Tesseract Modular Sweet Sixteen

[talfred]

Didn't think of this as something worth having until I saw the price: €70 for a kit and €170 pre built. Open source 16n faderbank with 16 CV in/out + MIDI over USB. Looks good too.

Is MIDI about to become modular as well? There's been a few MIDI controllers for eurorack coming out lately.

More info here: https://www.gearnews.com/tesseract-modular-sweet-sixteen-eurorack-midi-controller/

[djthopa]

I built one recently.
Its a great module, many many applications and uses.
The midi cc can be changed and assigned inside the arduino sketch.
Still have to dive deep into this great module...i2c!
Mangu / tesseract its a great person to deal with, and the prices are spot on.

[paperCUT]

Looks like a great use for a pod.

[brandonlogic]

the perfect er301 expander, i just got it working now!
just proof it works:

[Delabelle]

Hi,

What did you to adapt to make it talk to the er301?

Cheers

[x2mirko]

Since it's based on the 16n, it has a i2c connector on the back which you can directly connect to the er-301. Then you can use the sc.cv device on the er-301 to directly use the fader values. You may need to upload a specific firmware onto it, as it needs to act as the i2c master. The firmware is available on github and if you look around for 16n and er-301 via google or just on the OD forum, you'll find a lot of information about how to connect the two.

[SlagRalden]

there doesn't really seem to be a manual or tutorial anywhere on this module... I'm seriously considering it to control some expert sleeper modules with CC messages but the documentation is just not there... Befaco VCMC has all the info clearly laid out online

[starthief]

Yeah, I have never seen a manual for it. The faders and inputs on mine send CC 32 through 47 on channel 1. No idea how to configure it though.

[brandonlogic]

The info on how to change the midi cc’s are here, along with other info. What else do you need to know? https://www.tesseractmodular.com/manual ... een-manual

And more info here
https://www.tesseractmodular.com/eurora ... xteen-mkii

[starthief]

The info on how to change the midi cc’s are here, along with other info. What else do you need to know? https://www.tesseractmodular.com/manual ... een-manual

And more info here
https://www.tesseractmodular.com/eurora ... xteen-mkii

OK, so I missed some info there because the whole page is presented as a build guide, and I wasn't interested in firmware hacking.

And then on the page that it links to, you have to watch the video to get the link to the web editor. Which is, for convenience, https://16n-faderbank.github.io/editor/ (Privacy Badger has to be disabled for WebMIDI to work).

And part of the documentation is hiding out on the github page ("Firmware - souce code" button). This is the only place that says what the "function button" on the mk2 is even for (apparently, it only works with the expander...)

It's not great documentation

[SlagRalden]

The info on how to change the midi cc’s are here, along with other info. What else do you need to know? https://www.tesseractmodular.com/manual ... een-manual

And more info here
https://www.tesseractmodular.com/eurora ... xteen-mkii

yea ive seen those links, just carefully reread them again (for the forth time) and i think i understand them, it sounds like i still need to download another software ive never used and somehow get it talking to the module (not explained), maybe install the source code? (not explained) and then edit those CC and Channel values, and then save it to the module (not explained) ... a simple tutorial could go a long way... also no where in any of the documentation have I seen explained what the "Function" button does...what does it do?

[SlagRalden]

oh lol starthief beat me to it.... thanks for the info... still hesitating on the purchase lol

[starthief]

Don't get me wrong, I love the module even more than the original 16n. Part of why I didn't dig deeper into the information that's available is I didn't really need to -- it just works with my DAW and Teletype and analog CV right out of the box.

[brandonlogic]

Send Tesseract a message with your questions, they are very responsive and helpful.

[vasculator]

I wouldn't hesitate at all in getting one of these. It's incredible and the inputs are a fantastic addition. The manual/build guide link very clearly shows how to modify the CC values.

Additionally, I can't recommend Pierpaolo/RTFM on ModularGrid marketplace enough as far as builders go. They can get you a 16 in short order and outline all the hardware options.

[SlagRalden]

i get a 404 message on github when I click on the link that says "Download the source code here."

[Buttons ARE toys]

Does anybody have examples of this thing handling CV to MIDI? Does it work as smoothly as CV to i2c does?

[starthief]

I use the faders for MIDI control of DAW parameters all the time.

