[sdiy] Standard markings for modular I/O & CV versus Audio?

Fri Dec 20 15:29:43 CET 2019

 I tried to find a standard once, but eventually settled with black for
inputs and red for outputs (banana) since those colours come cheap on eBay!

On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 12:12 PM Kylee Kennedy <kmkennedy at gmail.com> wrote:

> I like on black panels when the outputs have a white squares around the
> jack or something besides just a text indicator. I don't need inverted
> text. After use for a few weeks I usually just remember which jacks do what
> and could probably patch in the dark.
>
> What most modules still lack when shipped is just a simple one sheet of
> features/user guide. I've been DIYing mostly for last 5 years so when I
> recently bought a Make Noise Morphagene I was shocked there was no manual
> or simple guide. Guess they expect people to sit through all their videos
> to learn. At the same time I ordered the WMD Fracture and even though it's
> a simpler layout and well labeled on the panel they included a one sheet
> quick start guide.
>
> All these companies need to create an internal style guide and stick to
> that for designs.
>
> Kylee
>
>
>
> On Friday, December 20, 2019, Quincas Moreira <quincas at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Brian, Befaco were kind enough to send me a free set of bananuts and a
>> tool, but I don't know what it's called. I prefer Roman Sowa's tool as it
>> has a guide in the middle, the Befaco ones are kind of hard to keep in
>> place as you turn. But alas, Roman's is the wrong size for the bananuts
>> (hint hint Roman!)
>>
>> John, I agree that color should not be the only indication, but if
>> understand correctly these panels have already been made, so changing the
>> graphics may not be an option.  If its the standard seems to be the
>> inverting thing you mentioned. Greyscale, Sonic Potions, North Coast, Moog
>> and Joranalogue are some examples I see in my system where the writing gets
>> inverted for outputs, sometimes with even the jack surrounding square
>> included in the color swap.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 5:07 AM john slee <indigoid at oldcorollas.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Colour as an additional, optional signal, sure. I like the Bananuts a
>>> bunch. But not as the only signal. Think of your users! What if they can't
>>> distinguish colours as reliably as you can?
>>>
>>> With that out of the way, some things this amateur likes on panels, with
>>> names named because I think concrete examples help:
>>>
>>> * input and output jacks clearly indicated as such. Intellijel does this
>>> by inverting the background and text colours for output jacks.
>>> Nonlinearcircuits puts subtle but clearly visible rings around the output
>>> jacks. I don't really care what, as long as it's consistent (yes I'm
>>> glaring at YOU, Make Noise, your stuff isn't even consistent within a
>>> single module!)
>>>
>>> * for knobs that attenuate/attenuvert an input signal, an indication of
>>> which type it is — perhaps by using -/+ (attenuvert) or 0/+ (attenuate)
>>> indicators a la Doepfer
>>>
>>> * avoid overly precise indicators for knobs if tolerances are going to
>>> noticeable
>>>
>>> * sometimes *extremely simple* pictures are the best way. Doepfer's
>>> A-149-1, A-171-2, A-143-1 and A-143-2 are all examples I like
>>>
>>> * no irritating knobs that change behaviour from "provide CV" when no
>>> corresponding input cable is connected to "attenuate input CV" when you
>>> plug a cable in. I realise lots of people want modules with tiny cramped
>>> unusable panels, but ... extremely no.
>>>
>>> * Layout variety. A system full of modules with extremely similar
>>> layouts can be super annoying to navigate. I'm not sure how much awareness
>>> there was of this when the major systems (Roland, Moog, Buchla, etc) were
>>> designed, but you can often identify at a surprising distance which module
>>> is which, purely based on the control layout. ie. don't be like this
>>> example:
>>> https://www.matrixsynth.com/2013/09/rob-hordijk-modular-at-electro-music.html
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>> On Fri, 20 Dec 2019 at 15:52, Quincas Moreira <quincas at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Brian, use color coded nuts! Befaco sells them, look for Bananuts. I
>>>> use something like the Serge code. Blue for cv, black for audio, red for
>>>> logic. if i want to diferentiate between ins and outs, green for cv out,
>>>> blue in. Gold for audio out and black in.
>>>>
>>>> I did this to my FCUK Product, check it:
>>>> https://youtu.be/iRDa3DMeReQ
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>> On Dec 19, 2019, at 22:34, rsdio at audiobanshee.com wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hello all,
>>>>
>>>> I seem to recall that some brands of modular utilize a consistent set
>>>> of markings for Inputs, Outputs, CV (DC) & Audio (AC or DC). There’s also
>>>> sometimes the convention that inputs are on top, and outputs are on the
>>>> bottom, but that seems difficult to stick to for all kinds of modules.
>>>>
>>>> It seems nice to be able to glance at a front panel and know right away
>>>> which jacks are outputs, which are inputs, which can accept CV and/or audio.
>>>>
>>>> What conventions exist? Are there conflicting conventions? Is it
>>>> hopeless?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for any input (as long as you label the inputs),
>>>>
>>>> Brian Willoughby
>>>>
>>>> p.s. I just designed a one-off module that I thought was going to
>>>> include a set of multiples. However, I’ve now learned that I need to make
>>>> these active, so I have to designate which jacks are inputs versus outputs.
>>>> I’ve already ordered the face plate for this one, but I’m still thinking of
>>>> how I might have changed the labeling to reflect active versus passive.
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>
>> --
>> [image: QMA]
>>
>> Quincas Moreira
>> Director | QMA
>> mobile:  5534988825
>> site:  quincasmoreira.com
>> email:  quincas at gmail.com
>>
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