Mutable Instruments Ears Variant | Sylph Modular BYXA

4HP Eurorack Envelope Follower and Contact Microphone inspired by Mutable Instruments Ears

BYXA is an enhanced Mutable Instruments Ears variant for Eurorack systems. It combines a contact microphone, envelope follower and gate extractor in a compact 4HP format while introducing additional front-panel controls for faster performance-oriented operation.

The module converts audio signals into useful control voltages and gates, allowing external instruments, microphones, percussion and acoustic objects to become modulation sources within a Eurorack system. When no signal is connected, the built-in piezo contact microphone can be used directly by tapping, scratching or interacting with nearby surfaces to generate envelopes and trigger events.

Unlike the original design, BYXA places important performance controls directly on the front panel. Dedicated switches allow adjustment of gate sensitivity, attack time and decay time without requiring access to rear-board settings. Every module is assembled, calibrated and tested individually by Sylph Modular.

Features of the Mutable Instruments Ears variant

• Envelope follower
• Gate extractor
• Built-in piezo contact microphone
• External audio input
• Front-panel gate threshold selection
• Front-panel attack control
• Front-panel decay control
• Audio pass-through output
• CV and gate generation
• Compact 4HP format

Why BYXA?

BYXA transforms external audio and physical interaction into modulation sources for Eurorack systems. The addition of front-panel controls makes it faster and more practical during live performance, allowing envelope and gate behaviour to be adjusted without removing the module from a case.

Specifications

• HP: 4
• Depth: 25mm
• Power: 5 mA +12V / 5 mA -12V

Links

• Sylph Modular BYXA on Modular Grid
• Original Ears Manual

Related Eurorack Modules

• uMarbles – generative CV processor
• Tides – function generator
• Kinks – utility processor
• Links – signal utility
• uFrames – keyframing sequencer
• Corpusculum – physical modelling voice