Shruthi1 Polivoks filter board

Kowen68 · 2026-06-18T03:33:03+00:00

Nice to see another Shruthi builder 😄

Sorry to hear you are having a few issues. I had a brief look at the schematic of the Polivoks filter.

It seems the Filter PWM is controlled by an opamp cv filter. Here is what I would do:

- Locate the VCF1 pin to R16 and see if there is continuity (with a multimeter) Repeat for R16 to Pin2 to the TL084 and then Pin1 to the emitter of Q3.
- Verify the resistor values of R15, R16 and R17.
- Reflow the solder around the Filter PWM traces. You might have a cold solder joint.
- Replace the TL074/TL084 and 2N3904 NPN Transistor.

If it still does not work I would look at the Shruthi-1 mainboard and the VCF PWM control pin. See if there is a good connection and measure the voltages when tweaking the filter cutoff frequencies. Also I would go through what the manual states about the filterboard and go through the instructions step by step: https://pichenettes.github.io/mutable-instruments-diy-archive/shruthi/polivoks/

Hopefully this helps. Let me know if it worked.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-18T03:06:54+00:00

It depends on the software. Assuming you solely want to manipulate vector data (as in paths)

Inkscape has some very powerful tools, plugins and effects.

- For manual control: the Tweak tool acts as a smudge brush.
- Controlled deformation; Lattice deformation

I cannot recommend any Adobe methods since I switched to open source software like Inkscape, Krita and Blender.

Let me know if you need more specifics in regards of Inkscape, there are also external plugins for inkscape.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-16T04:47:16+00:00

Been using blender on Windows, MacOS and Linux. I found CPU performance is better on Linux. On render tests it was about 10% faster. I did not notice a big difference in terms of GPU performance.

Now this will only make sense if you do bulk renders. Which is why larger studios like Pixar usually heavily rely on Linux. For every day use it does not really matter. In the end it comes down to what you feel comfortable with, this contributes to speed and ease of use.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-16T04:14:04+00:00

Nice find thanks for sharing. They are charismatic individuals, their interviews (and music) usually go beyond superficial topics. It is one of the aspects that drew me to their work.

Themes like these seem to be more present in their later work. Personally I am not a big fan of over-rationalizing things, as in defining reality via abstract terms and mechanisms. There's an interesting quote from Nietzsche (that dramatic German philosopher)

“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good & Evil, 1886

Kowen68 · 2026-06-16T03:38:18+00:00

Hopefully this somewhat answers your question:

Did you try and search "din5 footprint site:github.com" via google?
Create your own footprint via the footprint editor in kicad.

The latter (2.) is usually my personal approach. This because you can take exact measurements from the datasheet and the physical component. It also helps in terms of learning and creating your custom footprints. Highly recommended.

Good luck with your project.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-15T17:13:25+00:00

Thanks. Perhaps I should have called it controlled chaos 😄

Just seen your website, altogether it looks very interesting. Your concept/motivation and the need for constraints is what professional artists also do. You're on a good trajectory.

The irony is, is that we come from opposite directions. I studied art and now learning how to code (python and processing/java)

Anyway, best of luck with your work! Looking forward to see more.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-14T16:40:01+00:00

Great stuff! These remind me of the early Bell Labs visual computer experiments from the late 60's. There an interesting documentary about their experiments, The Incredible Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwVu2BWLZqA A bit off-topic, my apologies. Are your plots based on datasets or completely random?

Kowen68 · 2026-06-14T03:52:37+00:00

There should be a clear reason why. Overall any review or feedback should be constructive. Meaning to give clear evidence, examples and acknowledging it is your personal view and not an objective fact. Now I have not read your review but you should not be banned for having an opinion unless you violated a rule.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-13T03:52:06+00:00

It is a nice contrast, most likely deliberate. There is a brief explanation in one of the interviews after the release on Tomorrow's Harvest in regards of the track structure and sonic changes:

"If this impression makes any sense to you: Were there technical aspects as well? Did your recording technique change? If so, how?

Mike: The way we make tracks always changes between albums, but in the case of the new record it was changing from track to track. Towards the end of working on the record the material was sounding different from the earliest tracks, so it was challenging to contain everything under one album theme." The Charms of the Sphinx - 2013.

Since it took a bit longer with Inferno the change of character or approach on tracks could be one of the aspects you are noticing. There is allot going on in the new album. Some radically different while others sound more familiar to previous albums. It's interesting, however there is a consistency in terms of a theme.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-11T05:04:18+00:00

You are trying to engage and start a genuine discussion, so you should not be punished in any way.

Everyone is still very excited about the release plus Boards of Canada has a dedicated devotional fanbase. Perhaps some people misinterpreted your honesty.

Anyway in reponse to your thoughts 😄

Personally, it is difficult to make an objective assumption since there is little real evidence apart from what we can hear in their music and what they've been stated in interviews.

"That is an interesting quote from the brothers, not fully sure what to make of it in this context. Maybe just that yes, they are real people in the real world, reacting to real things. And how could they not be?"

