Eurorack: discussion, advice, learning, questions

[mattlowery]

Any other Expert Sleepers ES-6/ES-3 users here? I’m trying to track down the strangest behavior. Every now and then, some of the levels coming from the ES-6 will appear skewed in funky ways in Ableton Live. As in, I can mult the same oscillator to two of the inputs, set them up as a stereo pair in live, and one of the channels will be 6db quieter than the other. Which channels are affected changes, which is what’s weirding me out.

It’s happening to me right now, and attach a recording. There seems to also be a slight crackle on the right channel.

The level attenuation only seems to be happening on the even numbered inputs on the ES-6.

Anyone else run into this?

[DMR]

I’m not sure this is the problem based on your recording, but since the ES-6 is DC coupled, there can sometimes be a DC offset on a channel that can effect the dB on the meters a bit. I would try to put a DC blocking plug-in on both channels of the stereo pair. Otherwise I’ve had weird things happen if the ADAT cable is disconnected very slightly, or 3.5mm cables aren’t fully secure on Expert Sleepers stuff (I’ve found the Expert Sleepers 3.5mm jacks tend to be loose).

[mattlowery]

@DMR

DC offset

Yeah, I’ve got an instance of Utility on each channel, with the DC Offset enabled. Even with that, the levels are not the same in Ableton for channels that should be identical.

I’ve checked all my cables, and everything seems fine there. Though, I’ll admit, I’m novice level with ADAT, and there’s perhaps some user error there in the mix. But what’s driving me crazy is that it comes and goes. Makes troubleshooting difficult.

@DMR

cable

Early on, I actually thought I had solved the issue with a different cable. Looking like that wasn’t the issue.

[Starthief]

Hmm, I’ve got that pair and Bitwig, and haven’t noticed anything like that. Definitely some major differences in DC offset from one input to the next though, which could affect headroom i suppose.

[mattlowery]

I’ve tried all of my power supplies now, and the issue persists. Here’s a grab of all six inputs (coming into the daw as three stereo pairs). We’re talking 10db of gain or so. I am so baffled.

I would just return the units, but they’re out of stock like…everywhere. And I’m in the middle of some pretty focused work. So frustrating!

[Starthief]

Hmm. I just checked mine, and I’ve got much closer levels than that on each stereo pair (despite noticeably different DC offsets with nothing connected).

As a workaround, can you reroute things in your DAW so “audio 1” is inputs 1 and 3 and “audio 2” is 2 and 4, so at least the levels on those are closer?

[varispeeder]

sorry to ask the most obvious question but have you emailed Os from ES for customer support? he is extremely responsive and helpful, and it could just be some easily fixable calibration or thing you can reset.

[mattlowery]

@varispeeder yeah, I had a brief conversation with him a few weeks back. He advised me to return the unit. I thought I got it working by switching cables, but alas the issue returned. They are out of the office until 1/6.

@Starthief yeah, I could, but I would end up with one stereo paid functioning properly, which I can accomplish with my 1U line out module. A good thought though!

Looking like this thing is headed back to Perfect Circuit. Thank you all for batting ideas around with me.

[photofractal]

Does anyone have any information as to when the Piston Honda MKIII will be back in stock in the US? I’m dying to get my hands on one of those.

[kirklandish]

Are the Volcas a viable option for converting MIDI clock to CV clock? They are cheaper and more readily available than dedicated units like the Kenton boxes or CV.OCD and I would get a synth. All I need is clock sync and I have no more room in my rack.

[chalkwalk]

The Volcas output 2 PPQN or 4 PPQN (the first gen models don’t do 4, but I know the FM does and presumably so do the newer models) from their internal clock or from MIDI. They do 5V trigs and can be configured to clock with rising or falling edges. I’ve never used the clock with modular, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t be usable. Another option would be to DIY something; I’ve made quite a few Arduino CV/midi devices and they are very easy. I presently have a 4 input trig to midi device on a breadboard with a little display and a pair of encoders to configure the notes to send which has 28 parts on the board (including over/negative voltage protection at the inputs) and probably 100 lines of code.

[zuliani]

Wow this is a *huge *revelation, thank you! The Fracture is always a great deal louder than my other sound sources, and I was using up attenuators to bring it down ~15% . This will save me a whole lot of fuss and trouble!

I’ve given my Fracture a bit of a vacation after using it quite liberally for a twenty-four hour long project; this will definitely get it back into my skiff!

[grey]

Oh wow, I didn’t know that either. That is helpful!

[Zeke_B]

Does anyone here have experience with the Rossum Mob of Emus? I’ve looked all over YouTube and it’s hard to find demos showing sounds it creates. It looks pretty robust and I want to pull the trigger as what I’ve seen and heard sounds cool, plus I like that it can pull duties as a modulator (a la JF), but I haven’t been able to find a solid example of sounds in relatively basic patches. If anyone has a track or video to share, I’d appreciate it!

