June 2022 Eurorack module round-up
This month’s best new modules all offer excellent value for money, including Roland-inspired filtering from Erica Synths, two analogue options from Patching Panda and a multi-purpose tool from Cre8audio.
Erica Synths Black 3109 VCF/VCA
It’s easy to get carried away with some of the more exotic and expensive modules which land in the Juno warehouse each month, but our latest selection proves that you can still find amazing value for money from big brands as well as relative newcomers. We kick off with the well-established Erica Synths, whose Black Series modules represent the higher end of the Latvian brand’s range. Despite that, the 3109 VCF/VCA feels like a bargain at just over £160. It’s a filter inspired by Roland’s classic 80s synths, using a modern version of the IR3109 chip found in various Junos, Jupiters and the SH-101. It’s not just a vintage clone, although you can get those classic tones out of it if you want. Instead, it gives you the options of volume-drop compensation, accurate pitch tracking (including self-oscillation) and an integrated VCA. All in all, it’s a fantastic all-rounder, capable of doing everything from fat, punchy silkiness to rough, squelchy acid depending on your preference. A strong contender if you need one filter which can do a bit of everything.
Patching Panda Operat
We went in deep on complex oscillators in our recent review of the Cosmotronic Vortex, explaining how they usually combine two oscillators, with a focus on the interesting harmonics and timbres you can create when you use them to modulate each other. Patching Panda’s new Operat module is a single oscillator core with individual outputs, thru-zero FM, three flavours of PWM and lots of modulation options. Perhaps it’s not a conventional complex oscillator, but it’s hugely capable for just 12 HP and really comes to life when you patch in another oscillator as a modulation source. In the conclusion to that Vortex review, we mentioned that complex oscillators are rarely cheap thanks to their inherent complexity. The Operat bucks that trend entirely, coming in well below half the price of the Cosmotronic offering and plenty of other complex oscillators. It’s not necessarily quite as capable or as intuitive as something like the Vortex, but for under £300 it’s a great option.
Patching Panda BD-Z
Patching Panda’s other offering this month is a versatile kick drum module which has a few things in common with the Operat. It’s a fully analogue module, for a start, and its sound is also heavily based around frequency modulation. There’s some serious depth here, although the manual is a little shallow in terms of explaining all the functionality. Even so, getting your hands dirty and jumping in with adjusting the parameters quickly reveals that you can coax out a wide variety of percussion sounds, from filthy techno kicks through to 808-ish thump and more melodic percussion hits. CV control of most parameters gives you some really nice options in terms of modulating and sequencing patterns, with nice distortion via the Shape input and some interesting modulation effects via the AM input.
Cre8audio Function Junction
Developed in conjunction with Pittsburgh Modular, Cre8audio’s Function Junction is an instant hit, combining all sorts of different utilities into one very keenly priced module. The four key sections are a loopable four-stage envelope generator, a fairly simple function generator, basic LFO and three-channel multi-mode mixer. The way that the different sections interact with each other is particularly good, with logical internally normalled connections allowing you to explore the deeper potential of the module. At £169 it’s excellent value for a module which packs plenty of functionality into 16 HP. A strong option for anyone putting together their first Eurorack system.
Xaoc Devices Erfurt 1989
Xaoc Devices are one of our favourite Eurorack brands, offering some truly unique modules. The Erfurt is towards the more esoteric end of the Xaoc range. As a standalone module it’s fairly handy as a clock divider, but to get the most out of it you’ll want to pair it with other modules from Xaoc’s Leibniz binary sub-system, such as the Drezno ADC/DAC, Lipsk bit inversion commander and Jena waveshaper/oscillator/function generator. In that context it’s a seriously complex all-rounder; as Xaoc put it: “It may scan waveshapes in Jena, produce stepped voltages useful for making interesting glissandi with Drezno and any VCO, generate gate patterns animating the spectrum of Odessa harmonic banks, spawn pseudo-chaotic sequences when fed back to Lipsk, etc.” Certainly not the most immediate module to arrive this month, but one with serious depth.
DivKid Stereo Strip
YouTuber Ben Wilson is quietly building up a nice little range of Eurorack modules under his DivKid brand. The latest offering is the Stereo Strip, a neat little multi-purpose utility module inspired by mixer channel strips. At first glance it’s a pretty simple stereo channel with mixer basics like three-band EQ, mute switch, level control and panning. What’s clever is the way those basics have been integrated to make the Stereo Strip much more creative than it might seem. The inputs and outputs can run at line level, for instance, allowing it to interface with external line level gear. There’s a built-in soft-clipping limiter allowing you to push the module into distortion. CV control allows you to set up effects like auto-panning or tremolo, or even to create AM synthesis or stereo ringmod effects with audio-rate modulation. All in all, it’s a deep, fun little module which does much more than you might initially expect.