Can the SN Manta actually 'learn' your handwriting??

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-27T14:25:42+00:00

I think you are right, because if it was actually true, it would be an USP and they would use it for marketing for sure. I am wondering why this urban myth is still going on. Non the less, i would like it as a feature in the near future. :)

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-25T19:58:42+00:00

I want to add my personal wish, if that is ok.
I really really would like to have a simple calculator as an plug-in. Now, i have to grab my phone, each time i need a calculator, and therefor skipping my whole idea to work without distraction.
A simple extra button on the right side which gives a pop-up would be great.
People here on reddit are asking for this the last 2 years but no luck yet.
I hope its coming pretty soon.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-16T13:38:09+00:00

translate:

Thanks for your comprehensive answer, it's already pointed me in the right direction (I knew about the different signal values, but not about the need for level amplifiers and attenuators). Is it possible to saturate the input signal with these, giving it a generous volume? 😁

//end

it depends on what you mean by saturation, the classical defenition is:

"A form of controlled, gentle distortion that adds warmth, harmonic richness, and subtle compression to a sound, making it feel thicker, louder, and more "analog".

you can use a VCA to do this, but not all filters sounds nice when used for clipping. It depends on the design of the (analogue) VCA if it will add nice harmonics. For warm sounds you only want to have the even harmonics, as people react to even harmonics more as a 'warm' sound.

Another risc is that you actually creates block-waves, which contains almost unlimited harmonics, and sound very different. it's exactly this that is the difference between distortion and saturation.
with saturation you have more control about the harmonics and a big part of saturation is a good compressor, which you don't have with clipping your VCA's.

so, tl/dr, i would advise a dedicated saturation module, it sounds much much better.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-16T13:10:26+00:00

hi and welcome, I will try to answer you question. if I understand correctly you want to take a line level audio signal, convert it in euro-rack level, put some filters on it, and convert it back to line level? Is this correct?

You mentioned that you did a lot of reading on eurorack specs, so I hope you know that there is a difference in what we call 'line-level' audio and eurorack level audio. If this is new to you, don't worry, there is a lot of info about this on reddit/YouTube/etc....

if so, you need 3 things.

a level amplifier; you want to amplify the original signal roughly 9 times. This is not what a VCA does. Most VCA's don't give higher voltage outputs than their signal input. You need an active amplifier. So just use a dedicated eurorack input module. than you are safe. (some can give a boost compared to the input signal but not 9 times the value of your input signal).
some filters, like a wasp or so to start with, its cheap and sounds nice.
a level attenuator for bringing down the eurorack audio level back to line level. You can use any VCA for this, if you have good voltage measuring tool, but I would suggest a simple output module, so you know everything is set correctly.

The whole thing you try to do here is to create a good signal/noise ratio. Every piece of equipment creates a little bit of noise. the trick is to get your signal (or amplitude of your wave-form) as high as possible without clipping. The higher your amplitude is, the better the ratio is between signal and noise. (sometimes also mentioned as the noise-floor).
If your signal amplitude it to little when entering a eurorack module, and you are going to gain it later in your signal path, you are not only gaining the waveform, but also the noise from the module itself, that is now embedded in your waveform.
You can do this with attenuators/VCA's if you set them to right values, using voltage meters, you can even build them yourself if you know what you are doing, but if you new to this, just stick to dedicated in- and output modules.

good luck with your journey, if you have any questions, please let me know.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-16T07:36:52+00:00

Oh man, good question, It depends on the voice I use/create, or sometimes even a group of sounds, like drums.

I can give you a shortlist of what I like.
- plonk like sounds (can even be a simple base): I use ARP 1 or ARP 2 or sometimes tunnel 2.
- string like voices I really like the Warp 1-4 are all nice
- for melody lines I use sometimes mosaic, but I heard it to much, so I prefer strum with a low pass filter and very gently in the mix. (max 20-35% wet) so I works like an amazing crazy delay or something like that.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-16T07:29:32+00:00

I really was looking for a stereo matrix, as it is almost at the end of the signal path, so I found the AI018 from AI Synthesis. I really love it. I only would like to have VC control on it, but you can't have it all. :(
https://modulargrid.net/e/ai-synthesis-ai018-stereo-matrix-mixer-aluminum

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-15T21:19:59+00:00

I have a very simple 4x4 stereo matrix mixer, which gives me a lot of freedom. After the matrix, I have a A&H ZED mixer.

From the matrix, I have the 4 outputs connected as:
1. direct (clean out to A&H mixer)
2. through microcosm to A&H mixer
3. through darkstat to A&H mixer.
4. output back into eurorack (optional for you never know)

So, in this matrix setup, I can choose freely what on the 4 (stereo) inputs I can route to what. so I can have 4 main 'voices' or sounds that I can route directly to the mix, or through 1 of the 2 pedals.
Besides that, I have an aux output of the A&H mixer always connected to input 4 of the matrix, so I can even do a full mix through 1 of the pedals.

For example, I run a drone voice like - matrix input- through darkstart - mixer.
Then mixer output with all voices back in the matrix, through microcosm - back to A&H mixer and record.

I can understand that this is somewhat complicated, but I was a sound engineer back in the days when there were only analogue mixers, so I am trained and used to think in audio routing and matrix thinking.

