#204

Passive attenuator modules can be used outside of the rack in an emergency. There have been times that I just taped one to the side of my case. Then I made a little metal bracket and screwed it into the side of the case.

3 Likes
#205

Hey everyone, just wondering if anyone has any advice/strong opinions about the rack i’m thinking of putting together. Spent a lot of time with modulargrid and puredata and stuff, and really keen to branch out into some physical patching! I know the general advice is to take things slow and not rush into 30+ module buys at once but being mostly DIY it generally works out easier buying PCBs and panels in batches so I just want to check there’s roughly a good balance of utilities and fun modules.

I’m looking for a few voices, the option to make some fairly traditional subtractive sounds, drones and textures for my psych rock band and to explore more west-coast sounds too.

It’s missing some effects because I’ll pair it with some pedals (although I could easily be talked into reorganising and squeezing a delay in there). The only thing I can think of that I use a fair bit on modulargrid is something for panning - is that something people advocate for in the rack? I haven’t seen anything not massive that has CV control over panning, and that seems like the only reason not to go the external route. Maybe swapping out something for a nearness would be a good compromise?

(There’s also two racks with very slight differences here and here if anyone’s feeling extra keen)

#206

I only clicked the first link, but your rack looks like it has ample utilities and modulation but some pretty limited in terms of sound generation. I’ve never played modular as part of a band, but I assume you don’t want to be spending an awful lot of time getting complex modulation patches to function as intended, but you just want a few cool, versatile voices to sit underneath and occasionally rise above the mix at certain key moments. Looking at your rack, this is not something i’d really be wanting to use in a band situation. It’s more like “clear my schedule for the next 12 hours, i’m going down a NLC rabbit-hole…”

My advice is simplify and refine. Keep Rings. If you don’t know what other voices you want, just get a Plaits.

In a band situation it’s probably wise to do your mixing in the rack and just send a stereo pair out to the FoH/PA. If you get a compact mixer with panning (like 4MS Listen Four Quarters) this will take care of your panning needs, although without CV control. Otherwise MakeNoise have a couple of very compact panning mixers, and Worng will be releasing their similar offering soon. I recommend swapping the Jove for QPAS to give lot of control over the stereo field, and then getting a compact stereo mixer.

1 Like
#207

Have roughly 7 Hp space remaining on an 84 hp row, trying to figure out how to fit a SLOTHS (8hp) in there. was thinking about replacing a LxD with a Meng Qi DPLPG - wondering how they compare, if I’d be losing anything substantial (besides strike/trigger inputs) … any thoughts are appreciated

#208

clear my schedule for the next 12 hours, i’m going down a NLC rabbit-hole…

As much as that absolutely sounds like a good time, you raise a good point! Thanks for having a look, I’ll have a go at simplifying my plans before buying anything.

#209

It’s going to be easier if you have understanding what you want/going to do with your patches by hand and what is going to be automated. Things that are going to be done by you have to be a joy for you. For example while O_C can do sequencing i find it terrible for me as a user experience. Same goes for sliders and small trimmer pots in general, they are much less precise than knobs and better suited for “set and forget” imo.

#210

I’ve never owned an LxD myself but I did have a DPLPG, as well as several other LPGs over time. I loved the sound of DPLPG, and the vactrols that were in mine had exactly the length and character that I like.

The main difference is going to be that DPLPG is passive. There is a minimum voltage threshold below which the vactrol simply won’t open at all, and then when the threshold is reached it will jump up to some minimum amount of “openness” – this can be a concern if you want to use a slow attack or just barely open the LPG to keep it dark.

The two vactrols in the DPLPG I owned were very well matched and behaved very similarly, whereas LxD is designed with different filter responses.

If you use Strike and CV together, you may miss that since you’ll need a separate DC coupled mixer to manage that. If you use them one at a time, it’s no big deal at all because Strike is just like giving any LPG a short trigger to the CV input.

3 Likes
#211

The mild resonance of the 12 dB/octave channel on the LxD is the money zone for me, I would definitely miss it. To me that’s the best part of the module, and not possible on a passive unit.

