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I've learned that you can never have enough cabinet space. I started with a modest cabinet design and quickly outgrew it. I expanded it and outgrew that. I eliminated this rack cabinet and replaced it with a set of horizontal wood cabinets.
I eventually filled my wood cabinets so I am again using this rack cabinet as expansion on the side. I replaced the bottom 3U of rack mount space with a Eurorack rack adapter. The logo panel is a printed 3U FrontPanelExpress with my logo.
I mounted my Behringer Model D synth in the Eurorack space. I made side panels, the left for the MIDI channel selector, and the right for the rack power switch and an amplified main out to bring the Model D up to +/-5V signal levels.
My module designs are indicated with a superscript¹
Modules with substantial modifications are indicated with a superscript²
All of the modules were DIY or kits.
Top Rack Expansion Cabinet | |
1. | Magic Smoke TH-101 566 VCO² |
2. | Thomas Henry SN Voice Deluxe² |
3. | MOTM-440 OTA Low Pass Filter |
4. | Rob Hordijk Benjolin² |
5. | DBJ-006A Control1 |
Upper Row Bottom Rack Expansion Cabinet | |
6. | 2U Blank |
7. | DJB-013 Quantize/Lag1 |
8. | Flight of Harmony Plague Bearer |
9. | Multiples1 |
10. | Oakley OMS-201 Wavefolder |
11. | 3U Logo Panel |
Middle Row Bottom Rack Expansion Cabinet | |
12. | Ian Fritz DoubleDeka |
13. | Thomas Henry TH-301 VC LFO |
14. | Ian Fritz Chaotica |
15. | DJB-005 Voltage Monitor1 |
16. | Neil Johnson 3 Pole State-Variable Filter |
Lower Row Bottom Rack Expansion Cabinet | |
17. | 6hp MIDI Channel switch for Behringer Model D |
18. | 70hp Behringer Model D |
19. | 8hp Rack Power Switch and +/-5V Main Output for Behringer Model D |
Evolution
My first cabinet was a 19" rack cabinet that would hold 20U of modules. It is made from pine and covered in toneau material. The MOTM-900 power supply mounts on the rear with an illuminated main switch on the front panel. It is 12U high so there is 2U of rack space at the bottom for other music gear. It's hard to imagine now that at one time I thought I could fit all my modules in this cabinet!
Detailed drawing of the 19" rack cabinet
I use this cabinet when I need a portable synth. I loaded the cabinet with my 8 channel CVS, 4 channel CVS, Blacet Time Machine, Living VCO, Varislope Filter, Frequency Shifter, 566 VCO, and a Multiple for the PDX Synth Gathering. Total current was 711 mA of +15 volts (90% of capacity) and 450 mA of -15 volts (56% of capacity). After one hour the case temperature of the pass transistor was only a 17º C rise over ambient.
Cabinet Expansion
I needed more room so added a 10U expansion cabinet on top powered from the main MOTM-900 power supply through an external cable . I later added a separate Blacet PS500 power supply and a front panel power control. Now I have room for 29U of modules!
Eurorack
I replaced the bottom 3U of standard rack mount space with a Synthrotek Eurorack rack adapter. Due to the slope of the cabinet I had to angle the bottom portion of the mounting bracket and cut the lip off the rear of the bottom rail to fit. I also painted the mounting brackets black to match.