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Tiptop Audio MISO

Eurorack Module By Rory Dow
Published August 2019

Tiptop are back again with one of those unglamorous modules you're going to end up using in every patch, a 10HP utility module with more functions than you can shake a stick at.

Size: 10HP. Current: +12V 55mA, -12V 55mA.Size: 10HP. Current: +12V 55mA, -12V 55mA.MISO stands for Mix Invert Scale Offset. The main action revolves around four attenuverters (attenuation and inversion). They are grouped into pairs, labelled 1+2 and A+B. Each attenuverter has an input and an output socket. You can attenuate or invert the incoming signal, and a second control applies negative or positive offset. With no jack connected to the attenuverter's input, the output generates a constant voltage set by the channel's Offset control.

Both groups also have a group sum output. A red/yellow LED next to each section shows signal strength and polarity. Lastly, both groups are sent to a linear voltage-controlled crossfader, for smooth crossfading between the two, which is then sent to a master output.

The MISO will accept both audio and CV signals. In the tradition of multipurpose utility modules, it has many uses: a four channel audio or CV mixer, four–way attenuator or inventor, crossfade mixer, VCA, switcher, bipolar to unipolar offset, submixer, manual CV generator... and doubtless many more.

Let's take a look at a couple of patching examples. As a simple mixer, the MISO could handle four mono channels, say drums, and attenuate each separately, presenting the four summed channels to the master output. If you group kick and snare, and hi-hats, you could then balance the two groups with the crossfader, or automate with another CV source.

The MISO is an extremely useful module. The design is both clever and easy to understand.

Switch audio signals to CV, and you have a complex CV pattern generator. Patch two different LFO shapes to the 1 and A inputs and then crossfade between them to create new complex LFO shapes. Maybe add more LFO shapes to spare inputs and mix to taste.

Need to convert a -5V to +5V bipolar CV to a 0 to 10V unipolar one? No problem, just patch into a spare channel and use the Offset control to shift the signal by +5V. Outputs can be fed to inputs too, of course, and so the MISO can provide mixing before attenuating or offsetting, or vice versa.

Some may dislike the bare shafts, which are presumably a space and cost saving exercise. One could also wish for CV control over the attenuverter and offset, which can only be set manually, but I didn't actually miss those too much. I would have liked to see a centre indent on all the controls, which would make it possible to precisely mute a channel by putting the attenuverter control dead centre, or to ensure precisely no offset with the Offset control, or to have the crossfader at exactly equal balance. Without any centre indent, it can be difficult to ensure you're at exactly the centre point, which could make using the MISO in a performance tricky.

Overall, the MISO is an extremely useful module. The design is both clever and easy to understand. In the few weeks it has sat in my rack, in some form or other, it has been used in every single patch. I suppose that is about the best recommendation one can give. The price is excellent, and it packs a lot of very useful functions into a 12HP module. Thumbs up.

information

£79 including VAT.

www.tiptopaudio.com