MOTM

I'm planning to build my own cabinet for a MOTM system. My first spec  
for modules came up with 35u. I'm sure that will go up eventually, but  
I also don't want a giant empty cabinet while I build my system.  
Mostly, it will freak out the wife. How have you guys gone about this?  
Did you build a small cabinet during the startup phase, buy your synth  
all at once, or stare at a half-empty cabinet for a year?

If I do build a large cabinet, it will probably be about the size of  
the Dotcom 44u cabinet (52u MOTM). I would like something that will  
fit on top of this stand:

http://www.jefflaity.com/studio/studios_large/xstand_01.jpg

Plan B would be to build something like the 22u Dotcom cabinet, but  
I'm worried that I'd fill it right away. I've seen quite a few stories  
of people who outgrew their 1-row cabinet almost right away.

Other ideas would be to build the Dotcom 44u, but with a top row that  
doubles as a bookshelf during the build process. Or a pair of 22u  
cabinets stacked on each other, though that wouldn't work or function  
as well. Or rack rails as I build up modules, though I plan to get to  
10u pretty soon.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks, -jl

I started with a two-row, 20U-wide cabinet, with a sloped front. After I
filled that I stacked another one-row cabinet on top to get that Moog System
55 look. :-) Before I filled that new row the guy who built the cabinets for
me (my SO's father) decided to move and sell all of his shop equipment, so
even though I didn't need it at the time I got him to build me another
one-row cabinet to stack on top, for future expansion.

 

One advantage of building several cabinets and stacking them is that the
cabinets can be moved individually. A cabinet loaded with modules and a PSU
can be surprisingly heavy. I can't move my entire system around as a unit,
but I can move the cabinets one at a time. I used T nuts and machine bolts
to anchor each cabinet to the one below, so the upper ones don't slide
around when I push cables into jacks in their modules.

 

Another thing to consider is whether you want to build any custom stuff into
the cabinet, such as something like Larry's Magic Buss system. I added a
1U-tall space to the bottom of my middle cabinet which houses an Encore
Expressionist and a breakout panel for it.

 

The half-empty aspect doesn't particularly bother me, but I suppose you
could print full-sized copies of the panel images from the MOTM website and
use them to fill the empty spaces. :-)

 

There are photos of my system here:

http://studionebula.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=12072

 

--Adam

 

 

  _____  

From: motm@yahoogroups.com [mailto:motm@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jeff
Laity
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 11:06 AM
To: MOTM List
Subject: [motm] Planning a cabinet

 

I'm planning to build my own cabinet for a MOTM system. My first spec 
for modules came up with 35u. I'm sure that will go up eventually, but 
I also don't want a giant empty cabinet while I build my system. 
Mostly, it will freak out the wife. How have you guys gone about this? 
Did you build a small cabinet during the startup phase, buy your synth 
all at once, or stare at a half-empty cabinet for a year?

If I do build a large cabinet, it will probably be about the size of 
the Dotcom 44u cabinet (52u MOTM). I would like something that will 
fit on top of this stand:

http://www.jefflait
<http://www.jefflaity.com/studio/studios_large/xstand_01.jpg>
y.com/studio/studios_large/xstand_01.jpg

Plan B would be to build something like the 22u Dotcom cabinet, but 
I'm worried that I'd fill it right away. I've seen quite a few stories 
of people who outgrew their 1-row cabinet almost right away.

Other ideas would be to build the Dotcom 44u, but with a top row that 
doubles as a bookshelf during the build process. Or a pair of 22u 
cabinets stacked on each other, though that wouldn't work or function 
as well. Or rack rails as I build up modules, though I plan to get to 
10u pretty soon.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks, -jl

I built a 1x24u cabinet.  I filled it in 6 months.
I build a 2x24u cabinet and moved everything over, and now its almost full.
Plan for the future, build big.  MOTM is a large format.

Here's a pic of my first 1u cabinet:
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1166/motm011editaz1.jpg

And the second:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8224/solder006smallpi9.jpg

I have only one regret.  The cabinets are too wide.  The 2-row cabinet, filled,
is difficult to move without help (80-100 lbs maybe?).  I would prefer 18u or
20u wide instead.

One more piece of advice:  depending on your tools and your woodworking skill,
give yourself an extra 1/8" or 1/4" on the width of your cabinet.  I used
stooge rails and ran into some inconsistencies with my hardwood that led to a
not-perfectly-square cabinet in two corners, and I only left myself about 1/16"
excess width.  Some modules dont fit on the edges correctly now so I have to be
mindful of that if I move modules around.  Giving myself some extra room would
have prevented that (AND being really picky about the wood I selected would
have helped too).





