Hey man, great post and awesome cat photo 8) welcome to the forum, it's nice to have you here
You've asked some good questions, and it sounds like you are giving yourself some awesome options with a mix of the best of eurorack and frac rack
it should for the most part be fine, but you are stepping into some muddy waters and there's some things you should know to be sure you'll be ok
Bricks wrote:
Wiard: Borg, Noise Ring
Blacet: Miniwave
Livewire: Vulcan Modulator
awesome!! the noise ring and miniwave are easily my two favorite modules, these are all great choices and it looks from the very beginning that you'll have a really interesting and fun system
Bricks wrote:So my LFOS and 1st VCF are taken care of, and I've got the Noise Ring and Miniwave to mess with for added funk. I'm also going with 2x Plan B Model 15s for VCOs. I'm thinking I'll snag a Future Retro Mobius for Midi-CV, plus the whole sequencing thing...
Those Model 15 VCO sound great to me... I'd like to add a couple triangle core VCOs at some point, the blacets are sine core. I believe Wiard's 300 series classic vco also uses a triangle core. Very good call on the Mobius, you've probably read the other threads here and heard my opinion on it, I think it's the best bet when starting a modular system, because it gives you quite a few useful things for a really good price. I have a pair of them that are just about always in use. Zerosum just bought one and he's delighted with it. Eventually you may (as I have) graduate to a 'dedicated' midi-cv converter, at which point the Mobius becomes an awesome sequencer or CV source.
Bricks wrote:Now I need to decide what I should do for VCAs, EGs, and Mixers.
I really like the idea of the Doepfer Quad ADSR for EG. Does this mean I should stick with Doepfer for the VCAs? I know Doepfers operate 0-8v, and don't know how much of a mess it is to mix modules with diferent voltage ranges.
Well, for the most part things would be OK, however there's a few issues. Doepfer VCAs run 0-8v and as far as I know the EGs do as well. So if you keep these together you'll be OK. The Blacet EG is 0-10v, so that should be OK into a Doepfer VCA, you can't open the VCA 'more' than 100% anyway, but you'll just reach the envelope's peak a bit sooner than with a blacet vca. You could always use a attenuator on a 0-10v EG and trim it a bit for the Doepfer VCA
Bricks wrote:Would it be a big deal to use a MOTM 1190 which is 0-10v? I like the idea of having LIN and EXP VCAs in one package.
I don't really like recommending MOTM, however this is actually an excellent choice. I have a pair of Blacet QuadMix VCAs, as well as a pair of Blacet Dual Linear VCAs, and the MOTM 1190. I *always* use the 1190 as the 'final' VCA in a patch. It just sounds really really clean and really really good. So do the Blacet's, nothing wrong with them, but the MOTM just has a bit more bass and a cleaner response as far as I can tell. VCAs are something you want good quality. I haven't taken advantage of the lin/exp in one box really that much, but the three controls it gives you (when using linear CV anyway) let you really tailor the response to exactly what you want. Plus you get two in the package. It's a great module, I totally recommend it.
Bricks wrote:Howabout the Doepfer Quad ADSR, MOTM 1190, and Blacet Quad Mix VCA. Would they all play well together?
Not sure about the Doepfer quad ADSR, as I've never used one, but it should be OK. Certainly nice to have 4 adsr's, as you always want more, and they can be expensive. I use my Blacet Quad Mix VCAs a LOT, they are *EXTREMELY* handy modules, however I rarely use them as a VCA. You get 4 VCAs, however they have exponential response, not linear, and can be a little tricky to dial in. But it's also a 4-into-1 mixer, which is really nice, and it has the ability to amplify an external signals to modular levels. This thing is really a cross between the Blacet I/O, the Blacet Mixer/Processor, and a pair of Blacet Dual VCAs. It's an absolute bargain and it's a shame they are being discontinued. I think everyone should get one of these when starting out, as you get a lot of functionality into your synth for a really attractive price.
Bricks wrote:Would I be missing out with the Quad ADSR, cause I wouldn't have CV control over the parameters? Should I give up on my looping interest and just buy a few Blacet EG1s? I'd suggest incorporating a MOTM Looping ADSR, but its 0-5v, which I hear is a pain to deal with.
Hard to say. I have to admit that the Blacet EG1 is one HELL of an envelope generator. It has a looping/LFO mode, so you don't lose this if you choose this module. the time base option allows for extremely fast or extremely slow response times. CV control over ADSR, along with an inverted out, allows you to get the effect of an exponential Decay in your envelope, by patching in the INV OUT to the DECAY CV IN. It's an unbelievable EG module. But it's also really pricey. I can say that I do NOT use CV control of ADSR very often (except the self-patching INV OUT into CV DECAY IN, which I almost always do), so you may want to factor that in. However on the other hand I've made some really really interesting patches by throwing LFOs and Noise Ring outputs into the CVs for the EG, and deriving a set of gate signals from a slowly clocked miniwave. Really interesting, 'auto generative' kind of stuff that you couldn't do without a CV-enabled EG.
Finally, if those Doepfer EGs only throw out 8v max, they will never fully open a Blacet VCA or an MOTM 1190, so that's something to keep in mind.
And, you are right, the MOTM looping ADSR peaks at only 5v. What the hell was Paul thinking?? In my opinion this makes an attractively priced and designed module completely worthless. I couldn't see using it for anything unless it's resdesigned for 10v peak. As mentioned howver the Blacet EG1 has a looping/LFO mode.
Hope this is helpful info for you 8)
cheers
