the watmm GAS thread

[xox]

Why diy? Bc it’s too expensive otherwise?

[TubularCorporation]

Yeah, the barebones kit is $102 plus shipping, a completed Lyra 8 is about $800.  Depending on what you do for a panel and enclosure it's cheaper and looks like a pretty simple build overall.

 

Even if it weren't cheaper, being able to spread the cost out over time makes a big difference.  I won't be building mine for a while.

Edited November 10, 2020 by TubularCorporation

[Grain Bastard]

Talking of Soma - my Pulsar 23 arrived yesterday

 

I had GAS for a cheap and simple analog drum machine to go with the digitalness of my MD SPS-1 - decided on the Pulsar instead

[xox]

4 hours ago, TubularCorporation said:

Yeah, the barebones kit is $102 plus shipping, a completed Lyra 8 is about $800.  Depending on what you do for a panel and enclosure it's cheaper and looks like a pretty simple build overall.

 

Even if it weren't cheaper, being able to spread the cost out over time makes a big difference.  I won't be building mine for a while.

Well, if you have the skills and time, why not! I have neither, so I’ve bought it pre-built

Edited November 10, 2020 by xox

[psn]

Thanks! Quite affordable (apparently another 100 moneys for the BOM), but DIYing a pretty case is a major hurdle. 

[TubularCorporation]

There's a free Eagle file for having a front panel made as a PCB, but I don't know the cost.  Will fit in a $20-$30 Bud enclosure (the 10"x10"x3" I think, . All you'd need to manually measure and drill is the holes for the i/o jacks and power.

 

Good overview here, including links to the front panel files and the giant Muffwigglers thread:

https://djjondent.blogspot.com/2018/10/soma-lab-lyra-8-diy-build.html

 

I'd estimate the total cost at roughly $400 USD (including shipping for the kit, parts and case/panel- the  cost for shipping has almost doubled since I first got on the waiting list, and is up to $45USD or slightly less to the EU) and looking at it the build time is probably 8-12 hours depending on how fast you are.  It doesn't look much more complicated than a Mutable Anushri, and when I built one of those, the biggest project I'd done at that point, it took one full day plus another hour or so the next morning to put it in its enclosure, test it, open it up and find the one pin header I forgot to solder, and then put it back together; the actual build took one long Saturday.

Edited November 10, 2020 by TubularCorporation

[TubularCorporation]

Alternatively, you could convert that Eagle file to Inkscape or Illustrator, resize all of the holes to say 1/8", get it laser cut as cheaply as possible, and then use it as a template for drilling pilot holes if you want to make a panel by hand from scratch.

[d-a-m-o]

Damn, 700 € for the Opsix ?

[d-a-m-o]

It's a great synth for sure !

[YEK]

1 hour ago, Stickfigger said:

but you don't get a cool box with this 

How do you know that...? 

[psn]

Opsix seems to be an ideal FM synth. 

[Braintree]

The MegaFM has me a lot more excited for a physical FM synth: https://twisted-electrons.com/product/megafm/

[Bubba69]

On 11/5/2020 at 8:59 AM, e-mertz said:

I wanna get a new simple yet multi-timbral polysynth. Something lush & digital sounding. Has to be knobby/slidery. And not be above 500 Eur. Anyone has ideas?

 

[Taupe Beats]

1 hour ago, Braintree said:

The MegaFM has me a lot more excited for a physical FM synth: https://twisted-electrons.com/product/megafm/

Same. This almost seems like a hardware version of FM4 on iOS which is probably my favorite FM interface ever.

[thawkins]

12 hours ago, Bubba69 said:

 

Oh shit only 31 hours to go.

[e-mertz]

2 hours ago, thawkins said:

Oh shit only 31 hours to go.

Word. Wanted to fund but ain't got no credit-card. The buzzzy by the same developer is also a cool instrument that I might wanna get my hands on. Waiting for the crisis to end and the money to flow again ...

[iococoi]

gettn' a 2nd Rebel Technology OWL pedal @guud price ..brushin up on those Pure Data skills

https://www.rebeltech.org/product/owl-pedal/

Quote

The OWL Pedal is an open source, programmable stage effects pedal, made for guitarists, musicians, hackers and programmers.