2 Likes
#212

I’ve had the DPLPG and the LxD - currently have the DPLPG and the Optomix. As Starthief alluded too, the DPLPG sounds AMAZING for plucked sounds. It responds really, really, well to triggers, and short envelopes. The unit I have has the best response of any LPG I’ve tried for these kinds of sounds. In fact, the only module I’ve heard that came close was channel 2 of the LxD unit I had (I tried out several units in Detroit Modular until I found one with a response I liked - some were too short, others waaaaay too long).

But - as was also mentioned above - you aren’t going to get gentle attacks with the DPLPG. Decays will also be cut off if they are long enough (although you’ll still get a nice vactrol tail at the end). So, if you’re using the LxD for these kinds of sounds I wouldn’t switch them.

Have you thought about going for the 4hp version of the sloth?

2 Likes
#213

I did want to add: of all the passive LPGs I’ve tried so far the DPLPG was my favorite. The others have had higher thresholds and tended to roll off less of the highs, sounding more like VCAs. (A pretty nice pluck on the Mystic Circuits 0HP LPG if you give it enough voltage though.)

I haven’t tried the Takaab one yet admittedly. I’m intrigued, and the price is low, but I remind myself that Natural Gate beats everything else for me and I don’t really need more.

1 Like
#214

Have had an Lxd & Takaab, I prefer the Takaab! The 3 mode switch per output is really nice and it just sounds amazing… That said I’m very curious about comparing it to a DPLPG now, gonna have to pick one up.

4 Likes
#215

What’s the difference between “normal” (active?) LPGs and passive LPGs - from the user point of view?
I understand that “normal” LPG is based on the active electronic components, so there’s some amplification involved and the passive LPG can make some signal level loss.
Does this mean the passive gates must be used carefully, because side effects may occur, like in case of VCO and passive multiple?
Do “normal” and passive LPGs differ in sound?
What’s the Natural Gate? Is it just a trade name or it’s a special electronic circuit?

#216

It’s for the next grain. This enables one of the coolest features of clouds. You can use it to make chords by feeding a very fast arpeggio into the Pitch CV and having fairly large grains and a completely full grain stream. A drone into the input turns into a full polyphonic chord in output.

13 Likes
#217

Cool patch! It’s really a “you win some, you lose some” situation as I could see myself preferring either behavior in different situations.
I suspect highly attenuated noise would give you some cool swarm effects.

1 Like
#218

Like I said above, passive LPGs have a minimum voltage threshold on the CV before they open. For instance, at 0.83 volts the LPG might be silent, but at 0.84 volts it suddenly lets some audio pass through. It sounds odd if you try to use it with a slow attack envelope; it’s not a problem with faster attacks or if you just “ping” it with a trigger.

Passive LPGs do sometimes have unusual side effects with some CV sources – for instance, Befaco Rampage will “freeze” in its cycle and keep the LPG open. You can avoid that with a buffered mult or an attenuator.

Also, resonant filters require active electronics for amplification. A lot of LPG designs aren’t resonant anyway, but a few are. It’s not so much a case of “passive LPGs sound different from active LPGs” in a general sense though. I think the DPLPG (passive) sounds more like the Sputnik Quad VCF/VCA (active) than it does the Mystic Circuits 0HP LPG (passive) or Schenk.Werk Gerridae (passive).

It’s a specific module by Rabid Elephant. Relatively expensive and a little hard to get a hold of due to production issues, though they seem to be solving that. Instead of vactrols it has its own internal envelope circuits, with adjustable and CVable lengths, and a mode switches that affects the attack and decay curves and the frequency response. It’s very hands-on and playable, and to me it also sounds a little bit nicer than my other favorite LPGs.

4 Likes
#219

Oh, thanks a lot, Starthief! Now I know more than I was asking. Seems the Natural Gate is a very interesting module. It doesn’t resonate, right?

1 Like
#220

Right :slight_smile:

I had the chance to try it at Knobcon in 2017 before release (with a Mangrove patched into it) and I loved it right away. I bought one within seconds of the first batch becoming available.

2 Likes
#221

Figure out which of your other modules has a panel .2” wider than it needs to be; file it back .2”. Or file two modules .1”.

#222

Three 1u sloths would fit in 4hp if you made a custom panel.

#223

Really? The 1u sloths are 6hp (I have two of them) - how would they fit into a 4hp panel? Regardless - the OP has 7hp to spare so even at 6hp it could work (although it would use 3 power headers.