New user experience...thoughts, experiences and feedback

General
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I haven’t seen too many new user posts so thought I’d make one.
When I research what to buy I always look for user experiences which help guide my purchases.

The Meta wasn’t on my radar when I started building this system but I had a few disting Mk.4’s in the past and loved the swiss army nature of those modules. I thought the Meta would cover that ground and perhaps lots more?

When I first tried the internal patches I wasn’t exactly blown away.. they sounded a bit noisy/chaotic that didn’t really appeal - to be fair though I didn’t look into them enough to see what inputs etc. should be connected. So I started building my own first patch…

I was a bit concered about cpu usage so my expectations weren’t sky high, but set about building a small percussion compliment to my main modules: so far its a grids, djembe, drum, 2x plaits, 2x stereo mixers, mini drum wav player and a simple wav player.
I’m running this at 48k/64 and it averages around 45%. I think that is amazing - it definitely exceeded my expectations!

I’m not using vcv rack (yet) as I like to work just on this system and although there is inevitably a fair amount of menu diving I’ve found it pretty easy to get on with. Although some of the module’s features are a bit small the display is great - so much better than a cryptic disting mk.4 :laughing: I love that you can enlarge the displays for modules that have them.

I’ve run into a couple of small issues… once the “adjust” setting wasn’t visible at all - I could only access the connections. Another time the displays on the modules weren’t active…no lights on the grids or display on the simple wav player (although everything was still working fine). I have no idea if/how I could repeat those, whether its connected to the screensaver or whatever.

Lastly some audio glitches when adding a module to this patch when running. There is a fair amount going on so nothing I would consider that important. Simply reloading the patch fixed it straight away.

The only feedback so far would be some way to reposition modules in the patch. As I’ve build this reasonably sized patch from the ground up, modules are a bit scattered around - it would be great to move them to somewhere more sensible.

Well that’s my experience so far. Pretty much superb apart from the tiny niggles but nothing that can’t be dealt with. I’m really glad I’ve got this module and looking forward to spending a lot more time with it.

Sorry for the long post but hopefuly someone finds it useful.
Happy patching!

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great that you are enjoying the mm.

there are quite a lot of topics about users experiences, many titles, e.g. how are you using the MM (etc), they are quite interesting to read, especially from long term users, as usage does change over time for many of us.

getting used, to what the module can do is a common learning experience, you get a gut feeling for the ‘power’ after a while, and which modules are more cpu intensive etc.
(module finder is a good resource to help this)

the other one theme from these post is, how many of us do a lot (most?) of our patching on the module itself. partly because, often we just create (relatively) simple patches just using one or two modules. (almost like a ‘super user friendly disting’)

sure, you can do more complex patching, and then its wise to switch to vcv (and the wifi module is a real blessing there!) , but, I think thats less common than many expect when they start out.

in fairness, Ive had a lot of experience of similar modules (Percussa, Bela, Terminal Tedium etc) and also with their user communities, and its a similar story with these - Ive even known, some that bought these module for just ONE (virtual) module.
probably, not a huge surprise, as many get into eurorack for the ‘physical’ experience,
but often its not how users thought/expected they’d to use the module.

ofc, the flip side, is these modules offer huge cost saving (polyphony/less used modules), and are popular with performance rigs (space saving) and less live patching and additional controllers mean form factor is not a real issue.

ofc, this is a generalisation - different users, different experiences etc, but its a common there.

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Thanks for that. Yes I am sure there are many more user posts im just not so good in finding them :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

I expect I will try vcv rack in due time but happy to patch within the module at the moment - I want to develop some muscle memory and familiarity with the module which of course accomplishes that.

I used to have an ER-301, so not scared of menu diving!
I tend to evolve and tweak patches rather than swap them out for new ones, as others have done with a “template” patch. I like this approach but its great to switch to something totally new for inspiration or to just play around.

I originally intended for this system to be a compliment to a large analog modular. It’s obviously much more powerful than that and capable of so much on its own, but I’m looking forward to integrating it with the analog system when the weather gets better (its too cold in my studio workshop at the moment).
I expect the Meta will then function much more what I originally intended it for - FX, signal processing etc.

