mki x es.EDU VCO

[Girts23]

Hi, guys! As you may have heard, we – Erica Synths and Moritz Klein– have developed a series of educational DIY kits under the brand name mki x es.EDU with one specific goal in mind: to teach people with little-to-no prior experience how to design analog synthesizer circuits from scratch. What you’ll find in the box is not simply meant to be soldered together and then disappear in your rack. Instead, we want to take you through the circuit design process step by step, explaining every choice we’ve made and how it impacts the finished module.
In total, we have developed 9 kits to build a fully-featured modular monosynth: a sequencer, a VCO, a wavefolder, a noise/S&H module, a mixer, a VCF, an Envelope generator, a dual VCA, and an output stereo mixer with a headphone amplifier. Additionally, an affordable eurorack case with a DIY PSU will also be available. While these kits are easy to build, we did not compromise on design and functionality. We will launch one kit every 4-6 weeks. Each kit comes with an extensive user manual (40+ pages) that will dive deep into not only the electronics behind each circuit, but also the fundamental principles of sound synthesis. We hope that the mki x es.EDU project will inspire future engineers and will contribute to the ever-growing diversity of electronic music technology.
The first module - the VCO - is available now at Erica Synths shop and at DIY kit retailers.

Here's a video from Moritz on a VCO design:

Please, share your thoughts on a modules design and build experience here!

[Thonk Support]

Really looking forward.to building this myself
On sale now at Thonk - https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/erica-edu-vco/

[TheAnswerIsYes]

This looks like a great route for a noobie. I just watched Moritz's video about the collaboration from October '21.
I wonder if Erica, Thonk or others will offer a discount if you commit to buying all 9 modules ... (and the book?)
Can't wait to purchase this VCO.

Thonk is the place for DIY purchases in UK right?

Thank you.

[guest]

thats a really great concept! im a bit jealous, this was always one of my backburner idaes for OML.

[ixtern]

Water analogies are great. But please start oscillator demo with lower frequency as high pitch is rather unpleasant.

thats a really great concept! im a bit jealous, this was always one of my backburner idaes for OML.

Nice post number

[Mostin77]

I’ve been building a fair bit of diy kits over the last few years with very little knowledge of electronics, I always wished the makers of the kits would include even just a little bit of info on what the different components do and how they are applied in that specific circuit, instead it’s more of a paint by numbers type of thing. I’m definitely gonna grab these as they are released.

A quick look through the manual and it’s showing some breadboard builds and mentions “looking at oscilloscopes”, as these kits say they are aimed at people with no electronic backgrounds to learn how to build and design synths would anyone with some knowledge @Girts23 like to recommend a toolkit to go along learning? Just looking on Amazon for oscilloscopes brings up a never ending list of options which is baffling for a noob, same goes for multimeters. (I had to get rid of my vintage oscilloscope a couple of years ago and my multimeter couldn’t do with being updated I feel)

TL;DR: Anyone fancy recommending a toolkit to go alongside learning including a decent multimeter and oscilloscope?

Thanks

[Thonk Support]

On sale now at Thonk https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/erica-edu-vco/

[lordymosh]

Nice I've been wanting to get into the DIY aspect of building modules but its very overwhelming for a beginner. Checked the manual for the vco and I like how it explains every component and goes in depth.

Will each kit only be available for the 4-6 week time frame or can you get them all in one go once they are released?

[joem]

I’ve been building a fair bit of diy kits over the last few years with very little knowledge of electronics, I always wished the makers of the kits would include even just a little bit of info on what the different components do and how they are applied in that specific circuit, instead it’s more of a paint by numbers type of thing. [...]

Some makers do, to a certain extent. North Coast Synthesis is one that immediately pops to mind as having really great thorough documentation (and good blog posts too!). There are more makers that do similar that I'm forgetting. It takes a lot of work to do well, though, so that's probably one of the reasons you don't see it as often as you'd hope.

[joem]

TL;DR: Anyone fancy recommending a toolkit to go alongside learning including a decent multimeter and oscilloscope?

This question gets asked from time to time in this Music Tech DIY section, so you might want to try searching for "getting started" or "beginner" or similar here. Lots of good advice in those threads already, and it helps keep this thread more focused on the module it's about.

