Wiardgroup

Just to play devil's advocate here, Emu, Wavemakers, Polyfusion, EML,
PPG all used 1/4" jacks.  I also don't consider the Roland 700 to be all
that rare. The most common semi-modulars of all, the Korg MS-10 and
MS-20, used 1/4" jacks.  There was not a preponderance of 1/8" systems.
It was closer to a 50/50 split between 1/4" and 1/8", with maybe 5%
banana jacks.  I would hardly consider 1/4" jacks to be a "non-standard"
connector, or 1/8" the defacto standard.

Synton is another banana modular, but fairly uncommon.

I agree that patching between 1/4, 1/8 and banana domains is not that
big a deal.  The hard part for me is co-locating systems in different
cabinets within suitable patching distance.

John Loffink
jloffink@austin.rr.com 

> The Wiard was designed in 1996. At that time, the only modulars
> that used 1/4" jacks were the Moog 900 and Roland 700
> systems (considered rare). The only system that used banana
> connectors was the Serge system and little information was
> available about the number in the field.  The ARP 2500 and
> 2600, Roland 100 and 100m, Aries 300, Digisound, Blacet, PAIA,
> Doepfer and Wiard all use 1/8"(3.5mm) connectors. This makes
> 1/8"(3.5mm) connectors the defacto standard. 3.5mm
> connectors were purpose designed for compact shielded audio
> connectors in non-military applications.
> 
> Since then, a number of new designs have appeared that use
> non-standard connectors. The MOTM modules use 1/4" jacks.
> Modcan, Fenix and Cyndistries modules use banana
> connectors. These all appeared after the Wiard was designed.
> 
> Each connector type has advantages and disadvantages. There
> is no "wrong" connector if it does the job. If you are going to be
> using modulars, it is a good idea to just get used to tying
> different types together. It might seem like a big deal at first, but
> it's quite trivial when you get used to it.
>