TK.

Hallo Cyan, realisieren laesst sich dieses Geraet mit dem MBHP Core Modul, einem LC-Display und Tastern/Schaltern, die man direkt an das Core-Modul anschliesst. Die Bauteile kann man am guenstigsten bei Reichelt beziehen, die Kosten liegen schaetzungsweise bei ca. 35 EUR. Fehlt dann nur noch die Firmware, und hier wird es dann auch schon etwas aufwaendiger - dein Wunschcontroller erfordert naemlich ein User-Interface, das bisher von den MIDIboxen noch nicht unterstuetzt wird. Du musst also eine Menge selbst programmieren, und das erfordert Mikrocontroller-Kenntnisse... hierzu koennte ich Dir ein paar Tips geben, aber die meiste Arbeit wird bei Dir bleiben. Am besten schaust Du Dir mal die Beispielsourcen unter Concepts->MBHP->Test Programs an, um abzuschaetzen, was da auf Dich zukommt. Auf den ersten Blick mag der Assemblercode vielleicht kompliziert aussehen, aber das gibt sich, sobald man damit "herumspielt" und die Moeglichkeiten erfasst hat. Die juengste Success-story schrieb mir jemand aus Suedafrika, der - ohne Vorkenntnisse - auf Basis der Beispiele eine luxerioese Mikrocontrollersteuerung fuer eine Kirchenorgel realisiert hat :) Gruss, Thorsten.

Being a newcomer to electronics and electrical design I think I just learned the first, most important, and probably the most basic rule of circuit design: "Always check your connections first before crying for help." This must be highlighted. Well Done! :) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Yes, exactly :) Best Regards, Thorsten.

My tip: just go into a DIY store, to a fleamarket or EBay and search for enclosures which are suitable. I built my first MIDIbox Plus into an defective satellite receiver (cost: 0 EUR), the second into a mini-keyboard from the flea market (cost: 5 EUR), the MIDIbox64 into a metallic packing case for screws (cost: 5 EUR), and the upcoming MIDIbox LC into a nice looking wooden box from the DIY market (cost: 8 EUR). Best Regards, Thorsten.

I like your technical notes! :) The link can now be found at the MBHP Bankstick page, because bankstick-switching is one of the most requested features Best Regards, Thorsten.

yes, the +5V should be enough. Be carefull with the voltages, a too high level can kill the components! The easiest and most secure way to setup the connections is the following: at first let the LED sender and receiver attached, connect the RS232 cable with your PC. Connect the ground of the mouse (RS232 pin #5) with Vss of the DIN module, and the green and light-blue pin of the receiver via two resistors (*) to the DIN inputs. Now the MB16E firmware should regognize movements of the mouse and send out MIDI events. Thereafter measure the voltage levels of the sender and receiver during operation - they could be different now. If they are still about 5V or higher, the components can be supplied with Vdd of the DIN module without additional measures. If they are lower, you probably need series resistors - measure the current which is going through the components and calculate the required resistances with following formula: R = (5V-V_measured) / I_measured; Example: R = (5V - 2V) / 15mA = 200 Take the next higher available resistor from the E12 table (100, 220, 330, 470, ...): 220 Ohm More details can be found in any book about electronics (-> ohms law) Best Regards, Thorsten. (*) the resistors protect the 74HC595 from too high currents between the two voltage domains (RS232/MIDIbox). Values between 100 - 1k are ok

with Logic (or any other MIDI-sequencing tool) everything but the song name and wavetable can be saved; so I would prefer the editor for this job, which transfers the data over the SysEx protocol (just create patch libraries for every song and put them into the same folder). Yes, as you've already noticed the patch is now stored in the EEPROM. I've prepared everything for a BankStick but *pscchhht* that's secret up to the next release ;-) Best Regards, Thorsten.

