MOTM

Hi Seth -

You're asking the right questions!  And I think your rig will be a 
music-making monster when it's done.  I have a couple of suggestions 
for you:

1) Try the Kenton Pro Solo instead of the 650.  You give up 
polyphony, but you couldn't use all four voices anyway since you only 
have 3!  It's cheaper and you save room in your case, and you'll only 
need a 900 PS.  And you can get it now.  If you decide to upgrade 
later, so much the better.

2) Replace one 310 with a 300.  You'll like the sync and the extra 
waveforms.  The 310s are just as stable and sound TERRIFIC, so one 
300 ought to do ya'.

3) The 390 is a great LFO!  You'll be happy with it.  The advantage 
the 390 has over the 320 is that it has two separate LFOs, and one is 
sync-able.

More food for thought!

Mike

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Seth Elgart <selgart@e...> wrote:
> Dear List,
> 
> I'm new to this and am trying to figure out which modules to start 
> out with. I'm going to put them in an SKB popup case as I already 
> have one for some Waldorf rack mount synths as well as a matching 
SKB 
> for my mixer.
> 
> Option one is to get a bunch of the micro modules and a 950 power 
> supply. With this I can do a modular "Minimoog" style arrangement 
as 
> well as use the new 650 MIDI-to-CV module. The problem with this is 
> that I don't think the 950 power supply has enough jacks (and maybe 
> enough juice) to power 12 "regular" modules plus the 650.
> (390 LFO, 3 x 310 VCO, 890 mixer, 490 VCF, 190 VCA, 2 x 800 ADSR, 
101 
> Noise/S&H, 820 Lag, 2 x 910 Mult)
> 
> Option 2 is to use two power supplies, a 950 and a 900. I don't 
> really want to have 6 spaces out of the 20 taken up by power 
> supplies, but this way I can power all I'm planning to in the first 
> SKB and then expand into the second without buying another power 
> module. I can fit 10 micro modules in this option, plus the 650.
> (390 LFO, 3 x 310 VCO, 890 mixer, 490 VCF, 190 VCA, 2 x 800 ADSR, 
101 
> Noise/S&H, 910 Mult)
> 
> Option 3 is to go with the 950 supply but to use the "large" 
modules 
> (like two 300 VCOs and a 320 LFO in place of three 310 VCOs, a 390 
> LFO and an 890 mixer). This disadvantage of this is that at least 
in 
> the beginning I have far fewer modules to play with. The advantage, 
I 
> think, is that I have the "good" modules rather than the "lite" 
> modules, and that a 950 supply can power the 9 modules as well the 
> 650.
> (320 LFO, 2 x 300 VCO, 490 VCF, 190 VCA, 2 x 800 ADSR, 101 
Noise/S&H, 
> 820 Lag , 910 Mult)
> 
> Here are my questions:
> 
> A) Can a 950 power supply successfully power this many modules? I 
> don't know how many connectors it has or how much power it can 
> generate. I know the 900 supply has 12 connectors. Does the 950 
have 
> 12 "regular" connectors in addition to the new connectors or does 
it 
> sacrifice regulars to make room for new ones? I don't really want 
to 
> put expander power distribution boards into the popup case as 
there's 
> not really a good place to mount them.
> 
> B) Are there other options for power? Can I get a 900 and a 950 
kit, 
> gut them both and then put the parts on a new panel that would go 
> under the two rack rail sets? If I had already built 20 modules I 
> would probably not think twice about doing this. As I have not yet 
> assembled any modules I'm not sure of how difficult or easy this 
sort 
> of custom wiring would be. The huge advantage of this is that I get 
> back all the space the two power supplies would take up as well as 
> probably being able to power a second SKB and maybe a third.
> 
> C) Should I just go ahead and build a 950 supply and not worry 
about 
> this at all until I have enough modules? In other words, I could 
just 
> start building and deal with it in six months or so.
> 
> D) A more basic question is whether to build the micro modules or 
the 
> big ones. Will I regret the 310 VCOs in a year and wish I had the 
300 
> VCOs instead? Are the 320 LFOs unbelievably better than the 390 
LFO? 
> Should I build a Magic Bus instead of the Mults?
> 
> Those are some of the things I know I don't know. What also 
concerns 
> me are the things I don't know that I don't know. I'm sure there 
are 
> things I haven't even thought of yet. In reality I suppose I'll 
just 
> get a power supply and a module or two and start off slow and easy. 
I 
> have a funny feeling however that I'm shortly to be addicted to 
this, 
> and hey, it's never too early to plan for that third cabinet. <g>
> 
> Sorry about the length of this post. It's just that I have about a 
> thousand questions that I can think of and probably a lot more that 
> haven't occurred to me yet.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
>          Seth