#1

Just wanted to get a place for us all to talk about Colour modules. Your favorites, mods you’ve tried, etc.

I’ll start based on something I recently learned. It looks like in addition to the selection of modules included on the DIYRE site, there are a number available direct from HRK that are not listed.

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The 500 Series Thread
#2

I have a HRK stereo Colour carrier. There are definitely some of his modules that I’d love to try out sometime if anyone has tried any.

I used Colour first for exploring different transformers, then did a bunch of the LTL effects (they’re all fun), and am now settling into saturations. The two currently in my system are the CTX mk I (which will probably be replaced soon as I now have a ton of cinemag all over my outboard) and TM79 (which I use for aggressive processing of drums).

I’ve been through a bunch of them though and happy to give thoughts if someone wants.

  • CTX mk I
  • JFET
  • Roguetec Air
  • Implode
  • Pulse
  • Pentode
  • TM79
  • 15IPS

I’ve built a few and the DIYRE build kits and manuals are fantastic, many of them are great first-timer projects.

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#3

Curious about this one as it’s one of the pairs I’ve got coming. What did you like it on? Did you do anything special with the build (or find any discussion of mods somewhere online)?

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#4

I didn’t do any of the mods, just built it up per the instructions. I really loved it bass guitar (I’m a bassist so I’m sort of freaky about everything in that way). I felt it had a fun distortion but really shined in the sweetspot before distortion, great thickening agent. I sold mine because I’m always swapping things around/trying to make some cash back to keep things afloat here, but if I had one again I would absolutely use it often.

I never used it on drums or drum machines but I bet it would be great for that. Or following any pultec-style EQ in a signal chain if you do the pultect bump.

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#5

Should probably see about having a moderator move this post into this thread:

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#6

Couple others:

(portion of this one has some talk about some of the HRK modules):

#7

I pre-ordered the Colour Palette Duo and picked up a pair of the 15IPS and Colourupter circuits, too. My thought is to use it mostly for bus processing and some saturation/distortion when tracking synths/samples/loops. I’m a novice when it comes to processing in the “pro audio” world so I deliberately choose one subtle and one not so subtle color to start out with to see how I find myself using them. Definitely wanna try some Louder than Liftoff circuits eventually.

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#9

Either of these can be gentle or aggressive just depending on how hard you hit them (preamp + colour knob). Then if you really slam them you can attenuate (trim).

I haven’t used the Colourupter yet (ask me again in a couple weeks. :smiling_imp:) but the 15IPS is a fun candidate to put on every single track just a tiny bit–dial it up with the preamp until you just notice it and then back off by half, makeup the volume difference with the trim (or another preamp later in the path). Do it on five or more tracks and it all adds up to a thicker sound. Then do the same on the mixbus if you like.

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#10

Just a bump to say I (almost*) finished my Duo preamp, here it is with the top off.

IMG_6648
IMG_66483823×2669 2.67 MB

It was a lot of fun, super impressed with the way the kit was put together. There was like 13 individual bags of components (organized by section/type…some even had sub-bags) so there were good, natural stopping points throughout the build. And there was both a step-by-step build manual, as well as this interactive web app that lets you see where the components are on the pcb and check them off as you go (cool to see a progress bar that’s filling up as you build). I had those opened side-by-side on an iPad at my work area.

The drawer mechanism feels nice and solid (there are pieces of metal that reinforce pretty much the entire area of the pcb). It actually weighs more than you’d expect looking at the size due to that. The stepped pots, knobs and switches all feel solid. All in all, definitely feels much more expensive than the $550 price on the base kit.

I also finished a pair of the JFT colours this evening, which were super quick and easy.

*I did accidentally mess up a cap, totally a stupid error on my part. purchased a replacement and am eagerly awaiting it to arrive so I can put it in and test it out.

I’ll share some A/B’d recordings through some of the colours soon once I get it all set up.

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#11

Peterson’s instructions are the gold standard. Looks great!

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#12

I designed three colour modules for Peterson years ago. I taught myself Eagle and had them ready to go, but decided not to release them due to being in over my experience level and not wanting to release a commercial product that could potentially fail due to my own inexperience.

They were a square wave fuzz (inspired by Anderson’s Electronic Projects for Musicians), a Belton Brick reverb and a THAT compressor.

I’ve since sold my 500 series Colour stuff and miss it sometimes.

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