So I’m trying to get my head around whether I should get the ES-8 or ES-9.

My current needs entail sending the following four inputs from my modular into Ableton:

Bass Voice (mono)

Samples Voice (mono)

Leads Voice through delay (stereo)

I’d also like to do away with any sort of additional sound interface, making it more convenient for playing gigs. With that in mind, I’d plan on setting up two of the outputs (as a stereo pair) as my Master channel in Ableton, then routing them through two of the ES-8 outs. Those outs would then go into my Intellijel Stereo Mixer 1U, and then into the 1/4 outs on my performance case.

Would the ES-8 be sufficient for this? It seems like it has enough inputs for my desired use case (albeit with no room to expand on its own). And it seems like I should be able to route that Master channel from Ableton into a pair of outs.

Also…this video from ALX-106 suggests that sending a CV Tools from Ableton can offer a tighter sync than MIDI. It looks like this would require an output on the ES, rather than an input, so no worries on maxing about the 4 available ins...I think?

On the other hand…if I wound up going with the ES-9, that obviously has a fuckload of ins/outs, along with the 1/4-inch outs. However, there’s no attenuation knob for those 1/4 outs. Would it be OK to connect them directly to mains/monitors? I could of course change the Master output from Ableton, although it feels a little dicey to not have an analog knob to gradually bring in the signal, avoiding blowing the PA or monitors, etc.

Hi - tentative but very excited modular newb here. : )

So after going head-first down the hardware rabbit hole a few years ago, I'm ready for my first foray into modular. The purpose of this system is to act as a second voice for my primary setup, which consists of an Erica DB-01 (an amazing synth with some creative randomization features) running through an Octatrack (which takes care of the drums and samples.)

This synth setup needs to fulfill a few requirements:

1.) Act as a doubler for the Erica, which has CV/Gate outs. Sometimes I'll just want the synth to mirror what's playing on the Erica, making the sound nice and thick/distinctive.

2.) Other times I'll instead want to hit a button and have a sequencer play a random-yet-controlled-and-quantized pattern over the rest of the track. I don't want to sequence patterns myself; randomness and entropy is an important part of my music.

3.) Serve as a lab where I can experiment and learn more about modular.

4.) Above all, this should be an expressive instrument, designed to play and tweak live alongside the rest of my gear.

What I've settled on is a Melodicer to generate the patterns, which in turn will feed into a Braids clone. My understanding is that I have two choices here: 1.) enter the desired scale manually on the Melodicer, or 2.) enter arbitrary notes on the Melodicer and then have Braids' quantization functionality take care of the rest. Both could have their merits. Am I understanding this right?

I'm eyeing a 62HP Intellijel Palette case, since this will fit perfectly with my other gear (also nice to have those mults and Midi & Audio I/O built in).

Here's the setup I've put together: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1883732Data sheet: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/modules_racks/data_sheet/1883732

This *seems* to fit the bit for what I'm looking for, but am I missing or overlooking anything here?

Also, in terms of "doubling" what the Erica spits out, let's say I wanted to have the modular play, say, 7 or 12 or 15 steps above the Erica. What are my options for doing that? (With the melodicer, I could easily change octaves, but when doubling the Erica I probably won't be using the sequencer).

So I happen to be a huge fan of Spaces when using my macbook...I quickly swipe between different desktops for various work functions, chat apps, Spotify, etc. It's part of my workflow that I couldn't live without when using my laptop. This also works perfectly when I mirror my display on an external 27" monitor.

However, I'm now thinking about getting one of those 49" ultrawide curved monitors. The benefit would be having multiple apps right in front of me - no need to swipe between Spaces.

The problem is I'm effectively working in two "modes" here - one with spaces, one with multiple apps on a single desktop. On the ultrawide, I'd need everything carefully sized a split across the screen, e.g. a Chrome window, Telegram, and a spreadsheet. But as soon as I disconnected the monitor, those screen splits would be far too small and I'd prefer to instead be working across various spaces again.

Any advice for switching between these two work environments? Sure I could manually move everything into place (or use a windows manager to make that manual switching faster), but I switch between my laptop and external monitor several times a day.

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Now that VR goggles are getting higher-resolution, it seems like VR combined with a yoke and rudder (and maybe throttle quadrant) would provide an excellent mix of immersion with hands-on control.

That said, it also seems like these issues could rear their head and make for a less-than-ideal experience:

- The pedals might slide around as you're using them

- Your chair could push back, or rotate around its axis, as you use the pedals

Short of getting a full-on sim cockpit like this, can anyone recommend chair & pedal setups to minimize the first two issues? Are there any chairs (office chair, gaming chair, whatever), that lend themselves nicely to simming?

On the VR side:

- The VR cables could make it difficult to rest your head on the back of the chair (not huge, but maybe not ideal for long periods of simming)

- Having both hands free for a yoke and throttle is nice from a control perspective, but there will be many situations that require flipping a switch or some other interaction. That'll require use of the VR controller, since you don't want to break immersion by taking the headset off.

Can one simply fly with the controller around their wrist and then grab it whenever they need to poke at something?

Are there any good best practices for hybrid setups that combine a yoke/pedals with VR?

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