I’ve noticed that a couple people here have the CP-251 as well as the Little Phatty. I’m thinking about picking up a CP-251 and was wondering if it’s worth it. Would anyone care to post some demos of the 2 of them being used together?
Thanks.
I honestly couldn’t find much of a use for mine. I realize certain styles of music call for different applications, but it just seemed like I could grab my Voyager or something else to achieve a lot of the same results.
2 CP-251’s are fantastic with the LP
As I like DIY, I’m going to make a CP 251 substitute based on Music From Outer Space PCB.
I’ve ordered two VC-LFO, one S&H, one Noise generator and will add a CV mixer with attenuator and a CV distributor.
I just hope to not being modular addicted…
That actually sounds like fun. I just built a Midibox SID and have been looking to start another electronics project. Something to think about…
Do you have any examples of what that sounds like?
Yeah, I’ve also built a 4SID MidiBox (more photos here).
I can’t resist to share one pic :
The PCB from MFOS are nice and easy to solder. The most difficult part is to find all the components. I’m waiting for my ordering from Banzai.
WOW! That’s beautiful. Mine is sitting bare on a piece of cardboard because I can’t decide what type of case to put it in. Where’d you get the case from?
That’s a standard 3U 19" rack case, and I’ve designed and ordered the front panel from Schaeffer. That costs a lot, but the result is really nice.
It’s funny (because someone above mentioned the same project)–I just ordered some PCBs from MFOS to make my own “CP-251”. I figured it would be cheaper and potentially better than the “real” thing. This has started me down the Modular Synth path and I’m thinking I’d like to design my own enclosure/panels (based on Moog, EMS, and other vintage modulars…), rather than buy into one of the current formats (MoTM, DotCom, doepher, etc).
I’ve sourced and bought some panels and components (hardware, knobs, etc.), but I’ve been wondering about screen printing and front panel graphics, etc. So, I’m very curiolus to know generally how much your rack unit panel fabrication/printing cost you?
If it’s extremely expensive, i might just instead try some kind of heat transfer/ printer paper type of front panel printing… but if it’s not too much, it would be great to be able to get this sort of high quality professional panel printing. Your project looks amazing.
Can you shed any light on this for me?
This front panel cost 120 E (around 160 USD). You may feel this expensive but regarding the total project cost and the pleasure to have a nice panel, it’s not so much.
I really enjoy DIY, but I’m not a fan of hand writed and not well aligned knobs front panel.
I thought a lot about modular design and this is, for me, the way to work. For standalone module, it allows easy maintenance, and it better for futur extensions. But I’m waiting for my 1/4" jacks and 19mm knobs to work on module front panel.
The final cost will be closed to a CP 251 for a bigger and maybe not so nice item, but with much more options. I don’t think price should be the only motivation. If you’re a familar with components prices, the CP 251 is not so expensive.
ditto on that 
Thanks, this is about what I expected. I seems fairly reasonable considering the high quality end product. I’m not sure if it would be practical (for me) to have multiple module panels professionally done in this manner though (I’m thinking out loud)… but it has also occured to me to arrange several modules behind one large panel… sort of make a EMS Synthi or Arp 2600 kind of thing…
I agree, price isn’t the only motivation… but alot of times it is my initial motivation… then by the time I get started into a project, price usually becomes less of a priority.
I’ve found mail-order components to be very inexpensive… in just raw components I wouldn’t think the CP-251 would cost much more that $50 or aprox… the major expence that I’m trying to figure out, though, is the the enclosure and screen printing… this could easily cost another $100 for professional work…
But yeah, it’s not really only about saving money exactly… it’s just that once you start assembling some of these circuits (modular synth circuits from kits and downloaded web schematics)… it seems strange to pay $300 and up for something you could make yourself with a bunch of extra parts you already have left over.
The external hardware is, by far, the most expensive part.
Hammond Manufactuing makes a LOT of cool enclosures:
http://www.hammondmfg.com/
Also, Lazertran is a viable alternative to screen printing:
http://www.lazertran.com/
It’s nice. I’ve priced front panels and they’re expensive. I’m curious to know about the rack case itself. I’ve been having a hard time finding one that’s blank. Most of the ones I’ve come across are pre drilled/cut for computer servers. Was that also from Shaeffer?
Thanks.
When I built my MidiboxSid I spent about $45 on components. The PCB was $87 and the panel I priced was $160. It’s strange to me how that works out. I mean the panel is essentially a piece of sheet metal with some holes drilled in it. I would have thought it would be the cheapest part not the most expensive.
yeah, exactly what I thought…
I’m thinking it would probably pay off to invest in a drill press to make precice/clean drill holes. That way, I can just buy standard rack panels for cheap.
I’ve found it basically impossible to make precisely spaced/measured drill holes with a standard/normal drill.
This will still leave panel graphics, but I’m leaning towards transfer printing… the results often look very close to screen print (from what I can see in photos). I’m sure it takes alot of care and practice, but I’m hoping to avoid the expence of professional/industrial printing.
The rack case come from a french electronic component supplier, Selectronic. But I think Mouser or Digikey sell similar item.
If anyone wants to hear some of the things you can do with the CP251 and Little Phatty go over to MoogSpace, I put a few audio examples up in the Files section in the Little Phatty Folder.
Brian
Nice way of puttiing this back on topic. Thanks for posting the mp3s.