Hi all,
My apologies for continuing this thread so late in the game....
Now I would not deny the complaints about bananas except those of
unreliability (assuming Pamona is used). However, I think there's a
pro-banana point that hasn't been made (although granted, these points
are only relevant to a specific need).
I'm building my modular for real-time/live creation of abstract music.
More often than not, I don't know what the next patch will be (during a
piece) until I make it. And guaranteed, all currently patched modules
will be making sound that cannot be disturbed. For this application, I
almost ∗had∗ to use banana for the following reason;
For example; Re-patching your VCO through a multiple (because you didn't
know you wanted another sawtooth output 5 minutes before) is out of the
question because you'd disturb an audible patch. Stacking allows
splitting off an output without re-patching something that's already
running.
Bananas don't have a ground present on the jack: In the above example,
say you'd had the foresight to pre-patch multiples (using 1/4" phone);
you still short out the entire node when you patch because for a moment
the tip touches sleeve as you insert the plug. Again, the audible patch
is disturbed by additional patching. Obviously, buffered multiples
solves this problem but I haven't yet seen a system that uses them.
Bananas allow separation of signal ground from chassis ground in a
rugged jack (unlike the Re'An style 1/4" nylon jacks whose mounting nut
pops off if you stare at it hard). Those dangling, half-patched cables,
will not short out the node if they bounce against the chassis.
That all said, if I was building a studio machine, I'd use 1/4" phone
and I think anything but 1/4" (short of something balanced) would be
throwing away much of the precision and fantastic noise characteristics
of MOTM.
Crappy picture of a Bananafied MOTM 420 on Schroff panel
(synth_close2.jpg) at:
http://members.home.net/voltagecontrolled/(Please note that I told Paul in advance that I was planning to modify
his art and received his permission to put "MOTM 420" on the panel.)
Buck (climbing off banana soapbox and back to reality)