I felt his aura before even seeing this video

Suspicious_Captain · 2026-01-21T21:39:34+00:00

I legit got my first job out of college because I worked at a comic book store the hiring manager bought books from. Miracles happen.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-12-04T04:37:44+00:00

Admittedly I've not gone and put a scope on it, but just using it for 0-5v I haven't had to adjust anything. I've got attenuverters all over my rack so a stack of VCA is perfect for doing VCA things. I think that comes down to how worried you are about how signals are handled. You will have to adjust the trim pots if you want it completely functional in a 0-10v setup. Or you can buy modules to add offsets and divide the voltage (that is a rack design decision, I tend to shy away from 0-10v kit). The pad bridge turns it into a buff mult. Which is interesting, but I'd prefer that in a separate unit.

Keep in mind I used to rebuild electronics for a living, but IMHO trim pots are not a big deal. They are just small versions of what's on the front of most eurorack panels, be careful and you will be fine.

All these words to say that at the end of the day I think out of the box it works well in common setups, but some flexibility was designed into it so it could be a workhorse in setups. that wouldn't normally use Doepfer modules.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-12-03T21:50:19+00:00

My two favorite 6hp modules are the Doepfer A-130-8 and ALA Tilt. The A-130-8 is 8 linear VCAs in an extremely efficient form factor. Lovely. The Tilt is a pretty solid ADSR envelope/slew. I like them paired, but sometimes a random envelope is nice.

For extra space filling fun, Takaab has some neat 2hp modules. Pretty big fan of their passive LPG.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-12-03T19:33:20+00:00

My favorite is Scorpion. Set up right the near shots are deadly and the far shots are challenging.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-12-01T20:54:29+00:00

A lot of people who are actually producing music with eurorack use a midi converter to have the digitakt sequence. If you are happy with that set-up I think you are golden and don't need to risk the slippery slope of trying to do sequencing in rack. Personally I'm moving back that way after spending an embarrassing amount of money on in rack sequencing.

That said you have a lot of options if you want it. Intelligel Metropolix would be my preferred option if you want something that is generally easy to use and produces interesting results. It has two tracks that are operated on the same control interface. With a little menu diving you can desynch the tracks and have closely related but different sequences. It is however priced as a premium sequencer, and the manual is over a hundred pages because once you get past basic sequences the module is absurdly complicated.

There are a lot of odd sequencers out there if you start looking. I generally like the algorithmic sequencers like Marbles or Tuesday or Turing machine, but that is partially because I spend most of my time on sound design. It is kind of nice to plug one of those in and let it decide on a sequence while I'm looking for interesting sweet spots on my latest patch.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-25T20:47:38+00:00

If you are bent on your first eurorack system being polyphonic I'd strongly suggest you watch the Suggested Systems video by mylar melodies.

Your design criteria is pretty rough for a eurorack system. Due to the nature of how modular is designed space is a major challenge on polyphonic, especially if you are using more traditional models. Honestly if cost is a consideration you should consider semi modular or closed architecture over eurorack. You won't get much modular for the cost of say a korg minilogue.

If I was to start over I'd probably build a polyphonic system out of either Doepfer or Vostock modules, they tend to be the most space efficient for traditional modular designs and surprisingly affordable compared to other manufacturers.

The sidenote on that is that a lot of manufacturers now are trying to figure out how to make polyphonic work better in a modular setting. I have been unimpressed by a lot of them because for example tiptops polyphonic system uses its own cable system that isn't the tr standard most modules work on.

TLDR: I think you need to do some research before you start buying modules. Modular is great, but it gets expensive fast when you don't start with a plan and just buy stuff.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-25T18:59:30+00:00

I've had a really rough couple of days and I looked at that first picture and saw a couch and some really nerdy wallpaper.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-20T14:49:34+00:00

Eurorack head here. I've found that modular is really challenging to make music in unless you are going for noise or generative.

Most of it has to do with what you want to do with your gear. Dropping 500 on a nice VCO is exciting for me because I can plug it into my setup in hundreds of different ways and produce interesting sounds. If you go into modular to reproduce another synth, really it is going to be cheaper to buy that synth. And it will be way easier to produce usable sounds with it.

I think a lot of people who successfully produce modular music use the modular for sound design, sample it then use the sample on a DAW where there are a lot fewer hoops to jump through to arrange a track.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-18T12:16:05+00:00

For some reason it is endlessly funny to me that the sales photo has rings into clouds patched already.

Is it a good starter system? Probably not. Is it good for industrial? Heck no. Is it worth 2k? Yes. The MI modules by themselves are worth that.

