Muff's Modules & More

cleaninglady · Last edited by cleaninglady on Thu May 05, 2011 12:02 am; edited 1 time in total

After making the CGS/Serge Panel #3 , i have decided to give the expensive world of Euro a go.

I'd like all your favourites in VCO's and VCLFO's

As $$$ is an issue , i'm getting kits and trying to build as much as possible.

Looking for opinions and help getting PCB's and Faceplates sourced too.

I'm in Melbourne AU , so any advice from AU people would be shweet !

cL

paults · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 12:02 am Post subject:

It's the E350 in a landslide (for both functions). OK, I'm biased.

cleaninglady · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 12:06 am Post subject:

is it available in a kit ? it's a bit pricey for me off the shelf !

(sorry Paul , i accidently PM'ed you , my apologies).

LoFi Junglist · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 12:31 am Post subject:

Try MFOS, I helped a mate put together his modules and they sound ok.

cleaninglady · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 1:17 am Post subject:

hey Lo Fi

Was the MFOS stuff the right size for euro ? I've got about 10-12cm in some areas of the case , less above the Power Supply.

NV · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 1:45 am Post subject:

So are you looking for DIY Euro specific projects, or just general VCO/VCF suggestions? At least currently, Euro is far removed from the DIY haven of formats like 5U. The DIY projects you'll find in Euro are for the most part the same ones you'll find in any other format - MFOS, CGS, Ian Fritz, etc. Anything that can run off +/-12V becomes a Euro module if you toss it in a Euro rack, but you'll likely be fabricating your own panels since there isn't a Bridechamber-esque resource for Euro at this point in time.

Kits here are few and far between, and generally of a fairly specific breed - 4ms and Flight of Harmony have euro oriented kits, but they're for clock division/multiplication, a joystick, and a FSU/filter/whatever box. Elby Designs (which is located in Australia) will provide various CGS kits which he can customize to euro specs for you, although you will need to fabricate your own panels unless you can convince him to supply some of his Panther panels for you. Other than that it's not nearly the same kit lineup you'll find in the 5U realm, and as of now not nearly the same level of pet-project support like you'll find with the "Best Of" panels that have been in the DIY forum. Fonik occasionally offers a few different PCBs from time to time and sometimes with suggested front panel layouts, but they're bare PCBs and not readily available unless he's organizing a particular run. If you're looking for DIY VCO/VCF suggestions the DIY forum will probably provide a much better resource - just look for something that can run on +/-12V.

What has pushed you into entering the Euro realm over any other format after building the "Best Of" Serge-format panels, particularly if you're DIY oriented? Is it just the subrack mounting of Euro you appreciate, or are you also hoping to augment your system with existing manufactured modules?

LoFi Junglist · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 2:00 am Post subject:

cleaninglady · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 2:30 am Post subject:

@lofi

Many thanks , i'll check it out

cleaninglady · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 2:47 am Post subject:

@NV

I'm definately looking for projects.

I'm super happy with the CGS/Serge and it was so cheap to build for the amount of grunt you get from it ; (i'm doing the Sequencer panel too...) i use it mainly for noise gigs and it's brutal !!

In some ways i'm feeling like it might be a bad decision to get into Euro.

It's a combination of wanting to see what all the fuss is about and the fact that i need safe transportable gear for gigs and travel.

It does seem that there is a dearth of kit form euro around.

I noticed the Thomas Henry VCO PCBs on Magic Smoke are 4inches by 5 inches so theoretically i might be able to do those :

http://magsmoke.com/TH-101-Sheboygan-566-VCO.asp

Same goes for the Mankato Filter :

http://magsmoke.com/TH-201-Mankato-Filter-VCF.asp

I have actually already bought the 4ms RCD SCM and SCM Breakout in kit.
They are full kits with Faceplates and great value.

I got a Plague Bearer in Kit but will be making my own faceplate from a 4HP blank that Dann included in the 4ms order (nice bloke...)

For a Joystick i am going to make the 1209 Joystick on Grant Richter's page :
http://www.musicsynthesizer.com/Joystick/1209.htm

falafelbiels · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 3:43 am Post subject:

Is this wanting kits because of the not being equipped to make faceplates? If so I'd just stick with the Best of CGS at least until you have them all.
A lot of DIY stuff is hard to cram behind euro panels. It either becomes very wide or very deep. Both don't equal compact, which is what euro is about in my mind. I tend to do dual modules in euro such as with the MFOS VCO and combinations of-, or expansions to the very long CGS boards to make the big ass faceplates more viable.
I only do euro because I started there and don't want to switch format. Occasionally I look at the best of CGS things because of ease of construction and then go I don't think so alas.

Lately I kind of enjoy doing panels but it's really time consuming compared to filling PCBs and once a panel is drilled up I get extremely antsy about it all. Almost finished except for the goddamn tedious artwork and labeling!

cleaninglady · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 5:12 am Post subject:

It's wanting to do kits because i enjoy building and researching , (i'm very new to this all ; my first build was Sept 2010) but also a financial issue with the cost of Euro modules in general.

