u/WatermelonMannequin

There’s a bunch of Moog filter clones out there. Doepfer A-120 is one, Kassutronics Transistor Ladder Filter is another - both are affordable. AJH MiniMod Transistor Ladder Filter is more expensive but supposedly is super accurate.

An oscilloscope will show the raw waveform; a spectrogram will show the frequencies/harmonic content.

I added about a half dozen NLC modules to my rack this year, so far the Encephalo Adjuster (phaser) and Mun (vocoder) are my faves. They both sound incredible. Mun is so clean, I can’t believe it - just patch some vocals with a saw wave and you get instant Daft Punk. And Encephalo really shines with some feedback patching.

DIY, my friend

I like a frankensynth look, give me all the aesthetics!

I’m much more picky when it comes to ergonomics. Even if a module has great features and sound I’ll usually not buy it if the layout is too cramped, or if there’s jacks between knobs.

Have you used a multimeter to check that the 3.3V and ground rails are actually at those voltages?

Pro tip - empty hp isn’t a problem to be solved.

I use KiCAD, it’s free and while there’s a bit of a learning curve there are some good tutorials out there. I get boards from JLCPCB and they have clear instructions on how to export files from KiCAD and other softwares.

Ah yeah I think you’re right, that makes a lotta sense

It looks like the screen itself is straight but the plasticky window is crooked? How does that even happen

This video helped me understand the difference between linear and exponential response, and the uses of each. I think it’s still the best explanation around.

https://youtu.be/QXS1v2CQLOY

Damn what a steal. If you fix it up, it could easily be worth twice that

Here is a guide, this website is more geared towards DIY pedals than synths but the info is still good.

Tayda has a decent selection of proto boards - not sure if any will suit your needs exactly but worth checking out https://www.taydaelectronics.com/hardware-tools/prototyping-boards.html

Nope that’s all eurorack, you can see like 8 mother-32s in the top rack and a 4MS module down in the bottom left. All the same height too.

> C0 at 0 volt

> C4 at 0 volt

That’s not really how pitch CV works. You turn the Frequency knob(s) to any pitch you like, and then that note becomes 0V and CV offsets it from there. It’s relative, not absolute.

That said, it’s more common for pitch cv to be positive only; 0 to 8V or 0 to 10V. There’s no hard and fast rule though.

Befaco VC ADSR? It doesn’t have cv attenuators but has everything else.

Basically anything by Wendy Carlos but The Well Tempered Synthesizer is my favorite.

Tayda has knockoff thonkiconns for 23 cents each, that’s the cheapest I’ve found anywhere. The quality is usually fine but once in a while you get a dud. I don’t use them in modules I plan to sell, but for anything else they’re good enough.

Tayda also has the cheapest switches. These I’ve never had a problem with.

For pots, I usually get them from Amplified Parts because they carry the specific ones I like (Alpha RD901f) and the knobs I like too - and they’re in the US, and never out of stock.

Check out the KiCAD tutorial video series, I think they’re called “Getting to Blinky.” They’ll walk you through the whole process from schematics to component footprints to PCB design. And KiCAD is all free and open source.

I think to get the transparent effect you just order a regular FR4 PCB with no solder mask. I’ve never done that myself though.

You can get a lot of different sounds out of it, from clean and squelchy acid type stuff to super dissonant and distorted. I really like the way it sounds clean, without the character switched applied, but having those as options opens things up. Also it’s nice that it has BP and HP outs, those are really nice to have for processing external audio.

I’ve bought and sold a lot of filters but MI Ripples and Bastl Cinnamon have stood the test of time.

Are you talking about how the output seems to get offset as you change the pulse width? Because that’s totally normal.

I don’t know about mouser or digikey but I get these from tayda:

https://www.taydaelectronics.com/connectors-sockets/box-header-connectors/10-pin-box-header-connector-2-54mm.html

https://www.taydaelectronics.com/connectors-sockets/box-header-connectors/16-pin-box-header-connector-2-54mm.html

Microfreak is a cool hybrid synth and has capacitive touch pads instead of keys.