## Tuesday, 20 August 2019

### Sloth DK

6HP Sloth DK

For those that have not seen the Sloth before - this module is a simple chaos circuit that puts out 3 slowly varying and never repeating CV signals. It is not random as the chaos occurs within a bounded region and generally moves in or between two strange attractors or wells.

It is really slow and can take from 8-20 hours to complete a chaotic orbit.
Generally the output signals range between +/-4V, tho mostly around +/-2V.
The middle output is simply a mix of the two main outs, passing through the pot to attenuate the signal if you wish (and it helps hold the PCB to the panel). It is a little hotter and more complex that the individual outs.

There are no inputs and no way to control it.

The large capacitors sticking through the panel never see more than +/-0.15V in normal use. Nevertheless you probably should not take the module out of the case and rest your tongue across their leads.

PCB = USD12
Panel = USD20
assembled = USD100

flamingo situation.......

### 1U Signum

In the simplest sense, this is a switching module. It is a little different though because it has 3 states rather than just on/off:
${\displaystyle \operatorname {sgn} (x):={\begin{cases}-1&{\text{if }}x<0 amp="" if="" text="" x="">0.\end{cases}}}$

In this case, the module uses approx 1V, rather than 0V, as the switching point, so that it can be controlled by gates. It is simple to bring it back to 0V for those who think it should be.
Also the '0' state is really a result of the diode voltage drops rather than any circuit design trickery.

The signal on the bottom input is fed to the switch of the Switch jack (oh yes) so the incoming signal can switch itself without any help.
The three states actually mean there is a flat spot at the switching point, so the circuit can be used for audio but at slow rates there is a click, so it is far better suited for CV processing.

This circuit originally was used as the nonlinear element in the Primal Hyperchaos and two of them in the Hyperchaos Deluxe. I quite like it on its own, so the Signum Hyperchaos brought the signum section to the panel where it could be used as a stand-alone module. This version drops the chaos and just has the Signum.
The switching is done by diodes rather than a dedicated IC.

The panels are available in white/gold and black/gold in both Pulp Logic and Intellijel formats. Please specify which colour and which format you want when ordering.

Also the PCBs are the same for both panel formats and use a standard Eurorack power connector. There is no provision for the Pulp Logic 3 pin power connector.

PCB and panel set = USD10
Assembled = USD55

Demo and build manual coming soon.

### VCAs

This 8HP module contains 3 VCAs and a fuzz/distortion. The VCAs are similar to the ones used in the NLC Cluster; simple OTA based but work very well.

The fuzz/distortion is part of the bottom VCA and is a typical diode based affair, on the PCB the space for these are thru-hole so you can install Si or Ge diodes or LEDs. Turn the Fuzz pot to 0 if you just want VCA.

PCB = USD18
Panel = USD20
assembled = USD160

### Beat Freq

The idea for this module came from a schematic that has been floating around the web for years - 'beat frequency indicator'
The idea is to feed the circuit two signals and depending upon which one had the higher frequency the ring of 4 LEDs would light up in a clockwise or anti-clockwide direction. The speed of rotation would indicate how close or disparate the frequencies are. If the signals have the same frequency then just one LED is lit.

The original circuit used 74xxx series ICs for the logic, so it was simple enough to find the CMOS equivalents (sort of), then add gates corresponding to the LEDs and use the spare outputs of one chip to feed pots to make sequences. Then for good measure a discrete XNOR circuit was added to give a psuedo ring-modulator output based on the 2 incoming signals.

In operation this module is quite unique; the CV signals return to 0 between each step, the length of each step can vary depending on the incoming signals. Gates come in spurts. The circular LED display jerks around, sometimes it completes several revolutions confidently and then stutters between two stages, sometimes it shimmers on one spot.

At both audio rates and clock rates, this module is quite unpredictable but always seems to be putting out useful signals.

PCB = USD18
Panel = USD20
assembled = USD160

This video is from the 1st version proto-type, tho little was changed in the production version -

## Monday, 12 August 2019

### 1U 6HP Difference Rectifier

Those that build a lot of NLC modules will know this is one of my favorite circuits. The diff-rect has appeared on the Neuron, 1050 mix/sequencer, triple Sloth, GENiE and 8 of them make up the Let's Splosh.
It is great for mixing audio and/or CV signals to get all kinds of unexpected and interesting results. This page from 2012 on my old Pinky site has some more details.

The panels are available in Pulp and Intellijel formats and in white/gold or black/gold, please specify when ordering.
Please note, the PCBs only have eurorack 10 pin power connectors, not the Pulp Logic 3 pin type.

PCB & panel set = USD10
assembled = USD55

## Sunday, 14 July 2019

Not sure what to give your loved one for that special occasion?

NLC giftcards are sure to put a smile on everybody's face, probably.

Anyway, paypal thru the value you would like on it and I will send you one.

Post by regular mail is free.

## Wednesday, 10 July 2019

### Cellular Automata

This is a 16 cell gate and pattern generator using cellular automata rules 90 & 150. It will run thru a process driven by a clock signal and requires a signal on one of the seed inputs (anything crossing 1V) to start a new process or alter the current one.
A process without seeds may run for hours or minutes, depending upon the start point and clock rate.

