After building my modular synth case I needed something to power it all.
I ended up using a switched mode power supply along with some further voltage regulation from some regulator ICs. I’ll show you how I did it in this post.
Also see: Building a eurorack case
I started with a switched mode power supply
Install into case
Connect to mains connector
Add some linear voltage regulators: -12V, +12V and 5V
I used the typical 78 series regulators: 7912, 7812 and 7805 respectively
Fit into case
Conclusion
Using the voltage regulators gives much better regulation and ripple rejection. Before using the regulators there was an unacceptable level of noise in the audio of some of my modules (especially the wasp filter and spring reverb).
There are probably way more efficient voltage regulators around nowadays (the 78xx series are very old now), but this is what I had lying around. These regulators are capable of providing 1.5A of current each as long as they have appropriate heat dispersion – hence the finned aluminium block that I used.
Important note: if you decide to make your own power supply for your eurorack modular synth, remember to double check everything with a multimeter before connecting, and potentially damaging your expensive modules.