I’m also eyeing a Control Forge as well so if anyone wants share their pros and cons, I’m all ears. Plenty of helpful videos on YouTube, but it’s always nice to hear first-hand experience.

[jfbm]

Hey there,

I know this is an old comment, but would you recommend an 0-coast to someone starting out in modular with a lot of the same musical interests and goals that you described?

I just stumbled upon your comment in this thread while looking for advice about how to shoot for very similar sounds. I was really excited when I started looking into the 0-coast, but a lot of the videos and some posts on forums left me wondering if I’d struggle to get it out of the harsh kinda buzzy territory and into stuff more like you’d described. I realize that a desktop semi-modular is obviously going to be way way more limited than what those artists are working with, but I’ve been trying to assess if the 0-coast is the best contained, portable, and affordable unit for those kinds of moods at least. I’ve got a pretty good selection of pedals I’ve been using to try and head toward this kinda territory for a while, that I thought could be cool to run the 0-coast through (and possibly adding an 0-ctrl as well), but I would love some more feedback from someone with similar interests who actually owns one if you wouldn’t mind

I’m interested in exploring the noisier side of the 0-coast too. Jim O’Rourke is another major influence of mine that’s pushed me toward modular/semi-modular, so exploring some of the wackiness the 0-coast is known for sounds fun, but I’m mainly looking for more calming, ambient sounds. Would really appreciate your thoughts!

[terje]

Hey all!

Does anyone have any ideas for improvements on this Palette I’m planning? I have some of the modules already, others I will have to acquire.

My thoughts and goals:

I have a 6U 104hp rack in addition to this but I’ve been wanting a smaller system that I can bring with me and that can focus my playing on less modules.

I am thinking of combining this with a Keystep 37 and a Digitone, so I have not included any effects in the Palette - I figure I can use the Digitone reverb. I might also have my Norns (shield) in the mix.

My goals for this is to have a small complete two-voice system with plenty of modulation and generative possibilities. I’m into ambient a lot but I also work on more rhythmic electronic music and adding synth parts to pop/rock tracks.

For voices I have the Instruo Ts-L and uPlaits. As far as modulation I have uTides, Pamela, O_c, Pique and Sisters if I want to use it for that. Scales and O_c along with modulation for creative sequencing. Digitone and Keystep 37 for more structured sequencing. Utilities/VCA is the 321, Intellijel 1U VCA and Doepfer Dual Polarizer.

I figure Sisters will most regularily be on creative mixing duties. I was considering adding some kind of creative delay but I’m not sure what I’d throw out. The remaining 1U space is a bit of a lie, my output module is bigger (Exi[s]t), and there are transformers blocking some of the space underneath.

I was also concerned with limited stereo options, aside from what Sisters can give me.

Any thoughts?

[cubis]

I will try to remember to confirm midi clock to cv gate works as well, but I did use my volca sample to clock a sirin/moogerfooger experiment once:

Hardware Jam: volca-clocked Sirin-Moogerfooger drums

Clock adjustment is at the very beginning. You don’t have to watch the whole thing. No one ever does lol

[mdoudoroff]

There tends to be an uncomfortably long lag between a Rossum module getting released and anything approximating a suitable demo video getting made. They write terrific technical manuals, but they’re hard to really comprehend without a demo.

There’s an active discussion of Mob of Emus over on MW, including various demo videos. It’s intriguing, but everyone struggling with it a little, as it seems to have some counter-intuitive limitations, mainly on the cv input side.

I’ve had Control Forge and I made a couple videos about it. One is an operational overview intended to complement the manual. The other covers the BPM mode they later added. I did not keep Control Forge and have never missed it—perhaps some great power comes with too much responsibility? But of course, it all depends on what you want to do and how. I’ve often said that it seems complex and hard to learn, but it’s actually not that hard to learn. Once you’ve gone through the motions a few times, it’s quite easy, although it can be time-consuming and quite tedious. The real problem with Control Forge is that it’s hard to employ. Control Forge, like the vaguely comparable Verbos Multistage and XAOC ZADAR (which I have instead and is more my style), lives in its own world with its own idea of time. You can start, stop and reset it, speed it up an down, and it spits out an arbitrarily fluctuating CV signal. There are lots of things you can do with that, but only some of them are actually useful, and you have to figure out what.

[spacelordmother]

Not sure what room your fake 1U actually has available, but the intellijel Midi 1U is only 14mm deep and would add a lot if you’re working with Digitone.

[terje]

Oh, that’s great to know! Thanks for the Digitone tip, that could in theory work out, as I have almost a mm clearance there. Plenty!