eurorack heads - vco reccomendations

[fengland]

So I sold a bunch of stuff and I'm going eurorack. I'm inspired by all the modulation options but less so by the demos of a lot of the oscillator sounds - they either sound harsh (wiard/malekko oscillator) or just boring to me (mfb triple vco) - could be because I'm just hearing crappy soundcloud/youtube demos. I've found a couple high end ones with nice sounding demos but I'm not sure I want to spend the money on them yet (livewire afg, Synthesis Technology MOTM E340 cloud generator)
The new Pittsburgh modular oscillator looks really cool and their other stuff seems to sound good but I'm having trouble waiting for it to be available and want to explore my options. Are there other fat,vintage, or just smooth sounding oscillators in the >=$250 range I should look at?

I'm cool with diy as well.

Thanks.

[charlieclouser]

muffwiggler

[AJ Reynolds]

have a look at tiptop audio.

[kraku]

For a great all purpose oscillator I would recommend Tiptop Audio's Z3000. Hard to beat that one.

For a more exotic oscillator that rips your trousers and fills your frequency spectrum, whether you want it or not, I would recommend Livewire's Audio Frequency Generator.

[lucidwaves]

for that price maybe check out the tiptop audio z3000, it seems to be highly praised.

I just started about 5 months ago but thats the VCO I want next, I currently have the MOTM/Synthtech e340 and e350.

and like Charlie's link suggests: if you havent already done so, get on muffwiggler forums

[lucidwaves]

same wavelengths!

[boon]

the malekko VCO is nice one too.

the analogue systems RS95e is a beautiful sounding oscillator and super fat as well.

all the tip top stuff is good. the Z3000 is great and has some bells and whistles too.

[shaft9000]

Originally Posted by fengland

Are there other fat,vintage, or just smooth sounding oscillators in the >=$250 range I should look at?

i have 2xR54, RS-95, 2xAntiOsc, E340&350 and a z3000 mkI along w/ a modcan DualDVO and VCDO in banana.
ASys rs-95 is a nice choice for classic VCO with a few extra goodies. It sounds great.
The z3000 is also solid and perhaps the best all-around entry osc due to flexible FM inputs, tuner and waveshaping in mkII version.
All of the others I have are ....'special purpose' and where the real action is. Classic oscillators fulfill a standard/ulitity need but for the special purpose and esoteric needs the others are more desirable, and this area is where modulars come into their own imho. When you want 'classic' tones you're probably going to get enough w/ something like a minimoog or ProOne, frankly.

[axm311]

Wiard Osc is not really harsh at all. I have one, but honestly, if I could do it over, I probably would have gone with Tiptop's. It has more bells and whistles than the Wiard. The Phase Mod stuff is okay, but doesnt make up for the lack of linear fm imo, and there is a funky thing with the triangle 2 output too. the one thing it really has going for it (besides sounding great) is that you can use it as an LFO too. Tiptop has PWM, Linear FM, some kind of wavehaper thing as well

I also just got an E350 (which is awesome but I need to spend more time with it) and an Anti Osc. The Anti Osc I'm not sure if I really like yet. I like that it has linear fm, but the mayhem output is a little too harsh for me, so I doubt I'd use the full potential. I also have a Osc-303 which is as bare bones as it gets, but theyre hard to find anyway

The MFB Osc-2 actually sounds pretty meaty, I started off with a Kraftzwerg (which I sold) and sometimes think about picking one back up.

[Reptil]

here's some more threads
Gearslutz.com - Search Results

[fengland]

thanx - the rs95e looks like one to look into. the demos I'm listening to sound really nice!
Yeah, I agree that modulars come into their own with more unique experimental stuff - I partially wanted a nice osc module to double as a second vco for my micromoog. I'm definitely interested in more flexible/experimental modules that can act as vcos too but it's nice if they can do v/oct stuff cause I'm mostly doing tonal stuff with midi/cv but that could change as I get deeper into the modular world. I'm starting with some more experimental/flexible modules - a bananalogue vcs and a vulcan modulator (and a malekko vco). I'm planning to convert my diy MFOS multimode filter over to eurorack format.

What 'special purpose' oscillators are where the real action is?
any good demos of the mfb osc 2 or wiard/malekko osc?

[Reptil]

oooh you gotta listen to a Macbeth. that'll play BALL with your moog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jtc5go-ZMs
there's a smaller one now too.

Trogotronic M666 is pretty radical I'm told.
it's on it's way to me so I can't say anything about it.
http://www.trogotronic.com/web_m_cont.html

[Entrainer]

Originally Posted by fengland

Are there other fat,vintage, or just smooth sounding oscillators in the >=$250 range I should look at?

I'm cool with diy as well.

Thanks.

