all black switches!

[dude]

so i am anal. when i get stressed out in life at this point, i tend to approach areas where i can improve or control in order to make up or get relief from those that feel out of my control. it is surely irrational but it has led some amazing changes to my synth. in fact usually my bst purges large and small are somehow related to this concept. when i am happy and well adjusted, i tend to deal quite well with what i see as imperfection in my system. so up to this point this thread should be in the modular synth general section but here is where the fun part begins.
last year i finally got a modcan quad lfo 61b. when it arrived i immediately noticed that it had red buttons as opposed to the black ones i was more used to (aside from the x/y controller which i was soon to sell). it is obviously only cosmetic. i tried to get over it. over time the modcan grew and all other non-modcan got sold (aside from my slope detector/noise abomination). the quad lfo became the only module in my system with the red buttons. tried to get over it more. a few weeks ago i noticed one of my favorite wigglers (the one who i sold the x/y to initially) was selling the x/y again. of course more system overhaul plans. the x/y was perfect....IF i could get rid of the red button!
i am sure this all sounds ridiculous. it is honest. once the white obsession starts, little things which once were unimportant, like the color of buttons, now became part of a crucial plan.
this weekend the black switches arrived and so did the x/y. the quad lfo lay completely disassembled on my hotel table. fan pointed out the window and soldering iron hot, the diy session commenced. the work inside the quad lfo isn't up to modcan standards in terms of inner elegance but it is 100% functional and you wouldn't know i was in there from looking at the faceplate (unless you look really close). the x/y surgery went MUCH smoother and the results are that every little push button in the system is of the black persuasion.

Triumph!

i wish i could have taken pictures of the whole deal but i don't even have a functional camera atm.

i also began putting banana jacks on my external power supply as a better distro scheme than the current xlr implementation. i hate xlr's.

oh and if anybody needs an fsr box with bananananananas, i can do that.

[BananaPlug]

i also began putting banana jacks on my external power supply as a better distro scheme than the current xlr implementation. i hate xlr's.

Isn't that just asking for trouble? I mean euro's non-polarized connectors are bad enough. Bananas for power?

[sduck]

i also began putting banana jacks on my external power supply as a better distro scheme than the current xlr implementation. i hate xlr's.

Isn't that just asking for trouble? I mean euro's non-polarized connectors are bad enough. Bananas for power?

But it's all color coded! What could possibly go wrong?

[BlueOctopus]

Glad you got out of the red and into the black... You're solvent!

Congratulations on the successful surgery

[JohnLRice]

Good job, Liam!

[infradead]

so you can unplug a nanner and have a male plug w/ juice on it

[dude]

i also began putting banana jacks on my external power supply as a better distro scheme than the current xlr implementation. i hate xlr's.

Isn't that just asking for trouble? I mean euro's non-polarized connectors are bad enough. Bananas for power?

But it's all color coded! What could possibly go wrong?

i am unclear on what is sarcasm and what isn't. my internet intent detector is pretty off atm. how does euro fit into this?


do you think bananas are a bad power solution? i do have it all color-coded from start to end of power chain so i would have to lose my sight in order for it to be trouble afaik. of course it will all be fully tested and cal'd with a ddm. i wouldn't dare offer this idea as one for the masses, but for me it sounds great. the current xlr's are nothing but failure.

i ask with sincerity and not snark. i may well have failed to think this through. this will at least be a start in helping with my banana envy.

[infradead]

i'd just be worried that if something did get unplugged accidentally then you'd have a energized male end of a banana cable flopping about.

but if it works for you that's really what matter honestly

[dude]

Good job, Liam!

thanks john!

[dude]

i'd just be worried that if something did get unplugged accidentally then you'd have a energized male end of a banana cable flopping about.

but if it works for you that's really what matter honestly

lol, well right, i mean the same goes for any power connector. i certainly won't be flinging it around...like the other banana. all the connections are in the rear. i have trouble reaching around there in the first place.

[dude]

i should add that the power scheme (regardless of what type of connection) is made so i can split the whole thing apart to cut down on weight in my two portable cases. i wanted a single supply so i started looking at the serge style external enclosure. the cases are just too heavy for me to consider them mobile (which i need) with internal power, so this, after a ton of thought, was the solution. it makes no sense for furniture type enclosures sitting in a studio or otherwise large in mostly immobile but mine isn't like that.

sorry for all the power discussion. i wasn't trying to start a thread about my power supply.

BLACK SWITCHES BITCHES!

[infradead]

pics or it didn't happen

[megaohm]

do you think bananas are a bad power solution?

Not at all.
Every bench/lab power supply I've ever seen uses bananas (post style) for the DC power line outputs.
I consider it a more ideal solution than XLR connectors.

Also, I think with bananas you can use thicker gauge wire. XLR is limited to using 18AWG or smaller wire.

[dude]

yeah, that was what i thought. thank you for clarifying. i actually ordered some regular banana cables from testpath (as opposed to making them) so the gauge might be thinner than is ideal for moving/routing the power to the two cases. is there an actual danger in a 5' cable run with the normal banana cables from testpath (pomona?)? the specs look kosher but i may not have been paying attention to the proper stuff.

as for pics, it can't happen. my phone's camera is fuxored and that is the only camera i have in my hotel aside from my laptop which takes terrible/impossible pics and prints them backwards (i know that is due to my ignorance).

just imagine a little collection of modcan with black switches in any module that has one of those little switches and you should be close to there.

[BlueOctopus]

I can imagine it well and it's a beautiful sight in my mind's eye. Drooltastic.

[7thDanSound]

Didn't even know they came with black switches. No that you've got me thinking about it though... Nah, I'll stick with red 8_) At any rate, great you're keeping busy Liam, perfecting ones gear is good work. Always!

[dude]

banana cables showed up this morning so i soldered everything and it works like a charm. all color coded and organized. as suspected, a much nicer connection set than the damn xlr's. i fucking hate those things. this was a great way to pop my banana cherry (grape kiwi apple raspberry watermelon).

now i just need to calibrate it when i get a sec but it isn't far off.

[sduck]

Yay! All orgamanized. Yea, color coded bananas shouldn't be a problem. As for the dangers of loose bananas - 15v dc current is fairly harmless - hot enough to feel, not hot enough to do much, if any damage.