jepyang

jepyang, 3 months ago

@jacqueline I swear I’ve seen a design like this, what was wild is that they literally stacked the opamp packages

jepyang, 3 months ago

@jacqueline Ok by complete coincidence I ran into this on Instagram an hour later

jepyang, 3 months ago

@recursive @jacqueline
@juanitohm on IG if you want to take a closer look

that is actually one of his more conventional builds…

Another post, captioned “now THATS what I call a point to point circuit” And indeed it is a point to point circuit. It is a tight tangle of wires, components, and ICs. Hard to tell what’s going on here, it feels like a joke, but it isn’t.
Captioned “making progress on my braids digital oscillator build!” The image is a point to point Braids modular synth module in progress. A small microcontroller board is connected in a big tangle to a set of four alphanumeric LED segment displays and some pots. It is recognizable as a Braids, but wow.
A fourth post, the caption is about going to the park but the main thing is the image. It is juanitohm’s tin can modular. It’s a massive modular synthesizer with recycled cans as the panels instead of regular panels. It has a crude look but it is all patched up and clearly a functional instrument. All of the modules are done in his point-to-point style (not visible), although most of them are not as complex as the ones in the previous three photos.

jepyang, 3 months ago

@deborahh Surprisingly no, this is someone I actually follow and was the op-amp stacker from years ago that I was struggling to remember, and it just happened that they had posted another op-amp stack within the last few days.

Sometimes the internet is good.😅

jepyang, 3 months ago

@stevenray Absolutely! I will definitely have a handful to sell here soonish, I’ll make a note and give you first dibs. :)

jepyang, 3 months ago

@stevenray No, it grew 😅 16HP

It does have two extra jacks (a VCA) and an extra knob (crossfade CV attenuator) to help “make up for” the HP increase, and the extra panel space allows for a much larger main knob, which was an intentional design goal.

The xfader is also vactrol-based, and vactrols just take up a lot of physical space

But also I wasn’t trying tooo hard to keep it small 😅 🤷‍♂️

jepyang, 3 months ago

@stevenray The vactrol version is one-and-done, not gonna make more than what I’m doing right now.

But I am also reworking the idea to swap the vactrols for a tiny little VCA IC. I haven’t started the layout process but I am hoping to maybe slim it down slightly. Probably still not 8HP but maybe 12?

No idea when those will be ready, if ever 😅 but figured I’d mention it. I know 16HP can be a lot to give up lol.

jepyang, 3 months ago

@stevenray I was thinking $225 shipped in the US? If that seems off though, let me know.

jepyang, 3 months ago

@symmetrizer Badass I love that thing

jepyang, 3 months ago

I finished it, put it down to work on something else with the plan to double check my work and send it to be manufactured

and then I forgot to look at it again for nine months

jepyang, 3 months ago

Anyway, if anyone is interested in a cheap #eurorack stereo output module (1/4” line out and headphones), get in touch. I can do assembled modules, or PCB/panel for DIYers.

I’ll post more about it tomorrow

#synthDIY

jepyang, 3 months ago

@svgeesus @synthdiy Unbalanced, but fun fact: the commercial output module it’s directly based on claims to have balanced outs and actually doesn’t at all. If you want the same set up (which is safe for balanced cables but again, not actually a balanced signal) it’s easy to modify for this.

jepyang, 3 months ago

@Crazypedia I like oysters, shiitake, and cubensis

jepyang, 3 months ago

One cool function for it though: I realized you could combine two of these with a joystick controller to control the X and Y coordinates of a point. The further you push the joystick in a direction, the faster the point will move in that direction. If you let the joystick snap back to center (0V), the point will stop where it is. Neat! Analog video games on your modular synth!

jepyang, 3 months ago

We’re in the final stretch…

jepyang, 3 months ago

Ok so I mentioned the jacks with the little flowers before—the Da Kine circuit—now a little more detail.

There are six inputs with flowers. Besides the regular functions they go to, they’re also sent to Da Kine. First they’re AC-coupled (removes any DC offsets, which makes this circuit audio-only, no CV), then sent to a unity mixer, and then finally sent to a VCA. Scoop controls the VCA.

Simple, and gives you a handy way to use inputs that would otherwise be left unused in a patch!

jepyang, 3 months ago

And finally, Mauna. As I worked up the schematic, I ended up with an extra VCA. Very simple, one in, one out, controlled by Scoop.

It is normalled to Right…for no real reason 😅 I thought maybe there could be creative ways to use it alongside the crossfader/panner, but I haven’t come up with any specific applications beyond “hey, free VCA.”

That said, Right is itself normaled to +5V, the effect of which is that a bipolar signal going into Scoop and out Mauna will be scaled to fit between 0-5V

jepyang, 3 months ago

And that’s it!

There are a lot of interesting ways to use this module. Some are more apparent than others. There are a few very in-depth guides to Cold Mac that can help with more complex patch—the original manufacturers dreamt up some truly wild stuff using multiple Cold Macs, though I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone with more than one in their rack 😅

jepyang, 3 months ago

But even on a basic level, there’s some really neat stuff. You put one CV signal into Scoop and right off the bat you get nine different variations on it. And the big ol knob can add even more flavor by messing with the offset.

Or you can use it like six or seven totally separate utility modules!

Fun stuff :) I’m excited. 😁

#Eurorack #synthDIY

jepyang, 3 months ago

Oh hey I started a public repo for this and uploaded the schematics

https://github.com/jepyang/Mac-Salad

#SynthDIY #eurorack

jepyang, 3 months ago

@symmetrizer Hell yeah!

If you’re in a patient mood, I also plan to put together a version that I can distribute as a PCB/panel set and open-source the manufacturing files. This one has a borrowed circuit block which the creator has asked me not to distribute except as a schematic.