5364

I use a Hosa YMM-261 stereo breakout cable to get modular signals into my NTS-1. For a mono signal, just mult it into both channels with a stackable.

2 Likes
5365

Hello all, I am slowly working towards a dawless, one-rack ā€œstudio.ā€ No outboard gear, no post-processing, everything in the rack.

Iā€™m doing this for two reasons, one is space: I have no room; When I am finished playing for the day, I unplug my case, close it, put it on a shelf in the closet. The other reason is time: I have no time (nor inclination) to process recordings in a daw.

Currently the audio side of my rack is made up of mostly stereo FX and a Morphagene. It works greatā€”I love itā€”but I would like to be able to clean up the sound before it hits my headphones.

For reference, I like to create slow/droney/ambient patches. I like patches that self-evolve. I like feedback. Things tend to get a little noisy.

Iā€™m thinking of an end of chain that would look something like this:

high-pass/DC offset > compressor > a dj style filter > reverb > out

Currently, the modules I have in mind are:

Shakmat HiPass > Shakmat Dual Dagger > Noise Engineering Librae Legio > Happy Nerding FX Aid > Erica Synths Pico out

Slowly I have been working towards purchasing the above modules. Then, today it occured to me, I could replace most of those modules with an Endorphin.es Ghost. Benefits would include lower power usage, lower HP and lower cost. But I am a little wary of putting all my end-of-chain eggs in one basket.

So, lines community, for those of you who do your end of chain processing ā€œin the rackā€ ā€” how do you do it? Any suggestions? Iā€™m looking for any kind of feedback; from practical advice to general comments. I hope we can make this a useful conversation not just for me but for anyone in a similar situation.

Thanks for your help!

5 Likes
5367

Lots of mixers and attenuverters. DivKidā€™s Ochd is great for unclocked modulation. A matrix mixer and (at least one) envelope follower work very good for effect routing. SSF Autodub as a momentary effect send.

Be aware that (at least in my experience) HiPass is very prone to bad sounding digital clipping with bass heavy material or hard transients. Itā€™s very good at cleaning up single voices or submixes but I moved it from end of chain as it made gain staging a whole patch a nightmare. If space is a concern Iā€™d recommend WMDā€™s SCLPL, the user interface is a bit fiddly in just 4 HP but itā€™s great as a final EQ. I thought about getting a Boredbrain EQx5 instead to have one knob per band but I never actually felt the need to do it. I also have had good results with WMDā€™s MSCL as an end of chain compressor/limiter but I have no experience with Librae Legio to make a proper comparison.

3 Likes
5368

since you are talking about going daw free, for your output you may want to consider the 4ms wav recorder + listen four combo. that way you can record your sessions to an sd card and the listen four, in addition to giving you the line level and headphone output, gives you a 2 mono, 2 stereo mixer right before the output, so if you want anything dry in the final mix you can plug it in there.

2 Likes
5369

For what itā€™s worth, my current solution with which I am super happy:
In rack: Cosmotronic Cosmix Pro
Out of rack: 1010 Music Bluebox

The Cosmix Pro has been a surprise winner for me. I previously was using a Befaco STMix in its place. But the Cosmix Pro really serves as a stereo integrator for everything going on in my rack. Itā€™s got 2 post-fader Aux/Sends (one is mono only, the second is stereo). I use the Aux/Sends for end-of-chain effects such as my FX Aid Pro or others.

The Bluebox is a very versatile and relatively easy to use mixer recorder that allows me to pull off the whole DAWless thing. Bluebox takes input from my Eurorack, but it can also integrate my DAW (via a MOTU M4 interface) and any other desktop box such as mono and stereo synths, a groovebox, a Norns, or an iPad (also with a USB interface). Bluebox can handle Eurorack-level, line-level and consumer-level. And the many inputs and outputs can be configured for either stereo or mono (and there are two stereo output channels available as sends). Bluebox records stems and/or the mix to micro SDCard. Voila! Bluebox also has effects, but I find I donā€™t use them. Bluebox is responsible for sending the mix to my monitor speakers and/or headphones.

3 Likes
5370

thinking of letting go of teletype and looking for some advice on what to replace it with. i mostly use it for clocking and sequencing, and while it is great fun, i feel like itā€™s not the best fit for my creative workflow. i really prefer sequencing with norns + crow.

if i sell the teletype iā€™ll have a total free 20hp. one thing iā€™m really missing is a filter. iā€™m kinda thinking wogglebug + ikarie or a sisters, or even fill the space with a qpas.

another thought is maths, which was what i wanted before i traded into teletype, but that doesnā€™t solve the filter problem and i think O&C, JF, and Quadratt cover whatever i might use a maths for.

but yeah, just looking for thoughts from the community

edit: i can turn the ears sideways to free up 4hp. so 24ho total

1 Like
5371

Canā€™t go wrong with Ripples. You could fit that and Sport Mod 2 in 20 HP and scratch both itches.

