I have a 6U that I finally stopped tweaking (and love) but didn’t have room for DLD, Meadowphysics, or Teletype, so I bought a little Make Noise skiff that I’ve been building out. The Mannequins parts are on loan from the other case and will be replaced at some point by dual STOs and an Lxd but so far I’m really enjoying this and it’s more fun to lug around than the big case. 
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Seems like the MN skiff is a pretty popular choice for a 104HP skiff. I’m just getting into modular and trying to piece together a skiff based mostly around Mannequins modules after trying them out at Control two weekends ago and being thoroughly blown away. The skiff I’ve been thinking about is something like this:
Being a beginner with a basic understanding of power draw does that seem like the MN skiff’s power supply would be adequate or should I look at getting one of their unpowered skiffs with a 4ms Row Power 40? Thanks in advance, excited to finally be posting on here!
A good rule of thumb is to stay under 80% of the power supply’s rated max for each rail (+12V, -12V, +5V), and your rack looks like it is around ~65% on the highest draw rail (based on 781mA draw vs +12V@1.2A), which is almost always +12V.
In short, it looks like you’d have plenty of power with the regular Make Noise skiff/PSU. MN are smart folks IMO, I think you would have to use some pretty power hungry modules to exceed their power supplies for a given stock case.
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My 84hp case I’m going to put in my bag over Christmas. If it was 104hp I would have squeezed in a DLD or Clouds.
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Thanks for the reply! If I ended up adding a grid or arc in the future would I still be safe? I’ve read through ansible’s manual but I couldn’t find any information on what power those controllers might draw (if any). Totally might have missed it though, that manual is packed with info.
The Grid and the Make Noise Skiff power supply don’t get along, so you’ll get a high-pitched whine mixed into your audio output, which gets more intense the more of the Grid is lit up. The good news is that this problem can be completely eliminated by using an Offworld-1 and a USB charger (e.g. one you got with a phone) to power the grid.
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Oh awesome I hadn’t seen that! I’d seen the DIY solutions tehn had suggested a while back but this is great. Thanks for sharing that!
I use Ansible with Grid/Arc in a Make Noise Skiff with the original power supply and never had a problem. Didn’t notice any noise neither.
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Yup. I was about to say the same thing @azurga said, I use Ansible and Grid with a Make Noise powered skiff and I have no problems.
Except for the new 7U Steel CV Bus case. That’s pretty underpowered especially on the +12 bus. (specs: 1.5 amps @ 12Vdc, 1A @ -12Vdc, 1A @ +5Vdc)
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(Oops, updated the rack and replaced the image on modular grid)
Just ordered components to start building a little drum/percussion rack. Considering adding in an additional Plonk (depending on how much I like the first one when it arrives), and maybe a kick, snare, and/or hi-hat modules. Will probably end up adding in some effects (Intellijel Rainmaker maybe), but what else?
how do you plan on controlling things? I’m not sure I’d see much use in Ansible AND CVpal in a small setup (seems like one or the other makes sense, depending on if you want to use the case standalone with a Grid or always with a computer in between), but might rather add some modulation sources and another voice. If you can find a MI Peaks, that could serve as both, for example, but it is discontinued - though not too hard to come by.
Good question. I will use the CVpal to get clock from my Organelle via usb, routing it to Ansible. Ansible will be tethered to my arc, and will sequence Plonk. Definitely considering Peaks on the used market, and maybe other percussion voices. Perhaps more modulation sources would be a better next step. Thanks!
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sounds fun! Peaks is pretty unique in that it can modulate as an envelope/LFO AND be a standalone voice when combined with a trigger, and that you get two independent copies of that in one module. Seems like a good fit since you could have rhythmic modulations for Plonk from one channel and a snare or whatever else on the other channel.
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So here’s what I’m thinking now. Second ansible would have a grid connected. (Edit: just realized that I replaced the previous rack picture on modular grid with this one)
The Rainmaker might be more of a space hog than I would personally want in a small rig, but if you are super into complex delays then I don’t mean to discourage that! They do certainly seem amazing
That’s a very good point. I was thinking about intricate and subtle rhythmic delay lines, but perhaps there’s a more space-efficient way to achieve the same effect. I’ll see where I get with plonk and peaks without the delay effect, then determine what else would make good additions. Thanks!
4ms dld!
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Ah, great suggestion. Thanks! That opens up 16hp, which gives me room for an audio mixer and possibly another voice, or more modulation sources…
Here’s my actual setup. Used to work with a 6u x 84hp, but since I was changing and reorganizating my rack I’ve decided to limit myself to this 104hp.
The idea was also to dig a bit more in some of my modules that I didn’t use at their full capacities (mainly the case for the rainmaker haha). It’s working pretty well. Just being able to carry it around the house and use random stuff as sound sources is awesome.
I’ve planned to swap my Rosie for a pico out, logic and LPG from Menqi. Which will gave me more fun stuff in that small rack space.
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If it’s rhythmic delay lines you’re after in particular the new 4ms Tapographic Delay is 18hp (half the size of Rainmaker) and targeted at exactly that use case, as opposed to the DLD from what I can tell.
Some good demos as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtWntEUTfxg