I’m new to the community and eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new chromagnon.
I have perused the forums and not seen anything specifically addressing this idea: I am wondering if there is any prescribed method for running a complete diagnostic check on our gear once we receive it to make sure it’s still fully functional after shipping to us and such. I’m going to be a novice at this for some time to come and it would be reassuring to know that if I’m not getting results with my setup, that’s it’s actually my fault rather than having some obscure, rare fault in the system.
Since much of what we’re all doing is experimentation, I think it would make sense for there to be a way to verify all the components functionality before we start tinkering. Maybe units come with instructions for this? Maybe I am jumping the gun?
No not really - the usual practice seems to be if you see something weird that looks wrong post it on here and ask… also search for and read through threads that are related - they may mention the issue you are having and possibly a solution
Checking out the Library section on the forum has links to all the documentation that is available for previous modules. You can usually get a pretty good idea if your module is working as described from those posts.
I’m sure whatever documentation that will be produced for Chromagnon will end up there and there are bound to be demonstration videos from Johnny Woods forthcoming.
There’s a thread on the LZX Community Facebook page from about 3 years ago that was very recently somewhat revived and it included this image of expected results when patching particular modules & their output signals into the Colour Chords inputs and mixer matrix. I’m sure someone wrote that it came in the box as a printout with the module.
Generally modules are tested throughly before being shipped to customers or dealers but mistakes happen & it’s often costly, time consuming & can be reputation damaging.
Anyhow, the “3 Patches” series of videos will definitely give you a better idea of expected results and simply copying the simpler or early stages of the patches will help determine the correct functionality of a new module.
The problem is the amount of variables but a simple & systematic method would be really helpful especially regarding the DIY builds. I’m not an electrical engineer so this has definitely been a problem I’ve recently had to deal with.
What’s your current setup @Deranged_Synthesizer? If you have (or suspect you have) any current issues, maybe someone here can help but I’m glad you’ve created this thread
Currently I’m running moog gear and a hodgepodge of audio (mp3ish) signal processing modules with a small eurorack, the chromagnon, when it comes, will be the first a/v module to add to the setup. I had my eye on a vidiot last year but decided to save and wait for the chromagnon. It will be some time before I decide on how to proceed with further adding to my video processing modular rig. Thanks, btw for chiming in and helping a noob out!
I’m sure you’ve been keeping up with some of the various threads on here & the Fakehook group page but everything I’ve read or seen suggests that the #Chromagnon will be more of a mega processor rather than an oscillator. Then again, it’ll have a ramp generator which helps a lot for creating shapes & patterns.
The Vidiot was a real feature packed powerhouse, get your hands on one if you can because there’s very little duplication on both units, they’ll definitely be a powerful combo.
There’ll be many ways for you to use audio modular & semi-modular to interact with the LZX video, everyone has their own aesthetic goals and workflow and you’ll learn your own once you get your hands on the gear.
As for “start up checks”, a runthrough of basic functions of the module will help you learn the discrete functionality… then with use, just a matter of checking inputs and outputs are responding as expected. It’s infrequent that malfunctions will occur, especially with new gear - so don’t concern yourself too much with that!
