Serge thread

[claasp]

after thinking about the bocgs bog and the voltron 6
for a while i’ve decided that there are areas on both systems that could be improved.

thinking of customizing two panels based on the cgs/serge pcbs from elby might be a better way to go about it.

this of course will be a lot more work as i’ll have to fill a pretty big mouser/tayda order and as we all know tracking down all those parts can take an enormous amount of time (if anyone has a mouser/tayda cart to share that would be greatly appreciated!)

this isn’t entirely true to the serge design, particularly the second panel by including the matrix mixer. curious what your thoughts are…

[gnome666]

Nice selection of panels The only thought I have is that you might want to swap out that first DUSG in the top panel with a dual ADSR module. I have an Edelweiss II panel from R*S which also has 2 DUSG like your bottom panel. More DUSGs never hurt, especially since I often like using mine as a subharmonic oscillator synced to my main osc’s.

That being said, I recently added a dual ADSR to a different panel, and use it very frequently. Although a AR slope is very similar, I find having those extra stages comes in useful.

Also, as with everything Serge, the ADSR is more than just an ADSR and can be used as a complex oscillator with voltage control over waveshape. User “Batchas” from the MW forum has a great youtube series about the unconventional uses of the ADSR thats work checking out.

[GrantB]

I would rather have two SSGs than two wave multipliers, especially since you have a tws in there as well. The SSG is very much like the DUSG in terms of patch programing flexibility. I only have one currently and I’m always wishing I had more.

[claasp]

hmmm those videos opened some windows for sure. seems like it could be a useful tool to have and could fit well in the bottom panel with the addition of a ring mod instead of one of those dusg’s…i’ll have to think more about that.

thanks for the suggestions and please do keep them coming!

[gnome666]

You may want to sneak in an oscillator. Even though DSG, DTG can become oscillators, depending on which build you do, and what kind of noise you like to make, the 1 v/oct tracking might not be as good. Charlie at LoudestWarning has a few very interesting VCO, though not Serge circuits. He has a version of the Buchla 258 Osc, Ian Fritz Teezer through Zero Osc, and was starting to incorporate a new Osc design from a company called “Bagoly”.

Plus, having a dedicated oscillator frees up the DUSGs for other functions. But, if you arent bothered with accurate pitch tracking you may get more bang for your buck from something else

[Ivan]

I have RS VCFQ - all knows that this is good for pinging but I found that is interesting raw sound osc. Maybe even more raw (its good for me) than my furthrrrr

[rycolos]

It finally happened and I couldn’t be happier. 4u and bananas feel so good after years of euro. 4th slot is on hold for financial reasons. In the interim I’m just going to diy a passive attenuator/OR combiner/low pass gate for that slot.

Some more case and psu detail shots

And the first patch with a little reverb and delay from the iPad. A magical noise machine.

[claasp]

congrats, this is looking really clean!

[gnome666]

question about the 4U wave multipliers:

Prior to jumping into 4U, my gateway drug was the Eurorack Serge modules by R*S. The wavemultipliers module in eurorack was my favorite, and I preferred to use it over other filters and wavefolders in my setup. Sine and triangle waves fed into the bottom section particularly sounded gritty and complex, but didnt lose much of the bass…Now, using the 4U wavemult, it subjectively sounds different to me. The outputs sound much more “treble-y” and I feel that they no longer have some of the low end growl that I loved so much when I was using it in Euro…

This is probably all in my head, and the circuits are likely identical, but figured I’d toss it out there to see if anyone else has this experience.

[VicenteJr]

The circuits are identical.

When i switched from euro to 4U i noticed a difference as well in some modules, the VCM being a major one of them. I quickly realised it had to do with the fact that the eurorack version had individual controls for Fold and CV in both middle and bottom sections making it a bit more tweakable. Even the upper section has 2 extra pots that are not on the 4U counterpart.

[gnome666]

@VicenteJr

i noticed a difference as well in some modules, the VCM being a major one of them

At least its not just in my head

[GrantB]

I’m not a euro user, but the wave multipliers are going to sound different when driven with different levels. I’d look at that first.

[wheelersounds]

This has inspired me to finally start a 4u system! Can I ask what power supply you’re using?

[rycolos]

Konstant Lab BoardPWR: https://www.konstantlab.audio/shop/boardpwr-small-no-hp-power-supply/

Happy with it so far. The spring terminals are a nice touch. I toyed heavily with something DIY but I just didn’t want to play around with probably the most crucial bit of the whole rig.

That said, if finances weren’t so tight, I probably would have spent the extra $100ish on the Loudest Warning psu. It would’ve saved me a bit of annoying labor and is more future proof.

[jimi23]

No real feedback on the system, not being a Serge user (yet)
But for my first system I was considering the Voltron 6 and either the BOCGS or Voltron 7/Animal panel.

I purchased the V6 kit, which is due to ship tomorrow. I actually noticed that there seems to be 2 different designs for the Voltron series, depending on where you look on Elbys website:

I’m assuming the lower panel is more recent, as its got the correct Level pot label on the Resonant Eq. It has the different Wave Multiplier module

Similar with the Voltron 7 which shares similarities to the BOCGS you were considering. Pulled from different pages:

So potentially these new designs are still in flux and could still suit your needs. Im not sure what version of the V6 panel I’ve got coming, I will report back next week

Oh and I started to price out building my own, as there are a few things I’d like to add, and considered going with DIY panels and sourcing components. However the component kits from elby were a bit cheaper than I was able to get parts for, so went with the full kit in the end

[gnome666]

little Serge patch I have going. crappy recording on the iphone, but

@gnomedrone

[TomFoolery]

I’ve seen this beautiful mini-boat on instagram and I’m infatuated with the idea of a small system like it!

Does it play well by itself or does it really need some other modules to get going?

[muncky]

Posted a link to this site earlier, but there are two great module walkthroughs on there (and wish there were more!) - this one goes into some depth on the Extended ADSR:

Extended ADSR (ADSR)

I really need to spend some quality time with mine, as haven’t fully wrapped my head around them… yet!

[gnome666]

agree 1000%! This blog is awesome. I’ve read through those pages and totally forgot about the ADSR walkthrough. My selfish desire is that the blog creator make more walkthroughs. I would love a walkthrough and patch ideas with something that hasn’t really been done before, like the NCom. There are a few DUSG and SSG tutorials and walkthroughs out there that are pretty good and in depth already.

[gnome666]

@TomFoolery

Does it play well by itself or does it really need some other modules to get going?

Wasn’t really designed to be a self contained minisystem. I suppose you could set one half of the DTG to clock the O_c and get pitch info from there into the second half of the DTG self oscillating at audio rates…

I had Charlie from LW put this together to fill some specific gaps in my current panels. I always long for some sort of quantization on the TKB outputs, and the O_c 4 channels work out well to quantize the TKB outs. But of course, the O_c is such a versatile module that its just useful to have around for all the other things it does. I think every system needs a Triple Sloths Preamp detector and slope detectors I began realizing were important for me to incorporate outside sounds/rhythms and get them to play well with CV.