OT: other modules and gear in general

Since this is the only forum where I’m active I would sometimes like to geek out or catalize /diminish GAS effects with my fellow ER-301 owners. I don think there is a thread like this yet?

My modular journey tends to go up and down like most things do, depending on things like finances, patch fatigue, time restrictions, boredom, Superbooth, etc. Hormones also maybe who knows? :rofl: I have sold many modules and started the controversial ER-301 micro-system thread (@odevices doesn’t approve :smiley::grin:) but since case building is one of my favorite side projects it’s starting to itch again. I’m contemplating an expansion of my system, or maybe a side system to compliment the ER-301 case. I really like it to be as compact as possible so I can travel easily with my instrument, but of course it’s limited.

So yes, what modules should I be looking at these days? One module I’m still pretty excited about is Magneto. I’m wondering if it has much to offer as a dedicated delay next to the ER-301. Another one is Stages by MI. I never had any of their modules. Any experiences with these two in tandem with OD gear? Oh yeh, I’m also interested in getting the other two ER’s… But I will have to choose somehow :thinking:

And now I’m going to pop the new firmware in my unit and just appreciate the gear I got!! :heart_eyes:

I have Magneto, Stages and ER-101/102 and I’m happy to answer your questions, but you have to be a little more specific. :wink: What do you want to know?

Magneto is not your every day delay, so probably not the best choice for a standard end of chain delay. Lots of HP and $$$, but it quickly became one of my favourite modules. Most often I only use one or two of the playheads (delay voices) but I just love the unique “analogue” sound and the playability.

Another “definitely yes!” for Stages: super flexible, playable – and very deep. The further you go, the more it feels like there’s still so much more to explore. So if you’re willing to invest some time to learn it: go for it.

Same goes for ER-101/102: great GUI, but a steep learning curve. Probably the best sequencer to compose mutating, shifting, evolving melodic patterns – and a great tool for performing and jamming. But there are also some limitations – like no general Undo (Why? This would make it so much better!). I’m still in the middle of learning and practising it, but I already collected a bunch of suggestions and improvement proposals I guess it’s better though to keep them for myself until Brian has finalised the ER-301 FW 4.x and recovered from excessive goofing off… :wink:

I don’t have specific questions about these modules but I’m curious to hear random, subjective experiences from people who also own an ER-301. So your reply was what I wanted to hear :blush:.

What interests me about Magneto is its versatility as an effect. I suspect it could be included in most patches without being overly recognizable? That’s also why I would consider the investment because yes, not a cheap one.

Stages sounds good. I don’t mind learning a module, but I do appreciate playability more and more.

Concerning ER-101+expander, I am just curious to it’s strengths, limitations, it’s intuitiveness and playability. I have a squarp pyramid and I use it for all my sequencing duties. But it’s always been a hate/love relationship because it’s a very midi way of going about it, I’m not too fond of the user interface, and it’s a very menu diving approach. I’m used to it though and it does everything I need it to do. It does a lot, and there not much out there that really competes. I’m thinking of polyphony, the ease of programming chords etc. building songs.

I know it’s ‘old’, but I still love the Tip Top Z-DSP. The ‘Halls of Valhalla’ programs are timeless and awesome. My favourite parts of the actual unit though are the feedback and clock input. The clock ISN’T gate, but instead sample rate. So… just imagine running a square wave running near ultrasonic, sweeping it’s pitch down, causing the DAC’s to barely being able to function and then ramp up again into some semblance of audio. It can get pretty wild! Especially in the midst of some controlled feedback.

There’s a ton of programs for it - by TTA direct as well as third party

Alternately, the SSF / Errogenous Tones Gatestorm and Euclidean Circles are fantastic complex gate sources that bring tons of possibilities to any sized rig.

