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2007-06-22 by Ronald Young
2007-06-22 by Yulian Pugachevsky
I have been following the saga of the "no more custom panels".
Is this true? Talk on the list about the fututre of STS kind of
fizzled out....
Whats the deal?
2007-06-22 by James R. Coplin
>Damn! And just as I was just starting to debug the new planner app.
>
> Indeed, it is true.. but STS is not fizzled out.. I do not wish to say
> more since Rex hasnt made his plans public, however, all of your
> questions will probably be answered if you were to contact Rex.. im sure
> he'll set the record straight.
2007-06-22 by matthew carpenter
On 6/22/07, James R. Coplin <james@...> wrote:Yulian Pugachevsky wrote:
>
>
> Indeed, it is true.. but STS is not fizzled out.. I do not wish to say
> more since Rex hasnt made his plans public, however, all of your
> questions will probably be answered if you were to contact Rex.. im sure
> he'll set the record straight.
Damn! And just as I was just starting to debug the new planner app.
Well, i guess the custom planner won't ever be coming back now. I have
to say, if the custom panels are going away, and they aren't being
replaced with single modules, I guess I can't see any purpose behind the
Serge system anymore.
James R. Coplin
2007-06-22 by James R. Coplin
>This is true, except there are plenty of options at all different price
>
> Ha, are you serious? The purpose is to make beautiful noise/music! I
> don't care if they are individual modules, made out of chocolate, or
> covered in fur! They're a f*cking blast to use and I love every minute
> with my system.
> Also, did everyone forget that the shop panels will still be available
> and we don't even know what Rex's plans are? I simply do not understand
> the couple of comments I've read so far regarding the 'pointlessness' of
> Serge or the 'it's not a true modular' comments. The former is
> completely dumbfounding and the latter is trivial, imo.
2007-06-22 by Ronald Young
> Of course we have to wait and see what the plan is but I think a fairI agree.
> amount of healthy skepticism is also not unwarranted.
2007-06-22 by darkstr1746@comcast.net
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "James R. Coplin" <james@...>
matthew carpenter wrote:
>
>
> Ha, are you serious? The purpose is to make beautiful noise/music! I
> don't care if they are individual modules, made out of chocolate, or
> covered in fur! They're a f*cking blast to use and I love every minute
> with my system.
> Also, did everyone forget that the shop panels will still be available
> and we don't even know what Rex's plans are? I simply do not understand
> the couple of comments I've read so far regarding the 'pointlessness' of
> Serge or the 'it's not a true modular' comments. The former is
> completely dumbfounding and the latter is trivial, imo.
This is true, except there are plenty of options at all different price
points to make noise/music. At some point, feature set enters into the
equation as does form factor. There are only a couple of modules in the
Serge line that do not have analogs in other manufacturers. Certainly
not enough to base an entire system around.
With that in mind, I think a strong argument can be made that any change
short of going to single modules, which as far as any conversation I've
ever had with him would suggest is *never* going to happen, would
effectively remove the advantage of the Serge's custom panels and leave
us with most of the liabilities of the system.
Of course we have to wait and see what the plan is but I think a fair
amount of healthy skepticism is also not unwarranted.
James R. COplin
2007-06-22 by darkstr1746@comcast.net
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Ronald Young" <datacult@...>
I have been following the saga of the "no more custom panels".
Is this true? Talk on the list about the fututre of STS kind of
fizzled out....
Whats the deal?
2007-06-22 by Chris Muir
>I just saw a new Buchla and the power supply was the size of a cellWell, to be fair, the middle boat of the current Buchla systems have three pretty sophisticated little switching power supply modules in them. The external thing just feeds dc voltage to the switchers.
>phone!
2007-06-22 by Yulian Pugachevsky
I just saw a new Buchla and the power supply was the size of a cell
phone!
2007-06-22 by Ronald Young
> please note; these are speculations as to why the Serge psu isI am just curious because this is one "issue" that has taken me away
>bigger than Buchla's.. (hang on.. I thought bigger is better LOL :)
2007-06-22 by darkstr1746@comcast.net
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Ronald Young" <datacult@...>
> please note; these are speculations as to why the Serge psu is
>bigger than Buchla's.. (hang on.. I thought bigger is better LOL :)
I am just curious because this is one "issue" that has taken me away
from Serge...
On the one hand you have pretty compact modules that can fit in a skb
mixer case....then you have to power it from a LARGE grey box (that
does not fit in a case or a rack...
I am just curious, thats all! :)
2007-06-22 by Bill Sequeira
On Jun 22, 2007, at 8:56 AM, James R. Coplin wrote:
> [...8<...]
> With that in mind, I think a strong argument can be made that any
> change
> short of going to single modules, which as far as any conversation
> I've
> ever had with him would suggest is *never* going to happen, would
> effectively remove the advantage of the Serge's custom panels and
> leave
> us with most of the liabilities of the system.
>
> Of course we have to wait and see what the plan is but I think a fair
> amount of healthy skepticism is also not unwarranted.
