jaytee

My opinion: don’t bother with the C64 PSU. I may be a bit biased, since I helped write the tutorial on building a single-supply MB6582 power section (see “option e” on the main MB-6582 page) but I don’t think it’s a great option.

You might try Julian at thebeast.co.uk, see if he has some ready. You can also have custom ones manufactured by a PCB company—sounds weird but turns out pretty nice. I did this and since you order in batches of five, you can sell the extras and come out even.

Modular Addict is the only place to get the MB-6582 boards. I thought Mike’s shop in the EU still sold the individual module PCBs but I just checked and couldn’t find it any longer. No way to test SIDs without putting them in something like a C64 or SID synth, unfortunately. I don’t suggest going to eBay if you can avoid it, lots of fakes there. Mouser link for the PT-10 case: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/PacTec/82404-501-000-PT-10-BLACK?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsrGrAVj6eTvX3wYe7otpirD6i8T5sdE0E%3D

I strongly suggest making a new thread, since none of this is directly related to TK’s tutorial. You want the control board and the main board, yes. I don’t understand your question exactly. But you can build all four cores regardless of whether or not there are SIDs inserted. Each core can be mono or stereo. You obviously can’t use all four cores unless you have at least one chip for each core. Re: type of SIDs... I strongly prefer 8580/6582s. They’re more synth-like and work a little better. They don’t have quite the same overdriven saturation or character but they’re more versatile.

Like the others said, the MIDIbox SID project is by a single guy for the most part, but there have been some “remixes” that use the same basic code and circuits, just with specialized circuit boards to accommodate specific form factors. The MB-6582 is basically four core modules, four SID modules, and a handful of DIN/DOUT modules, all combined on a single board (and a second board for the control surface). It’s nice because the construction and components are standardized, and the entire process is really well documented.

I think I got this idea from Altitude, but instead of ribbon cables or headers, I just made a ton of short, individual jumper wires. This way if you get a bad connection you can just replace the one jumper instead of the whole ribbon.

Yup, definitely still a viable project. Quite a few people have built one in the last year or so. As mentioned, Modular Addict now sells the PCBs, and the forums are still relatively active with helpful people. I definitely suggest going for the Mb-6582 for the control surface and established construction techniques, but the original modular approach is still possible as well. Regarding the reuse of components from your original project... The SID is probably still good. You should check what kind of PIC chip you have if your build got to that point—it’s possible you were building a v1, which doesn’t use the same chip as the v2, but if you already have the v2 chip, you can probably still use it.

I’m in NE USA. I suspect shipping from Germany will be expensive, but I’m certainly willing to get a quote from @ilmenator. It may be that shipping from Canada is too expensive as well. If only you had posted this four years ago when I lived in Toronto...on the other hand, SmashTV was still selling them back then. ;)

I guess this model of PIC would also work for a MIDIbox FM, right? @borfo, I would probably be interested in one of yours.

Yeah, physical inspection is always the first step. Check for loose wiring, bad solder joints, connectors that need reseating, etc. If there’s nothing obvious, then just try to follow the signal path and get an idea of where to focus.

Possibly interested, but you haven’t listed a price.

The tip I had been using was sort of a middle ground between the one of the left and the one in the middle. Definitely a much finer tip than that middle one, but still with a distinct flatted chisel shape. I’m having the same kind of trouble with the new conical tip; it takes a bit more finesse to get it in a position for good heat transfer, but right now I’m only doing THT. Any clever tips (no pun intended) for good technique?

I just got a conical tip for my iron after finally wearing out the chisel tip that was on there... I have the opposite experience: I miss my chisel tip for THT! I switched because I thought it would be better for SMT, but maybe that was misguided. Either way I think I’ll go back to chisel here soon. I wonder if it comes down to what you learned with.

