Doepfer

I am going to add a joystick to my system. I guess my options are A-174 
and Analogue Systems RS220. Has someone tried them both and can comment 
their quality?

A-174 seems to have a circular mask, which prevents simultaneous 
max/min X and Y values. This doesn't seem sensible... Also, there are 
no mini multiples, like in RS220.

On the other hand, A-174 has offset controls instead of attenuators, 
which may be more useful in many situations. It is cheaper too.

Someone here commented, that for better ergonomics jacks and knobs 
should be above the joystick rather than below it. I guess both A-174 
and RS220 can be installed upside down, if desired.

Jari Jokinen

i have the doepfer one. i find it incredibly useful, well built, and
also often use the offsets as static voltage sources eg to control
wavetables on my a112. the circular cuff is a theoretical problem but
ive not noticed it being an issue. i've vascillated over whether to
remove the spring, but actually its sufficiently cheap that you could
have one sprung, one not, for the same price as the AS version. its
surprising how much accurate pitch control you can have over a sound
source, eg oscillator, esp if using a vca to temper the movements, if
a quantiser wasnt so disproportionately expensive (to the pleasure,
rather than the cost of construction) then i'd be tempted to get one
and use it with the joystick. i actually find the joystick more usable
than the ribbon for wiggly pitch control.



--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com, "jalmari3" <jari.jokinen@...> wrote:

>
> I am going to add a joystick to my system. I guess my options are A-174 
> and Analogue Systems RS220. Has someone tried them both and can comment 
> their quality?
> 
> A-174 seems to have a circular mask, which prevents simultaneous 
> max/min X and Y values. This doesn't seem sensible... Also, there are 
> no mini multiples, like in RS220.
> 
> On the other hand, A-174 has offset controls instead of attenuators, 
> which may be more useful in many situations. It is cheaper too.
> 
> Someone here commented, that for better ergonomics jacks and knobs 
> should be above the joystick rather than below it. I guess both A-174 
> and RS220 can be installed upside down, if desired.
> 
> Jari Jokinen
>

I have two of the AS RS220 joysticks. I think they are great. I have  
an older model and a newer one, the main difference being the  
orientation. They seem to be making them with the jacks on top now,  
the older one has them on the bottom. On their site the last time I  
looked they showed images of the older (bottom jacks) orientation in  
all the pictures except as part of the French connection keyboard  
(which would be the orientation of choice for a keyboard module).  The  
top is my preferred position since I use portable cases laying on an  
angle or face up on their backs. For these positions the cables are  
not under my hands. For the standard vertical orientation most seem to  
like the jacks at the bottom (cables not hanging over the stick). I  
just have one mounted upside-down and re-wired accrdingly - a simple  
thing. I cant speak for the Doepfer unit , but the AS module feels  
very smooth without the springs - almost too easy to whip around,  
which is not a bad thing to me. I remember the AKS joystick having a  
bit more "drag" which helps a little for fine movements.
If you get one don't forget to get/make a manual pushbutton module too  
(like the Doepfer A-164-1), I wish they would build it into the  
joystick module - I always need one right next to the joystick.

-James

On Mar 29, 2008, at 4:27 AM, jalmari3 wrote:

> I am going to add a joystick to my system. I guess my options are  
> A-174
> and Analogue Systems RS220. Has someone tried them both and can  
> comment
> their quality?
>
> A-174 seems to have a circular mask, which prevents simultaneous
> max/min X and Y values. This doesn't seem sensible... Also, there are
> no mini multiples, like in RS220.
>
> On the other hand, A-174 has offset controls instead of attenuators,
> which may be more useful in many situations. It is cheaper too.
>
> Someone here commented, that for better ergonomics jacks and knobs
> should be above the joystick rather than below it. I guess both A-174
> and RS220 can be installed upside down, if desired.
>
> Jari Jokinen
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

I have one RS220, its the old version with jacks on the bottom. I got
it cheap secondhand because it was so loose gravity pulled it down. I
solved this by rotating the joystick itself inside the module by 90
degrees. Its functionig perfectly now. 

There is a simple suplement circuitry possible for any joystick, to
get 4 more outputs. It involves adding and subtracting the horizontal
(X) and vertical (Y) voltages : 
-X-Y=A
+X-Y=B
+X+Y=C
-X+Y=D
This can be done with a very simple circuit. Maybe this could find its
way to the DIY page?

--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com, James Husted
<the_ersatz_planet@...> wrote:

>
> I have two of the AS RS220 joysticks. I think they are great. I have  
> an older model and a newer one, the main difference being the  
> orientation. They seem to be making them with the jacks on top now,  
> the older one has them on the bottom. On their site the last time I  
> looked they showed images of the older (bottom jacks) orientation in  
> all the pictures except as part of the French connection keyboard  
> (which would be the orientation of choice for a keyboard module).  The  
> top is my preferred position since I use portable cases laying on an  
> angle or face up on their backs. For these positions the cables are  
> not under my hands. For the standard vertical orientation most seem to  
> like the jacks at the bottom (cables not hanging over the stick). I  
> just have one mounted upside-down and re-wired accrdingly - a simple  
> thing. I cant speak for the Doepfer unit , but the AS module feels  
> very smooth without the springs - almost too easy to whip around,  
> which is not a bad thing to me. I remember the AKS joystick having a  
> bit more "drag" which helps a little for fine movements.
> If you get one don't forget to get/make a manual pushbutton module too  
> (like the Doepfer A-164-1), I wish they would build it into the  
> joystick module - I always need one right next to the joystick.
> 
> -James
> 
> 
> On Mar 29, 2008, at 4:27 AM, jalmari3 wrote:
> 
> > I am going to add a joystick to my system. I guess my options are  
> > A-174
> > and Analogue Systems RS220. Has someone tried them both and can  
> > comment
> > their quality?
> >
> > A-174 seems to have a circular mask, which prevents simultaneous
> > max/min X and Y values. This doesn't seem sensible... Also, there are
> > no mini multiples, like in RS220.
> >
> > On the other hand, A-174 has offset controls instead of attenuators,
> > which may be more useful in many situations. It is cheaper too.
> >
> > Someone here commented, that for better ergonomics jacks and knobs
> > should be above the joystick rather than below it. I guess both A-174
> > and RS220 can be installed upside down, if desired.
> >
> > Jari Jokinen
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>

Thank you for your comments. I am still skeptical about the round mask 
in A-174.

How about this?
"I would like to know, if the RS220 joystick PCB "sticks out" past the
faceplate - to the space belonging to the adjacent module. This is the
case with my RS230 and it might cause problems with modules from other
manufacturers."

Jari Jokinen

I use the corners of the RS220 all the time. But I never used a A-174
to compare it with, so don't know if the round faceplate in a
disadvantage.
The PCB on the RS220 does not stick out.

 
--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com, "jalmari3" <jari.jokinen@...> wrote:

>
> Thank you for your comments. I am still skeptical about the round mask 
> in A-174.
> 
> How about this?
> "I would like to know, if the RS220 joystick PCB "sticks out" past the
> faceplate - to the space belonging to the adjacent module. This is the
> case with my RS230 and it might cause problems with modules from other
> manufacturers."
> 
> Jari Jokinen
>

Cwejman is also planning a module with joystick:
http://www.cwejman.net/cwejman.net/qvc-4.htm

Hi

> I use the corners of the RS220 all the time. But I never used a A-174
> to compare it with, so don't know if the round faceplate in a
> disadvantage.
I had joysticks from an old video game with rectangular mask and I own 
a A-174: To my opinion the circular mask is a big disadvantage.

Florian