I don't use the CV inputs as often because I have an ES-3/ES-6 combo, but I've tried them and they work fine.

I even experimented with running audio through them over MIDI CC, and if I remember right, the sample rate was something like 200Hz

[Buttons ARE toys]

I use the faders for MIDI control of DAW parameters all the time.

I don't use the CV inputs as often because I have an ES-3/ES-6 combo, but I've tried them and they work fine.

I even experimented with running audio through them over MIDI CC, and if I remember right, the sample rate was something like 200Hz

Okay, cool. I had been wondering about this thing vs. 16n for a while now, and only today noticed that it also does CV to MIDI which makes it way more interesting to me. Went ahead and ordered it along with Gess and a 4ms Pod32 to make a Super 16n It'll be nice to be able to just put it next to my laptop when I want to mix with the faders, or set it up alongside some modular stuff and my other synths to let them talk to each other. Wonderful!

[starthief]

Yeah, I wound up going from a regular 16n to this in a Pod60 and I'm really happy with it. Sometimes I'll use it just for extra attenuators too, since the path through the CV ins through CV outs is analog.

[tekzon]

Hey there!
First, big up to Mangu who already helped me a lot!

would you have a look at the pic,
are all jumpers right to be used with er-301?

that's the right .hex?
https://github.com/M4ngu/Sweet-Sixteen/ ... tDelay.hex

what is the function push button?

regarding GESS, 8 inputs to sweet16... is it 8 trig to midi? I don't get it.

Thanks for your inputs fellas!

[starthief]

Some things owners might want to be aware of:

The Pusherman aluminum front panel is for the 1.0 version of Sweet Sixteen. It's missing holes for the button and LED near the USB jack. I didn't even think about it when I ordered one, didn't look super close and had the original panel off of mine before I realized it wasn't going to work, at least not without drilling a couple more holes. EDIT: my mistake, they have both versions. Be sure to order the correct one!

Also note that the original jack nuts are gold colored, so if you do switch the front panel you may want some silver nuts. Though different colored nuts to mark either the inputs or the outputs might also be called for depending on your preferences, of course.

(My efforts weren't wasted -- I happened to have some trouble where fader 2 wasn't sending CC or i2c messages but the analog circuit worked fine, and wasn't willing to ship it overseas for repair since I use it for both digital and analog control anyway. But after I reassembled the panel, all the faders works fine now.)


Also: if you encounter an issue where a group of faders spontaneously sends MIDI or i2c messages when they shouldn't -- sometimes a slow small drift, sometimes a massive, choking burst of messages -- make sure the offset switches are fully either up or down and making good contact, not in an intermediate position. Flipping the "1-4" switch up and back down solved it for me, when I thought it was a grounding issue or something.

[Peng33]

So with the stimulus check about on the way, I have been looking at the Befaco VCMC pretty hard...it is $350 new, but the Sweet Sixteen and adapter are $300. They take up more room, but double the number of CVs, as well as adding manual CV outs to use in Eurorack and functioning as attenuators instead of just functioning as a CV to MIDI converter, which is obviously my main priority.

I am not trying to get into Arduino, have zero interest in i2c, and am not willing to program or code anything for a "firmware" update. In fact, I would like to minimize PC use/connectivity as much as possible. Downloading an update to an SD card or a USB drive is about as far as I want to go, albeit if I need to do an initial configuration to specify CCs, etc, I am probably willing to do so. That said, I have three Arturia products that I know I am not fully utilizing because I have never configured them on PC.

With all that being said, is this what I want, or would I be better off with the Befaco and lose some significant auxiliary functionality? Thanks in advance.

[starthief]

Configuration is really easy -- hook it up via USB, go to this web page. It lets you set the MIDI channel and CC# for each fader (it's ch1 and CC32-47 by default), invert the faders and a couple of other things that won't matter to you. No need to code anything.

I think the Sweet Sixteen is worth it for the attenuators and unified CV control of modular gear, if you don't need the VCMC's gate buttons and if just sending CC rather than NRPN or Program Change is enough.

[Peng33]

But if I wanted gates for playing notes, the expander would work for that, though, right?

Or can I send a quantized 1v/Oct through one of the CV inputs, assign it to a MIDI CC (is there a MIDI CC for pitch?) if I am just trying for drones?