I’ve only just loaded up the plugins :sweat_smile:
Obviously it will take time to get to know these, which ones to choose for the job, cpu etc. but that’s quite fun for me to delve into.
I could watch that full-screen oscilloscope all day :heart_eyes:

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Tbh i got the MM as an alternative to running a computer with VCV in my rig, for the pure flexibility in designing a single sound source, but also in part as a master utility as my rig/rigs are always in flux. Super useful in collaborations because whatever idea i have (and some i stumble upon) can be integrated into whatever project as long as scale is kept in mind. Im the kind of person who can really get lost in designing a patch, but whenever i need fairly repeatable results alongside that its a no brainer. I do some work with musicians that are fairly new to eurorack as a whole, so its also a great educational tool for anyone whos more of a gear head

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Thanks. Yes patch recall is amazingly handy, a bit of a life-saver for eurorack.

I’m building up a complete track using the Nerdseq at the moment (actually a cover of a track from the R-Type Delta game soundtrack). The Meta is doing a lot of the heavy lifting… I’m starting to push the CPU plenty now but considering what I am asking of it, it is doing remarkably well!

I’d prefer to keep it at 48K/64 so it sounds clean and punchy - I’ll probably continue to use these settings as much as possible and work within the limitations for now.

I am mainly using modules that I know well like plaits, it will take time to get familiarized with the vast choice on offer but that isn’t a bad thing.

I’ll probably share a video of the track when I’m done - its getting there but still plenty do to.

I’m using all but one of the input/output connections for this project and now seriously considering the input/output expander as I know what’s going to happen in the future:
“If only I had just one more input for this patch…” :grinning_face:

(I do wish the expander had 8 inputs and 6 outputs though rather than the other way round, or even 10 inputs and 4 outputs)

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i just picked on up my self…Great to see you here on 4ms Technobear…use to seeing you on the Percussa side…you ever get that Percussa MMA? That and the MM would be a perfect match…Anyway, wanted to share some of the same thoughts you had on creating 1 or 2 Modules within MM…Keeping it simple and sort of thinking of it as a Ultra Disting MK4…i don’t use VCV Rack and only want to create within the module…i wanna go deeper but i still tend to use basic modules…there’s a lot of Utility modules that i never used even in my own rack…Any suggestions on getting started creating a Subtractive Synth with a little more then the basics?

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I finished my track using the MM..
Not my best work but fun to do :rofl:
Check it out if you feel inclined:

MM patch with 1x Kick, 5x Plaits, 1x Braids, 2x VCA’s, 1x LPF, 1x Chorus, 2x Stereo Mixers and 1x Oscilloscope.
I’m definitely getting more familiar with the module now.

Now this little project is done I’m going to spend some time browsing modules and trying out stuff I’ve never used, good times!

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yeah, I’m everywhere :laughing:

you mean the XMX? yeah, Ive a couple alongside the SSP :wink:
its pretty good, though I find fewer buttons and the smaller display a bit of a compromise.
though, I’m spoilt with the SSP, in both screen size and buttons, and thats definitely affected by view of it… esp. as most of the time, Ive tried to port SSP stuff to it - so its always a compromise. Id be much better, if I created things specifically for it.

But yeah, Im enjoy the MM too, a very different take - the ease of porting stuff from vcv is the big win. also it got a good amount of IO, and also pots.
main downside for me, is like the xmx the small screen, and I really wished 4ms had used encoders, rather than pots. personal preferences for sure though.

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Thanks for your response…You made a generous contribution to the SSP as far as Apps…i really enjoyed mine we your support was greatly appreciated…i’m sure Bert would agree…i was thinking of purchasing a XMX to pair with the MM…2 Digital Modules…hmmm…Now this will be interesting for sure…Only thing is i can’t find not 1 XMX>..Nobody talks about it…i guess i can email Bert to make me one? is that the only route in getting one?

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I think they were direct order only (afaik).
(better get back OT for the 4ms… I’ll dm you, or you can go to their forum)

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Okay, thanks for your reply.I appreciate that.Yes , that will be great