Building these DIY kits happens on your own risk. We can't do support or give a guarantee for correct function, because that depends on your own skills. Be responsible and check the building instructions before you buy. Thank you!



The new Erica Synths & Moritz Klein - mki x es.EDU line

 

We – Erica Synths and Moritz Klein – have developed a series of educational DIY kits under the brand name mki x es.EDU with one specific goal in mind: to teach people with little-to-no prior experience how to design analog synthesizer circuits from scratch. What you’ll find in the box is not simply meant to be soldered together and then disappear in your rack. Instead, we want to take you through the circuit design process step by step, explaining every choice we’ve made and how it impacts the finished module.

In total, we have developed 9 kits to build a fully-featured modular monosynth: a sequencer, a VCO, a wavefolder, a noise/S&H module, a mixer, a VCF, an Envelope generator, a dual VCA, and an output stereo mixer with a headphone amplifier.

Additionally, an affordable eurorack case with a DIY PSU will also be available. While these kits are easy to build, we did not compromise on design and functionality. We will launch one kit every 4-6 weeks. For each kit, there is an extensive user manual (40+ pages; can be downloaded separately) that will dive deep into not only the electronics behind each circuit but also the fundamental principles of sound synthesis. We hope that the mki x es.EDU project will inspire future engineers and will contribute to the ever-growing diversity of electronic music technology.



Erica - EDU VCO

This is an easy to build VCO with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!

 

The mki x es.EDU VCO is the first educational DIY kit in this series. It is an analog sawtooth-core oscillator with a reasonably accurate volt/octave tracking, made from just a handful of basic components. It features sawtooth and pulse outputs as well as 1V/oct, FM, and PWM inputs.

 

Here is the VCO introduction video on Youtube and here's a build video by Synth DIY Guy.

 

Power 7mA @+12V, 7mA @-12V

Width 10HP

Depth 25mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU VCO

70,50 €

  • 0,12 kg
  • Available
  • Ships within 3-5 days1

Erica - EDU OUTPUT

This is an easy to build Output Module with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!

 

The mki x es.edu Output Mixer is essentially a panning mixer – it takes two mono inputs with adjustable gain and pans them left or right to the stereo output, and an integrated amplifier boosts the signal for use for headphones.

 

Power 38mA @+12V, 40mA @-12V

Width 8HP

Depth 35mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU OUTPUT

58,90 €

  • 0,12 kg
  • Available
  • Ships within 3-5 days1

Erica - EDU WAVEFOLDER

This is an easy to build Wavefolder with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!

 

Even though wavefolding is more of a west coast synthesis concept, it’s a great addition to the otherwise very east coast mki x es.edu DIY system. Why? Because it can provide a ton of unusual timbres for your patches: from a slight dash of brightness to harsh metallic drones. That’s why we came up with this super simple BJT-based double wavefolder.

Power 35mA @+12V, 20mA @-12V

Width 4HP

Depth 35mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU WAVEFOLDER

53,50 €

  • 0,12 kg
  • Available
  • Ships within 3-5 days1

Erica - EDU VCF

This is an easy to build VCF with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!

 

Who doesn’t love a good resonant low pass VCF? It’s arguably the beating heart of any subtractive synth – adding character, dynamics, and a good deal of retro-futuristic oddness to your patches. That’s why a diode ladder VCF that sticks to super basic and widely available components was created. On top of that, the architecture is as approachable as possible by avoiding the tricky diff-pair setup classic ladder filters rely on.

Power 14mA @+12V, 15mA @-12V

Width 10HP

Depth 25mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU VCF

82,90 €

  • 0,12 kg
  • Available
  • Ships within 3-5 days1

Erica - EDU SEQUENCER

This is an easy to build Sequencer with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!

