the watmm GAS thread

Lucky you!

Those are beautiful and ridiculously well built, congrats! 

Yeah, Nagras are amazing.  Forget sending full mixes through it, use it for delay!

Also trak mono instruments through it.  Split your signal so you are recording direct in your DAW on one track while also recording the same signal to the Nagra, set the Nagra to monitor from the playback head, and record that on a second track in your DAW but don't monitor it.  Then use the direct recording to line up the Nagra recording manually afterward and use either/both in the final mix.

EDIT: that's assuming you are recording hardware.  If you work ITB you can obviously just bounce individual tracks out through it at any point.  Stereo would be nice to have, but most mixes benefit from more mono sources than they usually have these days anyway. And maybe it willbe stable enough that you can get away with doing stereo in two passes, Especially if you do M/S rather than L/R like you suggested, since imaging variations that affected width would probably be a lot more musically acceptable than variations that affected balance.

Been a while since I saw a new piece of gear that caught my attention but this has me eyeing a couple underused things I could unload on ebay.

  On 2/24/2021 at 11:01 PM, TubularCorporation said:

Been a while since I saw a new piece of gear that caught my attention but this has me eyeing a couple underused things I could unload on ebay.

 

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QFPB

i've been kinda avoiding looking at too much of that one because it seems like it could make me want it as well. but now i'm gonna have to watch that, thanks

$200usd is hard to argue with for what it does.  I've already figured out $100-$125 worth of stuff to put up tomorrow.

Boy I am sure glad not to have the attention span to watch 40 minutes of gear review. 

Might do it over the lunch break though..

The FM one that's coming out in a few months looks and soundsreally good too, and having a 4 track sequencer is definitely a big plus for it, but this one has a sound I really can't get out of any gear I have (including LSDJ/Nanoloop), and it seems like the perfect sequenced synth for the kind of fully improvised stuff I've been doing for the last year.

Goodbye SQ-1 I never use anymore.

I've just realised that, until now, I've successfully saved some cash... and as I'm not in a hurry, I'll keep on saving until I can afford one of these :

• Serge modular panel
• Waldorf Iridium
• something else ?

Serge synths have the most gorgeous tone, and Iridium seems to be a sound-designer dream in a box.
Another option would be to get Serge eurocrack modules too + Expert Sleepers and to live-code the sh*t out of it! :D

Once again I'm in no rush (still need to save anyway), and I'm all ears if you guys have any suggestions. As time goes by I'm definitely more interested in either unique analogue synths (Serge all the way !) or lush, chameleon digital ones. I could go for a couple of nice, less-expensive units but I'd rather have an amazingly inspiring instruments to focus on and learn inside out. 

  On 3/11/2021 at 7:49 AM, Nil said:

Serge modular panel

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Excellent taste.

Any ideas yet on where you're going to get them?

I have a Doepfer version of a Serge module (A-171-2, based on the Voltage Controlled Slope) which is awesome (and cheap).

@rhmilo Random Source / Loudness Warning. Not going for eurorack might be safer for my wallet and overall GAS control down the road hehe. I've never heard a Serge in person, but all the recordings I've heard have this stunning tonal quality to it. I also absolutely love that a Serge can be a self-contained system with its own idiosyncrasies. And I bet it'd befriend the Nagra instantly  

@Stickfigger what a beauty, right ?

  On 3/11/2021 at 9:15 AM, Nil said:

@rhmilo Random Source / Loudness Warning. Not going for eurorack might be safer for my wallet and overall GAS control down the road hehe. I've never heard a Serge in person, but all the recordings I've heard have this stunning tonal quality to it. I also absolutely love that a Serge can be a self-contained system with its own idiosyncrasies. And I bet it'd befriend the Nagra instantly  

 

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Hadn't heard of Loudness Warning before. Interesting.

There's also Elby Designs. They're going to be putting out DIY panels (but they're a year late now) that are reasonably affordable:

https://www.elby-designs.com/contents/en-us/d79_Best_of_CGS_-_BOCGS_01.html

fyi it's Loudest Warning.

I have a 7u intellijel case with euroserge, all diy.  R*S looks to be stopping the diy option for the euro serge, which makes it a more expensive option compared to 'normal' euro, so that one case is my limit, but I love it.  The guy who runs LW is super helpful, if you're serious about getting a serge panel I would suggest contacting him with what you're after.   

  On 3/11/2021 at 7:49 AM, Nil said:

I've just realised that, until now, I've successfully saved some cash... and as I'm not in a hurry, I'll keep on saving until I can afford one of these :

• Serge modular panel
• Waldorf Iridium
• something else ?

Serge synths have the most gorgeous tone, and Iridium seems to be a sound-designer dream in a box.
Another option would be to get Serge eurocrack modules too + Expert Sleepers and to live-code the sh*t out of it! :D

Once again I'm in no rush (still need to save anyway), and I'm all ears if you guys have any suggestions. As time goes by I'm definitely more interested in either unique analogue synths (Serge all the way !) or lush, chameleon digital ones. I could go for a couple of nice, less-expensive units but I'd rather have an amazingly inspiring instruments to focus on and learn inside out. 

