Ready to try (or teach) circuit design, tinker with your Eurorack inventions, or just learn more about sound and voltages? Erica Synths has now pushed the boundaries of their DIY line with a beautiful prototyping board complete with power supply, breadboard and built-in functionality.
This is a luxury solution for prototyping, with a whole lot of functionality. But you can also think of this as more of a small Eurorack rig with the faceplate removed, ready to hack, mod and create. In keeping with Erica Synths' recent efforts, it looks perfect for the classroom, but also very useful in the studio/workshop. There are other tools out there for quick prototyping: schreibmaschine has a set of breadboard-based solutions based on the work of Mutable Instruments. (There are also options like Daisy on the digital side.) But this is unique in that it's a mini modular setup with some built-in tools. and bread board and Power and routing are ready.
At 170-195 euros, this is a splurge option, but still very enjoyable. From Erica's description:
- Built-in dual power supplies generate Eurorack compatible voltages with built-in overcurrent protection for safe experimentation
- Modular interface section with 16 slots for potentiometers, jacks and switches
- Pulse/Triangle/Sine Wave Oscillators (Audio and LFO range)
- Premium push-button controlled multi-mode envelope generator
- Buffered Variable Control Voltage Source
- Variable Gain Output Amplifier
- Dedicated headphone output and line level output for signal recording, processing and analysis
- Expansion slots for installing specialized prototyping tools
- A protective cover for the breadboard.
In addition to the luxury treatment, even the “basic” model comes with potentiometers, jack sockets, switches, jumper cables and a power supply unit. Upgrading to “full” adds a host of resistors, capacitors, chips and transistors. (Making this investment as a beginner is not a bad idea, as there are a number of solid features that will prevent you from accidentally spending extra money in the long run.)
Designed in collaboration with University of Colorado engineer Dr. Shalom D. Reuben, the module looks like an ideal way to expand your DIY module options, but also appears to be very functional on its own.
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