I'm finding it hard to see how i'll even populate 6U without selling a bunch of other musical gear but as i said above the sturdiness / portability of a Doepfer case is attractive and there are some interesting Euro modules out there.

I totally agree about the difficulty of finding DIY in Euro format that will fit behind panels and i'm only going to be doing vertical mounts.

It is very time consuming , damn straight.

All that said , i'm going to keep researching/bashing my head against a wall for a while...

gwaidan · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 5:33 am Post subject:

If one of the dimensions of the board you want to add is 4" or less then you can parallel mount it to the faceplate in Euro-combine a couple of Ken Stone boards stacked together and you'll get a nice dense 32HP module, and same for Magic Smoke boards which all have the same mounting dimensions. As an example here's a 32HP work in progress of mine using the Magic Smoke XR VCOs you mentioned. Once these are done then a Mankato board and an 8038 modulator board will be getting jiggy! nanners

For DIY Euro only really suffers by comparison due to the lack of people selling faceplates for DIY boards-if you took Bridechamber's panels out of the equation then the playing field would be a lot more even. Besides, half the attraction I've found with DIY faceplates (either FPE or home-brew) is not letting someone else make the decisions about what options I want from a module. Don't write off Elby, Laurie may be over here but he has a wide range of interesting, quality kits that he supports really well.

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 11:37 am Post subject:

There are few euro specific projects but pretty much anything you can buy a PCB for you could do in euro.

Euro specific kits/PCBs:
Elby (panther) is where you will find the most kits, facepanels and PCBs. Mostly CGS and Ian Fritz stuff
4ms sells kits, or PCBs, panels.
Steiner Synthasystem: PCBs only but has premade faceplate examples you could order from FPE. All his designs are specifically for euro as the original system had roughly euro dimensions. These are cool cause they are painstakingly true to the original designs but also made to consider easier to source parts so you can go either way.

Pre-populated PCBs/kits:
Flight of Harmony sells pre-populated boards/kits (and they are very affordable)
Pittsburg Modular: just the vilfo so far I think
MOTM/Synthesis Technology: Cool modules but I think the DIY is more aimed at if you want to port it into a different system (other than euro). Faceplates, pots, switches, knobs, etc. are the expensive part of DIY. You could easily spend more going DIY with these than just buying the retail module, particularly if you buy used and especially if you are paying for professionally made faceplates.
Mattson modular: most of his stuff is available as kits

With all that said, if you are trying to save money DIYing, make your own face plates. They are very expensive to have made and professionally made ones will quickly eat up any cost savings you thought you had by going DIY. If you get FPE faceplates, for instance, you are easily talking $50-$100 per module.

Having a deep case will make it easier to do any project you want in euro format.

fengland · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 12:41 pm Post subject:

interesting topic. I'm working on converting a couple diy modules to eurorack myself. I'm building my own case and it's going to be fairly deep for this reason. I wanted to use a paia midi/cv kit in my eurorack so I actually cut the pcb in half and I'm going to stack the halves and use jumper wires to bridge the cut traces. We'll see how it goes. I'm also going to be moving a diy MFOS multi mode filter into my eurorack - it's deep but not as deep as that obese midi board.

I agree it's not going to be cheaper if you get panels professionally made. I'm just going to be using some 1/16" sheet aluminum I have laying around and some lazer printable decal paper.

Adam-V · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 5:56 pm Post subject:

Ooh yes, MMM is a great way to get things started. The boards come ready built and tested. You just need to supply the panel, panel hardware and do the panel wiring. The PCBs are roughly 80 x 67mm. The Dual VCLFO is just $96 US. George is great to deal with too. Not sure if he's offering the VCO as a kit though he may do you one if you ask nicely.

Cheers,
Adam-V

gwaidan · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 6:46 pm Post subject:

Monobass · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 7:23 pm Post subject:

For the cost of a few FPE panels you could just buy a 2nd hand bench pillar drill, a scribe, a metal ruler, a hole punch, some drills.... ok maybe quite a few panels but it's gotta be a better option long term.

What about options for cutting panels cleanly? Are there compact sheet metal guillotines that can do a good job? Every one I've ever used has been the size of an upright piano smile

negativspace · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 7:29 pm Post subject:

John Noble · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 8:53 pm Post subject:

cleaninglady · Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 9:32 pm Post subject:

@gwaidan , thanks , i haven't written off Laurie. I bought my Doep case via him and the CGS Distro. The Case was a special order from the supplier in Germany, no power supply no distro.

I'll definately have to buy a few kits and probably a couple of standard Doep Modules from Laurie , he is always very helpful when i talk to him.

used CGS distro boards , ran direct from the ASMI PSU2 i had and hard wired the power to the back of the CGS Distro Boards so i get six modules per board. as the doep box is wood , no short problems.

RSFC , feng , adam , neg , mono , john : thanks for all that excellent info , i may take a while to digest but some more great research.

cheers people ! SlayerBadger!

cL