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Two that're worth considering (They're my personal favourites) are the Kodamo EFM and the Motas-6. The first being a deep FM synth with more voices than you'd ever need. The second being probably the deepest analog mono on the market and it sounds really nice too. I could go on for days about both of them (specially the motas) but will save that for if you want to hear more haha

Kodamo EFM is on my radar too  I *love* FM.
I wasn't aware of the Motas-6 though. 
If adding contender to the list, then I suppose Modal Electronics offering is also to consider seriously.
Ruling out Elektron boxes right away, got 2 in the past and no matter how stellar the units they're not for me I'm afraid.

Really want a Lyra 8. I think if I buy directly from Sona Labs I can get one for 400 odd pounds....but not sure if that would work in reality. 

Genuinely the most amazing instrument ever.

I'm about 80% of the way through building a power supply for a 12v Serge panel, but who knows how long before I build the actual modules. I've got the bare PCBs/panel for a DUSG and a buss board, plus a case.  Need to get the $60 or so together for a transformer so I can finish the power supply before I do anything else, though.

I feel pretty good about what I have now. Doing live stuff with tempest, model cycles, polyend tracker, and keystep, plus fx. Only think I might want is a new reverb in the coming months.

i have a tc electronics nova delay and nova modulator, considering getting a nova reverb just to finish of be trilogy. Not many people have those, most people have eventide, or strymon which is honestly ridiculous in price. Open to suggestions for a good midrange reverb, preferably with the i/o in the back and not on the sides. 

Yeah I'm pretty satisfied, but I like to make stuff.

I want to get into circuit building but I am already spread too thin, it’s a miracle I get anything done.

  On 3/12/2021 at 11:54 PM, sheatheman said:

I feel pretty good about what I have now. Doing live stuff with tempest, model cycles, polyend tracker, and keystep, plus fx. Only think I might want is a new reverb in the coming months.

 

i have a tc electronics nova delay and nova modulator, considering getting a nova reverb just to finish of be trilogy. Not many people have those, most people have eventide, or strymon which is honestly ridiculous in price. Open to suggestions for a good midrange reverb, preferably with the i/o in the back and not on the sides. 

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  On 3/12/2021 at 9:16 PM, TubularCorporation said:

I'm about 80% of the way through building a power supply for a 12v Serge panel, but who knows how long before I build the actual modules. I've got the bare PCBs/panel for a DUSG and a buss board, plus a case.  Need to get the $60 or so together for a transformer so I can finish the power supply before I do anything else, though.

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Which panel? And how hard is it to source components for Serge stuff?

I’m starting to ponder building a Serge panel, not necessarily to make music with but because it’d be a fun long term project (and of course because Serge Is Cool (tm))

Not too keen on the spotty availability of Random Source, however. 

Actually I misremembered which board/panel I had (I ordered them last spring), it's the CGS92 / CGS97 combined panel from Modular Addict, plus the relevant PCBs.  So it's an SSG + noise, not a DUSG. I'm not doing a full panel in one go, I'm doing it a module at a time.  It's going to be loosely based on the Eidelweiss, but made with CGS designs.

One of the things that appeals to me about Serge/CGS (other than the overall Serge workflow and form factor appealing to me a lot more than Eurorack does) is that the parts are inexpensive and easy to source, and the designs themselves are fairly simple, plus there's a bit more space on the PCBs so they look easy to work on.

EDIT: most of the stuff you'd need is available from Elby Designs but no everything has panels. I did get a panel for the SSG+noise but I've also been seriously considering building one big, blank aluminum panel and doing more of a paperface style, which would save money and look cool.  Maybe get a drilling template laser cut from acrylic or something so I could just get a blank piece of 19" x 7" x .25" aluminum, glue on a front panel design, tape the template to it, drill pilot holes, take the template off, drill full size holes, put on some kind of clearcoat and I'd have a nice, obviously DIY panel.  Considering how expensive it is to get a panel that big CNCed (I've done that once and hope to ever do it again) it would save a lot. The individual modules cost about $60-$80 each to build including PCBs, and you could do it for a lot less if you already have a supply parts around.

The biggest problem for me is that a lot of linear power supplies (including the one I'm building) don't really work so well with a low load so I probably have to build a whole second power supply for testing individual models as I build them, otherwise I could potentially mess up the power transformer and that's the most expensive part of the entire thing.  But I guess I should really have a small +/- 12v benchtop Euro/serge/etc. power supply handy anyway.

  On 3/13/2021 at 10:19 AM, d-a-m-o said:

 

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haha I said midrange not $600 boutique. Biscuits are selling for $1200 on reverb. People are deranged. That said, if I was going to buy a $600 reverb, it would be the oto bam. 

  On 3/13/2021 at 2:39 PM, sheatheman said:

haha I said midrange not $600 boutique. Biscuits are selling for $1200 on reverb. People are deranged. That said, if I was going to buy a $600 reverb, it would be the oto bam. 

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It's a nice one for sure. (not a fan of the biscuit, so 1200$ for it ? lol no way)