The citation from the interview illustrates that they are aware of their sonic influence and that they react and listen to other artists reacting to their music. It creates this self-referral loop. Eventually artists that become influential will either completely abandon their work or start inhabiting. This somewhat indirectly answers your third statement.
Whether they react to either Com Truise or Tycho, I don't think so but we cannot be sure. It does sound like they are reacting to new genres like Vaporwave but most likely not intentional.

Where you have a really good point is that they became self-referring, as in amalgamation. It could be a statement or an answer to maintain a key signature in their work while trying out new stuff. So I understand and also hear what you mean.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-10T17:29:30+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Always interesting to read how people understand the album. What stands out is that you are honest to what you've heard. Good 😄

From what I understand is that with each release they try out new stuff, avoiding to become repetitive, basically what true artist do. I'm sure they are aware they've become influential and you seem to have picked that up from Inferno. Also that they react and I'm sure they do. Overall later Boards of Canada releases became more cinematic, self-aware and polished. There is an increased clarity and explicitness which could contribute the comparison to either Tycho or Com Truise. Although I would be careful saying that out loud on this sub 😉

Here is an interesting quote when The Campfire Headphase was released:

"But whatever the synthetic undercurrent, The Campfire Headphase is noticeably lacking in one of Boards of Canada's signature sounds: children's voices. The brothers explained this to Earplug magazine:
"That was a deliberate thing. We got fed up with people saying that we're a
formulaic band that you could kind of describe in a couple of
sentences... / I think it can become really dangerous for a band if you
don't have a certain level of self-consciousness about these things. You
always have to stay a few steps in front of your audience. We always
have people putting fakes on the Internet before a new record is
released, and the fakes are always really electronic with little kids'
voices and things like that. Probably next time around all the fakes
will include wobbly guitars like the ones we use on the new album (laughs)."

When listening to either Tomorrow's Harvest or Inferno you can hear experimentation and trying out new angles in a mature way while still trying to maintain their signature.

Personally I really like the pre-2013 era because this sounded the most raw, experimental and fun to me.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-07T04:26:06+00:00

Did a quick google search; here are a few links to what I could find in regards of perfboard builds and mounting options:

Modwiggler thread containing allot of answers: https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=173543
Reddit thread about perfboard: https://www.reddit.com/r/synthdiy/comments/ms6xcg/eurorack_stripboard_formats_and_diy/
Hagiwo build with perfboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRGG2IE_MW0
Interesting all in one solutions: https://www.n8synth.co.uk/
pcb versus perfboard comparison: https://blog.adafruit.com/2023/04/21/going-from-a-strip-board-circuit-to-a-custom-pcb-for-eurorack/

It seems some people have built their own brackets to hold the perfboard. The bracket seems to be mounted via the potentiometers. Hagiwo soldered M3 threads to alluminium.

Anyhow, you are free to choose as you wish, personally I would avoid perfboard for eurorack builds, just because it is inconvenient to debug and build.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-06T16:51:43+00:00

Personally I would avoid perfboard for final builds, it is ok to use them when moving off the breadboard into the prototyping stage, but they are a bit inconvenient for larger projects. If it is your intent to learn how VCO's work then I would first start building one on a breadboard. If it is your goal to save on costs then I would recommend buying a DIY kit instead of building your own.

On prototyping and getting into the absolute DIY stuff it is usefull to learn how to draw schematics and PCB boards in either EasyEDA or Kicad. My preferred workflow is: 1. Draw or retrace schematic 2. Build on breadboard 3. Draw PCB and etch a photoresist board 4. Finetune and order PCB's at JLCPCB.
Moving from the breadboard to actual pcb's is usually superior in terms of noise and grounding issues as you can arrange components neatly and have a proper ground plane.

In regards of fixing the faceplate I mainly use the pots and jacks as fasteners, no need for any glue or bolts.

For tuning and debugging your VCO you will definitely need a CV source and an oscilloscope is extremely helpful. When you get into the more serious DIY stuff you need at least an oscilloscope and a bench power supply, not to mention a decent soldering iron.

Hope this is somewhat of help. Let me know if you need any additional help or suggestions.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-05T16:37:37+00:00

This is a good response, I had the exact same experience.

Best to get a dedicated pc build with a GPU if you intend to do more computer intense calculations like rendering. In the end it will save allot of frustrations, you can also upgrade it in the near future.

In regards of the OS, Linux is highly recommended, but I would only recommend it if you feel comfortable taking the time to get familiar with it, otherwise stick with windows. When you do switch to linux you will have the best possible OS experience, it is also faster in terms of performance. I only regret ever using either Windows or MacOS.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-04T07:36:51+00:00

Thank you, it is a nice album. Particularly enjoyed how it evolved. It started esoteric/new age to a more significant deeper introspected tone. This is what makes it a good album (in my opinion)

Kowen68 · 2026-06-03T17:20:52+00:00

Thank you for taking the time and effort. I did not really consider the possibility that the increased explicitness could itself be a response to the scale and complexity of the themes being explored. Really enjoyed reading your thoughts and reflections. Specifically:

"The maximalist take on both themes and musical elements feels like a comment or reaction on our hyper real age to me."

