca's), this means at least 6 hps more.
-You are dedicating more than 50 percent of your case space to 3 modules.
-I would move to a larger case, or, I would sacrifice cellz and chipz modules.
-A couple of envelope generators would be nice too.
-Find in Youtube some demos of rides-in-the-strom DMO module, versatile, affordable and "in your music scope"
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/alm-busy-circuits-grey-pink-pamela-s-new-workout
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/rides-in-the-storm-dmo-
Best regards,
sorry for my English.

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_2074210.jpg

My interests are creating bleepy bloopy electro and drone and textural weirdness from blissful new-age all the way to malevolent noise, so the Chipz and Cellz bundle plus Eowave Weather Drones gives me an intro to both aspects: two very different voices plus routes to combining them, for an unexpectedly reasonable price.

I'm trying to cover a wide range of musical and technical bases in a small footprint for a relatively modest cost, so the first purchase is the bundle, Chipz & Cellz with case and cables, plus the two Takaab modules. Next comes Weather Drones, then the 2hp modules to incrementally increase functionality in rhythmic and melodic areas. At some point I'll probably get a Beatstep Pro but initially I'll be exporting straight to DAW or into a Tascam digital recorder.

Since I have the knowledge of a gibbon and the skills of a neanderthal I've tried to approach it the way I would conceptualize a visual art or writing project, thinking things through in terms of thematic lines and desired affect. This technique has served me well making ambient music in MIDI, although I admit I might be an idiot for trying to apply it to literal pieces of actual technology.

Literal and thematic criticisms are, ofc, both equally valid and welcome, but try to be kind. Or if you're being brutal, try to be constructive!

I talk with someone who say its 2,1mm... and an adapter will cause bad contact... I can't find a 2,1mm on internet argh...

Working with Qu-Bit Nautilus while playing Plaits. "From the deep ocean trenches, to shimmering tropical reefs, Nautilus is the ultimate exploratory delay network." This jam brings in atmospheres of the ocean, from shoreline to deep trenches. Other voices include the Moog Mother 32, DFAM, and BIA. Qu-Bit Nautilus is quickly becoming a favorite among my collection of delays.