Passive Multiples - DIY Modular in a Week 3.3

Day 3: Mixers and Multipliers
Part 3: Passive Multiples
Difficulty: Easy
Price: ~5$ or 8$ depending on which of the models (I make two today)
MiaW playlist: • Modular In A Week (MIAW)
In this episode I actually make two modules. But they are super easy and really fast to build. Check them both out and then make the one that best suits your needs. Or make both, they boath have their pros and cons. Passive multiples are simple passive modules to split the signal. It is simply put, just a bunch of jacks soldered together. However... the second module I make, the Nicklas Rönnberg Passive Multiple is a real master piece as it can be used as one or many multiples with many many configurations. As you probably already hear, this is my favorite of the two ;)
PATREON LINK If you wish to support my work more than just a thumbs up :)
/ sourceryone
Links to schematics, parts and other relevant stuff:
Link to the second schematics at Nicklas homepage, see video for the first schematics:
familjenronnberg.se/~niklas/di...
Link to the frontpanel design svg file:
1:3/1:7 Passive Multiple:
www.dropbox.com/s/2kzxg23am74...
Nicklas Rönnberg Passive Multiple:
www.dropbox.com/s/fruxv874vth...
Link to the component spreadsheet:
www.dropbox.com/s/fn9gbn0vo0f...
Link to ALL the files for all the episodes as they become available:
www.dropbox.com/sh/ynbxdv9nn6...
The 100 3.5mm 1meter cables for 45$ patch cables:
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/ctOgXegY

[@uryansynth]

Thank you so much for this amazing DIY tutorial :)

You are so welcome! :)

[@flourfree2K]

You can take advantage of switched plugs and normalize one in put "to the last of the first serie". And save the switch for something else (i.e.: an A/B switch). For the panels, I'd use common blind panels (2mm alluminium).

Yeah that is what the second module did if I understand you correctly. The panels are made of plastic as I have a friend who makes them on a laser cutter which can’t handle aluminum unfortunately.

[@flourfree2K]

@Kristian Blåsol if you buy blind panels (i e. Doepfer), they are reasonably priced (about 3€ for modules up to 8 hp), all 2 mm aluminum and with the screw holes predrilled. They also come with 2 m3 screws.

[@flourfree2K]

My CV-Lites do not fit as well, because of the thick connectors: imgur.com/a/eMZ0L67 and imgur.com/a/fc6Jfym By the way, these are just 5mm bipolar blue/red LEDs with a 470 ohm resistor in serie. Useful to "see" uni/bipolar (red is positive and blue is negative) CVs and also audio signals (typically, they light up in purple).

[@travisrwebster]

Hi Kristian! I built this module from your tindie kit, and it seems I made an error somewhere. Initially it worked fine, but lately the inputs will mult out to their respective outputs(input 1 to output 1 and 2, etc), but NOT out to outputs further down the chain(input 1 doesn't mult to output 3/4/5/6 with nothing coming in to inputs 2-4). How can I troubleshoot this?

[@zbradbell]

I think i'd want to try a 2HP version that is 3 in, 6 out, (IN1, OUT1, OUT1, IN2, OUT2, OUT2, IN3, OUT3, OUT3) with each set repeating the one above until you plug something in

That is actually a better solution than the second one in this video. As any signal in needs at least two outputs (why else use a multiple) that way you save three jacks. Good call/idea.

[@djgalawak]

hello, some pro say we need to put resistor to preserve machine and for impedance matching .. i keep search, bie

[@DjRickeyRicardo]

Hello I made the passive multi last week from synthrotek but I have no idea what it does or how to use it

Well. Watch this video and maybe you can get some clues what you can do with it. :)

[@dorelx3541]

What are those laser panels you use for your faceplates?

I think it is called lasermax. It’s really simple flimsy panels made for name tags etc with a core color and a thin layer of color painted on top that is burnt away by the laser. Thus creating the “print”. It is explained in one of the videos in week 1.

[@pangea2003]

nice cables! which are those?? Cheers!

There is a link in part 0 to those cables. They are really cheap braided stereo cables but work just fine for this modular.

[@MrDudumassa]

the signal loses force the more it is multiplied to different jacks? Oh, I just notice in the video you explaining exactly that. But, how can we compensate it?

You can make a buffered mutiple explained in the video after the one you just watched. There you use opamps in a voltage follower configuration to buffer each output.

[@felipemartinez7899]

I will do the second filter, but maybe with half inputs than outputs because i think i will never multiply 1 by 1 or am i wrong? Congratulations for your work! It's so usefull for beginners like me

Yes you are right, I did a new module as a kit some month ago that did just that. You can see it here: www.tindie.com/products/20757/

[@davidgonzalo3762]

A stupid noob question. Do you connect all the ground wires to ground of the psu, or just connect them all together? Thank you

Yes. All ground should be connected together also with the ground from the psu.

[@davidgonzalo3762]

@ thank you so much and congratulations for your channel

[@frunkfrankly]

You do not connect any wires to psu ground on a passive mult. The ground is chassis ground in this case.

Also in the case of a passive mult, signal ground is also chassi ground. So you get the ground coming in from one module through the wire which is then connected to all the ground connectors on all the jacks.

[@Nezzrac]

regarding the second schematic. why would you need every row of the first column? For mine i just skipped every second line of jacks, it's a waste. the reason for the multiple is to at least split the signal in two, why do you keep useless options like the 1:1 / 1:7 split?

Very true. And I did a second version of my own that incorporates this exact idea. So yeah. You are correct. :)

[@whiterottenrabbit]

10:57 + ca. 15:00: it would be great to see in detail what exactly you've been doing wrong so we noobs can avoid making the exact same mistake. As is, the viewer has kind of an imagination what went wrong, but the exact details are not clear.

[@AleksanderNevskij47]

I think exactly the same. That does not make any sense. Even if you stop the video you can't see nothing because the image is blurry.

[@flourfree2K]

OK... this is my 2HP passive mult (10 plugs!!). Normalled (the second line automatically interrups the connection with the upper line when a connector is inserted into the 6th plug from the top): imgur.com/a/QobqXUe

That is impressively tight! 👍

[@flourfree2K]

But it works, with Arturia (as shown), Doepfer and Befaco cables, which have a thin connector: imgur.com/a/rm5Fxb0 By the way, being the panel made of alluminium, it's used to connect the GND (these plugs have the GND also on the shield/screw bit) - no need for extra soldering. In fact, I completly removed them, since they would have made for an extra 2 HP (1 HP per side) in the configuration I chhosed (the lower plugs are rotated 180°)