NorthernLightX

Got 2 sets today, but the screening is off on one of them :( What to do now? Sending it back to get it fixed and then resending it here could become costly I think...

I've built a pretty versatile distortion unit based on various schematics. Just look at my WIKI page for the details. An adapted version for synths (minor changes to the input stage) is in the making. Cheers, Alex.

Paid :) Thank you so much :-*

The problem is that when you want to use one of the general functions, which of the rows of buttons from the matrix do you use; the active one or the bottom one? I'd love to stick with my original design that loses 16 buttons, but am not sure if it's the best way to go...

I'm doing dual LEDs for every row, so the selected row (the row the encoders are controlling) can be given an alternate color. Also I'm going to use a different color for every 1st of 4 LEDs, so the quarter notes are easily distinguishable. For example: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R/B O/G O/G O/G R/B O/G O/G O/G Where R=Red B=Blue O=Orange and G=green Every line wil be red/orange, exept for the selected line, which will be blue/green. This can also be done with bicolor LEDs, but underneath the Icecaps this is just as easy, and I can choose any color combination (bicolor LEDs are not too common, or expensive). I'm not afraid these "Christmastree" colors are going to ruin the looks. Ergonomics and clarity are my main goals, looks are second, but nonetheless quite important too :) Cheers, Alex.

Nice. I've been layouting a SEQ too the last few days, and my design shares some similarity with yours, as can be expected with a 64 button matrix. What I did different was giving the bottom row of the matrix the functionality of the A B C D etc. buttons. Now I think of it, that is not a very good design, I'll have to change that and incorporate an extra row of buttons. Thanks for the insight ;) Cheers, Alex.

Hi Sasha, are you going to use the icecubes in the 4x16 button matrix, or for the other buttons? Cheers, Alex

I do not own SMD LEDs, so I'm going to expiriment with normal LEDs first, but thanks for the suggestion.

Damn, I should have slept instead of written useless posts I guess :-[ ;D

Thanks Mike, it does help ;) I myself was thinking to use hot glue to stick an LED and an LDR together, and then dip the package in black paint. The light can travel through the hot glue. I'm not sure if this is going to work, how do you predict the rate of success? :D

Are you using the MBSID V2 application? Which PIC type are you using? Have you connected the Audio out the right way? If using SIDV2: have you created the CAN bus connections as in the schematic?

Are you using the right PIC type? AFAIK CV runs on an 18F452, while SEQV3 runs on an 18F4620. You might try uploading SEQV2 to test, and verify your PIC model. Cheers, Alex.

the chips basically sound the same filter-wise. The main difference is that the 8580 is more bugfixed than the 6581. This results in a cleaner overall sound (less artifacts) for the 8580, but there is also a disadvantage: a certain bug in the 6581 VCA made it possible to feed it DC, which could be modulated to play samples. This "feature" is missed in the 8580. I think this functionality is useless to midiboxers, we do not play samples over SID. Unless you are building your SID solely for playing old SID tunes via ASID or similar, 8580/6582 is the chip to get for cleanest performance. If you're into a lo-fi sound with the forementioned artifacts 6581 can be a lot of fun too. But the frequently told story that 8580 is better for lead sounds and 6581 is better for fat basses is not true -at least in TK's schematic for the SID- because 8580 is just as good with basses. in one sentence: 6581 is for lo-fi applications and C64 tune players, 8580/6582 is for hi-fi music making. Cheers, Alex.

Hi Prof, would you care to explain how you made these? I've bought some dirt-cheap LDRs with the intention to create vactrols out of them, if you have some tips about how to position the LEDs and LDRs and how to create the light proof package I'd be very grateful. Cheers, Alex.

Apparently I misunderstood "opaque", I thought it meant "not transparent, but a bit (diffuse) translucent". My bad. As I said I'll need them in my hands before I can make a final judgement. If I'm not going to use them I'll throw them in the fleamarket. I do have some transparent ones spare (I got them waaaay back, might have been the same batch TK got his from) so I'm not panicing ;)

OMG :o this is not at all what I expected to have ordered, I expected knobs that are a little bit translucent (opaque). I'll wait until I have them in my hands for a final comment...

I'm still waiting for an invoice, never got one... :(

It's perfectly OK to use heatsinks, just don't share a single one among the different regs ;)

I would say: enlarge your own panel to fit over the existing piece, and then screw and/or glue it together.

lol, why even mention that, it's ALWAYS raining over here :P

220/230v is for pussies, I can't count the number of times it got me. One time I even lit a bulb by acidentally grabbing 2 wires. Just never do stuff like that when nobody is around to turn off the circuit breaker in case you get stuck :o

Great work TK!

He was selling 2044 VCF's as well but I got them first, sorry ;)

Paid.

vactrols are essentially just an LED and an LDR in a light proof package, right? Isn't it quite easy to build those yourself?