Please note: This includes the PCB and panel only. The surface mount parts are all pre-soldered. You can swap our panel for another manufacturer's panel too! Please see the bill of materials on the Sound Study Modular website for a complete list of parts needed.

Ears is a microphone preamp module with a built-in contact mic for finger drumming, scratching, and more, and will send gates and envelopes with each tap! It’s a perfect match for physical synthesis modules like Rings or Elements, but it can also be the gateway between external audio sources and your modular system.

Features:

• Built-in contact microphone soldered right under the front panel, turning the panel and your entire case into a microphone.
• Increasingly spaced ridges on the panel, generating sonically interesting pulses or impulse combs when rubbed. Strike, pick or scratch digital resonators like Rings, Elements or the 4ms SMR.
• High-quality amplification stage suitable for external contact microphones, electro-acoustic instruments like guitars, or plain line-level signals.
• Envelope follower, translating the decaying amplitude profile of a tap into an envelope CV.
• Gate detector, translating taps into gate signals.
• Envelope follower and gate detector can process external signals.

Specifications:

• Audio amplifier with 1M input impedance, up to 40dB of gain.
• External input bypassing the built-in contact microphone.
• Envelope follower with 3 preset attack and release times (adjustable by jumper).
• Gate detector with 3 preset sensitivity levels (adjustable by jumper) and +8V gate output.
• Three indicator LEDs: amplifier clipping (red), envelope follower level (white), gate detector activity (orange).

Technical characteristics:

• Width: 4HP
• Depth: 25mm
• Current draw: +12V: 5mA, -12V: 5mA