A Wavetable sequencer has been integrated into the firmware which allows you to create sequences of Waveforms and other CC controllers. This feature is a *must* for C64-style percussion sounds :) Here a new demo sound: http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid/mbsid_demo8.mp3 Note that all sounds have been created with the MIDIbox SID! The sounds have been enriched with external effects from Logic Audio, this makes the noise so exciting! :-) Link to the new firmware: http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid/midibox_sid_v1.3.zip Link to the new editor: http://www.midibox.org/midibox_sid/jsynth_017_with_mbsid_rel3.zip Some new patches can be found here: http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid/example_patches_v3.zip HowTo handle with wavetables: You can define up to 32 table entries for 3 different CC parameters which are played with every note. Most common parameters are "Waveform" and "Transpose", since they allow to define sequences of waves and pitches for percussive sounds. Four different directives can be selected for each entry: "-" (do nothing), "Play" (change the three parameters), "Goto" (jump to the sequencer-step which is defined as first parameter) and "End" (stop here). The three parameter columns are used to enter absolute or relative values for the three CC parameters. Normaly a wavetable begins with absolute values for a defined start when a new note is played (examples: 40 - don't transpose, 3F: minus one note, 41: plus one note. Values can also be entered in decimal form, but a real C64 hacker proscribes such a unusual number system, so both variants are available ;-). For the other values below the first row it's your choice. Pitches (Transpose values) are normaly entered as relative values (begin with a + or -), Waveforms as absolute values (examples: 01 - Triangle, 02 - Saw, 04 - Pulse, 08 - Noise, 12 - oscillator saw & off, 21 - synced triangle). Refer to the SID CC implementation chart: http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid/sid_cc_implementation_chart.txt Here an example for a snare drum: CC Parameter #1 assigned to Voice1 Waveform CC Parameter #2 assigned to Voice1 Transpose CC Parameter #3 not used here Rate (Speed) set to 119 00 Play 08 50 +0 # Plays Noise , transposed by 10 (40 is the middle, +10) 01 Play 04 45 +0 # Plays a pulse, transposed by 5 02 Play 04 4C +0 # Plays a pulse, transposed by C (=one octave) 03 Play 08 54 +0 # Plays noise, transposed by 54 04 Play 08 +0 +0 # still plays noise, don't transpose 05 Play 18 +0 +0 # stop playing noise 06 End # stop waveform The result can be heared at the beginning of mbsid_demo8.mp3. Another example, a synth sound with loop point: CC Parameter #1 assigned to Voice1/2/3 Transpose CC Parameter #2 not used here CC Parameter #3 not used here Rate (Speed) set to 88 00 Play 40 +0 +0 # Setup transpose value (40 is the middle) 01 Play -1 +0 +0 # decrement transpose value 02 Play +1 +0 +0 # increment transpose value 03 Play -1 +0 +0 # decrement transpose value 04 Play -1 +0 +0 # decrement transpose value once more 05 Goto 01 # define a loop (continue at step 01) This result into a nice dropping sound, known from C64 games :) However, this was just a short introduction, the possibilities with the Wavetable feature are endless! Some hints: sequence the Filter Cutoff frequency (CC #46), or the Depth of a LFO (CC #72-77) or the Wavetable speed/CC assign value itself (CC#120-124)! Have fun! :) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi, somebody from Sydney asked me to program the MIDIbox Plus firmware into his PIC. Normaly thats no problem for me, but since it takes about one week until the parcel reaches Europe, I'm wondering if anybody else from Australia could help him? This would be the fastest and cheapest solution. :) Best Regards, Thorsten.

The green and the light-blue pin is connected with the IC, so I think that these are the signals which have to be connected to the DIN module. The red and blue are for the power supply. Here I'm not sure if a special voltage level is required. However, just plug the mouse into the RS232 or PS/2 socket of your PC and measure the voltage between these two pins. Best Regards, Thorsten.

Alright, the data transaction is similar to the protocol used by the KS0108, so I don't expect problems. Concerning Reichelt: I don't have the time to handle the orders for other people (it's not against you Dan), but if nobody else can help you, I could ask Chris who already sells the parts for the MBHP modules Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hallo Tofu, wie Du ja schon mitbekommen hast, werden diese Sonderfunktionen von der Serge's virtuellen MIDIbox nicht emuliert. Der Autosnapshot sichert beim Umschalten der Bank die aktuellen Pot-Positionen, holt die neuen aus dem Bank-Memory und sendet sie sofort (MIDIbox64 mit deaktiviertem Snap-Modus) oder updated die interne Position (MIDIbox64 mit aktiviertem Snap-Modus), repositioniert die Motorfader (MIDIbox MF), updated die LED-Kraenze (MIDIbox 16E)... eigentlich erreicht man erst mit dem Autosnapshot das, was man von einer Bankumschaltung erwartet. Sie sollte jedoch deaktiviert werden, wenn das Host-Programm ueber ein internes Bankmanagement verfuegt, wie es z.B bei Cubase der Fall ist. Gruss, Thorsten.

