Tags: Preamp module

Notes: The Kontact MIC is a lo-fi theme park. It's a Eurorack microphone preamp with a piezo contact mic built into the panel.

The creative applications are endless: finger percussion/rubbing/scratching, guitar input (works surprisingly well with just a little lofi crunch), acoustic sources to CV, etc.

The PCB fibreglass has quite a nice rough texture - rubbing it with a finger or a plectrum creates quite a wide range of sounds. The back of the panel is plated to expand the surface area of the contact mic. The mic will also pick up all the physical sounds in your modular- patching, cables rustling, switches, fingers on knobs - without picking up airborne sounds i.e. the sound your modular is making. At very high sound levels will pick up vibrations from the speaker output and start to feedback.

The module will work with both DIYed contact mics made from inexpensive piezo transducers, off the shelf contact mics (often called Piezo Pickups) made for guitars and violins which you can pick up for ten bucks from Amazon or eBay or more bespoke mics like the popular Jez Riley French models (including hydrophones!) which are firmly aimed at Sound Designers.

It is an easy way to bring environmental noise and feedback into a modular system, inspired by the early days of electroacoustic music in Paris and Cologne, and by the contact microphone and phonograph cartridge experiments of John Cage, Gordon Mumma, Robert Ashley and Nicholas Collins.

Notes: Nive Grad is a level shifter designed for simplicity. Two Eurorack signals can be attenuated down to pedal and line levels, and two external line or pedal signals can be amplified up to Eurorack level. Integrating a drum machine, external synth, effects processor, or guitar with your Eurorack system has never been easier!

Nive Grad uses 1/8" jacks to save HP. If you want to use 1/4" gear with your system, ask your modular supplier about mono/TS 1/8" to 1/4" adapters or adapter cables.

Nive Grad pairs well with Noise Engineering's Xer Mixa system mixer, but can be used in any Eurorack system.

Type: Universal drum synthesizer
Size: Level Shifter
Depth: .9 inches
Power: 2x5 Eurorack
+12 V: 25 mA
-12 V: 25 mA
5 V: 0mA
Nive - level - from Latin niveum

Grad - step or degree- from Latin Gradus

Notes: ASCOLTA is a dual high fidelity input preamp with envelope follower and peak detector output for each channel.

Ascolta consist of two individual high quality preamp connected to an envelope follower and a peak detector output.

On the back of the module you can select the behaviour of its internal normalization when no cable is plugged into I2:

S: the first input I1 will accept stereo 3.5mm standard cables from any source and split L and R to output O1 and O2 respectively. This way you can directly amplify stereo signals without the need of external splitters and regulate the gain of each channel individually.

G: the second amplifier will double the amplification of the first totalling a gain range of 80dB - 10.000x.

Envelope E and peak P outputs are strictly related to the gain level of their corresponding amplifier and will follow the dynamic of any input plugged.

Features

Two high quality 40dB amplifiers.
Customizable internal normalization.
Envelope and Peak output following the input signal
Audio graded potentiometers.
"Whatever" power connector a.k.a. don't mind the polarity.

Technical Specs

Width: 4HP
Depth: 25mm
50mA +12V
30mA -12V

Notes: Dual Balanced ins and outs for the studio or the road. Interface your rack with the balanced line level world; send and return to pedals or desktop FX units; patch in and out of your DAW, external synths, drum machines and other line-level instruments.

Get Connected

Audio I/O (2023 edition) allows you to effectively interface your Eurorack modular system to the balanced line-level world (+4 dBu). You can send and return to rack mount/desktop fx units, patch to external line-level instruments like synths and drum machines, interface to a DAW and much more.

The 2023 edition moves the TRS jacks to the top of the panel

The rear-mounted 3-pin CHAIN IN connector allows you to sum (in parallel) other audio sources to go from Eurorack level to the BAL LINE OUTPUTS. This could be from modules like the Mixup 3U, Xfade 1U, Stereo Mix 1U, and XY I/O 1U. You could also use this to connect with the 3-pin headers on the Palette and 7U cases audio i/o boards.