>
> James R. COplin
>
>
2007-06-22 by Chris Muir
>Does this "cell phone" supply power a PowerBox, PowerBoat or PowerCabinet? Also, of what size (2, 4, 6, 12 or 18 module)? How many of these Box/Boat/Cabinets can it handle? The size of the psu might also have something to do with the fact that STS products are 100% analogue (with the exception of things like the BLOG, which in essence is logic circuitry), whereas the 200e is more of a hybrid beast.. and digital circuitry tends to suck less juice.. we also dont know what voltages and power requirements are for the 200e (maybe it just runs on +12v, 1A)??The Buchla 200e supply is a laptop power supply that provides 4.17 amps of 12 volts power. This plugs into the middle boat, where it hits three very cute switchers, one each for +/- 15v, and one for +5v. These are mounted to, and hidden under, the power distribution board, and they use the boat as a heat sink. Power to the top and bottom boat is routed through the wooden end-caps. A very tidy system, IMO.
>please note; these are speculations as to why the Serge psu is bigger than Buchla's.I think the biggest difference as far as size goes is switching vs linear.
2007-06-23 by Yulian Pugachevsky
What liabilities?
Serge is not about modules but about an instrument and a system, and
achieves that objective quite effectively.
Regards,
Bill
__________________________________________
Bill Sequeira, PHD - Principal
Axon Hillock - http://www.axonhillock.com/
On Jun 22, 2007, at 8:56 AM, James R. Coplin wrote:
> [...8<...]
> With that in mind, I think a strong argument can be made that any
> change
> short of going to single modules, which as far as any conversation
> I've
> ever had with him would suggest is *never* going to happen, would
> effectively remove the advantage of the Serge's custom panels and
> leave
> us with most of the liabilities of the system.
>
> Of course we have to wait and see what the plan is but I think a fair
> amount of healthy skepticism is also not unwarranted.
>
> James R. COplin
>
>
2007-06-23 by darkstr1746@comcast.net
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Yulian Pugachevsky <yulian.p@...>
Bingo on that Bill !!! :)
imho, designing/building a Serge system just by plopping in modules or building from a kit is similar to putting together a Stradivarius from parts that you'd get from the master.. you may have all the right parts, but your bridge might not be aligned properly, etc.. as opposed to having the whole instrument (and that's the key word here as you point out!!) assembled, fine-tuned/calibrat ed and tested by the master builder (which is what Rex does)... what's being said here is nothing new..its been emphasized over and over... the only downfall is that you cannot buy individual modules and you have to be quite attentive in planning your panel.. but I find that its a very small price to pay for the finished product (no pun intended here :))...I've had countless discussions with people who've never played or even seen a Serge system in person and say "... yeah-yeah.. I can do that with my Doepfer, Blacet, etc.. you're crazy to spend this kind of money on a modular..bla. .bla.." but once they get to play with my miniscule 3panel kit (4th one on the way... cant wait :D).. the attitude changes all together...I honestly dont think that this kind of experience could be achieved if the system's modules were connected together by edge connectors instead of hand-braded prime quality wire or if it was built/tested using average bench equipment... cuz dont forget.. Rex's lab gear is at the top of its game and that amount of $$$ that one would need to purchase that equipment would quickly add up and would drastically increase the cost of the proverbial "home built" Serge system.... might as well let Rex do what he's good (no... amazing) at and accept that the pros outweigh the consok.. 'nuff ranting/preaching ;-)... enjoy your Serges!!!y.
On 22-Jun-07, at 6:27 PM, Bill Sequeira wrote:
What liabilities?
Serge is not about modules but about an instrument and a system, and
achieves that objective quite effectively.
Regards,
Bill
__________________________________________
Bill Sequeira, PHD - Principal
Axon Hillock - http://www.axonhillock.com/
On Jun 22, 2007, at 8:56 AM, James R. Coplin wrote:
> [...8<...]
> With that in mind, I think a strong argument can be made that any
> change
> short of going to single modules, which as far as any conversation
> I've
> ever had with him would suggest is *never* going to happen, would
> effectively remove the advantage of the Serge's custom panels and
> leave
> us with most of the liabilities of the system.
>
> Of course we have to wait and see what the plan is but I think a fair
> amount of healthy skepticism is also not unwarranted.
>
> James R. COplin
>
>
2007-06-23 by Ken Stone
> STS psu's are built by Rex (unless I misunderstood him) whereas1: Rex does NOT build Serge power supplies whatever he may or may not
> Buchla seems to use a factory-made OEM psu
2007-06-23 by Yulian Pugachevsky
1: Rex does NOT build Serge power supplies whatever he may or may not
have said. He merely BOXES them. They are industry standard Power-1
linear supplies. Basically you cannot build a power supply as good as
the Power-1 for what you can buy one ready made. Most of what is in a
Serge power supply case is air - space - nothing. This helps with
heat dissipation.
2007-06-23 by scottnoanh@peoplepc.com
2007-06-23 by Yulian Pugachevsky
"imho, designing/building a Serge system just by plopping in modules or
building from a kit is similar to putting together a Stradivarius from parts
that you'd get from the master.. you may have all the right parts, but your
bridge might not be aligned properly, etc.. as opposed to having the whole
instrument (and that's the key word here as you point out!!) assembled,
fine-tuned/calibrated and tested by the master builder (which is what Rex
does)."
If you depend on the specific physical layout of a panel to create your
music, this makes sense. Otherwise, I'd have to question this line of
reasoning. By definition, a modular synthesizer consists of modules that
each exist as a separate electrical entity, whether each module is mounted
behind its own individual panel or grouped with other modules behind a
single panel. Each of these modules can be calibrated by the master.
Whatever physical layout you choose for a selection of modules, the
instrument will be functionally the same. This could not be said of the
parts for a Stradivarius.