#1

Sorry for a newbie question, but are the ansible Euro-Rack modules compatible with older grids and arcs? I have a 2012 256 Grid and a 2012 Arc 2 and have been pondering Ansible.

Also, what’s the difference between Ansible and Meadowphysics. They looks exactly the same on the front panel.

Thanks in advance!
Dave

#2

You should take a look at the Monome website to see the difference between Ansible and Meadowphysics, they are very different. Ansible has a version of the Meadowphysics sequencer built in, but they are still different.

Ansible works best (only works?) with varibright grids and newer 4 knob arc as far as I know, and is setup for the 128 size grid.

Hope that helps.

#4

OK. I did some more research. Based on a Reddit discussion I found, It looks like a varibright grid is OK with Ansible but that you’d need the new ARC4 (not the 2012 Arc2 I have) for it to work. Looks like I may need to upgrade my ARC at some point.

#5

The eurorack modules were designed with Varibright in mind so you understand how to control different functions. Without Varibright per button it’s easy to get lost. Older grids may have Varibright but it’s all or nothing on the entire grid. The current generation is per button. It’s my understanding the modules will work with any grid 128 or larger but only 128 buttons are usable and the rest will be off on larger grids.

#6

Technically, they will both work. But using a non-varibright grid will be confusing at best up to impossible at times, as you don’t see all leds or they are lit the same when they should indicate something different.
I’ve also been using Ansible with my Arc2 in the beginning. You will come surprisingly far with the controls, but some essential parameters like pattern length are on the 3/4 encoders, so you won’t ever be able to change it. Also, you’re only able to make use of half the channels/outputs. Hope that helps.

edit: should have clarified, this was refering to white whale only

#7

That’s definitely useful information. Thanks!!

#8

FYI, non-varibright won’t even work with Ansible. they will work with the earlier trilogy modules, however. for a 256 the bottom half won’t be used.

no support for Arc 2 on the modular.

Monome serie 128 walnut working with modular?
#9

Thanks Tehn.

  • I have a 2012 Monome 256 which is varibright. So it sounds like Ansible would work but only for the upper half?

  • My 2012 Arc will not work and I’d need to upgrade to the latest Arc 4.

Correct?

#10

does the DUAL arc work with new ansible apps?

#11

So what does the ARC 2 work with? MAx?

#12

Anything that accepts OSC although you may need to use Max or similar as an intermediate step.

#13

Or SuperCollider perhaps?

#14

I have no experience with supercollider but if it talks OSC then I don’t see why not. As long as serialosc works with it or you wrote an equivalent.

#15

Do the old arc 2 work with these newer modules? Sorry if thats an old hat of a question around here. Just tipping my toe into the monome controller possibilities right now

Ansible Earthsea
#16

Try using search before asking questions!

#17

Hoping someone can offer some guidance for me…Having previously read that a Varibright grid will be suitable for linking with Ansible, I obtained an older edition on eBay. However, now it is here, I realise it’s a 2011 4 stage Varibright model.

The Ansible I ordered from @tehn is currently doing the UK customs dance, so I can’t test compatibility yet. I’m now wondering whether these things will even work together? If not, is there any workaround or am I back to the drawing board?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed any light on this.

#18

Several users have 4-step grids they use with Ansible. I did some brightness adjustments and such a while back to try and make a few spots in the UI more consistent, this made some pages harder to use on 4-step grids, so I added an option to let you configure Ansible to tell it you’re using a 4-step grid and it will tweak the brightness accordingly. I only have a 16-step grid to test with but I experimented with modifying Ansible’s grid communication code to throw away the extra brightness bits (so it would behave like a 4-step grid) and it looked okay. Hopefully this has provided an okay resolution for this problem for folks with 4-step grids. Monobright grids are probably still pretty confusing with Ansible apps.

Information on configuring this is tucked away here (“The 3 keys in the top left allow adjusting brightness…”)

2 Likes
#19

@csboling - thanks so much for your response. It’s heartening to know that I can use this grid as intended! :blush: