Among modular synth formats, AE Modular is a less well known than the nearly ubiquitous Eurorack format. However, there is a close connection. Robert Langer, the creator of the AE Modular format, and Dieter Döpfer, the “founding father of Eurorack”, are longtime friends.

According to AE Modular’s Kickstarter Campaign, Robert’s goal was to create “a modular synthesizer for everyone” that is “small in size, small in price, big in sound”. There is a very important design decision that makes AE Modular stand out for our SynthDIY community. The standard works entirely on +5V which makes it directly compatible with the many microcomputers and microcontrollers used in maker communities. Such as: Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and the Daisy Seed.

For our purposes, the best introduction to the standard is the AE Modular Technical Guide. Don’t worry if you don’t understand what you see on that page. We’re all working together here to learn new skills and to develop hardware and software for this amazing platform.

If you’re intrested in joining our community (for free!), please review our licensing information and join us in our discussion forum to learn more.