your favorite budget (and non-budget) VCFs.

[Kosmikos]

Another budget one would be AI Synthesis OTA Filter. If you have the soldering equipment it’s not hard to put it together as well. Abe did a terrific job making it accessible yet full of character.

I second this. Very fun module to build, and great support too.

[Dragonaut]

I tried about +20 filters, recently downsized. What stayed is

Vintage Synth Lab VCF 74
Analogue Solutions Telemark filter
Mutable Instruments Ripples

When I am thinking filters, I like character, while the Ripples doesnt have that much character it's a versatile and clean filter for that Roland sound.

The others, just amazing. This might not be what other people are looking for.

Another mention is https://www.addacsystem.com/en/products ... s/addac611

what so special about Telemark? seen people mention it but seems quite simple one

The Telemark filter just sounds really good, nothing special "special" about it as such. You just have to hear it really, the filter sweeps are amazing and quite different to the other SEM filters out there.

roger that. will check it out. without hearing i like its name haha

Ben made a good youtube video

Sounds damn good

[stylesforfree]

Hexinverter Red Dragon, so raw and aggressive, crunch, squelch and girth! I picked it up 2nd hand for £110 so it turned out to be a budget VCF for me,

ALM Mum M8 - very versatile with the VCA and the 2 CV ins for the frequency cut off and the drive really gives it some character.

[wrecksmoondee]

I find the Doepfer A-124 Wasp a bit overrated. It's surprising how frequently it's recommended and chosen when there are so many other great Doepfer filters at a similar price point. I find the A-106-5 SEM and A-101-2 LPG a lot more useful. While not as characteristically quirky as the Wasp, perhaps, they are a lot more all-purpose and do have their own quirks when overdriven (as an aside, it's a great advantage for filters to have an input attenuator.. I wish the filter 8 did).

There's a Doepfer A-105 SSM filter on the way to me; I have high hopes that it too will be a good candidate for favourite "budget" VCF. Anyone using it?

[Silentnotes]

I just ordered Doepfer 102, 103 and wasp. Cant wait to listen and compare them with more expensive filters like belgrad and ikarie. I wonder which one will be my favourite. Judging by the demos, i think the 102 will be the one, i really like how the breakup sounds. Anyone with 102 or 103 experience?

[Silentnotes]

I find the Doepfer A-124 Wasp a bit overrated. It's surprising how frequently it's recommended and chosen when there are so many other great Doepfer filters at a similar price point.

Yeah, i wonder about that. If i had to choose one doepfer filter to try, it wouldnt be my first choice but that might be because i havent found a demo of it thats doing the things i would do like feeding it acoustic percussive loops.

[inner_light]

I find the Doepfer A-124 Wasp a bit overrated. It's surprising how frequently it's recommended and chosen when there are so many other great Doepfer filters at a similar price point. I find the A-106-5 SEM and A-101-2 LPG a lot more useful. While not as characteristically quirky as the Wasp, perhaps, they are a lot more all-purpose and do have their own quirks when overdriven (as an aside, it's a great advantage for filters to have an input attenuator.. I wish the filter 8 did).

There's a Doepfer A-105 SSM filter on the way to me; I have high hopes that it too will be a good candidate for favourite "budget" VCF. Anyone using it?

I have owned three of these (excluding the wasp) and loved them. The SEM is super smooth and classy, the SSM has really big sweet spots in the range (esp with a little resonance). I didn’t love the 101-2 as a filter (it wasn’t bad, just not my fav) but it was great as an LPG.

[charlie]

Delete

[theTwiddler]

I'm fairly new to eurorack but in my opinion a good (budget) filter is the IO Instruments Euporie (129€). You can switch between Moog/MS20 style. 3 different outputs. 2 dedicated attenuator which you can use for something else in the system. Build quality and sound is top!
And as a not so budget friendly filter I really like is the Supercritical Neutron Filter (498€). This thing can be anything between creamy and totally damage.
Also the possibility to morph between the filter characteristics with CV is awesome. Analog filter with digital control.

got to check out that io in a demo it soundeed very full and with a lot of character which i like. are u still using i t a lot?

[theTwiddler]

Bastl Cinnamon sounds the best to my ears for the price although I have yet to pick one up. The Synthesis Technology e440 isn’t much more expensive and has been in my rack since day one. Lots of character which I like. Can be smooth and buttery or crank the drive and resonance for a nice, wooly, organic sound.

On the other hand of the spectrum my MMF-6 will never leave my rack. Can do all kinds of funky stuff with the symmetry control and the hard and soft clipping outputs. I unfortunately had to let go of a Schippmann VDL-6 which was super clinical and worthy of the praise an above poster had for his HDH-6.

i cant let go of the cinnamon cause it has a very nice character and lots of features in small size. still struggle to use it for basslines cause i feel like bass is missing when cranking the input and the q.

[bwhittington]

I clicked thinking Cinnamon as a great budget option, so its funny that is the most recent mention. The wood panel version is pretty, but I find it really hard to read in dim light. Dragonaut and I should probably hang because MMF-6 is another fave of mine.

If I were to step out to be slightly more original than just echoing the last post, Serge VCFQ is an amazing classic for its organic pingy vibe and Rossum Evolution is a cool, nontraditional take on the transistor ladder. Modulating the poles while self-resonating can make these neat sparkly bubble sounds. Both are 'non-budget' options.