 

If you’re new to DIY synthesizer building, you might’ve run into this issue: you just set up your first VCO on a breadboard, spent a good while troubleshooting the stubborn thing – and then you realize you have nothing to actually control it with. OR if you already have a decent modular setup, but still haven't found a simple, hands-on sequencer - here’s a compact, yet versatile 5 step sequencer with adjustable sequence length, per step gate status, and output range! It works both from an internal and external clock and has reset input for more complex sequences if several sequencers are chained up. It works also as a waveshaper when clocked at the audio rate.


Here is the sequencer introduction video in Youtube and here´s a build video by Synth Diy Guy.

Power 16mA @+12V, 6mA @-12V

Width 10HP

Depth 25mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU SEQUENCER

76,00 €

  • 0,12 kg
  • Sold out at the moment

Erica - EDU NOISE/S&H

This is an easy to build Noise/S&H with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!


Whether you use it for self-sequencing, for adding a dash of randomness to your filter movements, or for rough analog bitcrushing, a sample & hold-circuit can often be the secret sauce that takes your patch from decent to distinctive. That’s why we came up with this super simple JFET-based implementation – and then upgraded it with a couple of extra features like an internal clock generator or a dedicated slew output. Of course, we’ll need an interesting input to sample – which is why you’ll often find sample & hold modules with an integrated noise generator. So we’ll do the same! But instead of just one noise color, we’ll throw in two extra: pink and blue in addition to the standard white noise.

 

Power 25mA @+12V, 12mA @-12V

Width 10HP

Depth 25mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU NOISE/S&H

70,00 €

  • 0,12 kg
  • Available
  • Ships within 3-5 days1

Erica - EDU MIXER

This is an easy to build Mixer with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!

 

Mixing might be more of a utility function in a modular synthesizer – but this doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be dull and boring. Case in point: this super simple three-channel mixer with built-in diode distortion will make your patches sound delightfully rough.

Here's a build video from Molten Modular.

 

Power 15mA @+12V, 10mA @-12V

Width 8HP

Depth 25mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU Mixer

52,90 €

  • 0,12 kg
  • Available
  • Ships within 3-5 days1

Erica - EDU Envelope

This is an easy to build Envelope Generator with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!

 

Many iconic sounds like the squelchy acid bass line, snappy techno kick drum, and swelling dream pop pad wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for envelope generators. So, the next module in the mki x es.edu line is a slightly optimized ADSR envelope generator. Optimized because it has only 3 controls. With sustain on, it outputs an ASR (attack/sustain/release) envelope, but when the sustain is set to a minimum, it becomes an AD (attack/decay) envelope generator that ignores gate length; Release and Decay are controlled by the same knob. A looping function and an inverted output make the module more versatile for complex patches. The full EDU DIY system is designed to have 2 EG modules, therefore everyone aiming to build the whole system will need 2 kits.

 

Here is the EG introduction video on Youtube and here's a build video by Synth DIY Guy.

 

Power 15mA @+12V, 10mA @-12V

Width 8HP

Depth 25mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU Envelope

64,90 €

  • 0,1 kg
  • Available
  • Ships within 3-5 days1

Erica - EDU VCA

This is an easy to build VCA with a really extensive documentation and explanation of the circuit. Excellent learning kit!

 

mki x es.EDU VCA is a simple yet efficient dual VCA for your eurorack system. It has DC-coupled inputs so you can use the VCA both for audio and CV signals. Inputs of the second VCA are normalled to the first one which allows to split the audio signal to both VCA or control both VCAs with a single CV. A 60-page build manual explains the electronics behind the module and provides step-by-step build instructions.

Here is the VCA introduction video on Youtube and here's a build video by Synth DIY Guy.

 

Power 7mA @+12V, 7mA @-12V

Width 8HP

Depth 25mm

 

This is a Do-It-Yourself kit, not an assembled module. Building instructions can be found here.

DIY level: Easy/Medium. Very good introduction to DIY!

Erica - EDU VCA

64,90 €

  • 0,1 kg
  • Available
  • Ships within 3-5 days1