Budget expanding Minibrute with one oscillator

[BeatPriest]

i am seriously searching for a method to expand the minibrute with one external voltage controlled oscillator using gate and pitch out to the DIY and signal out to
the audio in mixer section of the MB. My first thought goes out to the Doefer DIY synth. To keep building costs low i am wondering if it's possible to forget the whole lfo, adsr and amp section and just wire the osc section with maybe some additional potentionmeters for PW and tune, fine tune, and oscilator mixer. Anyone suggestions, ideas or dont's?  Other question is that i would like to know if the outputsignal of the DIY (which should be similair to their Dark Energy) is loud enough to match the fader levels equal to the MB osc levels?
 
Just a modification idea to make a dual osc synth 

[rove]

Monotribe is a super easy extra oscillator (with filter and LFO) for cheap  (especially if you buy used) and it can follow the pitch and gate of the minibrute without modification, all you need is the cable for monotribe--I use the Nokia AV cable available on ebay.  You can even detune it by using a note other than "C" for the calibration. Additionally, the Mgerfooger ring modulator can provide a second oscillator (with LFO and continuously variable pitch), but it doesn't track at 1v/oct so you would need an attenuator; I use the CP 251, but a simple DIY attenuator (see the doepfer site) ought to do the trick--gate output is not necessary for the RM.  You don't need the LFO/ADSR/amp section as the extra oscillator will be controlled by the LFO/ADSR/amp of the minibrute. In my experience neither of these solutions require any extra gain to be used on the MB audio input.

[BeatPriest]

Thanks for the info, i would take a look at the Monotribe, i didn't know it had cv inputs.

[illintechnology]

The newest firmware for the Monotribe allows CV control of gate and pitch.  It should be noted though that the output level of the Monotribe is much lower than the ext. audio input of the MB is expecting.  You would need some sort of preamp with a hot output to get it up to level.

[BeatPriest]

Is there any gear with a matching output level? It disturbes me that everything i want to connect needs a attenuator. Is there a easy mod to change somenthing inside the MB for this matter? Bruno?

[illintechnology]

I'm to understand, though have no way of proving it, that classic analog synth gear has a very hot output level and would work well with the Minibrute.  It would've been nice if there could've been a two or three position gain switch to set the levels for a variety of inputs (e.g. guitar/instrument level, line-level, hot-synth level).

[rove]

I tested tonight and the monotribe has plenty of gain on its own to go into the minibrute's audio input without an extra gain stage.  I have it running thru a cheap mixer first, behringer 1002fx, but it is not necessary ( I am mixing multiple sources into the minibrute audio input, typically) though I do have to position the MB Audio in fader slightly higher without the mixer, I do not see this as a problem. There is no need for any "special" equipment to connect the monotribe other than the slightly odd TRRS cable (do yourself a favor and either make your own or get the nokia av cable from ebay) .
Do a search and it is mentioned on this forum that a resistor or 2 can be changed to increase the sensitivity of the audio input, but its surface mount and will void you warranty.
An attenuator is only necessary for the pitch CV on the Mg Ring modulator oscillator (ironically, its audio level is more than adequate) because it does not adhere to the same cv standard as the mini brute, really an easy fix. The monotribe will follow pitch if you follow korg's calibration procedure (and can be detuned in the same procedure), and fresh batteries are also key.

[illintechnology]

Well, your experience of plugging the Monotribe into the ext audio-in of the MB was different than mine.  Wihth my Monotron, even with an open filter sound on the Monotribe and the ext audio fader maxed on the MB, it wasn't even close to the level of the saw wave at 25%.

[rove]

For me, it works. I prefer to have a bit more gain so I use a mixer, but it is usable without.
You  mention monotron and monotribe, the monotron has a much quieter output than the monotribe and is pretty much unusable without an extra gain stage.
YMMV.

[illintechnology]

Yes, a typo, I meant to say Monotribe. 

[rove]

yeah, sorry, don't mean to be the grammar police! the two names are so close, but the synths sound a lot different.
I think the minibrute would really benefit from having some sort of adjustable input gain without needing an external solution--maybe someone will come up with a mod to add a clean gain stage with an input sensitivity pot.  The upside of using a small mixer is that I can combine multiple sources into the audio in, but I think it would be great to be able to simply plug a guitar in and go.  that said, most line level outputs ought to be able to get you somewhere, but you will want to leave the internal oscillator settings rather low to compensate; there's alot to play with in the first 25% of those faders IMO though.

[Thunderroad75]

I've been looking at this synth as an additional sound source. Sounds great, very flexible and cheap £182!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV23QgjVHiE

The filter screams as good as the minibrutes as well, don't take my word for it have a listen to the youtube demo.

[BeatPriest]

Thats the MFB Nanozwerg. interesting. Im gonne find out how bad the hum/noise is that is suppose to produce.

[Thunderroad75]

I owned the MFB synth 2 a few years ago. Again a very flexible synth and good sounding too. They get slated a bit for there build quality but I had no issues with mine and it was quiet apart from a little bleeding of the oscillators into each other but nothing to worry about. Again were talking anologe synths here and have to be prepared to put up with the odd quirk for that wonderful sound.