Not Maths rack: www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/v... Hopefully this will help others get the functionality of Maths without actually having a Maths. If you're into that kind of thing.
Struggling to listen purely on account of this chap's inability to pronounce 'Maths' properly; whatever the opposite of ASMR is, that's what your attempt at an utterly simple words induces in me.
The greatest contender(s) for a Maths would in my humble opinion be a combination of the Cosmotronic Delta-V (rev. 2) and the Xaoc Devices Samara mark II, which combined is the same amount of HP (2x 10 HP) but with more (but also slightly different) functions, albeit at a higher cost (about €460 compared Maths’ €270): Delta-V: 2x slew limiters / AD (cycling) envelopes w lin-log-exp control over rise and fall / EOC outputs / VCAs with sum output (!!) Samara II: Basically a 4-channel mixer with 2 inputs per channel (one normal and one inverted), 2x +/- offset for channel 1 and 3 for attenuversion, individual outs as well as submixes, and then the grand finale of having 5 different modes for the two function outputs A & B, which features min/max logic, sample and hold, clamping, scanning (can be used as a VC switch too) Combine these two and you have in my opinion an insane amount of options in the same amount of space and which covers more ground. However, there as mentioned in the video... the immediacy and design from make noise is just brilliant. Everyone needs a Maths. If u have a small setup tho, those two modules can cover hell of a lot of ground in 20 HP!
I should have seen this video earlier, because I was on the hunt for content like it. Thank you for breaking it all down. Fortunately, my own research led me to several of these alternatives, and I ended up with a Random Source / Serge Dual Universal Slope Generator and I can attest that it is phenomenal. I even have considered buying a second one or the CGS Quad Slope, which - at 32HP, assuming you can dedicate a block of space for it - is pretty efficient if you look at it as 4 x 8HP of Serge slope generators. For me, I avoid Maths because I strongly dislike the design; even replacing the hideous Make Noise panels with Grayscale ones like you have done, the layout seems counterproductive (though I admit that is just prejudice as I've never laid hands on one). The layout of the DUSG clicks with me, as does that of the Rampage (which I've played with virtually in VCV Rack) and the Double Andore (being a fan of Industrial Music Electronics).
Yes, I've been looking at that too - not because I'm for or against Maths, just curious to use something else. BTW, a lot of people seem to recommend MI's Stages. I messed around with it in VCV Rack, and indeed it has a lot of possibilities, which on the face of it sort of cover Maths.
Doing this all in Serge, whether through CGS, Random Source, or whatever: combine slopes with a "processor" for attenuverting and mixing, and "peak & trough" for min/max.
Fellow RU-vidr Voxmachina recently released an open-source function/slew generator he calls Sigma, which is a pretty nice design; it's an all through-hole build, and you can send his gerber files straight to a PCB fabricator. I've built a couple of them (partly to have both channels and partly because the fabs won't make fewer than 5), and those plus a homebrew dual attenuverter/mixer cover most of what Maths does.
Schlappi -boundry is in many ways better brother. The bounding ball input, creates me logic and interact with the circuit. It’s 3way cycling input and can be interrupted by triggers or gates. It’s an improvement upon the serge style function generator.
my imaginary rig would have a TON of mixers... 2 moog CP3s, a CP3+ (4ch) with multiples, a tiptop miso & a summing mixer, a blinds, an intellijel joystick and an 8 channel VC8 plus other VCAs with a pair of contour 1s and a rampage too. the ONLY thing missing would be whatever those logic things are. otherwise, it looks like I have more maths and better maths. (plus a pair of tokyo gates, an LxD & a pair or apertures for LPG sloping & 4x CEMvelopes) you can never have too many VCAs or mixers, right? as to envelope following, I'm blown away by the sputnik modular "graphic EQ" where each band can be an envelope generator.
I plan on getting a tattoo of the Maths module (2012 red lightning bolts) on my lower abdomen before the end of the year. It was my gateway into Eurorack and I love it, but my ADHD prevents me from grasping it’s functions.
Along with DUSG, another Maths ancestor is the Buchla 281 quad function generator. It's been available as a DIY project since before Maths existed, IIRC it might have been Toppobrillo's first offering. For Eurorack people often build single or double instead of quad.
I love Maths but I hate the layout. I sort of feel that way about most of Make Noise's stuff. Incredible modules but my dumb brain doesn't work with them.
