Of Marriage and Modules

I got married on Saturday!! :D

Easily one of (if not *the*) happiest days of my life. The second happiest would no doubt be the day after when my new wife said it would be ok to use some of our wedding gift money to order some modules and take advantage of the Analogue Haven 2 year anniversary sale!

So, I pretty much bought everything left on my list that was currently available to purchase (Livewire osc, Plan B Milton + Model 28 not available yet...and the Frequensteiner was out of stock).

Livewire Dual Bissell Generator
Livewire Vulcan Modulator
Livewire Dual Cyclotron
Plan B Heisenberg Generator
Plan B Polyphonic Envelope - x2
Doepfer A-100P Portable Case (2nd case)
Doepfer A-119 Envelope Follower
Doepfer A-131 VCA
Doepfer A-151 Quad Seq. Switch
Doepfer A-175 Dual Voltage Inverter
Doepfer A-177 Ext. Foot Controller
Doepfer A-180 Multiples - x2
Doepfer A-181 Multiples 2
Doepfer A-183c Polarizing Mixer

:D

The Voyager will be going up for sale though. The money for the modules is more like a loan for the time being...apparently we eventually *need* furniture ;)

PS. I updated the Today's wild patch post with the audio sample, embedded from Twango. Big thanks to Matrix for pointing me to Twango.

Sad news...

No new modules this month :(

I ended up spending a little more money this month (and part of last) and don't have the spare cash to order this month's round of modules.

I did, however, pickup a UA 2-610 which I am very stoked on. This was the main reason for the $$$ shortage.

I plan on picking up again in June. I'll be going on vacation and when I come back, orders will be placed.

Voyager setting sail?

I'm seriously considering selling my Voyager once I come closer to wrapping up what I've planned for the modular synth.

It's not that I don't like the Voyager anymore, that's very much not the case, but it is a 'players' instrument and I am most certainly not a 'player', at least in the keyboard sense.

Also, while it is quite capable as far as sound design goes (and incredibly easy to use), it will pale in this aspect compared to what the modular will be capable of. Part of the reason I even started to build the modular was because I was getting frustrated by limitations that the Voyager has. I know that a lot of extra stuff can be done within the Voyager's software...but to be completely honest, I don't want to pay that much for a killer analog synth and have to dick around with software (especially when the settings are patch specific).

I'm torn though, because it feels so great (keyboard action, knobs, switches, wheels, etc) and it sounds so great.

But it's not very portable (it's heavy and a bit awkward in footprint), and I wouldn't really feel that comfortable gigging with it...I would literally cry if that beautiful wood got a serious ding in it.

And of course, it does cost a pretty penny or two...money that I would happily use toward the modular.

...all in all, I'm still torn...looking for your opinions...thanks.

Plan B Model 28 Programmable Clock

From the Plan B site [and Matrixsynth]:
Shipping in early June, 2007, the Plan B Model 28 Programmable Tap Clock is the second computer-based product in the Plan B line and addresses the need for an accurate tap input-based timing clock for analog synthesizers. Along with the quarter note base duration, the M28 provides separate eighth note tuplet and eighth note triplet outputs and a single SERIAL OUTPUT which allows the user to construct polyrythmic combinations of the three note values, determined by a voltage level present at the SELECT input. For more information and complete functional description click here

This thing is SO cool. Not only is exactly like something I was looking for (or hoping to achieve with the MIDI-CV clock and Plan B sequencer), but it also fills out the last 12HP that I hadn't decided on for the second case.

I'm so stoked on this unit, I can't wait...even though I won't actually be getting it until the first case is done :(

Today's wild patch

Too cool to not snap a photo of.

[Updated]:Here's the audio sample, embedded via Twango. Big thanks to Matrix for pointing me to Twango.

New model 15 from Plan B

News from Plan B:
The Plan B Model 15 Rev.2 will begin shipping on May 6, 2007. The circuit is identical to previous releases with the addition of a new connector to support the 15A Expander. This is the only circuit change. To facilitate this the PCB had to be redesigned and while we were at it we reconfigured that assembly to mount parallel to the faceplate, taking the overall depth of the module from 4.25 inches to just over 1 inch thick. click for photo.

The new 15A Expander adds functionality to the M15 and a direct result of customer requests. It connects to the Rev.2 VCO via a dedicated I/O connector located on the back of the PCB. It can however be retrofitted to any Model 15's regardless of revision, although earlier releases (rev 1 - 1.6) will require point-to point connections. the 15A is only 4 HP wide and adds a PWM attenuation pot, a Soft/Hard Sync crossfade pot (which amplifies the M15 sync function up to x4 it's previous intensity), 3 three way transposition switch (configured octave up/none/octave down) and two additional 1V/oct VC inputs. The 15A will begin shipping at the end of May 2007 with a retail price of $70.

While this 'fixes' the two things I wasn't thrilled about with the Model 15 (the lack of octave switch never bothered me at all, in fact, I'd prefer it not be there), I think I'm still sold on 2 Livewire oscs. With the new Model 15 + 15A expander, that's 22HP, only 6HP less than the Livewire osc, so I'm not really saving that much space by sacrificing functionality of the Livewire (animated saw/pulse, dedicated sub osc out, independent square and pulse outs, dedicated sync source out, etc).

PS. Looks like it was also covered here on Matrixsynth.