Mutable Instruments’ Shades is an ideal offset generator and attenuverter.
The only drawback in my mind is the small parts that would be difficult to assemble by yourself, so Karltron Shady is a reproduction of almost the same circuit, but parts are now through-hole, and substituted for cheaper and more readily available, common off the shelf versions wherever possible. This is a Shades you can build.
Shady is a three channel cascading offset and attenuverter. Bipolar LEDs with an intelligent driver circuit shows just what voltage you’re making.
Mutable Instruments Shades is open source as CC-by-SA 3.0, which means we’re free to use and resell the designs on condition they keep the open-source license, so I owe you the design files in their entirety. You can use my KiCad files to learn module design or update and remix the module. Just please keep re-sharing your innovations! Mutable uses Autodesk EAGLE, and I use KiCad, so these files are wholly re-drawn by Karltron, based on the original schematics but new PCB layout.
BOM & Build Guide for v1.0 and V1.2
| Item | Price | Note |
| PCB/Panel Set | $25 | |
| Full Kit (incl PCB) | $90 | |
| Built & Tested | $140 |
Shady is 6HP Wide, 36mm Deep. Power Draw measured at 34mA on +/-12V worst case, usually half that.
The cheaply available TL074 opamps can have a tenth of a volt offset, so the minimum could be -5.0 or -4.9 varying by channel. The internal jumpers to select 5V or 10V modes are a little tricky to solder in, be careful they don’t touch the switch pins after you’re done. The LM4040 10V can be a little hard to find, but you can pick any of the precision variants (A/B/C) with no problem.