There are 3 CV outputs, two based on what is happening on each half of the circuit, one reflects the pattern created by the active cells. Each cell has a gate output.

The circuit uses CMOS chips and op amps, no microprocessors. It is a big build!

PCB set = USD25
panel = USD23

assembled = USD280

Build Guide & BOM on the NLC wiki

## Friday, 14 June 2019

### 1U Sloth Chaos

These are Sloth chaos modules available in 1U 6HP panels.

The panels are available in Pulp and Intellijel formats and in white/gold or black/gold, please specify when ordering.
Please note, the PCBs only have eurorack 10 pin power connectors, not the Pulp Logic 3 pin type.

They are available in 3 variations, the same as on the triple Sloth panel; Torpor (15-20 second orbits), Apathy (1-3 minute orbits) and Inertia (15-20 minute orbits). The same PCB is used for all 3 variations.

Each has 2 outputs which supply different signals drawn from different stages of the circuit. The input can be used to inject a signal into the circuit, some signals will have no effect, others will cause periodicity at different stages, others will alter the chaotic orbits. I find very slow sine signals, from the Feague, are very good. Of course you do not have to input any signal, the sloths will happily meander along without any help.

Please note version 1 (V1) of the bottom PCB has the printing on the wrong side. Install the jacks and LED on the blank/unprinted side of the PCB.
See pics below as an example on how to connect the PCBs.

PCB & panel set = USD10
assembled = USD55

Build Guide on the NLC wiki

## Thursday, 23 May 2019

### Dispersion Delay

This module is based on ideas suggested by Lucas Abela.

It is three vactrol based bandpass filters in parallel, each filter is fed into a voltage controlled delay stage. The outputs are available individually or there is an OUT ALL where all 3 signals are mixed.

Me being me designed the delays to go into stutter/zipper/breakdown territory to create the usual noise I love. If desired the delays can be built to remain in their normal operating regions.

PCB set = USD25
Panel = USD26
Assembled = USD260

Build info on the NLC wiki

Steve's soundcloud demo

### DelayNoMore 3

This module contains three PT2399 delay chips that feed into each other to create a loop.
The delay time for each stage is individually CV controlled and each stage has feedback controls to itself and the previous stage.

Each delay stage can be isolated and used on its own so the module can be used as a triple delay or a 3 stage delay.....kind of:
If you are familiar with the original DelayNoMore, you will know it is a crap delay but an excellent noise module, this one is designed to be much the same. The big differences being 3 delay stages instead of 2, CV control over all 3 stages instead of 1 and, as mentioned, the stages can be used individually.

To use, the input signal(s) can be patched into the 1-3 inputs and the three outputs can ll be used to get different signals. The 2nd row of inputs use the jack switches to forward the output of each stage to the input of the next, so if you wish to use the delays individually, use these inputs to break the loop.

There are pads on the PCB to place resistors in parallel with the LDRs in the vactrols, this is to tame the delay times somewhat. It is up to the builder to decide how lame or how out of control they want this module to be.

PCB = USD22
Panel = USD26
assembled = USD240

build info on NLC wiki

Steve's soundcloud demo

## Wednesday, 8 May 2019

### 4HP MIX

The simplest module in the NLC range, a 4 input mixer. It has just 14 components to solder onto the PCB, so a very gentle intro to surface mount soldering.

The pots are 0 at centre, -1x gain to the left (inverts) and 1x gain to the right.

Pot 4 will act as a voltage offset if nothing is patched into input 4. It can supply -5V to +5V of offset. If you do not want any offset, leave pot 4 at midpoint, or patch your signal into input 4.

The module will work with audio and CV signals. It is useful for creating sequences from logic modules such as the Divide&Conquer, BOOLs or 1/n.

PCB & panel set = USD12
assembled = USD60

## Monday, 29 April 2019

### Bi-di Choppers

This is a dual stripped version of the original Chopper. A very easy build with few components. It can be used as a 1 into 2 switch or 2 into 1. A CV signal can be used to help control the switching point, tho Choppers are different from regular switches as the signals being switched also control the switching.
It can be used to process CV and audio signals.
The basic idea for the Chopper is from a 1975 paper titled – ‘A nonlinear modulator using delta principles’ by S.K. Mullick and K.R Srivathsan, although this version drops the comparator output, makes the slew stage adjustable, converts the 2 inputs so they can also be outputs and adds an in/out stage before the slew section.

PCB = USD15
panel = USD20
assembled = USD160

### 1/n

This module is straight out of the Lunetta playbook. It is simply a CMOS 4018 with buffers on all of its inputs and outputs, along with a 4081 to enable further divisions.
The divide by is patch-programmable, simply patch whichever number you wish to divide by back into the input and feed it a clock. The other outputs will follow the 1/n at various phase differences depending upon what is going on.
You can get quite silly by feeding signals into the J1-J5 inputs (jam) and sending a high signal (anything over 1V) to the preset enable.

PCB set = USD22
8HP Panel = USD20
assembled = USD190

Build guide and panel template on the NLC wiki