RMA Monobius

[Chankgeez]

Purple Monobius and purple EQD Erupter:

[neonblack]

That pic gives me an erupter too, if you know what I mean.

[Chankgeez]

I think I do know what you mean.

Haven't plugged either of 'em in yet, but I'm expecting to have a pleasantly fun evening.

[Chankgeez]

Is it explained somewhere how the different diode ring configurations effect the sound?

In the fuzz mode with the range high and the ring switch in the down position it's much louder than the other two configurations. Don't know why.

[crochambeau]

No, I did not really offer up diode change explanations because the actual effect gets changed depending on what mode & settings you've dialed.

I think I wired your ring switch up inverted (sorry, it's an easy fix if that bothers you), which would make down the inverted diode on the ring. My guess is that since in fuzz mode both sides of the modulation are essentially being fed similar signal the balanced ring would work at *removing* the original frequency and spitting out an octave up. Since the signal hitting the ring passes through additional stages on the "carrier" side we never hit the octave up (at least not to my ears) but there remains a bit of original signal negation nonetheless. When in the broken ring mode, the inverted diode allows a half wave rectified signal to shunt through that stage instead of the "damped" balanced input, and you wind up with some excess signal slipping through - in comparison to the other modes.

The inverted/broken ring seems happy to pass a lot more mid frequency than the intact ring.

Is it a huge volume jump? I don't recall anything too severe. I might have to spend some time with the one I have here to see how it behaves, I have certainly not tried all set-ups & volumes... yet.

[Chankgeez]

Gotcha, Curtis, thanks for the explanation.

Yeah, you'd mentioned that it might be inverted. Nah, doesn't bother me. It's fine however it's wired. I just have to get used to how it effects the sound.

Monobius sounds fantastic and I'm really just starting to dive into what it can do.

Yep, it's a big difference. Easily twice as loud as the other two. It's brighter as well. Not a big deal at all, just wondering what was going on with it.

[PuddysJacket]

Just wanted to weigh in real quick - longtime gearhead but not especially versed in the wording of technical reviews. This thing is the dirtiest, most disgusting fucking take on a ring mod I've ever experienced. It sounds like I'd imagine the slime at the bottom of a dumpster tastes. And despite this, somehow, now and then it will surprise you with glassy moments of crystalline beauty. These moments are fleeting, and just make the waves of disintegrating, rusty, cascading sheets of metal that much more crushing. Unbelievable box.

[crochambeau]

Just wanted to weigh in real quick - longtime gearhead but not especially versed in the wording of technical reviews. This thing is the dirtiest, most disgusting fucking take on a ring mod I've ever experienced. It sounds like I'd imagine the slime at the bottom of a dumpster tastes. And despite this, somehow, now and then it will surprise you with glassy moments of crystalline beauty. These moments are fleeting, and just make the waves of disintegrating, rusty, cascading sheets of metal that much more crushing. Unbelievable box.

You've got a solid take on technical wording if you ask me. THANKS!

[BetterOffShred]

Yeah. I want one

[PuddysJacket]

Update- this goddamn thing is like the strange fish you buy for your tank from a dodgy chinese basement joint based on it's uniqueness....then the thing starts taking bites out of all your dearly beloved aquatic buddies. You're ok with that, as you cant make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Then you wake up one morning and notice they're gone completely.

Given, I'm irrationally sentimental about stuff sometimes...very torn here. This sick animal's victim count increases by the week. Current list of casualties (that have been rendered useless by the Monobius' presence and hence sold on the black market):

- a ring mod
- 3 distortion/fuzz boxes
- a certain OOP/highly sought-after semi-modular FSU device that runs in the neighborhood of $400

[crochambeau]

The hoarder in you has my apologies!

I'm currently building up the very last Monobius PCB (allocated). Everything up to this point has been on a circuit board that supported some old transformers from 1974 (doing the inductor duty, the diode ring so far has been Triad TY-141P). Since I don't want to run out of old iron I spent some time yesterday redrawing the PCB to accommodate a selection of either the TY-141P or the TY-250P which boasts a dual secondary which may pave way to some things I'm not ready to reveal just yet.

I'm happy to reveal the circuit board though:

This of course means that these will not be available for build for a short bit.

[Dandolin]

dual secondary