The rear-mounted 3-pin CHAIN OUT connector allows you to directly connect the level-shifted BAL LINE IN to the inputs of other compatible devices such as the Mixup 3U, Outs 3U, Stereo Mix 1U, XY IO 1U, and Headphones v2 1U. You could also connect the to the TRS jacks of the Palette and 7U cases audio i/o boards.

Features:

2 x Balanced TRS 1/4" to Eurorack modular level input paths
2 x Eurorack modular level signals to Balanced TRS 1/4" output paths
4 x six stage analog led VU meter to monitor all inputs and outputs simultaneously
Input path has up to 20 dB of gain, which allows you to patch in low-level consumer level signals and boost them.
Output path steps a nominal Eurorack level (10 Vpp) down to +4 dBu with up to +6 dB gain
3pin CHAIN IN connector
3-pin CHAIN OUT connector

Dimensions
10 HP
39 mm deep

Current Draw
75 mA +12V
70 mA -12V

Notes: Pico EF is Erica Synths' take on envelope follower module in 3hp! Pico EF features a preamp with +40dB gain (enough to boost even guitar and dynamic microphone signals for use in a modular system), envelope output with adjustable attack time and a gate output with adjustable threshold. The Pico EF can be used as a preamp, overdrive unit or for controlling VCFs with audio signal, or to use with external instruments to control your modular system in other creative and experimental applications.

Technical specifications:

Preamp boost: up to +40dB
Audio output level: 10Vptp
Envelope output level: 0 - +10V
Gate level: +5V
Power consumption: 25mA, -15mA
Module width: 3HP
Module depth: 35mm

Notes: Module A-119 (External Input / Envelope Follower) is designed to allow external audio signals to be integrated into the System A-100. It comprises a pre-amp, envelope follower, and comparator.

The pre-amp has two inputs: an unbalanced input for line level signals, with a gain factor of from 0 to 20, and a balanced input with a gain factor of from 0 to 500, for insertion of low level signals, for instance from a microphone or electric guitar.

The Envelope Follower reads the signal level of the input, and puts out a proportional voltage as an envelope at its own output.

The comparator generates a gate signal whenever the input goes above an adjustable trigger threshold.

Three LED's help you keep track of overload, the envelope, and the gate signal.

Notes: ST Amp is a 1U stereo amplifier designed to boost your external signals into modular levels. The module is designed under the Intellijel 1U format and uses the same pinout, making it fully compatible with the Intelljel case's rear connectors.

Features

Stereo amplifier and signal booster.
Three selectable gain modes: x1, x5 and x10
Level meter LEDs
Fully compatible with Intellijel's 7U and Palette cases.
1U Intellijel format.

Specs

Current needs: +12V: 30mA, -12V: 30mA
Width: 10 HP
Depth: 37mm (including power connector)
Aluminium, heat-treated front panel
Designed, kits prepared and completed modules assembled in Barcelona

Notes: Instrument Interface is a Eurorack pre-amp capable of bringing any type of audio signal to modular levels, thanks to its amplification circuit.

The module can drive regular and condenser microphones (+48V Phantom Powered), as well as Instrument and Line signals with a very low distortion ratio.

Going further from the regular re-amp operation, Instrument Interface offers some additional extra functions like a Trig/Gate extractor and Envelope Follower circuits, allowing you to use the character of your audio signal in more creative ways.

Notes: Inamp is a dual pre-amp in just 4 HPs. Featuring 6,3 Jacks inputs as well as Minijacks.

Both inputs are summed so you can use them at the same time as an input mixer.

The unit is designed to amplify up to x20 the input signal, allowing to amplify most of the music machines out there (Domestic line levels) as well as some guitars (Humbucker-like pickups and so).

The first channel is normalled to second one in series, so it's possible to have two stages of amplification or two separate ones.

Notes: An exact hardware replica of the Mutable Instruments Ears, which is based on the Music Thing Modular's Mikrophonie.

The ridges on the panel are less defined than on the Mutable version, so the texture is a bit more subtle.