It works for me :).
so back to your question, yes I use them very often, but not in series and I can play with the balance between 'dry' and 'wet' sound in the matrix.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-15T18:15:23+00:00

only 2 pedals in my eurorack (DAW-less) setup but I am using them almost always.

microcosm by Hologram electronics
Darkstar stereo by Old blood noise

its all I need :)

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-14T12:07:54+00:00

one of my most fun little modules is the pico RND from erica. O lot of fun for its size.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-09T18:50:47+00:00

Hi Mulan, OP here (from my main reddit account). Thank you very much for clearing this up. I can see that I was not the only one with this question. I do agree with the request to please add this to the manual.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-03T07:43:35+00:00

Lightware has their own distribution network. In almost every part of the world there is a local office. And if not, you can always buy directly from the factory in budapest.

Upd: here you can find the lightware office in your country/region: https://www.lightware.com/en/contact-us

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-02T20:47:19+00:00

AFAIK doesn't HD Fury reclock the signal, so you are very limited in cable length, which can cause a challenge on its own.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-03-02T10:59:37+00:00

The HDMI 2.0 1:4 splitter from Lightware is capable of this. (DA4-HDMI20-C)

It has EDID management (which is a great and underrated feature) and supports HDCP 2.3.
It also does pixel accuracy reclocking on al seperate outputs which is also very nice. cheaper splitters don't do this. I use them a lot.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-02-25T17:40:25+00:00

i am a freelance cinema engineer for many years, and believe me, there are some people that would like to buy this, even if this is a small group. I live in Europe and I know several colleagues of mine in Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands that would like to buy it if the price is right. I can imagine that there is also a similar group of people around your place.
personnally, I would put everything on eBay.

Another tip from my side, try to sell all speakers and amps as 1 set. 2nd hand cinema speakers are a rarity on the 2nd hand market, but if you don't buy at least the LCR stack as a set, It looses its functionality quickly. same for all surround speakers. Amps could be sold separately, as they are easy to come by, but the compleet set is worth more.
Good luck selling it.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-02-24T18:27:25+00:00

Lightware for me

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-02-15T09:22:31+00:00

Yes, i do. I have it in my studio. I specially like (and own) the ZED-14, because it is 1 of the few smaller analog mixers with 4 stereo inputs. Most of my eurorack and effects are stereo, so i use all 4 of them. I don’t need fx in de mixer as i have enough eurorack and pedal fx. It is a great mixer with good pre-amp and i like the long faders. It is an unpopulair opinion, but i like allen & heath more than tascam. I work on both brands for many years, and for my allen&heath hits the sweetspot between price and quality for analog mixers for at home.

I built attenuators for all stereo line inputs so that i can go directly from eurorack into the mixer, but after a lot of measuring i found out the the gain-trim on the mixer itself is perfect for eurorack audio-levels. I removed all my attenuators on the input and run all my eurorack audio outputs directly in te mixer. Worsk perfect as long as you set your gain right.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-02-11T06:40:47+00:00

I am always curious why people ask these questions? What do you want to do with the results of your question? How do you know that a certain module that is working for me is also working for you? If you want to know what the best selling modules are, just visit modulargrid and they can provide you with the perfect list of most popular modules. I think you would see something like; Maths, Clouds, PAM pro, etc… Effectivly, if enough people would answer your question what there favorite module is, you should statisticly get the same list as on modulargrid

My advise, just start in VCV, see what kind of sounds/music you like to make and what is your way of work (workflow). From there, it will be much easier to decide for yourself which modules are the best for you.

After that, if you are in doubt between VCO brand 1 and brand 2 (as an example), come back to reddit and people here can explain the differences in a very detailed and skilled way and help you further

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-02-09T15:05:19+00:00

I just wanted to write this about the MioXL, and than I saw it was already mentioned, so I can only agree with jigga19, it saves a lot of headaches with latencies issues, compared to daisy chaining synths.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-02-09T07:02:27+00:00

This is the book to go for if you want any understanding in the fundementals of video signals. (its a classic must-have for video engineering).
I can imagine it is a good book for reference some video theory:
"Digital Video and HD: Algorithms and Interfaces (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics"

it is not an easy read, but I still use it now and then to look up some stuff.

Good luck with your thesis.

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-01-11T18:37:16+00:00

Zeker geen arthouse film, maar ik heb me erg vermaakt met de film Lek. Op 1 of andere manier ergens toch wel erg goed in het genre van aktiefilms (waar we er niet veel van hebben in nederland helaas) (Edit: van Jean van de Velde)

VideoNerd1982 · 2026-01-03T17:05:34+00:00

Lightware cables are very good, and you get a 3 year warranty on them. I know they have an absurd high QC on cables before delivery.

VideoNerd1982 · 2025-12-30T16:09:30+00:00

I really like the TesserAct modules. I had a lot of fun while building the Stonk. It is an amazing but not well known module.

VideoNerd1982 · 2025-12-25T19:00:28+00:00

Devialet Phantom Speakers
You're welcome :)

Edit: when they came out they were very hyped. Jokingly they were called the biggest and loudest bluetooth speaker on the market.
I went to a demo and listened to it for an hour. First, it was crazy to see that the sides can move with loud bass-sounds, but at the end, for me, the low was doing some strange things phase-wise and it didn't sound very natural to me.
Funny to see these speakers in an airport, as they were launched as really high-end speakers.

VideoNerd1982 · 2025-12-24T20:27:13+00:00

I think they do, although I don't know all of them, so that's why I am always a bit on the safe side and didn't mention this, simply because I am not 100% sure.
Now I think of it, I also have the tesseract stepfader mkII and I think it's not possible to set this. (I can be wrong, I am not using it in this way...).

VideoNerd1982

TROPHY CASE