--- Jeff Laity <synthetic@...> wrote:

> I'm planning to build my own cabinet for a MOTM system. My first spec  
> for modules came up with 35u. I'm sure that will go up eventually, but  
> I also don't want a giant empty cabinet while I build my system.  
> Mostly, it will freak out the wife. How have you guys gone about this?  
> Did you build a small cabinet during the startup phase, buy your synth  
> all at once, or stare at a half-empty cabinet for a year?
> 
> If I do build a large cabinet, it will probably be about the size of  
> the Dotcom 44u cabinet (52u MOTM). I would like something that will  
> fit on top of this stand:
> 
> http://www.jefflaity.com/studio/studios_large/xstand_01.jpg
> 
> Plan B would be to build something like the 22u Dotcom cabinet, but  
> I'm worried that I'd fill it right away. I've seen quite a few stories  
> of people who outgrew their 1-row cabinet almost right away.
> 
> Other ideas would be to build the Dotcom 44u, but with a top row that  
> doubles as a bookshelf during the build process. Or a pair of 22u  
> cabinets stacked on each other, though that wouldn't work or function  
> as well. Or rack rails as I build up modules, though I plan to get to  
> 10u pretty soon.
> 
> Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks, -jl
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
> 



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My first cabinet was a construction of four boards - 2 long ones and 2 short ones - arranged in a rectangular fashion. Not elegant at all, but it filled the

On Fri, 28 Dec 2007, Jeff Laity wrote:

> Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks, -jl

Is the Cabinet of Doom still available?

--
Monty Brandenberg

Thanks for your responses so far. I have a photo of Robert Rich's 75u  
cabinet on an Ultimate Support A-frame, which is why I was hoping I  
could make this work on mine. However, it's pretty much all he has on  
his stand, and he has an Ultimate instead of the Chinese knockoff that  
I have (OnStage). I hadn't considered that it would be that heavy. I  
would probably build it out of oak plywood (to match my desk) or more  
likely walnut (to match the Voyager Select.)

I'm surprised to read that Loopcycle thought 24u was too wide, just  
because of weight? I'd rather go wide than tall in my setup. A fourth  
cabinet would probably need to suspend from the ceiling. :) I'm  
thinking 24u or 26u wide. I'd love to have a dedicated area just for  
the modular, but simply don't have the room in my apartment.

Nice photos, Adam. I forgot that you were a MOTM user, I read your  
blog because I'm a big Audio Damage fan.

--- Jeff Laity <synthetic@...> wrote:
> 
> I'm surprised to read that Loopcycle thought 24u was too wide, just  
> because of weight? I'd rather go wide than tall in my setup. A fourth  
> cabinet would probably need to suspend from the ceiling. :) I'm  
> thinking 24u or 26u wide. I'd love to have a dedicated area just for  
> the modular, but simply don't have the room in my apartment.

i dont have to move the cabinet that much, so the weight is not the main
reason.  i think the most important reason is that the modules on either side
of the 24u cabinet just 'feel' a little too far away from each other.


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Hi Jeff -

My son Will and I are building a synth in two 18U cabinets (we're
beginning work on them soon) side-by-side.  We did a layout to see how
the modules would work out.  You can see it here:
http://www.dragonflyalley.com/billAndWillMOTMSynth.htm

The red circles show the reach of 20" power cords.  We have the 5V
modules in the right cabinet.  All the ones in the left are 15V.  So
we'll use two 1.5 Amp (I think this is right) power-ones for the right
cabinet (we got two kits from Paul - a 900 and a 950) and we'll put a
beefy 3A (I think) power one in the left cabinet for all the 15V units
on that side.

We're going to have the bottom row of modules tilted back 15 degrees -
the top rows straight up.  Four rows seemed to high.

We decided to build the cabinet with metal rails.  We ordered them
last week from a fellow on Ebay and they should be arriving any day now.

I'll put some diagrams up over the next couple weeks as we get further
along in the design.

Happy New Year!

Bill and Will

Oh - if you click on the image at the top of the page, you can
download the PowerPoint file we used to do the layout.  And we put all
those module images on the page for people to use in laying out their
synths and for patch diagrams.  They're pretty accurate.  Bill


--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "wjhall11" <wjhall@...> wrote:

