u/matnetik

Hey all, shared this over on modwiggler but figured I'd post it here too. Some of you might remember the NTS-1 and NTS-2 kits I made a while back to get those little Korgs into my rack. I never stopped reaching for the NTS-1 over my "real" effects modules tbh, so when Korg dropped the MKII I knew I had to make one for it too.

Thing is the MKII changed shape so my old design didn't fit anymore, which meant starting basically from scratch. This time I teamed up with Alessandro from SPAD Electronics to handle the electrical side and it made a massive difference. The new form factor is tight so we ended up doing a double-stacked PCB to fit everything cleanly into 26HP.

Same plug and play idea as before - TRS cables and USB-C into the unit, screw on the faceplate, plug into the labeled ports on the PCB and run the 16 pin straight to your busboard. No soldering or wiring anything.

A few things I'm pretty stoked on this round:

Amped L/R in and out at eurorack levels and the left sums to mono automatically if you only patch one side

Actual volume pot on the front for the output - this was the #1 thing people asked for since the NTS-1 volume dial ends up buried in the back of your rack haha

Front facing USB-C for data so you can update firmware, load oscillators or use Librarian without pulling the unit out

Buffered multiples up top, 1 in and 3 identical out

All the MKII ports brought to the front too - MIDI in/out and sync in/out

The noise isolator is built right into the board now instead of hanging off a cable like the first one

Still 26HP so yeah, definitely one for the folks with a big rack and some space to spare haha. Small batch is live under ISOGRID - happy to answer anything in the meantime!

Cheers all

I’ve been messing with the ARTRALABS 28mm f/2.8 (black paint - brass) for a few days now. I wouldn’t call this a full review at all because I’ve only shot a couple quick test frames. This is more just “here’s what I noticed immediately” in case anyone’s been eyeing it.

First thing - shipping was stupid fast, like two days! And the packaging was honestly kind of insane for the price. Beautiful box, came with a nice bag and the leather pouch is actually legit - it was packed super clean inside too and it came with an inspection card which I always appreciate. Although not sure it was actually inspected lol...there were two small paint chips by the infinity focus tab and you can see the brass peeking through. Not the end of the world but makes me wonder how the black paint will hold up over time.

I was also comparing it to the Thypoch Eureka, and this is totally personal preference, but I just didn’t like the font choices on the Eureka.

As far as how it feels:

• aperture is clicked/stepped, so you get that little tactile “tick tick” which I like
• focus is super smooth
• and the big thing - it’s insanely thin, I think it's like 13mm from the camera body!

I’ve got a Voigtlander 28mm and it’s amazing quality but I bought this because I wanted to actually EDC the camera more and be able to pocket it.

These shots are straight JPEGs out of camera, no editing. Wide open I did notice some vignetting so I coded the lens just to clean it up a little without making it look too perfect. I still like some vignette. I coded it to Leica 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M IV (011011).

Also - sorry if focus isn’t perfect in a couple of these. I was just trying to get quick samples at different apertures, def not my best work haha 😂

So early verdict: I’m really digging it. It feels clean and simple and easy to use. I do think the pricing is a little high for what it is but the build quality feels really nice in hand. I’m mainly curious how it holds up over time.

And just to be clear - I paid for it myself, it wasn't sent to me -

I also tossed in a photo with my MP and my Voigtlander 35 Ultron for size reference next to it on my M11 because the size is kind of the whole point here - happy to answer any questions!