going modular

so, after many years of having no true analogue kit (apart from a novation bass station and an alpha juno), i've decided to go modular.

i had considered the tetra, and the voyager... but the more i research and play around with friends' bits of gear, the more i realise that with a modular system, you're getting about 500 times the power, flexibility, and potential for original sounds as with any of those solutions. not to mention the ability to just sit and noodle like a 50s b-movie scientist.

i'm looking at going with a very ground-up solution to save money. rather than splash out on a doepfer 'starter' setup (which runs about $2500 US), i figure i'm going to get the case, then start cherrypicking modules off of ebay used. already the basic doepfer VCO is about $80-$90 cheaper on ebay than it is new. that's nearly 50% off. so once i get a few bread-and-butter modules together, i can start getting the real juice - cwejman and harvestman and the like.

i know doepfer is generally considered to be less 'warm' and a bit more 'harsh' and... well... 'cheap' sounding than the more boutique stuff... but everything is replaceable. i plan to upgrade the doepfer VCOs and filters first, but i'll get to that when the time is right.

any of you guys doepfer / eurorack users in general? looking for advise... figure i'll get the cheapo doepfer case that's going for about 120 euro, and then start filling it up from there.

I'm euro only.

And everything you'd ever want to know is right here -- Muff Wiggler's Forums

Every boys dream

How much money have you got to spend? Rather than splashing out 2500 Dollars for a big Doepfer set-up, I'd save a bit more and splash out 3600 Dollars for a Serge panel, like the Animal. Then you get to lord it up over all the Doepfer users. Muuhahahaha! (but seriously, Doepfer does some great stuff also)

don't get a serge panel uless you want untraditional modular synthesis structure. I had one, and they are great, but if you want a typical subtractive synth layout i would go for some of the euro or frac rack stuff.

doepfer makes good cases and some of the modules they make are really cool but i prefer stuff by companies like Blacet, Plan B. and Motm.

I'm thinking of doing exactly this too! except I'm probably going to start with a semi-modular and work from there....been looking at the Analogue Solutions Red Square, Analogue Solutions Telemark and the Doepfer Dark Energy....all seem to offer exciting patch lead possibilities and will be inter-connectable (via cv) with any future full-modular synth I may eventually get. will also be able to drive them from the cv outputs of my future retro revolution :)

anyway, yeah modular is the way I want to go!

You guys are rich.

Or they have priorities that they are willing to sacrafice for...

thanks for the tips... that muff wiggler site is pretty great - at least good for mindporn until i can get things going.

the dark energy is kinda cool, but for the amount of money, you could get a basic case from doepfer and almost enough basic modules to replicate that funcionality.

i definitely plan to start going boutique with the stuff that matters (VCOs, VCFs, etc.) - but since money is, unfortunately, still a concern in the scheme of things, that's why i'm starting with doepfer. you can pick up basic doepfer VCOs and filters on ebay for ~$100 each, so getting to a workable state cheap isn't too hard, and then i can probably sell the modules for practically what i paid for them when i'm ready to upgrade.

for LFOs and envelopes, the doepfer stuff will probably last a little longer - but that's the beauty of these kinds of systems... they're... well.. modular.

and yeah, it's expensive. am i rich? hardly. but i'm scraping together what i can and taking a few recent paid invoices to get started. as kcinsu said - just a matter of sacrifice. or budgeting, if you'd rather look at it that way. plus it's a tax writeoff for me.

so i'll probably get the case first, and have that sit on my desk, then start slowly loading in modules until i can make noise. a frustrating route to go, but it's kinda like a payment plan.

  On 3/3/2010 at 6:18 PM, Kcinsu said:

Or they have gear fetishism that they are willing to indulge in...

fixt

Not that i haven't spent all savings on gear for the past 4 years but don't be a holier-than-thou cunt calling them "priorities". Monitors, a good soundcard, a multicore and a DAW are "priorities", and that's if you're doing this shit professionally. I was kidding anyway, and this invalidates the need for this big a response but god-damn was you post cunty.

edit: good plan, good budgeting maus, enjoy your budding modular, and i was only joking

All of your posts are cunty, if mine offends you, then... Ha!

  On 3/3/2010 at 8:16 PM, Kcinsu said:

Ha!

boy you sure stuck it to me there

non-edit: you've been confrontational towards me ever since i joined this forum, there's not even any history there. is it my avatar? If i use some stock "so IDM" pic of a synth + something random will you like me more? haha

Well like I've said... Most of your posts come off cunty... Which is why I thought your calling my post cunty was funny. You really made a lot of assumptions about the tone of my initial reply.