>
> Hi Jeff -
> 
> My son Will and I are building a synth in two 18U cabinets (we're
> beginning work on them soon) side-by-side.  We did a layout to see how
> the modules would work out.  You can see it here:
> http://www.dragonflyalley.com/billAndWillMOTMSynth.htm
> 
> The red circles show the reach of 20" power cords.  We have the 5V
> modules in the right cabinet.  All the ones in the left are 15V.  So
> we'll use two 1.5 Amp (I think this is right) power-ones for the right
> cabinet (we got two kits from Paul - a 900 and a 950) and we'll put a
> beefy 3A (I think) power one in the left cabinet for all the 15V units
> on that side.
> 
> We're going to have the bottom row of modules tilted back 15 degrees -
> the top rows straight up.  Four rows seemed to high.
> 
> We decided to build the cabinet with metal rails.  We ordered them
> last week from a fellow on Ebay and they should be arriving any day now.
> 
> I'll put some diagrams up over the next couple weeks as we get further
> along in the design.
> 
> Happy New Year!
> 
> Bill and Will
>

Will has pointed out I was off in the Amps <Shrug>.  He just looked
them up to confirm.  The 900 and 950 together are around 1.5Amps. 
That's what I was remembering.  So we'll put a 1.5A on the left side -
until we need more power <G>.  But you get the idea.


--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "wjhall11" <wjhall@...> wrote:

> > The red circles show the reach of 20" power cords.  We have the 5V
> > modules in the right cabinet.  All the ones in the left are 15V.  So
> > we'll use two 1.5 Amp (I think this is right) power-ones for the right
> > cabinet (we got two kits from Paul - a 900 and a 950) and we'll put a
> > beefy 3A (I think) power one in the left cabinet for all the 15V units
> > on that side.

Your message brings a good chuckle.  Remember, this is an addiction, 
not a hobby.  You **will** need to continue to add modules and a full 
cabinet brings on a minor panic attack.

My first cabinet was a 20U rack using the rails and room at the 
bottom for 2U of standard rack gear.  The power supply mounted in the 
rear so I had a full 20U for modules. I didn't even get my first 
order of modules built before I had it full!  Then I added a 10U 
expansion rack on top.  I made both of these out of pine and covered 
them in tolex with chrome corners. Photos and drawings at the bottom 
of
http://modularsynthesis.com/cabinet/cabinet.htm

I then decided to build three 1x24U wood cabinets. Rather than deal 
with angled and straight cabinets, I built them all straight and used 
towers with pivots to be able to angle each cabinet. I have the 
bottom cabinet pointed up and the top cabinet pointing down. The 
bottom cabinet is up about 6" so it is above the height of the 
keyboard. 3U x 24U is about the maximum I can comfortably reach when 
using the synth.  By the time I had the cabinets built I had about 
75% of the top cabinet empty. I finished a 1/4" piece of birch to use 
to fill the empty space. Every time I bought a new module, I just cut 
1.75" off of the filler strip.

I ran out of room and then started using my original cabinet as a 
side wing. Now that has only 1U remaining and I'm going to have to 
build another side wing.

Each cabinet has it's own power supply and I have a 2U panel in the 
rear for slaving AC power to each cabinet from a single main switch.

The side wing cabinets each have their own power supply and switch. 
Photos of these cabinets are on the same page. I allowed 1/16" 
clearance around the 1x24U spacing. 1/4" foam on the sides blocks the 
gap. The Stooge rails cover the gap along the top and bottom.

The rotation works well although I should have the pivot points 
towards the front of the cabinet as that is where all the weight is.

I bought 5/16" screws (still have a bunch) and 1/16" plastic washers 
to mount each module.

Dave

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Laity <synthetic@...> wrote:

>
> I'm planning to build my own cabinet for a MOTM system. My first
> spec for modules came up with 35u.

I’m still thinking about the cabinet design. I’ve read a too many  
stories of people who build a box and outgrow it within a few months,  
and have to build another to stack on top. Since I’m planning to put  
mine on the top of an A-frame stand (in earthquake country), I’d  
prefer not to do any stacking. Some people have said that 24 or 26u is  
too wide and they prefer 20u, but I thought 24u was a good compromise  
so I don’t need to go three rows high in the future.

This morning I cut up a box to scale, took a photo and Photoshopped a  
planned system together to see what it looks like:

http://www.jefflaity.com/misc_pix/modular_simulation_02.jpg

It does look pretty tall. Maybe the modular should go on the bottom? I  
could make a slanted Moog 55-style cabinet and access it that way. I  
should start receiving MOTM parts tomorrow, but my organic solder  
won’t show up until Jan 2nd. I’ll have to fight the temptation to  
start building modules with the old-fashioned solder.

Figure out how many thousands of dollars will be in your modular 
cabinet.  Then compare that against the cost and performance of your 
A frame. And if it goes, also add in the cost of the synths that 
**used** to be under it.  I'd personally never risk it and I don't 
live in earthquake country. I'd figure out how to get a tall table 
over a 2 high stand or put it on the side.

