#391

Good to hear…

I have a Shared System so the cv bus is in the rig but I’m also trying to sort out that specific description to see if it’s normal for mults or passive mults because I have some other spots where a 2hp sized mult makes more sense in the available space…

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#392

No, this is not. Or I’d rather say it works like any other passive mult, because it is a row of jacks connected by a copper trace without any other components in-between.

However, the crucial point here is that it not be behaviour of the mult, but the behaviour of the system as such. Make Noise designed their modules an a way that signals can be mixed without any additional circuitry. While this may be the case for some other manufacturers it is not a standard. This is why they state “within the Make Noise system”.

If you plan on replacing the 4hp Make Noise mult within your Make Noise System with any other 2hp passive mult go ahead and save those 2hp for a crow!

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#393

The CV Bus is cool because it’s the mult that seems laid out in the most common sense way. It’s a distribution that sends signals horizontally along the whole case. They said it was originally suggested by Alessandro Cortini, which makes sense as it’s basically how the middle patching section of the Music Easel works.

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#394

Same here! For me it makes patching way more fun and easier to track the signal flow.

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#395

You mean for a SECOND Crow!!! :slight_smile:
I’ve been thinking about it, for sure…

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#396

Isn’t this new Tape Music System just the price of the modules added up? Are they giving you any discount for the case? I think what you are paying for is a curated system, otherwise you could just put together your own thing. I wouldn’t complain about the price of the system really because those modules are expensive. More and more as I’m into Euro I’m liking the idea of a system because I think limiting of choice is something good, because of the option paralysis that happens with Euro.

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#397

Make Noise gives a discount on systems over buying everything new piecemeal. On the pages for each of the systems, they list two prices: retail (i.e. $2281 for buying everything that makes up the Tape System individually) and the discounted price ($2120).

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#399

(Let me see if I can write this question in a way that doesn’t get recategorized by the mods.)

I have the makings of a Shared System. I will be putting it into an Intellijel case for ergonomic & logistical reasons.

The Shared System is often described as being a well-considered and complete instrument, that can have nothing removed and needs nothing added. Nevertheless, I have a 1U row that a CV bus will not fit into, and so I have some room to play. I have input and output taken care of and I am happy with Stackcables. I’m also adding Brains and a TXn.

What are some areas in which you have found the Shared System to be not complete, and could use augmenting (disregarding whether IJ 1U modules for those functions exist or not)? Or, are there parts of the Shared System that you’ve found superfluous or redundant? I’m guessing no to the latter but would love to hear opinions.

Again, this is specifically about the design of the Shared System. Thanks!

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#400

I can definitely speak to this, having gone the approach of starting from the fundamental design of the shared system and modifying it to taste, resulting in my current system:

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This obviously goes beyond the kind of modification you’re talking about, but it speaks to my experience with the shared system and the modules I chose to replace, and why.

The most obvious “missing” elements of the shared system are filtering, mixing, stereo, noise, and modulation sources. Though I consider it’s focus and restraint part of its success as an instrument- having formerly had a larger system that did absolutely everything, I found it very paralyzing to creativity.

In a CV-bus-less system such as yours, I would highly recommend putting a couple mult modules in the 1U row, because the shared system is relatively quite low on modulation sources, and being able to fan out single sources to several destinations is absolutely vital in my opinion. (not just a single multing with a stackcable, and when you start stacking multiple stackcables things get uncomfortable and bad for the jacks.)

Filtering is highly preference-based, as part of the charm of the shared system is the buchla-style lack of straightforward filters. I however really like to use filters (not just low pass) and have found the QPAS to have vastly widened the variety of sounds I can get.

Mimeophon is maybe my favorite Make Noise module yet, and worth a consideration, certainly as it relates to replacing Echophon (I’ve used it and it’s fun and has tons of character, but is a big module for being a mono delay). Erbe-verb is one I wish I had room for in the case, and one worth keeping for sure.

When I had moddemix I found myself using it almost always for VCO ring mod bell sounds, and it’s really great at that. When I got the Furthurr in place of the DPO, I scrapped it, as the Furthurr has ring mod built-in.

Added DPLPG because I’m a sucker for vactrols.

Added Autodyne because you can do some really cool things with heavy compression and side-chaining, especially with sampled material from Morphagene- can really elevate a sound.

X-Pan has been a really great addition for me so far, as I love voltage-controlled crossfading and panning, and having it also act as a simple stereo mixer is really powerful and compensates for the shared systems lack of mixing capabilities beyond optomix.

Crow is the latest experiment, to fill the gaps mostly in random little utilities I may find myself needing in a patch that I can code up if need be- sequential switch, shift register, stuff like that.

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#401

I find mixing a bit limited, especially when you start incorporating outside sound sources. Correct me if I’m wrong but Quadratt acts as a mixer too right?

