#30

I’m looking at my Cold Mac. One knob. So, yah, different fruits.

3 Likes
#31

I see your points
I’m a knob snobb sorry!!!

#32

I wasn’t that interested when it was first announced, but I just I listened to the demo (with headphones). I imagine it could add a lot of interest to a mix and would be interested in exploring a more subtle applications, in addition to some of the wild effects it is capable of. Been wanting to explore the stereo panorama more; I had a realization recently that sometimes adjusting panning is just as effect as changing the volume level when balancing signals.

#33

Five channels is pretty impressive, especially at that HP. It reminds me immediately of the much larger footprint Koma Poltergeist, which I was really infatuated with for some time. (Though the Koma one does panning on each channel separately, leading one to anticipate a bit of a tornado of vertigo music - which was my attraction to it initially, hope to try one out some day.)

Personal opinion, I love CV panners. For clarity it can sometimes just be enough to pan out your mono signals with pan knobs on a line mixer and use a single-channel CV panner to fly the signals around.

I have a Dotcom Q148 and it is extremely robust, full-size, and about the nicest CV panner I’ve ever tried. I use it as a primary out in most mixes and it’s a delight. It looks like the X-Fade and X-Pan components of the X-Pan adopt a similar combination of VCA and Panning.

I love all the stuff that’s out these days. Amazing we have so many CV panners, even!

Best to Make Noise on this, it looks really nice.

1 Like
#34

why does this even need to be compared to cold mac

6 Likes
#35

that’s just what this forum is about. other forums make you buy another VCA or Maths.

15 Likes
#36

Something I really like about this module is how much more efficient it would make some patches for me (if I don’t want to get the ER-301 involved, which can definitely do lots of complex mixing/panning, but requires a different headspace to set up than the more “zen” patching vibe I’m sometimes looking for when I’m working on the modular).

I feel like when I start working with stereo and mixing more than a single voice in my current system, I pretty easily max out one or two of my quadratts, and either 2 or 4 channels on my veils. And when I front-load that kind of setup, I’ll start running out of ways to wrestle with control signals to get interesting/useful modulation.

6 Likes
#37

I was about to purchase a Verbos Scan and Pan now I am debating between that or the X-pan. Anyone have any experience/comparison knowledge?

#38

Don’t know if there are any x-pans in the wild yet but based on what I’ve read elsewhere, the scan and pan can be finnicky with the panning. I am biased as a huge MN fan. Big cost difference between the too, I think it’s like $100 less for the xpan. Also based on what I’ve heard there is a lot better customer service from MN should you have any issues.

2 Likes
#39

seems like it’d be a fantastic complement to a pluming JF

2 Likes
#40

Fun tip from the manual:

When processing a sequence or other rhythmic sound source, mult the clock or gate that creates note events and use it to clock a Wogglebug or other random voltage source, then use the stepped random output for randomized panning per “note.”

4 Likes
#41

Hi all,

I just installed X-pan and I’m confused with the following: when I listen with headphones directly from the modular, it’s all good, but when I listen from monitors or headphones post mixer, I loose the stereo field and the magic of panning… The sound seems centered andnot moving anywhere. The mixer is the KM K-mix.

Any clue of what’s going on here?

Thanks for your lights !

#42

Are your K-mix channels panned hard left and right? I forget that with my K-Mix sometimes.

1 Like
#43

Thank you, this is ace !

1 Like
#44

Anyone have thoughts on the X-pan after owning it for a bit? I’m tempted to pick one up to free up my Cold Mac, which I frequently (under)utilize for CV panning.

1 Like
#45

It’s tough for me to compare to Cold Mac - Cold Mac feels like a wizard’s playground where you take your CVs to get twisted and with some study you can predict the outcomes. X-pan is a lot more straightforward, I reach for it with a purpose. Have used it much more as a mixer that happens to pan than as a panner. It seems like (and I could be wrong!) the design is biased panning towards the right, in that positive CVs (more common than negative CVs, yes?) will pan you to the right. Seems like maybe if they had added an attenuverter to the design, the panning would be more balanced. I haven’t gotten the hang of getting the desired effect of panning, so either I’m patching wrong or it feels flawed by design.

The other day used it to mix together a bandpass output from the QPAS filter with a lowpass output from the QPAS filter, it was great, felt like an all new filter! Also really helps with QMMG, which can overwhelm pretty easily.

3 Likes
#46

Thank you for your thoughts!

Do you know if the panning control is unipolar? That would take some getting used to after using Cold Mac’s survey knob/input.

#47

I’m reading the manual right now, page 10 describes the Pan control. I think the panning control is bi-polar.

1 Like
#48

The CV only adds to the PAN control setting - that is, positive voltages push the sound to the right and negative voltages do nothing. It takes a bit of getting used to; Maths or 321 helps a lot :slight_smile:

" 1. Ch1 PAN CV Input: Unity gain Control Voltage input for determining the amount of signal from X-FADE sent to the Left and Right outputs. Added to the associated PAN Panel Control. Range is 0V to 8V DC."

1 Like
#49

Interesting. Thanks for clarifying!