Bastl Cinnamon sounds the best to my ears for the price although I have yet to pick one up. The Synthesis Technology e440 isn’t much more expensive and has been in my rack since day one. Lots of character which I like. Can be smooth and buttery or crank the drive and resonance for a nice, wooly, organic sound.

On the other hand of the spectrum my MMF-6 will never leave my rack. Can do all kinds of funky stuff with the symmetry control and the hard and soft clipping outputs. I unfortunately had to let go of a Schippmann VDL-6 which was super clinical and worthy of the praise an above poster had for his HDH-6.

i cant let go of the cinnamon cause it has a very nice character and lots of features in small size. still struggle to use it for basslines cause i feel like bass is missing when cranking the input and the q.

[cruelangelthesis]

C4rbon is currently $167 direct from WMD. Great sounding filter.

[thymeandplace]

Haven't seen it mentioned much but MRG Synthesizers based out of UK makes really awesome filters. I have two of his that I built from kits (LPF & LPF/a) and they sound really awesome. You can also buy them built if that's your thing. Big fan of his stuff and don't see it mentioned too often. He sells on Etsy. There's actually a lot of cool stuff I've found on Etsy the past few years if you go digging.

[theTwiddler]

I clicked thinking Cinnamon as a great budget option, so its funny that is the most recent mention. The wood panel version is pretty, but I find it really hard to read in dim light. Dragonaut and I should probably hang because MMF-6 is another of mine fave.

If I were to step out to be slightly more original than just echoing the last post, Serge VCFQ is an amazing classic for its organic pingy vibe and Rossum Evolution is a cool, nontraditional take on the transistor ladder. Modulating the poles while self-resonating can make these neat sparkly bubble sounds. Both are 'non-budget' options.

Bastl Cinnamon sounds the best to my ears for the price although I have yet to pick one up. The Synthesis Technology e440 isn’t much more expensive and has been in my rack since day one. Lots of character which I like. Can be smooth and buttery or crank the drive and resonance for a nice, wooly, organic sound.

On the other hand of the spectrum my MMF-6 will never leave my rack. Can do all kinds of funky stuff with the symmetry control and the hard and soft clipping outputs. I unfortunately had to let go of a Schippmann VDL-6 which was super clinical and worthy of the praise an above poster had for his HDH-6.

i cant let go of the cinnamon cause it has a very nice character and lots of features in small size. still struggle to use it for basslines cause i feel like bass is missing when cranking the input and the q.

i played with the rossum and its great but expensive. right now i am looking for some cheaper vcfs to try out and sell if i dont like em

[Glisk]

favorite budget filter...Godsbox humpback
Non budget... Strange science F1

[technomania]

Love my wmd c4rbn, subtle or aggressive. Only 4hp.

[target_destroyed]

Another shout out for the Cinnamon. Really feature-rich and sounds great, can't go wrong with it.

As far as non-budget (but still not terribly expensive), Jove is probably my fav. It just sounds lovely. WMD Aperture is pure awesomeness as well.

[vasculator]

Setonix Macropod. One of the best deals out there, especially if you get the DIY version. It's the only variable bandwidth with resonance out there (I think) and sounds incredible to me.

[Rabid]

My favorite budget filter is the Cre8audio Mr Filter. I heavily criticized the early Cre8audio products but I love that it has VCF, VCA and EG in one budget package. Very handy to pair up with those Noise Engineering oscillators that do not have built in VCA. I have one. Wish I had more.

[AstroZon]

Since I only have 2 total, it's got to be them.

Budget: Behringer 2500 Series, 1047 ($109)
Budget: Wavefonix 2144 VCF ($125)

Both are good but very different in sound and functions. I just popped over to SW, and the 1047 went up to $119. The world we live in....

[Suburban Bather]

Non-budget?
Metasonix R52. Yes its sweep range is limited and its output is really quiet, but I keep coming back to it, even though I have no shortage of filters to play with. It has this dirty, raspy, throaty sound to it that is just amazing when you give it something with a lot of overtones to chew on.

I had two of them and really do miss them.

Now I have a Qpas, and an Erica Black HPF and Black LPG. I love the shit out of them, but I guess they fall more in the middle ground of budget and expensive. I had two FoH Plague Bearers. Those were dirt cheap, but were more sound manglers than filters and having more than one is key to getting the usage out of them.

[SingleCell]

Since it says (and non-budget):

Xaoc Belgrad

[Kosmikos]

Budget, I quite like how fizzy the Lo-Fusion sounds, and it costs €80, even less if you solder the parts and calibrate it yourself:
https://feedback-modules.myshopify.com/ ... fusion-vcf
Additionally the Erica Synths Black Dual VCF is very capable and always seems like extremely good value!

On the non budget side of things, the Steve’s MS22 is still probably my favourite sounding filter, followed by the Joranalogue Filter 8 because of its 6 and 12 dB outputs, and then MI Blades for the range of things it can do.

This said I’ve just built a VCFQ and a VCFS from Random*Source and they are both great sounding filters if a bit large in HP. This also made me realise that there is probably a whole new world of filter out there I still need to explore, and I don’t have a proper Roland recreation in my rack yet… (The Jove 860 has been on the list for a while though).