March 2024 Eurorack round-up
This month’s best new releases include another Buchla reissue from Tiptop Audio, ALM’s compact utility module and a unique oscillator from EarthQuaker Devices.
Buchla/Tiptop Audio Mixer/Preamplifier 207t
Tiptop’s reissue of the Buchla 207 mixer sticks closely to the quirky format of the 1970s original. It’s a stereo design with six mono inputs, each of which can be routed to one or both of two separate outputs – the stereo signal outputs and pair of mono monitor outputs. Channel level adjustments only apply to the main signal outputs, while the monitor outputs can be used to cue signals before blending them into the main mix. The central four channels have Channel Assignment knobs to pan the signal left and right, while the outer two can be panned by CV. A separate microphone preamp section allows you to amp a mic signal before patching to a mixer channel, while a pair of stereo expansion sockets allow you to chain two modules together for a total of 12 channels.
The 207t is a bit of an oddball in some ways, with no VCA control of levels and no way to adjust the volume of signals routed to the monitor outputs. It’s unashamedly spacious in its control layout too, requiring 28 HP of space. Not one for everyone, perhaps, but an authentic recreation of another module from the classic 200 series, and very fair value at £230.99.
ALM Mega Milton
ALM’s Mega Milton is an evolution of the compact Milton utility module introduced as part of the System Coupe back in 2020. The original Milton was designed to fill in some of the gaps in functionality between ALM’s existing modules, and that same concept is essentially the approach here, with an impressive array of features squeezed into 8 HP. Starting with a stereo line-to-Eurorack converter, the Mega Milton then packs in a four-channel mixer/attenuator, a gated slew limiter, sample and hold with noise, and a buffered mult.
While it’s probably not the most glamorous module in ALM’s output, the Mega Milton is sure to prove very handy in any setup. ALM suggest it can be used for adding 303-style slides to patterns, building percussion sounds and producing clocked random modulation signals. Beyond that, though, it’s the kind of handy little module which will reveal myriad uses in practice. Compact, effective and great value.
EarthQuaker Devices The Wave Transformer
Fans of handmade, boutique guitar pedals will be familiar with the excellent output of EarthQuaker Devices but the Ohio brand is less well known in Eurorack. Descsribed as a ‘transfiguration oscillator’, the Wave Transformer is only EarthQuaker’s second Eurorack module, following on from the modular version of the Afterneath reverb pedal. What we have here is a surprisingly affordable take on a classic analogue VCO with plenty of modulation options and a unique ‘Complex’ circuit.
Not to play down the appeal of a vintage-voiced VCO with seven simultaneous wave outputs, sub-oscillators, hard and soft sync, linear and exponential FM, the real selling point of the Wave Transformer is that Complex option, which EarthQuaker explain can morph from a triangle wave “through multiple iterations into a strange and harmonically complex waveform, using an asymmetrical multi-differential audio transmutation circuit.” In practice, that means everything from twangy, Moog-style vintage tones through to intense, twisted distortion and twangy, Buchlaesque percussive sounds. You can even process external sounds through the module or use it as a full synth voice by modulating the Transform setting. Excellent stuff.
Klavis Grainity
Finally this month, the Klavis Grainity is a compelling little Xenakis-inspired granular module unlike anything we’ve seen before. Based around a pair of filters running in parallel with shared controls, the Grainity is digitally controlled but with a fully analogue signal path. The granular filter is the key to the unique results from the Grainity, analysing the incoming signal and effectively slicing it into cycles or grains by stepping through filter and phase variations, determined by predefined patterns known as structures. Effectively, that’s an analogue approach to granular processing rather than a digital approach which might achieve similar results by sampling or delaying the signal. Klavis explain that this has the unusual effect of making a filter which can add harmonics to the signal.
Blending the outputs from the granular and multi-mode filter allows you to explore genuinely unique timbres, quite easily twisting straightforward waveforms into everything from brassy FM-style rasps to gritty, overdriven tones. The Grainity also lends itself nicely to processing pads, drum loops and samples, giving a lot of creative potential to warp and twist sounds into completely new territory. With lots of modulation potential, the Grainity is very nice to sequence, but also a lot of fun to ‘play’ hands-on in real time.
Greg Scarth