Synthrotek TST DIY Kit - Eurorack Module Tester

If you build your own modules and/or do your own repairs, get one of these.

The PCB (which is also the panel) is cheap, very thin, has small vias, and soldering is not as smooth as with better kits. This, and the fact there are a couple surface mounted components, is the reason I cannot recommend this module, even as a first build for people who are getting into Eurorack DIY.There is no protection whatsoever, so rather than a test/diagnostics module this is a way to bring two connectors to the front of your rack.The showstopper - LED brightness is all over the place. The red one is barely visible, the blue one is blinding. There is no switch to turn LEDs off, so I won't use it.

I bought the Erica Synth Baseline kit. This kit does sooo much, as a result it has a lot of parts. My kit arrived missing a few parts - in talking with the great staff at Synthrotek they immediately sent me the missing items and I was right back to soldering and assembling.There are so many places that I wish would make this kind of customer service the business standard.

First let me say that I usually love Synthrotek stuff, and their customer service and support is great. Unfortunately, this module is terrible on a number of fronts. First, this is the best way to kill your entire case and power supply. This "module tester" has zero power protection of any kind and only brings two power connectors directly to the front. That's it. Not only does this mean that plugging a module in backwards may kill your entire system, any internal problems in your module to be tested can also kill your entire system easily. Think about that for a second.The module itself is very flimsy. The faceplate is the circuit board. You do all of the soldering and placing of components on the back side. This wouldn't be so terrible except for the fact that the faceplate is so flimsy. It visibly bends heavily every time you plug or unplug a module. Don't expect it to be sturdy or durable.My last concern isn't a concern to some, but could be a problem if you're new to DIY. This is because building the module requires using surface mount (SMD) soldering techniques. Most DIY modules are through-hole style where you place the component legs through a circuit board and solder everything from the back side. This module requires all of the components to be placed on the surface of the board and all soldering occurs on the same side. It's not incredibly difficult, but it is much more difficult compared to through-hole for someone new to building electronics.I feel this module could have been great if a little care and thought was placed into it. As it stands now, it's made very poorly for the advertised task. If they made changes to include some power protection, and provided a faceplate that didn't bend to extreme levels in use, this could be a decent product. As it is now, best to avoid this product completely, and buy or build a separate power supply for module testing unless you like risking your entire system every time you plug an untested module in.