[sdiy] presets on a modular

[Paul Maddox]

Richard,

> I think you need toggles not momentaries. Unless you have *extremely* long
> arms, like Klaus Schulze does. (Apparently.)

he does, but he's also nearly 7 foot tall, which is probably why.
I don't think you'd need toggles, Look at Alan McKerchers HUGE system, 30+
modules and growing, and yet you can reach both corners of it.

> A display that holds the last setting is more informative, and you could
> also stack up multiple destinations more easily.

yes, neat idea..

> So the operation would be:
>
> Press an output. It lights up and perhaps flashes, with any inputs it's
> connected to.
> To connect/disconnect an input, press that input.
> That particular 'patch cable' collection remains lit, and inputs can be
> toggled until you press another output.
> And so on.

yep, very neat soloution.

> The only reason for using momentaries instead of toggles would be current
> drain from the LEDs, and that's never going to be a serious problem.

I would still use momentaries, because you can do the 'latch' in logic..
So if you wanted to see where something was being modulated FROM, you could
latch the input and see where it was originating.

> I wouldn't be bothered about variable colours unless budget were no
object.
> It would look great, but it's a *lot* of extra complexity and expense for
> what are really just cosmetic reasons.

maybe, but I think it would increase its ease of use.

> If you have voltage level of sensing of pots with a uC, then an
alternative
> would be to lose the input toggles and put an LED next to each pot. So
> you'd create a link by moving the destination pot instead of pushing a
> switch. One stage less, and slightly less hardware.

Hmmm, a good idea, not sure about how to impliment that. given that some
modules (like a VCO) will have only a few inputs and outputs, but could have
8 knobs. and bareing mind that the bus only cators for 4 inputs and 4
outputs.

Paul