The best budget Eurorack effects modules for your synth rig
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The affordability and range of modules available make creating your own modular system a mighty interesting prospect. We’re going to look at some of the best budget Eurorack effects modules for expanding your rig even further.
There’s no limit to what you can spend building a Eurorack synth, so it’s a very good idea to set a budget. Luckily, the physical limitations provided by the size of the casing you’re using will help you in this regard.
This is because the larger and more elaborate modules tend to be pricier, so keep this in mind while you’re planning the direction of your synth build.
How to choose the best budget Eurorack effects
The design philosophy of effects modules is similar, in a way, to guitar effects pedals. There are generally two directions they can go. The more specialized route with a singular purpose, or a multipurpose monster with endless features.
Remember that a fancy front panel doesn’t guarantee it will automatically sound great. So when you’re checking out a particular module, be sure to check out a few more from the same manufacturer. This provides a better idea of the type of instruments they are.
Erica Synths Pico DSP
The Pico DSP is a 3 HP multi-effects module from the popular Erica Synths Pico series. You get eight effects shown by a specific colour on the front panel’s LED, and each has two tweakable parameters.
It’s equipped with four different delay modes, two reverbs, a Leslie speaker emulation, and a bitcrush/overdrive effect. The effects sound great whether you use them subtly or not, and the selection is more than enough to expand the creative scope of your setup.
- More from Erica Synths
Erica Synths Pico DSP · Source: Erica Synths
TipTop Audio Z5000 Multi Effect
If you want something a little more extensive, the Z5000 Multi Effect from Tip Top Audio could be right up your street. The DSP chip is internally clocked to its own analogue oscillator which can be controlled via the fidelity knob or an external mod source.
Navigating through the 24 effects is a little finicky at first. However, once you know what the three LEDs at the top of the panel mean when they light up, you’re good to go. The Z5000 is packed with various reverbs, delays, modulation, harmonization, and pitch-modulated effects.
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Tip Top Audio Z5000 Multi Effect · Source: Tip Top Audio
Cosmotronic Messor
If you need to shape drum loops or create the sidechain ducking effects used in dance music, the Cosmotronic Messor is an awesome tool to have. It’s a feed-forward VCA stereo compressor and transient processor that can add some real knock to any sound.
The layout almost looks like an SSL bus compressor, but it has a few extra tricks that offer some very precise sound shaping possibilities. The gain, attack, release, and side-chain filter all have mod inputs and the envelope can also be assigned as a mod source.
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Cosmotronic Messor · Source: Cosmotronic
Befaco Crush Delay V3
Before you even get to the crushing part, the Befaco Crush Delay V3 is an incredible-sounding PT2399 IC-style digital delay with intuitive controls for live performance sound design and tweaking.
Once you move on to the bitcrusher part of the panel, things start sounding like the Year Zero album by Nine Inch Nails. The textural possibilities are endless – from glitched-out loops to distorted atmospheric drones and everything in between.
- More from Befaco
Befaco Crush Delay V3 · Source: Befaco
SOMA Lyra-8 FX
A dual self-modulating delay you say? How the Lyra-8 FX works is the individual delay output signal modulates its own sample rate. The results are intriguing, to say the least, and the dual delay architecture provides a huge range of sound-scaping possibilities.
In addition, after the delay, you have a distortion processor in the signal path, just in case you weren’t having enough fun. Also, both delay and distortion have mix controls, so you can really tune the effect to perfection.
- More from SOMA
SOMA Lyra-8 FX · Source: SOMA
More about Eurorack effects:
- Modular for beginners
- All about Eurorack modules
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One response to “The best budget Eurorack effects modules for your synth rig”
My favorite multi-effect module is the Happy Nerding FX Aid! It’s rather affordable and it sounds great!