polymodular package / cables

[jh]

Harry, I very much agree with this. 

4 Voices, DIN connectors, 19" horizontal modules, cables on the right and "out of the way". 
First of all, this has the agument of ergonomics. Second, it makes
sense from a construction point of view as well. I'd even say put
several "functional modules" into one "physical module" that might
even be 2U or 3U in height. Think of a polyphonic MS-50 
or System 700 as a concept.
I even vote against mounting jacks or pots on the PCB. Makes much sense
on a monosynth, nut not on a poysynth. And gives us all the freedom
to use the pcbs even if someone decides to go for a different form
factor, and / or different jacks. (Hey, this even gives the freedom to
build the double count of pcbs into one unit, use sub D plugs and
have 8 voices.) But I'd say make the standard 4 voices on one pcb,
with power supply connections for +/- 15V and the low Z / summing node
inputs and high Z / current mode outputs.
I will probably make a personal change to such a standard for myself,
too: I'll probably build a small PSU for each of these physical modules,
so I won't have an overall +/-15 DC bus, but 240V AC for each module.
But I guess this is *not* for everybody - I just wanted to show how to
set a standard and give room for individual additions and variations.

Ahh - typed more than I intended, once again. all I wanted to say,
good suggestions, Harry !

JH.

=========================================================
>The 5 pin midi cables indeed have only 5 wires (4 + shield) I thought >that the
>shield was connected to the outer metal shroud, but i see this is not the
>case. I'd vote for a FOUR VOICE implementation, for these reasons

1) 5 pin din connectors are an industry standard, thry are easy to get, and
they are reasonably small. Think, fellow modular-owners... How many patch
cords do you need. There could easily be 10-20 for a complex patch... and if
we were going for a simple patch we could just use a matrix-6 or whatever....
Could you handle that many 9-pin D-shells?
2) Cost of the overall system... Each voice will add substantially to the
overall size and cost. I'm thinking at least 8VCO, 4VCF (min) 2ASDR (min) 1
LFO (min). That would be a "bare bones" 4 voice. Make that 6, or 8 and watch
the thing get so pricey none of us can build it... or so expensive that we
could buy 4 Minimoogs and tie them together...
3) I don't like mini-DIN connectors. Not yet. Maybe in the future.

yes... I would like 6 or 8 voices, but I'd rather have a no-compromise
implementation in 4 voices.

An idea for kicking around (or just kicking). I'd like to consider using
horizontal mounted 1U modules in a 19" rack. We could put all the patchcords
off to one side (right? left?) so that they won't be HANGING IN OUR FACES ALL
THE TIME !!!! So we can reach the knobs... I see 2 DB-25 connectors in the
back for a system bus, or maybe even a 50 pin ribbon cable.... this for all
those common signals that we might want to normalize like KBD CV, Gate,
Trigger, etc. This would make the front panel even less crowded. How about a
dual VCO module (8 VCO total), or a quad filter module (maybe with ladder and
SVF filters?) A dual ASDR (or HASDR) or (BADASSDR....) Maybe a quad S/H : LFO
: Noise module.... 

The reason for 19" rack is twofold... you can get a really nice 12 space SKB
roto-rack (which is only about 10" deep) to fit a small system, or stack two
side by side... And we could use standard cases (like sescom or similar) for
all modules. Our clever panel designers might even come up with one standard
mouting hole pattern... our Genius PCB designers (right Roman and Chris???)
could make the boards fit... cover unused holes with a panel overlay and we'd
have some fine looking boxes. Ordering 50-100 1U rack cases seems like a big
number but they'd go fast (if you had 5 modules, that would only build 10-20
machines, total. I know this will probably IRK some folk who want to have more
"personality" in their machines. OK DRILL YOUR OWN HOLES. Add some toggles...
Use BLUE LEDs...

Comments... Flames ?????   
:-) Harry (waiting for the bombs to fall) Bissell

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