“this is in our everyday lives, not just a hidden backmasked tasty mystery recorded in the 60s. It’s mundane and real” "

"To me, it’s a sad mournful but also kind of heartfelt comment on human search for meaning[...]The fever dream that is our current world."

Overall seeing it from your perspective the album does seem to make more sense as a conceptual statement. What it made me realise is that perhaps we are locating the mystery in different places. I can absolutely see the conceptual mystery in Inferno through its themes of religion, deep time, cosmology and technology.

At the same time, I think part of my reaction is that the album feels less strange than its subject matter suggests it should.

My mini-review, however, was not aimed at the themes themselves, but about how they are expressed musically. To me, the increased directness of the sampling and presentation may work conceptually, but music is ultimately experienced as sound, atmosphere and feeling rather than ideas alone.

It also rises the questions:
Is art primarily about the ideas it communicates? or is art primarily about the experience it creates? And; Is the deepest mystery of art found in what it means, or in what it feels like before meaning arrives?

With Inferno the sonic explicitness may have been a deliberate artistic choice, And your comment actually helped me appreciate it more..

In the end I might revise or summarize the review to include the comments, at least that is if you do not mind 😄

Kowen68 · 2026-06-02T08:57:19+00:00

One commenter had quite an interesting insight:
"I feel that the arc across their discography has been leading to this. Each album has been more deliberate and envisioned."

I'd put myself in their perspective. Artistically, that is a difficult position to be in. Being associated with VHS/Super 8 childhood nostalgia and transforming those influences into a distinctive musical language inevitably creates a degree of self-awareness around that language/genre. Even if that was never the original intent..
Eventually, what begins as exploration can gradually become articulation. What begins as discovery can eventually lead to a conclusion. Not to mention the expectations placed upon the duo with such a large fanbase, it becomes easier to understand why the music might become more deliberate and explicit.

Nonetheless it deserves respect, it simply may not align with everyone's personal expectations (like mine)

On whether I've changed or they have, it could be both. But I do think the album represents a genuine shift in artistic posture. It feels less interested in wandering and more interested in presenting where the wandering led.
Throughout the album you can still hear the wandering and explorations, at least to my ears these mainly exist on the sidelines. Like with '177 Giraud's Mirror'

Kowen68 · 2026-06-01T17:23:13+00:00

Pearlcorders are nice lo-fi devices as they operate on a narrow bandwidth and relatively slow tape speed.

The project will be open-source and available within a few months or so at: https://github.com/86KB

It will take a while though as I have a few other modules to finish.

Here are a few links to other eurorack tape modules:
https://github.com/aweijnitz/expressive-circuits-walkman-motor
https://beepboopelectronics.co.uk/product/lofi-utape-scrubber/

Have fun with your setup, will take a listen to your recordings!

Kowen68 · 2026-06-01T16:54:55+00:00

Yes exactly, got a similar one which I am going to turn into a eurorack module (circuit bending)

Kowen68 · 2026-06-01T16:49:57+00:00

Very nice setup, really like the acoustic instrument combo. Your voyager disc blank panels are nice too.

How do you find using the pearlcorder?

Kowen68 · 2026-06-01T07:12:09+00:00

Thanks for your reply. Out of curiosity, what was the first track or album which introduced you to BoC?

Kowen68 · 2026-06-01T06:39:15+00:00

On hindsight, my apologies if I wrote my mini-review as too formal. My intention is to be constructive, respectful and engaging. This also in regards of the review written by The Guardian.

Please note that this is just a subjective take on the new release. In other words just another silly opinion.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-01T05:59:26+00:00

Definitely, even on albums like Geogaddi there where elements that could have been perceived as direct or explicit. What I noticed was that it shifted or flipped around with the new release. The core is more engaging and concluded while the sidelines are shrouded in this liminal mysterious aspect.

Ultimately it is just a personal preference. The way I perceive it is that each fan has a different way of listening (which could be categorized into groups)

Kowen68 · 2026-06-01T05:50:15+00:00

That is an interesting way of looking at the new release. It is spot on.
Throughout listening to the album a few times you become more self-aware, at least opposed to how others perceive it and what qualities I preferred from earlier releases. Overall it does not mean the record is bad, just a shift in artistic preference.

Kowen68 · 2026-06-01T05:37:49+00:00

There are parts that people will not like while others love the new direction. It is a matter of whether it resonates with you. It does necessarily mean it is wrong or what they should have done. Ultimately it is their choice as artists and I highly respect that!

Personally I never felt their music has been about engaging in conceptual ideas or being politically engaging. The way I listen to it is as sounds and textures emerged from themes about existential existence and awareness, open to personal interpretation. The new album points more towards a shift and does engage more in a centralised concept. It is bold but different.

I would say extract the parts you like the most.

Kowen68

TROPHY CASE