Servus, theoretisch waere das schon moeglich, aber das geplante CV/gate modul wird mit einem relativ teuren DA-Umsetzer von Maxim bestueckt sein, der mit seiner 12-bit Aufloesung fuer die Ansteuerung von LEDs etwas ueberdimensioniert ist. Wenn es auf die Genauigkeit nicht ankommt, kann man sich einen DAC aber auch aus einem Widerstandsnetzwerk selberbasteln. Oder man steuert die Helligkeit der LEDs per Pulsweitenmodulation (PWM) - so wird es am guenstigsten. Gruss, Thorsten.

thanks :) The new navigation was the result of a 3 hour rail journey - traveling with the train can really be efficient ;-) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Justin, thanks for the input! I've decided to exchange the CNY17 by a 6N138 in all schematics and PCBs of MIDIbox Plus so that nobody runs into this problem anymore. Juno SysEx: since the structure of SysEx strings can be very different, it's not possible to learn them. But they can be realized with Meta Events. Can you send me a MIDI specification sheet of this synth? Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Justin, thanks for the input! I've decided to exchange the CNY17 by a 6N138 in all schematics and PCBs of MIDIbox Plus so that nobody runs into this problem anymore. Juno SysEx: since the structure of SysEx strings can be very different, it's not possible to learn them. But they can be realized with Meta Events. Can you send me a MIDI specification sheet of this synth? Best Regards, Thorsten.

Yes and no. Your meter doesn't cause a noticable difference, because it's internal resistance is about 10Meg and higher... but the load caused by digital circuit is not linear and varies so fast, that only the average value is meaningful. However, the purpose of the 7805 is to regulate these effects, so that the whole circuit is supplied with stable 5V Btw.: don't forget to connect the grounds (Vss) of your power supplies together! Best Regards, Thorsten.

Please keep me informed if the 6N139 really works (I think so, but I don't want to publish untested specs) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi, the 1N4733 (A821) is a 5.1V zener the 1N4738 (A604) the 8.2V zener (I used google to find the specs) Take care for the polarity of the diodes! Best Regards, Thorsten.

You are using motorized faders with the MIDIbox Plus firmware? Did you solve the problem in the meantime? Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi, I will update the schematics and PCB layouts in the next days due to some quality improvements. Hold the line :) External power pack: w/o LCD the MIDIbox8 consumes about 50 mA - so a battery with 6V, 1000mA/h or more should be ok Best Regards, Thorsten.

Yes, the x-mas and NYe break was fine, but a little bit to long ;-) Where can I download a datasheet for the LC7981-type display? From my experience international requests are handled very slowly by Reichelt, because they know that normaly people will not order there due to the high shipping fees... Schaeffer Apparatebau definitely ships to the UK for EUR 16.70 (see website) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Memon: the LCD graphic layout is not final ;-) I've planned to add a field for the LED digits of the Logic Control (which normaly display the fader mode and the MTC). However, everybody is welcome to create his own skin :) (for example a big MTC display mode could be usefull) Best Regards, Thorsten.

With the help of you I can also write drivers for other graphic LCD displays which are available at Ebay or somewhere else. US people should take a look at http://www.eio.com/lcdprodt.htm where 240x64 displays with another controller chip are available for about US $30 It's really difficult to estimate the costs for the whole MIDIbox, since the designs can be very different. For example, if the motorfaders are too much expensive, they can be replaced by common faders and could also be served by the PIC18F core module (with enabled snap/soft-takeover function!). However, here the estimated costs for my implementation: ca. 100 EUR - electronic stuff (2 CORE, 4 DINX4, 3 DOUTX4, 1 MF, 1 LTC) 66.00 EUR - graphic LCD display 28.80 EUR - 64 high quality buttons 03.20 EUR - 32 Miniature buttons 08.00 EUR - ca. 160 LEDs 22.50 EUR - 9 ALPS rotary encoders 176 EUR - 8 ALPS motorfaders (note: panasonic faders are much cheaper!) ca. 90 EUR - premade frontpanel from Schaeffer Apparatebau ca. 8 EUR - nice looking wooden box (30x40x7) from Obi (a german DIY market chain) makes about 500 EUR The price can be reduced by following meassures: motorfaders replaced by non-motorized faders (saves also one core module) no LED rings (makes the frontpanel simpler) selfmade frontpanel In this case the price can be reduced to about 200 EUR Best Regards, Thorsten.

I would like to say Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to everyone! C U next year :) Best Regards, Thorsten.