SynthModules

Longish ramble follows. I welcome suggestions for dealing with multiple
cable & physical formats. Thanks. Now on with my post:


I was going to convert my PSIM to the MOTM format with a Stooge panel. Now
I'm not so sure. I am definitely buying a Stooge panel, but I may use it as
Brice describes, below.  Let me back up a little...

I had no Frac Rack gear until I bought a PSIM-1 plus a Blacet PS and rack
cage to house it. I have plenty of gear with 1/4" jacks, though, so I am
reluctant to get into the 1/8" format too heavily.

Plan A was to use the PSIM with some 1/4-to-1/8 adapters. This looks cheesy,
seems fragile, and it doesn't address the issue of getting *more* 1/8" gear.

Plan B was to join the Stooges, reformatting everything into MOTM format.
Now, I'm having second thoughts, since there is a lot of cool Frac Rack gear
and I'm not sure that I want to reformat it all! (There is Wiard 1200 and
Blacet, plus Doepfer, which also uses 1/8" connectors although the EuroRack
is a little different.) The 1/8" stuff is so nice and compact, too. So...

I've been working on Plan C, which involves living with both 1/4 and1/8,
after all.

Plan C, Version 1, has me installing the Frac Rack cage *and* MOTM rack
rails *and* a custom patch bay into one rack enclosure. The patch bay will
be mounted between the rows of Frac and MOTM gear, and will feature both 1/8
and 1/4 jacks. It will also provide cascaded mults for both jack sizes. (To
make the patch bay, I intend to modify a commercial unit, replacing some
1/4" jacks with 1/8" ones -- will this be a problem due to oversized holes?
I'm not too far into the planning!)

What about the Stooge panel? That's a special case. My idea is to mount it
directly above or below the PSIM itself, and use it as a breakout box with
1/4" jacks and input attenuators (see
http://www.wiseguysynth.com/larry/panel/gif/psim7.gif). My intent is to wire
a custom connector behind each front panel; a custom cable will connect the
MOTM panel to the PSIM.

I'm also looking into using Peter Grenader's Gizmotron
(http://www.buzzclick-music.com/gizmotron.html) to make attenuator/inverters
for the PSIM outputs. But that's another module...
--
john


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brice D. Hornback" <synthmodules@synthmodules.com>


> No problem.  I can add that as an add-on module going forward.  The only
> problem is... the panel will cost ten times as much as the parts that go
> behind it.  SO... if there IS interest in this... I don't want any
"sticker
> shock" when the time comes.
>
> How much are you folks willing to pay for a 1U Frac-Rack module with four
> pots and a couple wires running over to your PSIM-1?  (You connect them to
> the switch tab on the four input jacks so they are normalized to the
PSIM-1
> analog inputs and the power comes from the voltage reference test point.)
A
> little soldering required (photos provided).  OR... I could do it as a
> stand-alone module with it's own power connector, four pots, and four
jacks.
> Hmmm... this sounds like another poll.
>
> Graduations on the faceplate almost double the cost since my panels are
CNC
> engraved and not silkscreened... and in this case wouldn't be necessary
> anyway.  Why?  Stepped voltages are easy... "Quantize" them going into the
> PSIM-1.  How many steps do you want?  1,2,10,128, or 256?  No problem...
all
> you have to do is write the code for it.  (See... a scale of 1 to 10 on
the
> dial just wouldn't make sense.)  Now, if we're talking digital encoders
and
> an LCD display... nah... let's not talk about that one just yet.