If you are cool with DIY, perhaps look into JHLVCO...
you can get one made for 1/8" Frac (+15V)

I've heard good things about ASYS oscillators but
haven't used them.

[fengland]

wow, the living vco looks really well thought out and definitely a vintage sound by design - I'd heard of it but not looked at it closely. It's a little more complex than what I need to start though.

Sounds like the Pittsburgh osc won't be available for a couple months so I might need something to tide me over. And the asys is a little more than I want to spend right now.

I might just try to make friends malekko/wiard 'unkle' - I like the price and features. I wanted something sweeter sounding but you can't really tell if something will work for you till you have it to play with.
this sounds pretty cool:
http://home.comcast.net/~r3cogniz3r/FirstNewWiardThingFixed.mp3

[shaft9000]

Originally Posted by fengland

I'm mostly doing tonal stuff with midi/cv but that could change as I get deeper into the modular world. I'm starting with some more experimental/flexible modules - a bananalogue vcs and a vulcan modulator (and a malekko vco).

yes i have a feeling that you will be exploring more unusual timbres w/ the vulcan and especially the VCS can get quite wild; the range of CV is enormous on that one! The VCS is an army-knife for CV: EG, LFO, slew, linear/exp shaping of signals(slope functions), can also be an audio processor or even a VCO etc...extremely versatile.

Originally Posted by fengland

What 'special purpose' oscillators are where the real action is?

by 'real action' i just mean experimentation outside the normal 'classic Moog'-style analog subtractive VCO application. i still use the rs95 and z3000 a lot, although I rarely do anything much beyond what a fixed-path monosynth can do with those two, as they are best suited doing more classic, traditional stuff. They don't go slow enough to be full-on LFOs - conversely, some LFOs made by bubblesound and cwejman and others can also be very potent as audio osc!.
I usually use them(rs95&z3000) as main VCOs for sequencing or playing on keyboard as they track very very well; something an R54, for instance, can't. Tuned slightly off but closely together they provide that classic, fat phasing oozey liquid VCO sound we know and love from days of yore.

so, here's my assessment of 'THE ODDBALLS':

Wiard Anti - for west-coast FM. Imho a pair is mandatory if you like serge-style ripping analog FM tones (in Euro). When I got these two it was a revelation in high-frequency modulation. They'll even "out-modulate" my 2600 which is kinda the gold-standard in analog synth-fx.
Wiard Noisering - Not used as an audio osc often, but can provide very wild, jagged timbres. I prefer to use it as a CV source: as 'psuedo sequencer'/arpeggiator paired w/ a quantizer; and for pseudo-random voltages. imho it's one of the greatest modules ever. so so useful and flexible and can save a ton of cable-patching.
Metasonix R54 - tube based - nothing like it anywhere. this thing roars, snorts and clucks like a chicken. it's ALIVE...and very very strange. When used as a filter, the harmonics it can pull out are phenomenal...beyond any transistor design.
E340 - the supersaw in here is fatter than GOD, but what really makes this module unique are the sines. soooo musically wonderful they are.
E350 - wavetable deluxe. stereo timbre morphing from one VCO. unbeatable as LFO. digital and proud of it.

The Cylonix Cyclebox and Harvestman Piston Honda and Hertz Donut are also 2 (digital) oscs worth looking into. But I don't have those.

[Beermaster]

The MacBeth Euro VCO is going to be killer - not got any yet tho.

A-Sys RS95 and 95e are great all rounders

[fengland]

Thanks! I'm definitely looking at the metasonix r54 and the e340 for the future.

[Reptil]

oh shit the M666 just got in
it first made an agressive pass at the neighbour
a lucky narrow escape for her then drank all my beer while making a weird chirping sound copulated with the XT doing a tekno drone and bass noise and is now sitting in the corner making something which looks from this end like a dimensional gate to a not so fresh alternate universe
please excuse the puncuation Im typing this with a kitchen knife in one hand the only thing it seems to respect atm oh there it comes again what have I d

[fengland]

decided to try out the wiard oscillator to start with - found some more demos and the tri and square sound nice - it has character at least, we'll see if I love it, need an osc to get started with and it looked the coolest in my price range. ordered it from geargas so it should get here quick - waiting for shipping from the west coast is painful.

[drumdrumdrumdrum]

How is the build going?

[wxyz]

Bubblesound OSCb

[giorgio]

def check out the bubblesound stuff, the uLFO actually works really well as a VCO as well. also do I dare say the doepfer A-110 is a nice VCO at a good price.

otherwise I'm a hertz donut fan but that may be out of your budget or desire right now. but it is the best bang for the buck when it comes to FM, due to the through-zero nature. the only other VCO i have found that can do that is the zeroscillator which is super $$$$$$$$$$ and if you DIY the teezer VCO.