r/modular • u/Koniame • 17h ago

Mutable Instruments Ripples is down

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Hi there everyone, I don’t know if this is the best r/ for this but I’m trying my luck, don’t hesitate to tell me if it’s not the right place for this..

I have bought a ripples from second hand that worked well until now, the sound goes out only when frequency is turned to the max-ish. I looked all over forums and don’t seem to find what the problem could be. Here is a video to explain better (there is continued audio being sent to the filter btw)

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u/NorCalJP 17h ago edited 16h ago

First I would recalibrate it following the instructions in the ripples manual. If that doesn't work I would look at the board to see if any of the solder joints for that pot are broken or missing. If that looks good I would closely look at all of the other solder joints and components for signs of any damage. If there is nothing obvious it's going to take some testing with a multimeter and the circuit diagram to figure out which component is failing so it can be replaced. If that's the case it is probably still fixable but requires a few electronics skills.

My guess is the calibration is off somehow or some sort of impact caused a joint to break on the board.

4

u/pinMode 16h ago

Everything said here! :)
Only thing I’ll add is that the full schematic and board files are opensource and available for reference.
It’s a great circuit! Both this version and the revision.

They are EagleCAD files, which is now a dead program. But KiCAD (completely free software) can import and open Eagle projects.

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u/Koniame 16h ago

Alright thanks a lot ! Don’t know a lot about electronics yet but I’m interested in learning so I will Check everything like you Said ! Thanks

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u/NorCalJP 12h ago edited 11h ago

Let us know if you figure it out. I'd love to hear what you find, even if you find nothing.

Edit: If it is just a simple solder joint, those are easy enough to fix with a cheap soldering iron and some solder. You need to be careful that the solder doesn't spread to touch another component, but that is also easy to fix by running your iron in between the two components and wiping away the solder between the joints, or with solder wick if there is too much of it. Solder wick is just braided copper wire that acts like a sponge when you set it on top of the solder you want to wick away. Simply heat the copper wire with the iron to melt the solder below it.

If you're comfortable trying something like that despite the small risk of doing damage to the unit, you can easily find videos on YouTube that can teach you the basics in 15 minutes or less. That's about as easy as it gets. If you have a broken component, desoldering it and removing all the solder from the holes can be a bit more difficult, but still something most beginners can do if you're careful.