(no-risk taker) Dave

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Laity <synthetic@...> wrote:

>Since I'm planning to put  
> mine on the top of an A-frame stand (in earthquake country), I'd  
> prefer not to do any stacking. Some people have said that 24 or 26u 
> is too wide and they prefer 20u, but I thought 24u was a good
> compromise so I don't need to go three rows high in the future.

Maybe it can go on the bottom and I can attach table legs to it, hmmm.

On Dec 30, 2007, at 9:11 PM, djbrow54 wrote:

> Figure out how many thousands of dollars will be in your modular
> cabinet. Then compare that against the cost and performance of your
> A frame. And if it goes, also add in the cost of the synths that
> **used** to be under it. I'd personally never risk it and I don't
> live in earthquake country. I'd figure out how to get a tall table
> over a 2 high stand or put it on the side.
>
> (no-risk taker) Dave
>
> --- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Laity <synthetic@...> wrote:
> >Since I'm planning to put
> > mine on the top of an A-frame stand (in earthquake country), I'd
> > prefer not to do any stacking. Some people have said that 24 or 26u
> > is too wide and they prefer 20u, but I thought 24u was a good
> > compromise so I don't need to go three rows high in the future.
>
>
>

I have a 24U by 3 row system on an 3 level Ultimate A-frame stand just  
above a 61-key controller. The weight of the system is enough that I  
couldn't imagine it on a single tier. I've got two of the bars, one  
mounted desk height on the front of the A and the second on the back  
of the A. The system sits on both bars and they do flex under the  
weight.

My biggest complaint is that occasionally when I'm pulling/inserting  
patch cords one swings down and wacks the keyboard. Fortunately is is  
just a relatively inexpensive controller but I'd be worried about your  
Voyager.

(A-frame user in earthquake country) Greg

On Dec 30, 2007, at 9:27 PM, Jeff Laity wrote:

> Maybe it can go on the bottom and I can attach table legs to it, hmmm.
>
> On Dec 30, 2007, at 9:11 PM, djbrow54 wrote:
>
>> Figure out how many thousands of dollars will be in your modular
>> cabinet. Then compare that against the cost and performance of your
>> A frame. And if it goes, also add in the cost of the synths that
>> **used** to be under it. I'd personally never risk it and I don't
>> live in earthquake country. I'd figure out how to get a tall table
>> over a 2 high st! and or p ut it on the side.
>>
>> (no-risk taker) Dave
>>
>> --- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Laity <synthetic@...> wrote:
>> >Since I'm planning to put
>> > mine on the top of an A-frame stand (in earthquake country), I'd
>> > prefer not to do any stacking. Some people have said that 24 or 26u
>> > is too wide and they prefer 20u, but I thought 24u was a good
>> > compromise so I don't need to go three rows high in the future.
>>
>>
>

> Nice photos, Adam. I forgot that you were a MOTM user, I read your  
> blog because I'm a big Audio Damage fan.

Thanks, and thanks for the voice of support. I've been pretty quiet 
on this list recently because most of my modular-oriented activity 
now involves actually using the mostly MOTM system I've built, and as 
the saying goes, "talking about music is like dancing about 
architecture." The little bit of DIY activity I've been engaged with 
involves microprocessors and little scratch-built projects like the 
balanced I/O module I mentioned awhile ago.

However, I am currently building my second MOTM-480 (yes, the kit has 
been sitting around all this time) and I plan to do an expansion 
panel for it. It will provide inputs for the second filter stage and 
individual outs for all of the filter modes, but will be far less 
ambitious than Richard Brewster's complete repackaging project. I'll 
put up some photos and text when it's done.

--Adam

i would seriously consider bolting a large heavy modular to the wall if i was
still living in the bay area.  dont just think about voyager damage--if you're
patching when a strong quake hits, you could be seriously injured under its
weight.  think of it just like a bookshelf or other tall and heavy object.


--- Jeff Laity <synthetic@...> wrote:

> Maybe it can go on the bottom and I can attach table legs to it, hmmm.
> 
> On Dec 30, 2007, at 9:11 PM, djbrow54 wrote:
> 
> > Figure out how many thousands of dollars will be in your modular
> > cabinet. Then compare that against the cost and performance of your
> > A frame. And if it goes, also add in the cost of the synths that
> > **used** to be under it. I'd personally never risk it and I don't
> > live in earthquake country. I'd figure out how to get a tall table
> > over a 2 high stand or put it on the side.
> >
> > (no-risk taker) Dave
> >
> > --- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Laity <synthetic@...> wrote:
> > >Since I'm planning to put
> > > mine on the top of an A-frame stand (in earthquake country), I'd
> > > prefer not to do any stacking. Some people have said that 24 or 26u
> > > is too wide and they prefer 20u, but I thought 24u was a good
> > > compromise so I don't need to go three rows high in the future.
> >
> >
> > 
> 



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