I love my a4, I love my current setup with a4, rc500 (stereo quantized looper) and playdifferently 1.4
I dont want more sequencers or elektron stuff. I love it, i used to have them all, best fun with 1 elektron.
So I thought of adding fx.
Now I think: this might be an interesting second attempt to go modular.
For looper:
2hp Loop Audio Looper (2x; one left and one right)
Reverb/delay:
Strymon magneto & starlab (alternatives are welcome)
Question 1:
First 4 modules mainly integrate with my mixer (model1.4) do I need something to match voltage for interoperability with mixer not to damage something?
Question 2:
Is there a place online where I can find modules and compare them?
Question 3:
Can I trig the loopers with my a4 vc sequencer where I use it to set tempo and where sometimes start and stop the looper?
Question 4:
Is it a good starting point for modular or should I just buy something like zen delay?
Question 5:
Does it make sense what I am writing here?
Question 6: @GaryPHayes when I see other fora online, you might have gone this route already, can you please help me out?
Also, you can download VCV rack for free, and try everything first, before you buy it. (Sure, you’ll get “it doesnt sound the same” from some folks, but thats totally missing the point. Free demo, and see if it appeals to you enough to splurge the cash on the real thing)
I started out avoiding modular fx and percussion. I now have a little of both but I still think these are done better and more cheaply outside modular. Unless there is a specific module that can do something you can’t do with a pedal (I don’t think this is the case for the Strymons or Loop) or you want to seriously modulate the fx (beyond what you can manage with MIDI CC) then you are better off with external boxes.
(Edit: 2hp Loop only has one CV in, and that is Record on/off. It’s a very simple module.)
I can understand the temptation for this but having gone through that route I wouldn’t recommend it, not unless you have something in mind that would be nearly impossible to achieve otherwise. The Magneto can do mad stuff when modulated sufficiently but for that kind of money there are lots of options.
If you already have the looper and love your workflow maybe just adding a new stereo delay pedal would make sense.
if you intend to use the fx as sends for your mixer, you’ll need line to modular and modular to line conversion. If you wanna do 2hp loop > strymon > mixer as a stereo pair, you could use your A4 inserts as it handles modular level with no problem.
Now the 2hp loop certainly wants modular level so I don’t know what you plan to sample live but if it’s not a modular sound source, you’ll need line to modular.
modulargrid perhaps
you should be able to do that.
4/5 tbh, buying an Octatrack mk1 second hand would be better than that imho.
The 2hp loopers are kinda limited. 1010 bitbox or Morphagene could be fun.
The Magneto (I own and love it!) has also a sound on sound mode and a sample mode. the Shift delay is great! Now it starts to be interesting if you modulate stuffs but you’re missing some LFOs. and dealing with line/modular level will cost you some extra. If you don’t intend to extend your modular with modular sound sources, stompboxes are a better deal, less headaches.
So imho, that’s a costly subpar Octatrack with no advantage in being modular like at all. Would not recommend this as a starting point. Don’t get me wrong the Strymon modules are killer!
they cost less, they can deal with line level and some speaks MIDI. If you were to add modules that create sounds (sound sources like the Morphagene or Plaits) and use the effects for them, everything would be in modular land so you may not even need a mixer that can send line level (your A4 can handle that). You’d still want some LFOs but it’d be almost self contained. I’m lazy though so line to modular then modular to line modules are too much work for me
I think most important is the question to ask yourself - what do you want to get out of modular? The main reason (imo) to want modular FX is to heavily modulate them using CV or have FX for your modular sound sources, second of which doesn’t apply here. Analog 4 has 4 x CV outputs that can all send non-pitch CV, but the kind of modulations you’d be able to perform from the A4 are basically equivalent to what you’d get sending MIDI CC to a non-modular FX box. And this comes to the second reason you might want modular FX - something that only exists in modular land. Both Magneto and Starlab have pedal equivalents (Starlab’s equivalent is called Nightsky) that you could control with the A4 no problemo with basically equivalent results. Loopers in eurorack can be cool if you have interesting trigger sources to control record and playback, but now your case is getting bigger and more expensive, and you mentioned you weren’t interested in that stuff.
RE: integrating back and forth - most decent mixers can handle eurorack levels, and I’m pretty sure Model 1.4 has the headroom for that. Sending line level into the modular is where things begin to bite, as you’re discovering. Some modules can handle line level (for eg. Morphagene, Beads) but these might not be what you want to use.
haha, I feel you!
Been watching ezbot videos on how he’s using the OT as a live sampler/fx box and that’s genius. If you didn’t check him out, you should try. He has a template too with all the FX ready to use (you need to be a patreon I think though).
I’ve been using the Morphagene for my live sampling recently though (it has an internal make up gain so line level works but it can add some noise, might be good depending on what you’re after) as I find it really fun to use (I don’t use the SD playback much because it’s a pain to set the right voltage to access the right sample) but I use it to create weird granulared reversed textures so I don’t care much for the timing.
Magneto is closer to the Volante then Starlab to the Nightsky but it does have the shift delay mode that is gorgeous and not available on the Volante. If they added this in the Volante, I might let my Magneto go (even though it’s more hands on than the Volante as it was made to be used with hands, love the big knob in the middle!)
Now, Starlab and Nightsky really do not sound the same to me and I like the Starlab sound more, it’s more bread and butter reverb stuffs than the nightsky. I think Starlab is closer to the bigsky.
But yeah, going with Volante /Nightsky/Bigsky would be a better choice still!
The one thing the A4 is missing though is… sending out MIDI CC… so you can’t control the Volante with it via MIDI. You’d need one of the Digis for that.
I want to work with my hands and without a computer. It’s not for songwriting but for jamming
And if I want to use it for songwriting, I will use ableton, then i can send midi. But I try to get rid of my computer and have hands on gear
!