5 Likes
5372

Folks, patching output to output (or multiple outs to one input) is fine. It might not mix evenly due to different output impedances, but it wont break your modules.

1 Like
5373

I think itā€™s worth getting familiar with this article from 1991. Levels and impedance in eurorack are different from consumer or professional audio equipment but I believe that the general rule is still applicable.

There is a number of passive mixers that can be used for summing signals in a ā€˜correctā€™ way outside of the case to save precious hp

7 Likes
5374

i think a filter is a great idea. personally, iā€™d also prioritise adding more modulation in this setup. if youā€™re looking for a ikarie or sisters as your filter, thatā€™ll give you 16 or 14 hp left in total.

you mentioned wogglebug, could you tell us more about that? perhaps a modulation source that can be more controlled, and patched into (semi-)random territories if wanted, would be more versatile and fun to have. also, o_c have many ways of generating random cv already.

there are plenty of modulation options depending on what interests you and your play style, but i think you canā€™t go wrong with either batumi, pamelaā€™s new/pro workout, sport modulator 2, planar2 or quadrax.

either of those leaves 2-8 hp for a vca (and possibly a small utility like a switch). there are many good 4 hp dual vcas.

2 Likes
5375

Regarding the discussion about left-only output of modular above, I present the classic monoā†’stereo solution:

monothering

6 Likes
5376

Love pinging filters, and my fav ones have been Cwejman Res-4, MMF-1, and Random Source Serge VCFQ. The Res-4 has the most delicate ringing over the widest frequency range, and the resonance control has a really nice range for setting the decay. The MMF-1 sounds similar, but the usable resonance control range is a bit smaller since it self-oscillates at high settings. The VCFQ doesnā€™t sound as nice at very high frequencies but gives a more solid feel at low frequencies for some reason. Potentially some saturation, I havenā€™t measured it. Honorable mention is the Kodiak Morph Filter in Reaktor Blocks which sounds brilliant and has some nice options for tuning the filter bands incl. chords.

EDIT: Sorry, didnā€™t realize this was in the Eurorack thread when I posted. Please ignore my Reaktor Blocks suggestion if you are looking for Eurorack filters only.

5 Likes
5377

I do pretty much the same, adding a passive eurorack mixer to sum and attenuate the mono mix before multing it the y splitter, then into the NTS-1. I like have one too many mixers around for stuff like this.

1 Like
5378

I am proud to report on the fourth day into Eurorack that I have made some spectacularly ugly sounds today!

30 Likes
5379

Do you mean Sinusoda?

If so, Iā€™ve ordered one full setup (Can, Juice(Powerboard), Straw(Power Supply) and later ordered a 2nd can to stack on top. I think theyā€™re great! Apparently now they offer a 1U ā€œslim canā€ you can attach now too. I eventually upgraded to a 104hp Performance case by intellijel, but my gf uses the 6U Can now for her video synth. Everytime we rearrange the rack we both comment on how great a design it is. Everything about it is modular. And very easy to put together.

2 Likes
5380

I hadnā€™t heard about the Sport Modulator before, but that does look like a ton of fun along with Ikarie and a good solution

1 Like
5381

Thanks for the input;

This is good to know, thank you.

I have an EQx5, which I quite like, but I rarely use the cv inputs and it takes up quite a bit of space. The SCLPL looks good, though with those fiddly buttons I probably would not use it to its full potential.

This looks like a good option. Because it will be end of chain, I donā€™t really need cv control over everything.
Does anybody have any experience with both the MSCL and the Librae Legio? How do they compare?

5382

It may well have some nasty clipping in some situations, but it certainly isnā€™t ā€œdigital.ā€

2 Likes
5383

Youā€™re right, what I was meaning was something more like ā€œbad digital sounding clippingā€ as it often gives clicks and pops when overloaded.

1 Like
5384

Do you mean hard clipping vs. soft saturation?

Itā€™s an analog filter, so describing the sound as ā€œdigitalā€ is a bit confusing. Better to describe whatā€™s actually going on than feed the mysticism around ā€œanalogā€ vs. ā€œdigitalā€ sounds.

1 Like