#16

Yes, a lot of the UI is my design. I started on the project when it was about half-way complete though, and if we were doing it again from scratch I think weā€™d do a lot of things differently. In the current incantation, the FPGA handles all of the IO and button controls, and then just sends a parameter structure to the display periodically. The display just takes care of rendering that parameter structure, and is otherwise hands off (except when used in the special preset mode where it becomes the I2C master and does USB MIDIā€¦ that was a whole other tricky thing to implement!). If it was a totally greenfield project, Iā€™d have the ARM processor handling all of the front panel controls and then communicate the parameter changes to the FPGA. It would be a lot more flexible that way and also save a ton of space on the FPGA that could be used for more DSPā€¦

As for the earlier comments about feedback and the module being touchyā€¦ the latest FPGA firmware improved that a lot. Thereā€™s now a form of automatic gain compensation that keeps the feedback from clipping the output, and a bunch of other things too.

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#17

Thatā€™s the way Iā€™d assumed it workedā€¦

In hindsight though, I remember discussing the UI for the Shapeshifter with JJClark on MW ages back. I asked if he was using an MCU or a soft-CPU for it and he told me he wasnā€™t and it was all done in logic on the FPGAā€¦ so I guess he has MO on that front. Maybe you should buy him a Zynq or similar for his birthdayā€¦

#18

The next project is using an FPGA with a built in ARM core :slight_smile:

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#19

that was me, and yes, I would love to hear some examples!

#20

Iā€™m away until the weekend but Iā€™ll try and upload some tapo goodness as soon as Iā€™m back with it. I should probably start a new thread? Maybe a general euro delay thread might be interesting. Wary of derailing this very specific one and causing confusion. Cheers

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#21

If I were running for (modular) office of any kind, this would be my platform issue!

:blush: :smile: :sunglasses:

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#23

in the special preset mode where it becomes the I2C master and does USB MIDI

I2C you say? OK, I have no idea how desirable or feasible this would be but has anyone considered adding Rainmaker control to the Teletype firmware.

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#24

Itā€™s not really feasible, the FPGA doesnā€™t accept any kind of instructions over the I2C bus and its capacity is maxed out so itā€™s unlikely such a feature could be added. It would take a pretty big redesign to do something like that.

#25

@HateNames please do start a Euro delay thread! I donā€™t have much to contribute, but Iā€™m curious to know folksā€™ experiences.

#26

Iā€™ve just bought a Rainmaker again. @kisielk, itā€™s your responsibility. :smiley:

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#27

4ms asked my work to make a demo for the Tapo which I got to do :smiley:

https://youtu.be/BvlvWmMsrXU

Itā€™s a very cool module that can do some very wonderful and sometimes bizarre effects. I think it awards restraint to get the best results as it can be a bit much. Would be amazing as a performs tool with practice.

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#28

I had the module and i loved it (once they upgrade the firmware to solve the hard clipping problem). My synth voice was based in shapeshifter and rainmaker and i have to say that the possibilities are endless. Itā€™s by far the best sounding DSP module i have tried. For the negative aspects i have to say that both these modules are not ā€œmusical insteumentsā€ at all: the interface, menu, buttons are not musical at all. They donā€™t inspire you to make music, they seem more like lab equipment.
My advice is to try it for sure, but keep in mind that you have to use them with a scientific mind, more than a creative/musical one.
Peace

2 Likes
#29

Did you ever try out the Mungo products with Storage Strip? It fixes the saving issues and is great addition to the 0-series

#30

If one would have to choose between Rainmaker and Echophon, which one would you prefer?

#31

I think I would prefer the Magneto then. Or the DLD.

When I started with a Shared System years ago and did not like the sound of the Echophon very much plus its main feature, the pitch shifting got worn off pretty quickly for me. Maybe itā€™s just me but I found everything I did with it sounding somehow silly at a point. I never played with a Rainmaker but from the demos it seems to me that it would end up the same pretty soon.

Over time I parted with all the fancy digital modules I got excited about when they came out and got back to oscillators, delay, reverb and maybe a filter or a wavefolder. The digital wave in modular does not shake me anymore (apart from momone like CV concepts and ER-301 like sampling of course).

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#32

Has anyone made a simple tape delay patch with it? Love the comb filter and KP stuff but sometimes I just want a delay that gets dirtier and grittier with each repeat like my Clouds does in lo-fi looping delay mode.

#33

Not quite a tape delay, but if you feed a signal into IN R, take OUT R to some other module to add some dirtiness, feed the output of that signal chain into IN L, enable PING-PONG on the SLIP, and monitor OUT L, you might be able to get something approximating what youā€™re looking for. The effect is interesting nonetheless; especially if you modulate Stereo Spread with a rhythmic source. I havenā€™t tried this out in detail or worked out if a rhythmic source in to trigger Freeze would be helpful.

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#34

I just took delivery of a Rainmaker, after watching the mylarmelodies video which convinced me that the UI was something I could work with. And it is, I think it is excellent, and I donā€™t say that very often.
The first thing to really impress me is the sound. It doesnā€™t sound like tape, it isnā€™t trying to, it just sounds lovely, very musical to my ears. Being able to have v/oct control over the comb is great.
For the record, I just bought and then almost immediately sold a Magneto, they seriously need to hire someone like @kisielk who knows modular. It sounds fantastic but it is incredibly poorly thought out. If Iā€™d kept it I would have smashed it.

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#35

Just got a rainmaker and this thing is amazing. Iā€™ve been trying to see if there is anyway to have bitrate reduction or similar to get some lofi repeats. Is there anyway in the current firmware or maybe a possible addition in an update?

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#36

No way that Iā€™m aware of. Iā€™m not sure if thereā€™s room to add it in the firmware (the FPGA is pretty full) but I can ask Jim (Cylonix) if / when he is doing more updates if it possible.

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