Also I find René 2 to have a lot of firepower for DPO as the only sound source, so I’m going to shoehorn an STO into mine when I can find a black modDemix

Other than that, the cv bus is amazing. Something about having almost all the modulation intrinsically related makes it very cohesive.

All in all I absolutely love my shared system and wish I would have started piecing one together as my first foray into eurorack. Here I am now with no regrets. I learned (and forgot!) a lot on the way.

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#402

Quadratt can mix, and I will probably add one, though MN modules are generally so rich in attenverted inputs that it’s less crucial than other places. The TXn will be for straight up sound source consolidation, and XOH for having broad control over two stereo pairs.

I really like the idea of the CV Bus, but I like being able to stack two IJ performance cases more. Maybe I will reconsider!

#403

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This is my modified Shared System. I use an external Reverb ( Space). Not sure about Clouds anymore since I don’t use it very often for several months. But I really enjoy Rings in the MN ecosystem. It’s a nice addition that matches very well. I enjoy the very wide limitations of this set up. It works nicely alongside my Music Easel. Of course Mimeophon looks really cool and could possibly eject Clouds in a short while… Or maybe à CV/Gate converter module to connect the MN and the Easel. Time will tell.

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#404

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I purchased my Shared System used earlier in 2019, minus Tempi, Mimeophon, Function, and Telharmonic. I suppose the Morphagene/Phonogene are central to the Shared System concept, but I could never really gel with either module.

I had QPAS and XPAN in at one point, but I felt it made it too complex (also, I like the MMG sound more). The Function might be extraneous since I underutilize Maths at this point; however, now I can explore more esoteric uses. The biggest game changer for me was Tempi!

With the current iteration I don’t feel like I lack anything besides more robust sequencing, so I would like to add Brains and replace Rene v1 with v2. If I can ever find a QMMG I might consider that as a replacement for the Opto and MMG, but it doesn’t feel necessary (plus I would miss all of the strike inputs!). I used to want more bipolar LFOs, but now I just use the slow Wogglebug outputs.

E: I could remove Telharmonic, Function, and MMG from what is pictured above and not feel limited at all. The additions are nice though!

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#405

I disagree about MG. While I think it is one of the most inspiring and interesting modules around, it doesn’t feel very Make Noise to me. Too beautiful and complex vs the primitive sound and layout that I typically associate with MN.

That being said I love that stupid module, but I can totally see not getting on with it (or Phonogene which I have no direct experience with) compared to their other modules.

#406

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This is the current state of my SS. I felt that the system sometimes lacked voices, modulation, more straightforward efx, utilities, and mixing. This kind of takes care of that. I had a uO&C running Hemispheres in it for a while, which was also pretty good.

#407

It’s nowhere near enough of a discount imo. Yes, the modules are great; yes the systems are well-designed. But the alternative approach of slowly trying diffferent modules from different manufacturers in different case configurations is worth so much more than $160.

I’ve been wondering ever since I got into modular who the market for pre-made complete systems was (regardless of manufacturer). So far the best answers I can come up with are: a) people who are re-entering the scene after having sold all their gear and b) people who have just received a large lump sum and want to be able to make very complex music very soon. Who else would purposefully forego the joy of designing their own instrument?

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#408

Those who do not consider it to be a joy, maybe :slight_smile:

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#409

In which case eurorack is a very strange choice of format for those people.

Edit to contribute something directly on-topic: has anyone had immense fun patching 2 or more of the stereo output pairs from QPAS into their mixer and morphing between them? This is something i’ve always wanted to be able to do with a filter - I’ve tried it once during a live jam with others and I couldn’t fully appreciate it, but this is the kind of territory I love exploring. MN absolutely nailed this filter.

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#410

Serge if I remember right comes in specific “panels” of stuff rather than individual modules. Also, the whole module research and selection thing can be pretty time consuming, confusing, distracting etc. for some people who just want to get in and make music.

While I enjoy that aspect myself, I did much of my research and planning while at work, and I know most jobs don’t give that luxury. If I had to do it on my free time, I would probably would have gone semi-modular instead.

To me the disadvantage of curated systems like these is buying it all at once instead of piecemeal, some of it used, etc. On the other hand, it also avoids the illusion that you didn’t spend that much money… :blush:

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#411

Even without buying them, these systems are useful to newcomers. They get an example of full system, examples of patches and recordings that can be achieved…

It’s a useful guide, and for manufacturers it’s a small overhead (even if the system has no sales, MN can sell all the modules and case separately anyway).

It’s also a good limitation that can be set. If you want to be able to fix yourself a strict budget when buying an instrument, you can think it like “I’m saving for system X, then stop / keep an extra 300 to fill the expansion panel”.

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