i’m a fanboy when it comes to Harvestman\Industrial Music Electronics.
i own just three modules, but love them dearly:
-hertz donut mk2(dual complex oscillator, buchla style, entirely digital. think dpo but sounds totally different. you can dial in precise linear tzfm tones or go totally harsh. i use it also as a complete simple drum machine sound engine, i start building a kickdrum and then send gates or envelopes or random values to its internal waveshaper and modulation bus, hence creating wild percussive sounds resembling snares, hats, but mostly broken electronic devices with huge impacts.)
-zorlon cannon mk2(this is a weird one. it is called a dual linear feedback shift register battery, it has two halves, one optimized for gates\cv, the other for audio but you can use them as you prefer. the principle is similar to turing machine, du-rdt, noisering and other modules but in the harvestman way. you can conjure up semi-random gate sequences, quasi-pitched noise, nice stringy tones, semi-random cv sequences and\or a mix of them all).
-tyme sefari mk2 expanded(audio buffer. but again, in the harvestman way. use it as a digital delay, sound on sound recorder, sound degrader\samplerate reduction, digital audio harsh manipulator because you can manipulate bit resolution and sample rate realtime and continually write to a buffer continually shifting from one bit depth to another or changing samplerate on the fly, you can use it as a sampler.small memory, lots of audio artifacts, lots of grit, lots of gate\cv in, looping options, clock options, end of loop out, stereo operation and pitch shift when using the expander. love it even if most of its functions can be reproduced with the 301. but i’d miss his nasty character).

I know you own five or six of them so I guessed you like the module! :grin: Yeah, with the speed of Eurorack development, by now it’s old school. Personally, I could never really see the appeal of its size and price for just one effect (in the rare case you would only own one of them :wink:), but then I never tested it or consciously heard it in action so I really can’t judge at all. Gatestorm does appeal to me though, if I were to ditch midi sequencing I would definitely look into it.

I was looking for a second hand tyme sefari at one point! but then got the ER-301 and never considered it again. I heard people complain about the build quality of harvestman though. That’s usually a turn off for me.

no probs with the build quality. they are as good as makenoise and similar products.

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I took delivery of a Xaoc Zadar yesterday. I have not spent enough time with it yet to give a detailed review. So for now I’ll just say I’m impressed, and that it feels like something truly innovative and new that I’ve never had in any synth before. Might be worth watching what videos are out there if it’s not something you’re aware of.

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Wow seems like Xaoc is killing it these days. I wasn’t aware of this but that module looks terrific!! I never owned any Xaoc but they are all so pretty :heart_eyes:

Yeah, I dig the retro designs with the knobs and such that Xaoc chooses. The Zadar’s UI is super compelling to play with, watching the envelopes scan and morph around in real time. I’ll try to provide some sound samples after I’ve spent a little more time with it.

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Got Marbles playing with the er301 right now, I like this combo a lot. Marbles is a very nice modulation source to have if you like happy little accidents.
Also eying the Zadar… but…have… to … resist…

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Other modules??? :grinning:

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“I think we should see other modules” :grin:

ER-301 is cheating by design.

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If this thread is about personal favourites I should also mention the Verbos Harmonic Oscillator: To me it has a truely unique sound, some kind of magic. Some people think one could just rebuilt it by stacking some sine VCOs, but no, you can’t. These are no clean sinewaves, apart from the fundamental.

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Please do, I’m curious. At first sight, it’s a little unsatisfying though that you need to work with the built in library of envelopes. I immediately think of recording CV or drawing your own envelope shapes but I don’t think that’s possible?

Speaking of stacking sine waves. Did anyone see the demos for Xaoc Odessa…? :hushed: Pretty rad

I was immediately in love with the harmonic oscillator when I just started out with Eurorack, but it seemed wildly expensive at that time and I never got my hands on one afterwards (when I got used to spending money on modules…) Also I can’t imagine exactly how I would use it. How DO you use it?

You can’t draw your own but you can morph and warp the multitude of seemingly well designed waves that are there horizontally and vertically, as well as change the duration, level, chain them, reverse them, and set the re-triggrer mode. And of course they can be modulated from another source or self-patched.

I’d have to get back after I’ve had it a little longer, but right now not being able to draw your own waves doesn’t feel particularly limiting. In a way I almost feel like that would subtract from it because it excels being able to twist and distort these waveforms very quickly, and audition and tweak all kinds of complex animations in no time at all.

If drawing your own wave forms is your thing, the new Erica Graphic VCO looks pretty sharp, though I have never used one.

EDIT: I prob shouldn’t have called them waves - they are vectors, which is what allows some of the crazy morphs.

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Wow, yes, Odessa sound awesome. Aparently they revised the hardware design and nobody knows when it’ll be released…

On the Verbos HO: What do you mean by not knowing how you would use it? It’s a VCO. :slight_smile:
I don’t have a special way to use it: modelling the sound with the overtone faders, “playing” some overtone faders in realtime to add specific overtones only on certain notes (you can also sequence this and grab individual overtones separately, for instance to add individual reverbs or delays)… Nothing special I guess – I just love it’s basic sound quality.