Envelope follower - EH or DIY?

[smnm]

[moved from OT - thanks Mark]
I think I'm in the market for a commercial envelope follower, and I've seen the Electro Harmonix Mini Q-Tron and Dr Q going cheap ish

Is the Mini Q-Tron just a Dr Q with high hi/lo pass filter?

I know I could make a Nurse Quacky (or Phuncgnosis even) instead of buying the EH, but I like the graphic and EH enclosure and I'm sick of Hammond boxes (ok I'm shallow, and lazy)
Conversely I dislike the graphic on the Mini Q-Tron, but  couldn't build something similar easily.

So: Is the Mini Q-Tron going to out-perform the Dr Q and Quacky enough for me to spend money and get over my cosmetic prejudices?

Simon

PS I'm making noise/repetitvie/minimalist music, not v funky

[Unbeliever]

So: Is the Mini Q-Tron going to out-perform the Dr Q and Quacky enough for me to spend money and get over my cosmetic prejudices?

Oh geez ... shall we tell you what you like for breakfast also?

Seriously though ... I haven't seen inside a mini Q-tron, but would doubt it it based on a Dr Q; more likely it really is a mini 'Q-tron' and shares the state-variable circuit. I would suggest that - yes - the mini Q will be good. They're cheap, too. You can always remove the pots etc, and redo the panel graphics however you like.

[Processaurus]

The EH mini Q tron is a stripped down version of the original Mu-tron III.  EH licensed the design from Mike Beigel (Mr. Mu-tron) for the big Q-tron and the Mini.  Classic design.  Totally different from the Dr.

I'd just go to a music store and play one.  After some belgian waffles.

[Mark Hammer]

My sense is that the Mini-Q is a feature-stripped version of the Q-Tron.  Think of it as being like the difference between a Big Muff Pi and a Little Big Muff.  Same internal organs, just fewer controls, hence a smaller chassis and price.  The Mu/Neu/Q-Tron is a state-variable filter that normally has a bandpass, lowpass highpass output available for the tapping, and a means to provide variable Q.  It also has a better envelope follower than the one found in the Dr.Q and Nurse Quacky.  I may be wrong, but I suspect that you would have lots of room inside a Mini chassis to add some of the missing controls, and maybe even some others, so if you have a deal on one, I say scoop it up and get ready to mod.  The missing parts are the up/down drive switch and the filter range switch.  There may not be the requisite parts onboard to add the drive direction, but the range switch is a breeze to add, as is additional controls for sweep attack and decay (not on the big one).  A few extra parts also permits adding a notch filter setting.

The Q and Quacky aren't half bad, and are cheap and quite moddable, but the filter is a lesser beast than that of the Tron.

[smnm]

always looking for good breakfast suggestions, Unbeliever (btw that schematic still hasn't arrived, will be in touch)

somehow I missed that the Q-Tron was the Beigel Mu-Tron III design, although I can see the Mini Q Tron is a smaller verison of it (there's a clue in the name).

I'll try them out, and look into the mods. Thanks.

S

[Unbeliever]

always looking for good breakfast suggestions, Unbeliever (btw that schematic still hasn't arrived, will be in touch)

somehow I missed that the Q-Tron was the Beigel Mu-Tron III design, although I can see the Mini Q Tron is a smaller verison of it (there's a clue in the name).

I'll try them out, and look into the mods. Thanks.

Curry works for breakfast for me. I didn't want to assume that a shared partial name meant the circuits were the same ... what's the example I was thinking of? Ahhh yes! If you look at a Mutron Micro V the name and paint scheme hints at it being a 'little' Mutron III, but in fact their circuits are completely different. It might have been the case with the Mini/ 'Full' Q-tron also.

[Mark Hammer]

I'm thinking that E-H borrowed a page from the Casio playbook for the Q-Tron and Holy Grail series.  When Casio came out with the assorted cheesy keyboards in the 80's, they would essentially use the same "engine" and core chips, tap a few more features and sell it as another model for $50 more.  But many of the cheaper models had the capabilities of the more expensive ones.  They just sold for less because fewer of those capabilities were used.

A state-variable filter is not expensive to make, and if you buy them at corporate prices, dual optoisolators aren't that expensive either.  If anything, adding another pot and knob, and machining holes in a larger case IS more expensive.  Where the Micro V had one filter mode, the Mini Q-Tron is clearly a state-variable filter given that it has lowpass, highpass, and bandpass modes.  Nope, it's a Q-Tron alright, but for folks who don't think they need all the firepower of those knobs, and are happy with less in a smaller package.  Think of it like buying the same car, but without AC, roof rack, or mag wheels.