[TubularCorporation]

I was thinking about building some kind of Ashbory inspired silicon string microbass but I've decided it's more cost effective to just drop $170 or so to get a solid body fretless uke-bass from Rondo (might spring about $30 extra to get the 23" scale version instead of to 20.75" one that isn't on sale) and use that as a foundation to build on if I'm not satisfied with it stock - improve the bridge, maybe install better tuners, build an Ashbory preamp clone and swap that in for the stock electronics, put a little bit of radius on the fingerboard, etc.  It's a bit bigger but 18" scale length really is pushing it for someone with relatively big hands, and even 20.75 sounds a lot more comfortable.

 

At any rate, I traded in my bass for some other gear back in 2012 after going back to only playing guitar in bands for a couple years and have regretted it ever since, especially now that I mostly record.

 

 

If I'm going to put a bunch of effort into building something I've got al the wood to build another guitar, and I have an unrouted SG body blank from the 80s that's allegedly from the old Gibson Kalamazoo factory (who cares) that I could build a short scale bass neck for and make a sort of bastardized SG bass.  Either one of those would be more work than building a microbass from scratch, but also a way better use of my time.

 

 

EDIT: on the other hand, if I could knock out some high quality, handmade microbasses with novel designs and sell them...

Edited November 12, 2020 by TubularCorporation

[e-mertz]

19 hours ago, Braintree said:

The MegaFM has me a lot more excited for a physical FM synth: https://twisted-electrons.com/product/megafm/

I think they're both great.

On the operator-side Korg one looks like an fm synth+ with seemingly endless sound design possibilities. That might be as well it's pitfall though. FM-synthesis is unpredictable enough already with just 4 operators IMO, which makes the Mega look more like a winner with it's great overview.

However, the korg has filters and effects, something I'd definitely miss if I get the Mega. Or the preenfm3

[Taupe Beats]

3 minutes ago, e-mertz said:

I think they're both great.

On the operator-side Korg one looks like an fm synth+ with seemingly endless sound design possibilities. That might be as well it's pitfall though. FM-synthesis is unpredictable enough already with just 4 operators IMO, which makes the Mega look more like a winner with it's great overview.

However, the korg has filters and effects, something I'd definitely miss if I get the Mega. Or the preenfm3

If ya don't care about the filter being post Amp-EG, I'd just suggest using an external filter and effects.

I have a Yamaha DX200 and its filter is hideous. No doubt the Korg and Preenfm are way better. With FM, I tend to find that velocity sensitivity tends to accomplish what I envision a filter doing, better than an actual filter itself.

[d-a-m-o]

22 minutes ago, e-mertz said:

I think they're both great.

On the operator-side Korg one looks like an fm synth+ with seemingly endless sound design possibilities. That might be as well it's pitfall though. FM-synthesis is unpredictable enough already with just 4 operators IMO, which makes the Mega look more like a winner with it's great overview.

However, the korg has filters and effects, something I'd definitely miss if I get the Mega. Or the preenfm3

Well ackchyually the PreenFM3 has filters and effects.

[e-mertz]

3 minutes ago, d-a-m-o said:

Well ackchyually the PreenFM3 has filters and effects.

True was wrong on that. Guess another thing that set's the korg apart is the amazing sequencer that is also on de xd. One of the best for achieving quick results, pretty sure it's superior to the other two. Anyway 2020 seems like a great year for improved fm synths!

[sheatheman]

Yeah you don’t need a filter with FM. velocity mapped to modulator operator level achieves the same thing as filter velocity sensitivity.

it’s nice to not think about filters

[sweepstakes]

12 minutes ago, sheatheman said:

Yeah you don’t need a filter with FM. velocity mapped to modulator operator level achieves the same thing as filter velocity sensitivity.

it’s nice to not think about filters

I agree, but sidebands add so much spectral richness it's also nice to be able to filter them, especially with bandpass.  FMing the filter can be fun too - not sure whether any of the new ones do that.

[Nil]

Sidebands ?