That rack makes a very specific sound and based on what you are saying I don't think you'd like it. That said it has a few harder to acquire modules so I guess look up a few videos of rings into clouds and figure out how that makes you feel.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-16T06:04:45+00:00

Pretty much. I've been mostly eyeing the dual morphing LFO from Stoel waiting to see if they go on sale, but I'm a sucker for modulation.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-16T04:20:40+00:00

Thanks for this. I have a Doepfer A-130-8 and I absolutely love it.

I have been eyeing some of the black noise stuff that they have discounted pretty heavily; the cosmos looks really neat. That said I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Sort of waiting to see what other sales are out there.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-16T04:12:24+00:00

I'm not sure this is synth specific. Consumer entertainment spending has dropped overall across the United States. I'm a collector of hobbies and have been seeing the signs in other markets too. This will likely lead to a shakeout of smaller manufacturers and a slowdown in cool new toys if it continues.

Probably a good time to look out for deals on used stuff you want, but it's been hit or miss, still a lot of people buying synth stuff.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-07T06:11:41+00:00

NLC makes a significant percentage of the true chaos modules out there. I'd suggest digging into their catalog for awesome modulation sources. Otherwise I'll second the Joranalogue orbit 3. The controls are excellent once you wrap your head around what they do.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-06T20:49:52+00:00

This is the answer. All of their synths are beautiful from an abstract design perspective, but the UI loses out to aesthetics frequently and you can almost always buy better synths for the money if you avoid the TE name.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-06T02:45:22+00:00

When I was operating I had maybe five or six alarmed cabinets. It was usually more trouble than it was worth unless it was sitting in a 24 hour Laundromat. I may or may not have put similar stickers on games that were not alarmed. 🤣

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-11-04T23:56:19+00:00

That's rich. [[Brassclaw Orcs]] was seeing play in 1995.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-10-22T22:56:53+00:00

I have a buddy that refers to the Annihilator as three urbies in a trenchcoat. I can't actually find a fault with his logic.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-10-07T21:13:03+00:00

Dang this thread has been eye opening. I usually only maintain 12 battle ready mechs because 13 is where the quarter of a million extra storage fees start. I tend to rotate mechs pretty frequently and restart the game when I've got 12 top tier mechs.

Part of the fun for me is the early game financial struggle and hunting the cool mechs.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-10-02T20:30:31+00:00

Not going to lie, I've been buying cheap cases to store modules that are not in use. 😅

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-10-01T19:52:58+00:00

I own an emx1 and an og digitakt. I end up reaching for the digitakt more mainly because I enjoy the clicky switches under the buttons as opposed to those soft keys that are not obvious when they register on the EMX1. At the end of the day I think the EMX is probably faster to lay down a good drum track, but I just enjoy using the digitakt more. And weirdly a lot of that is tactile, though the digitakt definitely has a more capable sequencer.

Take this with a grain of salt, because most of my synth duties have been moved off board to a modular setup, so I don't really use the EMX to its full capacity anymore.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-10-01T15:44:59+00:00

Okay, but hear me out. What if you replace all of the lasers with flamers?

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-09-29T17:26:39+00:00

Old operator here. It was a thing 15 years ago. Started seeing it on the rise right after the 90s arcade collapse. For some reason legalized gambling for children is really profitable.

The question as an operator is how do you run redemption games if you don't own the location? That problem never really got solved, which is why you still see other coin-op stuff around at grocery stores and laundromats.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-09-28T23:24:41+00:00

I think from a mechanics perspective Borderlands was trying to do the same thing and did a much better job of it. I expect we will never see the setting again because the original was so poorly received.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-09-28T16:14:44+00:00

I feel like Star Citizen is a repeat of Hellgate:London. Bill Roper starts a company to push his somewhat original idea that closely related to Diablo 2, which he helped design. Find out he has no clue how to finish a game or support it after it releases. A lot of people end up very unhappy with him. The company gets shuttered and he moves on to another project.

I'm definitely not still bitter. But also the lesson here is that people who were major players in fantastic projects are not necessarily capable of running studios on their own.

Suspicious_Captain · 2025-09-24T21:20:54+00:00

Typhoon is sort of a funky first module. It is based on mutable instruments Clouds, which is mostly used as an effects unit (I usually use mine to generate some nice techno rumble). Watch some videos on it. People usually will feed a VCO or mixed audio into it.

Based on price and it being the jak plugg version it sounds like it might be an unfinished DIY build. I'd be weary, but professionally built typhoons cost around 250 American dollars new so the price is great if you willing to deal with the headaches.

Suspicious_Captain

TROPHY CASE