[joem]

I'm really excited about these releases. Love Moritz Klein's videos, and I love this new iteration of Erica Synth's DIY offerings!

[snowtires]

I appreciate that the manual is available for download without having to purchase the kit. I don't really want to build it but it was good info to read

[nrm]

This is what I've wanted from DIY from the very beginning. Thanks folks!

[mandlia]

Impressive teaching material, just what I need to understand more deeply what's happening in modules I build and/or play. Looking forward to the upcoming releases!

[TheAnswerIsYes]

On sale now at Thonk https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/erica-edu-vco/

Just ordered mine - thanks Thonk - love what you're doing.

[TheAnswerIsYes]

TL;DR: Anyone fancy recommending a toolkit to go alongside learning including a decent multimeter and oscilloscope?

This question gets asked from time to time in this Music Tech DIY section, so you might want to try searching for "getting started" or "beginner" or similar here. Lots of good advice in those threads already, and it helps keep this thread more focused on the module it's about.

Good point

[TheAnswerIsYes]

TL;DR: Anyone fancy recommending a toolkit to go alongside learning including a decent multimeter and oscilloscope?

Thanks

I am a noob and bought Hakko FX-888D w' chisel tip solering iron (£150GBP). Extech EX330 multimeter - it's around £50 GBP - not top/best/ professional, but I had advise from a Glasgow based enginner who builds satellites and it's working for me! A 'Transister Tester' is also quite useful. Not found an oscilloscope yet...

Apologies if I should have posted this in beginners thread. Hope this helps you though Mostin.

I just built MTM Turing Machine and excited to continue my journey via these mki x es.EDU modules.

[Mostin77]

TL;DR: Anyone fancy recommending a toolkit to go alongside learning including a decent multimeter and oscilloscope?

This question gets asked from time to time in this Music Tech DIY section, so you might want to try searching for "getting started" or "beginner" or similar here. Lots of good advice in those threads already, and it helps keep this thread more focused on the module it's about.

Sorry I thought that the question regarding a scope was very much related as within a few pages of this modules manual it’s showing test points for using a scope? Also it’s a module that’s being sold for educational purposes, so without any knowledge of scope and their specs etc I’m lost. Never mind I’ll look elsewhere for info on scopes.

More on topic I've just ordered the module and can’t wait to start learning a bit more about circuits.

[Frolix8]

TL;DR: Anyone fancy recommending a toolkit to go alongside learning including a decent multimeter and oscilloscope?

This question gets asked from time to time in this Music Tech DIY section, so you might want to try searching for "getting started" or "beginner" or similar here. Lots of good advice in those threads already, and it helps keep this thread more focused on the module it's about.

Sorry I thought that the question regarding a scope was very much related as within a few pages of this modules manual it’s showing test points for using a scope? Also it’s a module that’s being sold for educational purposes, so without any knowledge of scope and their specs etc I’m lost. Never mind I’ll look elsewhere for info on scopes.

More on topic I've just ordered the module and can’t wait to start learning a bit more about circuits.

I think, given the nature of the product, that the question is relevant here. I just ordered the kit and would love to hear your recommendations for a good beginner kit.

[depthbuffer]

What kind of power supply is needed for this? I believe from what I've read elsewhere that a case & PSU will eventually be available as part of this series, but what would be the minimum requirements to actually get the kits up and running before then? I have no Eurorack gear and very little electronics knowledge, and this seems like a great way to get started.

Would something like https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/fc-microbus-kit/ be sufficient?

[Thonk Support]

Yep the Microbus would be a great place to start if you don't already have a PSU

[Angstwulf]

This is very exciting to me. I have no modular gear or experience but have been holding off. This looks to be my entrypoint.

Would you be able to give a rough estimate as to how much the entire series will cost?

[TheAnswerIsYes]

This is very exciting to me. I have no modular gear or experience but have been holding off. This looks to be my entrypoint.

Would you be able to give a rough estimate as to how much the entire series will cost?

Moritz says in video that there will be 9 modules in total - each costing between 40 - 80 Euros. Plus powered case.

See 13 mins 25 secs

[delayed]

Will there be a US supplier?

[Girts23]

Will there be a US supplier?

Synthcube is handling these kits in US.