But I did get my new Microbrute SE (the blue one - pictures to follow). The Fates have conspired to keep me from spending too much time playing it, but I have managed a few necessary experiments. Here are my results:
- The ARF VCO tracks the MB's v/oct almost exactly. That is, the ARF VCO stays in tune with the MB's VCO, at least over the ranges I tested. This is great news, as it means I can use the ARF VCO easily as a secondary oscillator. It also means I can consider retiring the PAiA MIDI2CV8, or reconfigure it solely as a trigger source. That would open up some spaces on the FracRack to be sure. I'll need to meditate on that some.
- Wally's VCA works great with the MB's Envelope out. Which means I can use the MB's CV and ENV outputs to drive Wally directly. It was quite a kick playing Wally with a better EG than my admittedly ghetto AR generator. He sounds almost like a real synthesizer now. :) I guess if nothing else, that should convince me that Wally needs his own full-featured EG.
- Unfortunately, the MB's gate signal does not seem to be able to punch my AR generator hard enough to make it go. This means I must use the MB's envelope output if I'm trying to play Wally. I suspect I can figure out what the problem is though, since my PAiA MIDI2CV's gate will drive the AR generator. I'll need to bust out some scopes and stuff for this though.
- Wally's LFO doesn't seem to like driving anything on the MB. It's entirely possible that I'm just "doin' it wrong" somehow, so more experimentation is needed.
- The MB is happy being played through my guitar amp, but of course guitar amps are EQ'ed for guitar sounds, so it doesn't sound as good as it does though my monitor speaker. But my amp's built in delay line (limited though it is) is fun, so I definitely need to look into picking up an MXR Carbon Copy or similar delay pedal.
What I haven't tried yet is patching my ARF VCO into the audio input of the MB, and just using it as a second oscillator. I have little doubt that it will work, but I suspect the signal will be much hotter than the MB is expecting. Hopefully the MB's input attenuator will be able to tame it enough.
I also need to try going out from the MB into my ARF VCF. I'm assuming the VCF will handle the MB's relatively weak signal without trouble. (MB outputs line level, but Wally internally uses +/- 5v signals, which are about 5x larger...)
I've also ordered some Raxxess rails to do an Ikea Hack like this one. I'm still waiting on parts, but I'll put up construction pictures and of course final installation pictures once I get Wally's panels moved over. I'm building it as a "double" with three sections 6|4|6. The plan is to put Wally in the top, the FracRack and JuiceGoose in the middle, and my non-modular stuff in the bottom.
