The Sapphire Moots module is similar to the VCV Mutes module, but differs in the following ways:
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Instead of toggling between the input signal or a zero volt signal like VCV Mutes does, Sapphire Moots toggles between the input signal and an unplugged cable. Sometimes the result is completely different, as explained in more detail below.
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Each instance of the Sapphire Moots module contains 5 independent controls instead of the 10 that VCV Mutes has.
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Each Moots control has a push-button like VCV Mutes does, but it also has a control port that allows replacing the button with a control voltage: either a gate or a trigger.
When there is no cable connected to the control port, the manual push-button takes control. But when there is a cable connected to the control port, the control connects the input using either gate logic or trigger logic, depending on the option "Use triggers for control" in the right-click context menu (see Moots Configuration).
In gate mode, the input connects to the output when the control voltage is +1.0 volts or higher. When the control voltage drops below +0.1 volts, the output cable acts like it is unplugged. To help filter signal jitter, the state stays the same when the gate voltage is between +0.1V and +1.0V. In other words, Schmitt trigger logic is applied.
In trigger mode, a trigger alternately toggles the state between connected and disconnected. The same levels apply: a trigger fires when voltage ascends through +1.0 volts. The trigger will not fire again until the voltage descends through +0.1 volts and back up through +1.0 volts again.
A polyphonic cable connected to a gate has all of its channel voltages added together, and the +0.1V/+1.0V rules above are applied to that sum.
I created this module after I discovered one day that the
Audible Instruments Resonator
module didn't behave the way I expected when I placed a VCV Mutes
control in series with the Resonator's IN jack. When I muted
the input, I expected the Resonator to act as if the input were
unplugged. Instead, the sound faded to silence and stayed there.
I realized that a 0V signal is not the same thing as an unplugged cable. I searched for a module that would simulate plugging and unplugging a cable from a target jack, but could not find one. So I decided to create one myself. Moots is the result.
The following video demonstrates how Sapphire Moots works, and how its effects are different in some cases from VCV Mutes:
Technical note: Moots simulates unplugging all cables connected to its output jack by setting the output jack to have zero channels. To simulate enabled (plugged-in) cables, the jack is set to the same number of polyphonic channels as the input signal, and the input signal is copied verbatim to the output jack. Moots supports the full range of polyphonic channels allowed by VCV Rack, namely 1 to 16.
When in the quasi-unplugged state, all cables coming out of the output jack will appear more transparent than a normal cable. When in the enabled state, all such cables will appear with normal opacity and the correct thickness for their polyphony.
Any other module's input jack that receives one of these faint-looking "unplugged" cables will act as if it is not connected to anything, because VCV Rack does not distinguish between an unplugged jack and a jack connected to a zero-channel cable.
The right-click context menu for Moots looks like this:
When enabled, the "Use triggers for control" option changes all the Moots control input ports from gate mode to trigger mode (see notes about these above) and the panel displays the word TRIGGER. When disabled, the inputs are in gate mode and the panel displays the word GATE.
The menu contains "Anti-click ramping" options for all five controls. Anti-click ramping, when enabled, causes the corresponding control to fade the polyphonic voltages down to zero before disconnecting a cable, and to fade the voltages up from zero after reconnecting a cable. The fading is a linear ramp that lasts for 1/400 of a second (2.5 ms). When a Moots control is used to plug/unplug an audio signal, enabling anti-click ramping can be useful to prevent clicking or popping sounds.
By default, anti-click is disabled, which is usually a better choice when using a Moots control for plugging/unplugging control voltage (CV) signals. When anti-click is disabled, the cable is connected or disconnected instantly without any fading.