looks like erica synths travel case to me?

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Ah, that’s it!

Lines knows all :slight_smile:

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RE rails - I’ve seen some DIY cases built with threaded inserts used as rails, mounted directly to wood, presumably to save a few bucks (works out to about $20-30 / row I think). Aside from appearance, is there any reason not to do this?

not an expert at eurorack cases, but I’m guessing it would depend heavily on how the threaded inserts are mounted to the case.

are they backed by wood and screwed/glued in place?

I’d suggest getting the frame; two rails plus ears. Just having the ears cut to precision justifies buying the rails as well IMHO. I have build my case measuring directly with the frame and it worked out nicely. 104HP 7U for a little over 100€.

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Yep that looks really nice, I like the fish! I was thinking more of rails without ears, but I do like the idea of having the structure of the ears…

@karst - The ones I saw looked backed by wood, probably glued on or maybe just seated in a groove. I don’t know if I’d go that route for a build myself, was asking mostly out of curiosity.

Ears help with precision, if you can work with it, you should be safe :slight_smile:

I think that most glues might be a slight concern on hot/humid day, especially since some modules can produce a decent amount of heat themselves.

Indeed there are M2 out there: M2 Eurorack Rails « Art For The Ears

One for people with case plus a lid: what do you think is the shallowest you could make a lid, while still being able to close patched? 60mm?

I would say something around there. My lid is 66mm interior depth and it’s pretty close to where I wonder if it’s bad for the jacks and cables if there’s too much spaghetti inside. I think it’s fine, but I wouldn’t want to go any shallower.

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You’re quickly becoming my case consultant :wink:

Is your case from Clank? I’ve decided to order from their next batch, after seeing the measurements of a few other brands was thinking of slimming down the lid a little.

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my bill is on its way :wink:

my case is from clank and I’m very pleased with it, Andrea seems great and their power is really good — the new boards have pull up resistors for i2c built in I think :eyes: I see the erica one is listed as 59mm, I feel like erica synths probably has tested that and determined its fine, so I would trust them over my own paranoia :stuck_out_tongue: that being said, it does depend on the cables — if I’m using the hosa cables they’re very flexible and I don’t worry too much, but I have had braided cables that feel a bit more snug. You could probably lose 7mm on the lid and the case and not have any issues, but I’m not sure it would make that much of a difference in overall size or weight.

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I have the 50mm one from Intellijel for their Palette case and it’s definitely too short, then I have the 70mm from Intellijel for their Performance case and it’s better. If I’m honest though I’d like something closer to 80 or even 90mm. Obviously at some point it’s impractically tall lol… But yeah I get worried sometimes about the jacks on the 70mm one although it does definitely work

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My DIY case has 55mm lid, with braided cables and closes fine. With non braided cables I think you could go 50mm.

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I can vouch for the Clank cases and their I2C setup, and it does have pull-up resistors. For me it worked right away without needing to test different cable lengths or configurations, with Ansible + crow + teletype + ER-301 + an intellijel x/y 1U configured as an I2C TRS input for 16n.

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I’ve posted tangentially about this before but now that the opportunity is in front of me, I want to be explicit. I currently have a 7U Intellijel Performance case, which I love. I filled it up pretty quickly, though, especially since I’ve got an ES-9 and a Mordax Data that I use constantly, but that don’t actually provide sound or modulation (I know I can use the ES-9 for way more, but for me it’s mainly an audio interface). So, I’m looking for expansion and a natural option to consider is a second performance case, with the Joiner Brackets. My only concern is that the kickstands on the performance case don’t have much grip, and I’m worried that the two cases joined together will be a bit flimsy or slidy? Who here uses two Intellijel cases joined together? What are the pros and cons. Two other options I’ve been thinking about are:

MDLR 14U 126 HP Travel Case - This seems to be similar to two intellijel cases, but a bit wider. It also seems like it’d be a lot sturdier, but it’s very pricy and I’d lose the IO and MIDI on the performance case.

MDLR 13U studio case - Big, lots of space. Portability isn’t super important to me, so that’s not really a big deal. Missing one 1U row. Also expensive and would have to import

Doepfer cases - Only recently started considering this, after learning that they can stack. This seems like the classic “modular wall” you see online. Upside, SOO much room and plenty of ability to expand. Also, can get the base, and then just use my performance case on top of that until I can get another doepfer case. Downside - definitely more space than I need, and will likely make me buy more modules. Also, might be a bit too big for my apartment, as just a hobbyist and a beginner at that.

Any insight you guys can share about the joined intellijel cases vs these options would be much appreciated! Also, anything I’m not thinking about? Power concerns? durability? Really, anything you have to say will help me here!

Thanks!

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i have been using two intellijel 84hp 7u cases for over a year now. sometimes joined, sometimes separate depending on my needs at the time. i configured both cases to work standalone as well as together. for me this system works really well because i can easily pare down my setup for more focused work or performances. or i can have all my module possibilities within reach for sketching. i would say i prefer this configuration infinitely over having one big case. it’s a bit more inspiring… but that’s just me.

as for the joiner kickstands… they are really sturdy solid metal and don’t bend or wobble. there are also very grippy rubber caps on the feet that make contact with your desk or whatever surface its going on and in my experience don’t slide around at all.

the only con i can think of to this configuration is that if in the future you did ever want to travel or perform with your full system vs something more condensed, you have to figure out a way to pack or carry both cases separately, and maybe that’s a bit annoying. i have just one soft case for whichever 7u i am bringing around with me. i have traveled with much larger cases than that and i really don’t enjoy it so i am happy with this limitation. :slight_smile: hope that helps!

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This is great! Thanks for taking the time to write out your experience. I do love the idea of being able to separate them into two instruments. My plan going in, though, was that the flatter case was going to be focused on sequencing and modulation and the vertical one would be sound sources, effects, and some more modulation. I think this would net out to roughly one standalone instrument that could function with any kind of controller (midi controller, other euro case, ableton via MIDI, etc), and then a controller instrument that wouldn’t be much value on it’s own. I’ll have to consider how I’d want to rethink that setup if I wanted two usable instruments (or maybe I’m alright with an advanced controller, and then one standalone desktop synth type case)

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yeah, it’s a bit tricky to get everything where you want it if two standalone systems is a goal. i do have a similar setup to what you’re describing where the bottom case has my tactile controller modules in it. for me it ended up working because i guess i just have enough cv and sequencing modules to split them between the two cases and get enough voices / control between each. but i do also swap things around occasionally.