which cables to use with Moogerfoogers?

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awesome
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which cables to use with Moogerfoogers?

Post by awesome » Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:45 pm

sorry, but i'm not particulary knowledgeable on this stuff.

can i use regular guitar cables for the CV and Carrier IN/OUT's?

i tried the manual but it was all tip/ring/sleeve this and that... i dont know...
Gear: MF-102, MF-103

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latigid on
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Post by latigid on » Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:36 pm

Are you also using effects pedals with your CVs?

awesome
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Post by awesome » Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:44 pm

latigid on wrote:Are you also using effects pedals with your CVs?
do you mean expression pedals? then no.
Gear: MF-102, MF-103

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Post by jeepo » Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:52 pm

I use regular guitar cables, they work fine without expression pedals
Stage II, MF-102, MF-105m, MF-107, paia theremin, akai s2000, yamaha pss 680, yamaha cp 25, and other stuff

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Re: which cables to use with Moogerfoogers?

Post by CTRLSHFT » Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:18 pm

awesome wrote:sorry, but i'm not particulary knowledgeable on this stuff.

can i use regular guitar cables for the CV and Carrier IN/OUT's?

i tried the manual but it was all tip/ring/sleeve this and that... i dont know...
Think of it this way:

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Re: which cables to use with Moogerfoogers?

Post by latigid on » Mon Jan 11, 2010 3:18 pm

CTRLSHFT wrote:Think of it this way:

TS cables: your triangle LFO outputs +2.5v only
TRS cables: your triangle LFO outputs -2.5 to +2.5

you limit modulation capabilities.
I don't think it works like that, my LFOs come out normally when I use only the tip and sleeve of a TRS jack for LFOs.

OP: (sorry, yes I meant expression pedals not effects pedals!)

If you're not using expression pedals then you can use TS cables exclusively. If you insert a TS cable into an expression pedal-ready socket (highlighted white on the rear panel) you can't use any expression pedals at all as the +5V supply is shorted from the ring to the sleeve for all inputs.

The exception to this is the MF107 (Freqbox) which uses isolated supplies for each exp. pedal.

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Re: which cables to use with Moogerfoogers?

Post by CTRLSHFT » Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:22 pm

latigid on wrote:
CTRLSHFT wrote:Think of it this way:

TS cables: your triangle LFO outputs +2.5v only
TRS cables: your triangle LFO outputs -2.5 to +2.5

you limit modulation capabilities.
I don't think it works like that, my LFOs come out normally when I use only the tip and sleeve of a TRS jack for LFOs.

OP: (sorry, yes I meant expression pedals not effects pedals!)

If you're not using expression pedals then you can use TS cables exclusively. If you insert a TS cable into an expression pedal-ready socket (highlighted white on the rear panel) you can't use any expression pedals at all as the +5V supply is shorted from the ring to the sleeve for all inputs.

The exception to this is the MF107 (Freqbox) which uses isolated supplies for each exp. pedal.
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Post by latigid on » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:08 pm

From the manual:
LFO OUT jack - delivers the LFO voltage (±1.5 volts) for use by other voltage-controlled
devices. Output impedance is 600 ohms.
So the LFO signal is 3V peak to peak with an offset of -1.5V.

You can get a negative voltage out of the LFO on the tip terminal, as it is still referenced to ground (sleeve). Obviously you can't get a negative and a positive voltage simultaneously, but during the cycle of the LFO, its waveform goes positive then negative and so on.

If what you were saying was true, if you used a TS cable on the LFO Out socket, the waveform would not pass below zero; you would not have a symmetrical wave.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Triangle
^-^-^-^-^- Clipped Triangle

Your square would look like this:

_ _ _ _ _ _

Edit: of course this will be a regular squarewave, but only at 1.5V p2p.

I.e. pulses which stop (no CV)

In my experience, I get normal triangle and square waves coming from my 'foogers. :)

But to be sure I'll bust out the multimeter tonight.

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Post by CTRLSHFT » Mon Jan 11, 2010 7:26 pm

latigid on wrote: But to be sure I'll bust out the multimeter tonight.
Please do, I'm interested to see the results, might do the same with mine. :)
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Post by latigid on » Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:46 am

So just to confirm:

The MF102's LFO is output on the tip terminal (with sleeve for ground). No voltage is present on the ring terminal. The waveform sweeps from around +1.5 to -1.5V.

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Post by awesome » Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:07 am

thanks guys for the info, i kept seeing things talking about "shorting out" this or that.

i was afraid to use the wrong cable.
Gear: MF-102, MF-103

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Post by CTRLSHFT » Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:25 pm

latigid on wrote:So just to confirm:

The MF102's LFO is output on the tip terminal (with sleeve for ground). No voltage is present on the ring terminal. The waveform sweeps from around +1.5 to -1.5V.
So if this is correct, what is the purpose of the ring? Is it an expression pedal thing?
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Post by Portamental » Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:35 pm

ahumm errrrr... you guys want to test it first ? allright... it's done ;)

awesome : if you are NOT using an expression pedal (except MP201, special case), regular TS cables (guitar) will work fine and the tip will carry a full range CV (-5 to 5) if you have something at the other end to generate it. Or if your fooger generates one.

The +5 volt that the ring supplies to an expression pedal is a different thing. A CV generated by an expression pedal can only be positive because it uses only the +5v of the ring and ground (and no negative voltage). It adds to the confusion, the fact that this +5 volt supply is common to all the input jacks on the foogers (except the mf-107 i hear). As a result, if you use even one single TS cable in a fooger input, shorting the ring, you just disabled the capability of all other inputs to supply that little +5v signal required by an expression pedal. From there comes the special rule of using TRS cables when one or more expression pedal is used.

But again, this is as different thing. TS cables won't diminish the CV range you can work with.

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Post by latigid on » Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:59 pm

CTRLSHFT wrote:
latigid on wrote:So just to confirm:

The MF102's LFO is output on the tip terminal (with sleeve for ground). No voltage is present on the ring terminal. The waveform sweeps from around +1.5 to -1.5V.
So if this is correct, what is the purpose of the ring? Is it an expression pedal thing?
I guess because it's a CV output the ring is not used. Similar story for envelope signals. A TRS socket is probably used to keep the design simple and parts count low.

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Post by CTRLSHFT » Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:56 pm

latigid on wrote:
CTRLSHFT wrote:
latigid on wrote:So just to confirm:

The MF102's LFO is output on the tip terminal (with sleeve for ground). No voltage is present on the ring terminal. The waveform sweeps from around +1.5 to -1.5V.
So if this is correct, what is the purpose of the ring? Is it an expression pedal thing?
I guess because it's a CV output the ring is not used. Similar story for envelope signals. A TRS socket is probably used to keep the design simple and parts count low.
Makes sense enough, thanks for doing the legwork :)
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