Anyways... Carry on. I assure you, I really don't care to make something out of nothing.

  On 3/3/2010 at 8:53 PM, Lube Saibot said:

  On 3/3/2010 at 8:16 PM, Kcinsu said:

Ha!

 

boy you sure stuck it to me there

 

non-edit: you've been confrontational towards me ever since i joined this forum, there's not even any history there. is it my avatar? If i use some stock "so IDM" pic of a synth + something random will you like me more? haha

I'm with Saibot. Oh well, let's be nice.

I can't justify getting a modular until I have a better setup overall.

You're with him on what?

"Or they have priorities that they are willing to sacrafice for... " was mean.

But I don't want to start a fight with you because I posted a question asking you for advice in another thread in EKT

Kcinsu, i've literally not seen you in any of the threads i've posted in lately. You're just still buttsore from that fucking Acces Virus thread. It's like i was talking shit about your dead grandma. So i had issues with a synth you love, get over it.

Ouchies. nevermind, I am not taking sides.

1. I don't think it was mean at all. His initial post sounded grumpy to me. What I meant was, perhaps people were willing to make sacrafices to afford this. Take me for example... I hve a bunch of gear... But I've never owned a car. I've managed to live without or, because I didn't want to pay for a. A car b. Insurance c. Gas. The result? I had money for gear. I truly wasn't trying to sound holier than thou... I was offering a plausible alternative to these guys being rich. Sorryi didn't elaborate to the t, but I way expecting anyone to take it as "mean" wtf?

2. I didn't even remember that thread lube... and now that you've reminded

me, I still don't even remember what it was about... So I think it's you that is carrying the grudge.

3. I would have made the same reply, had someone else typed it. I promise I didn't take it as a chance to start shit. And really I'm still kind of confused as how my reply was taken as mean?

Everyone chill

It's dead easy to rig up a power supply and case... I have 6U of eurorack space at my disposal and it must have cost me less than $75 and a few hours of my time (mostly because I am a noob). I wouldn't go knocking the Doepfer stuff. Just because it doesn't have a bunch of faggy emo graphics all over it doesn't mean that it's not quality. Old Dieter has ripped off the very best, let me assure you. The functional density of Doepfer modules is also hard to beat. Just read up on your options before you make any decisions... but don't let it go to your head. Muff's can be a great resource, but it's also a hotbed of sycophancy and homoeroticism. The power of suggestion seems to hold massive sway there, so try to avoid the neurotic mindset that seems to motivate the majority of these so-called "wigglers" ...

Fair enough. It just seemed like luke saibot was being funny when he said "you guys are rich" and a little drastic of you to suggest that he lacks priorities since he hasn't bought a modular synth.

Anyway, no hard feelings and thanks for the advice in the other thread. Listened to some of your music and it sounded good.

I just don't see how you took it as having anything to do with lube... I didn't say he lacked priorities... I said perhaps the others in this thread had made it their priority.

Dude, topic AND off-topic shit-talking aside, it's SACRIFICE. Sacrafice is just the way the singer from Creed pronounces it.

Sorry. Please frgivr me

  On 3/3/2010 at 10:08 PM, Kcinsu said:

I just don't see how you took it as having anything to do with lube... I didn't say he lacked priorities... I said perhaps the others in this thread had made it their priority.

yeah i think everybody is being a little oversensitive. it seemed general rather than pointed. now this perfectly good thread has been overridden with ego flares.

on topic, i've been toying with the idea of starting one, but could never justify the price for something i was so sure i could build myself (with the exception of a few interesting modules, pretty much everything is fairly simple and well documented). following that thread, i decided to look into the circuitry and it's really not all that bad. i've got some basic oscillator and filter circuitry down (there are a ton of resources on the web) that i've been toying with. i just put in a big order to digikey so hopefully i'll be building some things soon! returning, again, to the subject of commercial modulars, it seemed like a piece of software like max/msp, buzz, tassman or reaktor would be infinitely more helpful. you pay one fee up front and can spawn as many modules as you want. tassman, in particular, is just an endlessly configurable modular synth. its nice to tweak some knobs for sure, but its nicer (to me) to be able to patch to oblivion without buying a single length of wire. all this said, it doesn't make sense that i would try building my own -- that was mostly out of my own curiosity for how it works.