AW: motm or doepfer

[Haible Juergen]

	>Don't make the mistake to think that anything made with high
quality components 
	>sound better than another product made with standard quality
components. You 
	>can just as easily design a crap circuit with the very best
components. Don't 
	>be led to believe that this or that kind of circuit board or pots
make the 
	>module sound better. 

If you consider the noises from a scratchy potentiometer part of "the
sound" ...

You're right in that some genious can build increadible circuits from
cheap active components. The EMS VCS3 and the EDP Wasp
are the best examples. But panel components is a very different story.

If you solder potentiometers into the pcb and don't fix them at the
front panel, you'll run into problems sooner or later. The same for
the use of tiny jacks. Intermittent contacts ar so funny, especially in
a large modular patch.

(Disclaimer: I do *not* say that Doepfer *does* use "cheap" or "bad"
components. It's up to you to decide that. My argument is just that it 
does make a great difference *if* someone does or not.)

Crowding a maximum of pots, jacks and switches into minimum panel
space makes a very bad user interface. It may look impressive, but
I for one would not like to work with it. 

(I don't want to be hypocritical: I've run into the same problems myself.
On my own privat homebuilt stuff, I have some overcrouded modules
as well. But I find myself using the more generously designed ones
all the time, and the crowded ones only when I absolutely have to.) 

	>That's the same scam as the expensive HIFI cables 
	>currently under discussion in this forum.

No, it is not.

> Which do you think sound best: a two oscillator synth using the MOTM
> modules or 
> a four oscillator synth using the Doepfer ones? They're the same cost 
> (approximately).  
> 
If oscillator count is all you want, go buy a General Midi module.
If you want a cheap *analogue* VCO, I can build you one for 1$.
But don't expect quality, and use alligator clips as an interface.
Really, if you want decent quality, the mechanical parts make 80%
of the costs of a module.

	>If you have unlimited funds, the choice is simple: buy all you want
of the best 
	>quality available. But what if the budget is limited? Wouldn't it
be better to 
	>have more modules, as long as the quality is good enough?

No. Chances are that you throw the whole thing away after 2 years
and buy something else, if you are no longer satisfied.

Buy quality instead, start small, and expand when new money comes in.

The problem is that you have almost zero chance to upgrade a Doepfer
system to higher quality. You can't just replace the tiny frontpanels 
with larger ones. You can't just add another potentiometer where a module
lacks enough input connections. You can't just replace the tiny connectors.
And believe me you will want to do all this some time.

Buying cheap is always more expensive in the long run. Do you have an
idea what people pay these days to get a WASP into usable condition ?
(New enclosure, new pots ? - just an example.)

	>According to my experience with Doepfer products, they are more
than good 
	>enough.  Remember that the quality of the end product is also
dependent on how 
	>well you assemble it. Bad solder joints is the most common reason
for 
	>malfunctioning electronics devices. So make sure you have a good
soldering iron 
	>and practice some soldering if you want the highest quality.

So do they sell diy kits again ? Thought they abandoned this long ago.

Don't get me wrong: I have some Doepfer products myself, mostly
Midi->CV converters, and most of the time they work as they should.
Some of them were quite unique, and I am sorry that they don't sell these
affordable interfaces, with individual logic outputs for each key, anymore.
I have one in my CX-3, and I'd love to have them in similar instruments
as well. Sad that they abandoned it.

JH.