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Eurorack Knob Idea

mitxela.com

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Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#41

Post by kennywinker »

bondarchuk wrote: post #4

> It's a nice dream, of a synthesizer where any knob can be pulled out and replaced with a patch cable, and any jack can have a knob plugged into it to set it to a fixed value. What's even better, though, is a coupled knob + jack where the knob turns into an attenuator for the input when a cable is plugged in, and works as a standalone knob otherwise. I think this is quite a common design. I believe I've also seen pa…

Another common pattern is jack + offset. The most useful is when you have jack + offset + attenuator… but most modules pick one or the other for space reasons.

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#42

Post by pea »

alnwlsn wrote: post #38

> any jack can have a knob plugged into it to set it to a fixed value. I'm kind of surprised he didn't start with a knob with a tiny accelerometer, mcu and battery in it to produce some sort of output signal into a stock plug depending on how the knob is oriented with respect to gravity. Putting electronics inside the plug is nearly a mitxela trademark. https://mitxela.com/projects/flash_synth

I was wondering this - I'd buy this if I could just plug it into my existing sockets. I'm pretty sure you could get 50-100 hrs with a battery, but I wonder if you could have something that you wind-up like a mechanical watch.

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#43

Post by JKCalhoun »

bondarchuk wrote: post #15
JKCalhoun wrote: post #6

It's interesting. I haven't been sucked into the Eurorack thing though — do people want not just patch cables all over their mixing desk but knobs as well? Eurorack (and modular synths in general) seem like funny things. Like guitar pedals, I sense there are a lot of enthusiasts that do a lot more tinkering than actually playing them. Watching Rick Beato and guests on YouTube ... seems like a lot of musicians are loo…

Maybe they are tinkering, but sounds still come out while they are tinkering. So maybe they're playing music after all? The idea that if you're not recording and releasing tracks you're doing it "wrong" is a bit silly IMO. Just strumming a guitar or playing some chords on a piano without recording any of it was always an "acceptable" hobby and not considered "unmusical", playing with synths and sequencers is no diffe…

You're right. Someone's hobby could be "noodling" — with a guitar, synth, etc.

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#44

Post by m_kos »

1. I find Tim's work always so impressive and humbling. Compared to software, hardware projects seem infinitely more complex.

2. Speaking of knobs, I am writing a toy software synth for smartphones. Are there any design guidelines for mobile UI for audio? Knobs are hard to use and sliders take up a lot of space with only a little more precision. I experimented with curved sliders (inverted parabola or sine), but they are confusing since height doesn't really encode anything and the curvature is there only to make the slider longer. I didn't find any design systems focused on audio components.

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#45

Post by m_kos »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #6

It's interesting. I haven't been sucked into the Eurorack thing though — do people want not just patch cables all over their mixing desk but knobs as well? Eurorack (and modular synths in general) seem like funny things. Like guitar pedals, I sense there are a lot of enthusiasts that do a lot more tinkering than actually playing them. Watching Rick Beato and guests on YouTube ... seems like a lot of musicians are loo…

Don't get sucked into modular hardware synths. They are TONS of fun, but it is a very expensive hobby. Monotrail Tech Talk has a few excellent videos on YouTube, but he must have spent a fortune on his gear.

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#46

Post by ecolonsmak »

m_kos wrote: post #44

1. I find Tim's work always so impressive and humbling. Compared to software, hardware projects seem infinitely more complex. 2. Speaking of knobs, I am writing a toy software synth for smartphones. Are there any design guidelines for mobile UI for audio? Knobs are hard to use and sliders take up a lot of space with only a little more precision. I experimented with curved sliders (inverted parabola or sine), but they…

Knobs shouldn't be hard to use - hold down the knob that needs the adjustment and then drag in either of two directions to set the value. Maybe have a pop-up over the knob that displays the value as it's in use.

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#47

Post by kgwxd »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #6

It's interesting. I haven't been sucked into the Eurorack thing though — do people want not just patch cables all over their mixing desk but knobs as well? Eurorack (and modular synths in general) seem like funny things. Like guitar pedals, I sense there are a lot of enthusiasts that do a lot more tinkering than actually playing them. Watching Rick Beato and guests on YouTube ... seems like a lot of musicians are loo…

I got sucked into it a little over a year ago, it's starting to wear a bit thin for me already though.

> I sense there are a lot of enthusiasts that do a lot more tinkering than actually playing them

It's called "sound design" :) Can't start on a song until the timbre of my never-quite-done-this-way-before saw tooth bass is juuuuuuust right.

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#48

Post by atoav »

As a fellow Eurorack circuit designer and university teacher on thst issue one immidiate issue I can see is one of practicality. Decent potentiometers are maybe a Euro per piece if bought in bulk, they have a start and an end which is nice and for analog gear you have direct control over the parameter, with very clear feedback what is going on — that is the main reason people want physical gear. So add in a LED ring for visual feedback and endstops.. Might be nice for a digital module.

But even then I'd wonder if it worth it, because of the high pcb space usage. With potentiometers as attenuators or attenuverters you can fit two pots next to each other in a space of 20mm which neatly aligns with the standard panel widths. Theoretically you could certainly get smaller with thst solution, but the hall effect IC needs to be accounted for as well. With existing pots I can use the space underneath. If your module is just 10mm wide that space is pretty premium..

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#49

Post by BlandDuck »

kennywinker wrote: post #41
bondarchuk wrote: post #4

> It's a nice dream, of a synthesizer where any knob can be pulled out and replaced with a patch cable, and any jack can have a knob plugged into it to set it to a fixed value. What's even better, though, is a coupled knob + jack where the knob turns into an attenuator for the input when a cable is plugged in, and works as a standalone knob otherwise. I think this is quite a common design. I believe I've also seen pa…

Another common pattern is jack + offset. The most useful is when you have jack + offset + attenuator… but most modules pick one or the other for space reasons.

Totally. Also, an attenuator is easier and cheaper to implement, because it just requires normalizing V+ into the jack plug. An offset requires an adder.

My preference is: attenuator < offset < attenuator + offset. I see no benefit of having to remove the knob to get to the jack as proposed in the article.

Re: Eurorack Knob Idea

#50

Post by robotresearcher »

kennywinker wrote: post #41
bondarchuk wrote: post #4

> It's a nice dream, of a synthesizer where any knob can be pulled out and replaced with a patch cable, and any jack can have a knob plugged into it to set it to a fixed value. What's even better, though, is a coupled knob + jack where the knob turns into an attenuator for the input when a cable is plugged in, and works as a standalone knob otherwise. I think this is quite a common design. I believe I've also seen pa…

Another common pattern is jack + offset. The most useful is when you have jack + offset + attenuator… but most modules pick one or the other for space reasons.

The attenuator-inverter is super handy too. A gain knob that goes from -1 to +1 X.
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