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)
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)