I’ve been brushing up on the MB SID documentation and perusing the setup_mb6583.asm file and the modifications I need to make to the code before recompiling a new hex seem pretty well laid-out, which is nice. However, I’m having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around the patch-specific analog out settings vs the ensemble-specific analog out settings. It seems that multiple (conflicting) parameters can be forwarded to a single analog out—how is this handled? For instance, if I have K2A set up in the asm file to go to CV1 and turn this on in the Ensemble menu, and then also set up an LFO to output to CV1 at the patch level, what takes precedence? Or are they summed? For that matter, what happens with conflicting ensemble settings? You seem to be able to assign multiple x2A functions to a single CV out in the asm file (and in fact it is set up this way by default). Or you also seem to be able to assign multiple SID cores to a single CV out from the ensemble EXT menu, though of course they could be (almost always *are*) sending conflicting data. Again, what is the expected behavior in these situations? The answers to these questions will influence how I end up setting up my CV outs. But additionally, I’m curious if anyone has any “recommended” setups/assignments that they like to use for this? Ultimately, I’m hoping to accomplish four main goals from adding CV to my MB-6582. 1. I want to integrate the MB-6582 into a modular setup (ie, control external filters and oscillators, trigger external envelopes, etc). This seems like it could be done at either the patch or ensemble level, depending on what precisely I want to do. 2. I want to use the MB-6582 as a basic MIDI-to-CV device. Pretty straightforward. Seems like it’s best to do this at the ensemble level, using K2A or O2A. 3. I want to use the MB-6582 as a bassline sequencer for analog synths. Basically use the Bassline engine to get 303-like sequences from other synths. Again, seems best to use the ensemble settings for this? 4. I want to use the MB-6582 as a modulation generator for analog synths. In other words, use the Lead engine mod matrix to send LFOs, envelopes, and other CV to other synths. Not as immediate as having dedicated modules for these functions, but OTOH, very deep and complex modulations should be possible and it seems like kind of a Swiss Army knife for situations when I find myself just one envelope short of the patch I want to build, etc. Seems this has to be done at the patch level. Is it feasible to get all four functions from a single MB-6582 without swapping back and forth between different modified asm files? I don’t necessarily need all four functions simultaneously (would be nice I guess but speaking realistically I’ll probably only be doing one at a time), but I don’t want to be constantly reuploading slightly different firmwares to swap between AOUT setups. Any guidance is much appreciated. (Hopefully @TK. can chime in, I’m not sure there are many others with any experience adding CV/gate to MB SIDs.)

To answer some of my own questions... It seems like J8/J9 are the relevant headers here, near the lower left of the board. Not to be confused with the core-specific J8/9 headers, I guess. Looking over the documentation I linked to here, along with the Core8 documentation, this seems pretty straightforward. Do I need to connect both J6 and J7? Again, real confirmation will have to wait until I have PCBs and components on-hand, but I’ve been looking through old build photos of my MB-6582 and it seems it should fit on the DB25 connector no problem. Worst case scenario, I may have to solder the driver chips directly to the PCB instead of socketing them in order to reduce component height, but I doubt this will be the case.

Start at the SID output and work your way to the jacks. Where do you lose the signal?

If I understand the video right, the Vreg can be omitted if our PSU has a 5V rail already, right? But that’s awesome. My eurorack power is a bit wimpy, but if this is pretty low current I can probably fit it in my main rack.

What’s the current draw on all of these?

These are gonna look great. Tempted to buy a set now in anticipation of building an MBSEQ at some point in the indefinite future.

Alright, that actually seems easier than I expected. I did expect I’d have to rebuild the hex file...I’ve used modified firmware once before on my sammichSID; was years ago but if I figured it out back then it can’t be too difficult to manage. So, as far as things go that I still have to figure out (this list is more for my own benefit so I don’t forget) * Which pins on the MB-6582 correspond to the shift register chain? (I’m guessing the PIC Core8 documentation is what I want to look at here...or should I be looking at the SID-specific documentation?) * How does the pin arrangement between J6 on the MBSID need to be rearranged in order to connect to J19 on the LineTX? (It seems this is the relevant documentation.) * How to cram the line driver into the PAC-Tec case? I think there’s a decent chance it’ll fit connected directly to the DB25 port on the back, but as you mention, that’s not the only option. I’ll have to figure this one out once I have everything on-hand. So all in all, this seems to be not so difficult now that Latigid (I assume?) has done all the hard work of designing the eurorack modules themselves. Score one for the modular nature of MIDIbox; really cool that a solution built for one project translates almost seamlessly to a completely different project. Thanks so much for the quick help here. I eagerly await the release of your new eurorack modules. MIDIbox SID might be kind of an odd application for them, but the way I see it, the MB-6582 should be able to stand in for all sorts of CV-generating modules, to say nothing of integrating some SIDs into my analog setup. Super cool.

Hey, saw these modules posted to reddit this morning. I’m interested in how to hook them up to other MIDIbox projects...specifically MIDIbox SID. I started a thread about it in the SID forum, just posting a link here for greater visibility, since SEQ people might not visit the SID forum often. http://midibox.org/forums/topic/21065-using-midiphy-eurorack-modules-with-midibox-sid

Wasn’t sure where to post this, but decided to put it here since the Midiphy modules don’t have any visibility here. Also, just wanted to tag @latigid on to make sure he sees this. I’ve always wanted to add CV/gate to my MB-6582. The new Midiphy eurorack modules that got posted about today seem...pretty ideal, eh? It seems like I would need to build and hook up the three eurorack modules (an AOUT, a DOUT, and a line RX), run a DB25 cable from the line RX to a line TX installed on the DB25 in the MB-6582.... And that’s where I’m at. Not sure how to hook up the line TX to the MB-6582. Anyway, I was hoping to get a general discussion going on this topic. I can’t be the only one who thinks integrating the MIDIbox SID engine into their modular sounds really rad. Hopefully we can figure out the hookup details, iron out any issues, and put together a tutorial for others who want to make this happen.

Price...?

I can give my MB-6582 a listen later just in case. If you look up the SID datasheet, you can see the table of address pins and data pins. If you think it’s an issue with the communication between the PIC and SID, scope these pins as you change the parameter.