More thoughts on my plans...

[Jim Johnson]

Your plans sound plenty ambitious, Paul; I hope they are doable.

But I'd like to comment on a related area: the lack of a good modular synth
kit.

There used to be plenty: Paia, Aries, even Serge once made kits - but as
near as I can tell, no-one does it anymore. I was excited about Paia's
FracRack, but until there are more modules beyond the MIDI-CV converter,
I'm not ready to buy. I spoke to John a couple years ago about the
possibility of resurrecting his CEM-based experimenters boards as FracRack
kits, but at that time the lack of a supplier for the chips made the idea
unfeasible.

I'm competent with a soldering iron and screwdriver - hell, I'm a degreed
electrical engineer - but I'm damned if I want to spend my spare time
etching PC boards, drilling holes in front panels, and pasting labels on
what is bound to be an ugly instrument.

Here's what I want to see: a good modular kit, similar in concept to the
FracRack (god that name looks funny when you mess up the caps!), with a
fairly broad selection of modules, at a price point of maybe $75 - $125 per
module.

If someone is still making one of these, please oh please let me know! 

Jim Johnson

----------
> From: Paul Schreiber <synth1 at airmail.net>
> To: 'analogue heaven' <analogue at hyperreal.com>; 'electronica'
<electronica at noether.ex.ac.uk>; 'synth diy general post'
<synth-diy at horus.sara.nl>
> Subject: More thoughts on my plans...
> Date: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 1:02 PM
> 
> Thanks for the emails. Here are a few more thoughts....
> 
> 1) DAC Crowell had a great idea: make the Digisound and Titan modules the
same
> form factor to mix and match. Hmmm.....
> 
> 2) I won't be able to do pc boards for the $35 modules. I'm hoping others
will volunteer.
> Anybody can contribute files: I didn't mean it to be all my stuff. I will
ask that contributions
> be in a certain format to save time. And since I have lots of web space,
we can use my site to hold
> all of the info. I have access to cheap pcbs here in Dallas. All I need
is film or Gerber data!
> 
> 3) There were a few concerns on using up all of the CEM chips. Trust me,
I've got a 10 year supply
> of everything BUT 3340s, and I'm using the 3394 anyway that has a full
3340/3328/3381 on 1 chip.
> 
> 4) I have the Formant and Digisound docs. I will sort of design around
these. ANY AND ALL suggestions
> welcome. There are many of you out there with these: I never heard of
them until last month. So, help
> me out. I want a GROUP effort. It's much more fun. CAUTION: you may
actually LEARN something!!
> 
> 5) I have permission for posting any Electronotes schematics. Hey, some
of this stuff is STILL the
> best bang-for-the-buck designs out there.
> 
> 6) Some have asked if I will be a Central Repository for synth
schematics. The answer is as follows:
> 
> a) Sure
> b) I'd prefer to borrow an original manual, scan it in, and return it.
And I'll pay postage both ways.
> c) I MUST have permission (and I'm VERY sticky about this!!) from the
copyright owner.
> d) I will do the asking. Just email me with what you have.
> e) If the copyright has expired, to problem. But (I think) it's 23 years
in the US.
> 
> Again, thanks for all the kind words. NOW, let's see some action!!
> 
> Paul Schreiber
> Synthesis Technology