#63

If I’m only looking to get CV from my computer (via max) is es-3 the more cost efficient way to go?

#64

If the interface you already own is DC-coupled, that could be a cheaper option

#65

I don’t think it is, I only have a Scarlett interface

#66

If you have an audio interface with an adat output then the ES3 is a great way to do that and they can be found fairly cheaply these days, especially if you look for one of the slightly earlier versions.

True, although a DC coupled interface may be more limited in terms of the voltage range it can output compared to the ES3.

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#67

so gosh darn much of this part yes. worth it in the end though.

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#68

Maybe some of the fine people here can help me out.

What are the pros/cons (differences?) of a DC-coupled interface vs a MIDI-to-CV interface for getting CV out of Max?

I’m pretty confident in the following, but correct me if I’m wrong:

  • MIDI-to-CV is -5/+5 pp; DC coupled can be up to -10/+10pp
  • MIDI-to-CV would likely require some slewing to avoid “steppiness” (the Polyend Poly has some built in slewing)

Am I missing anything else? Obviously, something like the ES-8 is great because it also works well with audio, but it’s also considerably more $$$ than some MIDI interfaces that could solve my needs.

#69

There’s no reason why midi -> cv conversion would limit you to -5/+5v. That is a design decision on the conversion module you use. There’s of course somewhat limited resolution depending on what you do (e.g. 127 steps for normal midi-cc), but there’s nothing stopping a module from mapping that to -10v/10v

Slewing may be required, but it depends a lot on what you’re slewing. You can use things like pitch bend to send messages with a relatively high resolution via midi, so again it depends on your midi interface, especially on how configurable it is regarding what outputs respond to which midi message.

I think it’s a bit easier to use a DC-coupled audio interface since you don’t have to think about the conversion/mapping from signal -> midi -> signal (with ES-8, you just send your max signals straight out and it works just fine), but other than that, it’s not a big difference for the “CV out of Max” use case.

#70

Good to know, and I’ll thank Reddit for that misinformation about pp voltage limitations :slight_smile:

Thanks!

#71

I have both - a Doepfer midi-cv interface and a Motu DC coupled interface.

The main challenge with the midi interface was midi clock; I couldn’t get this to work consistently at all, even adjusting for monitoring latency etc in my use case. And you might have want to clock something in your case (like a sequencer). You could always make your own clock using midi notes, of course, but then you lose a gate channel for your interface (and I only had one),

#72

One more point similar to what @Autogeneric was saying: Rate of change is of course significantly different - there’s a limit to how fast you can send midi events and how often the midi-cv module will update its outputs (again, sort of depends on the module). I wouldn’t want to send audio-rate modulations over midi (although honestly, I never tried). And if you send 44k signals per second at somewhat regular intervals, it’s much easier to get things like timing correct compared to sending serial messages onto a bus that will decide whenever it will transmit that message.