At the 2018 NAMM Show, we talked with Gert Jalass, who gave us a hands-on demo of his latest modules, and an overview of the Moon Modular systems.
Moon Modular creates 5U modules in the Moog modular tradition, but that follow the modern Synthesizers.com standard. Originally known for their powerful sequencing modules, Moon Modular in the last several years has expanded their line to include all types of modules and complete systems.
I like the idea of the 5U format. Seems like there’d be more room to work in general.
5U in general is a much nicer format, because the standard of build quality and sound is better, on the average, than what you see in Euro.
There’s a reason Bob Moog went with the size, too – it’s just a lot more usable. Modern modules don’t need to be deep, too, so you can still have a pretty compact system with 5U.
If you’ve got tiny baby hands, maybe the Euro format isn’t a problem. But for anybody else, large format just feels some much nicer. The knobs are solid, the pots don’t feel like you’re going to break off the shaft, and you’re not constantly waving through spaghetti to find the know you want.
Also, nobody ever fried their 5U module by plugging it in backwards.
Obviously, though, there’s a wider selection in the Euro world, and the smaller size is more portable. I’ve never heard of anybody putting their 5U system in an overhead rack on the plane. But there’s still more going on in the 5U format than ever.