nebula

Where's the fun in that?

Good price, too.

The second one is 24V centre-tapped, which is likely ideal for + 12V and - 12V. Since you're wiring mains-level AC to the other side, take precautions! Use some heat-shrinkable tubing to go over those connections so that you don't give yourself a nasty jolt when you're poking around with the power on. A fuse inside your enclosure would probably be a good idea here. Anything from a 1 amp to 5 amp AGC fuse will protect you from a dead short.

Most of the encoders used by builders here are detented, that is to say they have 24 "click stops" per revolution. I am aware of the track selectors on the pro Sony players, and the common encoders around here would do a job like that perfectly. Usually MIDIboxers use the encoders on this Wiki page: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=encoders

If you look at the schematic where B40C800 is, you may substitute it for 4 diodes of type 1N4001, as they are shown in the schematic. A bridge rectifier is really just 4 diodes in one pretty package. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode_bridge

I really like the blue metalflake finish on the panel. It looks like paint you would use on a car.

Looking good! If your DIL connection is good, and you can wiggle it without causing any weirdness, I wouldn't recommend you bother changing it. You could probably clean up the connections on the LCD though :) (They often start out messy while you are trying to figure out which conductors are which)

100 of these can be had from HKSS for $138. Maybe somebody should do a bulk order.

For what it's worth I bit the bullet and bought these from Hong Kong Superseller: http://cgi.ebay.com/6-Dual-500K-Blend-Balance-Pickups-Pots-Potentiometer-DP_W0QQitemZ290268557894QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item290268557894&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 They fit perfect, and I have two left for the 2x 6581 box I plan to build. For knobs I just manhandled some knobs meant for a D-shaft (in other words, I just forced 'em on).

Panel mount is quick 'n easy. Plus, DIN sockets usually have weird lead spacing and can be hard to fit into some prototype boards. But the nice thing about board mount is that you can just pull the board out of the enclosure when you want to work on it, without having to unscrew all your panel mount jacks or disconnect them. Just pick up some square drill bits! It's a matter of preference. There are a lot of different foil patterns on prototyping boards. I usually choose either the "pad per hole" style or the "breadboard" style (with little sets of 4 pins that connect together, plus power rails, similar to a breadboard), although stripboard has its uses. The perfboard with no foil is the cheapest, and sometimes the easiest, but you will always need to manually make every connection. It is also the easiest to cut to size. When possible you should always try to make a physical connection before soldering. Counting on the molten solder to bridge a connection will work, but it is usually less reliable. On perfboard, try to make your component lead reach the component you have to connect to, and fish it underneath, maybe making a little hook with some needlenose pliers. This is not a rule, it's just good practice. Don't undo anything you have done now, it's probably fine... you can usually spot the cold solder joints because they will either be dull, discoloured, or have an irregular shape - good solder joints look like liquid. Yes it should, a little. Can't wait! Actual crimpers are a must for those little buggers. As well as few extra terminals to practice on and ruin. Good luck with your SID! I have just completed my MB-6582 and I have pretty much only done stuff so far with a single pair of SIDs. It FAR exceeded my expectations. I always loved the C64, and C64 music, but MIDIbox really takes it to a new level. As you toil over finding parts, making messes, burning yourself, and forking over money for whatever parts you can find while dealing with back orders on the parts you can't find, and having no social life, remember that you are making something open source which is way better for making music than any other commercial SID product, including the Commodore 64 itself.

Some suggestions: If you only have a perfectly good, working C64, consider asking around the forum (a "fleamarket" post might be a good idea) to see if anybody might be willing to donate an already-gutted case. If you were planning to sacrifice your C64, maybe they would accept it in trade. When designing, don't forget that any wiring to your front panel needs to be long enough that you can take off the panel, turn it over and lay it flat on your worksurface, so you can see all your connections to work on them. But they need to be short enough so that you can put it back together without all those wires bunching up so tightly that you can't get the panel on! One way to do this is to use 1-2 cm standoffs (spacers) to attach your DIN boards to the veroboard your encoders are mounted on. You could then mount your core module inside the case, and only need a small ribbon to your panel! (Maybe there's not enough room - you could make mockup boards from cardboard while you wait for your parts to arrive and figure it out for yourself). If there's not enough room, or if you want to mount your DINs to the bottom of the case instead, then you'll still need to make the wiring to the encoders as tidy as you can. To 64 encoders, you need to run 128 wires to your DINs!!! Instead of using plain veroboard, you might do well to design and etch your own PCB to put them all on, or else at least use stripboard so that all your interconnections are at the edge of the board instead of the middle. By "design and etch" I don't mean you need to use Eagle or something. Just get some copper-clad board and draw your traces using a permanent black felt marker, let the ink dry, blot some more ink on your lines, then drop the whole thing in some etchant. Presto, you've just made a board, just to bring the connections from all those encoders to a tidy row.

Interesting! I learned something today :) So ... this "lute stop", is it normally operated with a pedal? Do you use it with varying amounts of pressure, or is it strictly "on/off"? If pressure is variable, you would most likely use a servo, similar to a motorfader. You could probably even adapt MIDIbox MF module to control it. Or, if you could find a solenoid that would work harder by varying its current, you could probably get by with only 4-8 dynamic levels, selected with a DOUT. Each DOUT pin would be connected a different resistor (likely a trimpot), all of which would connected to the base of one FET, which could control pressure. I think there is industrial automation equipment that does this type of stuff. If it is simply on/off, you could control it with a single DOUT connected to a solenoid.

I always thought Harpsichord isn't a very dynamic instrument ... Oh well. Another approach would be to have a single DOUT pin for each note all held low at 0V by the PIC, going high to 5V to play the appropriate note. Then you have a single bank of (say) 8 DOUT pins on the other side of the circuit representing 8 different dynamic levels. Using different resistors for each output of the final "dynamic" DOUT, you could effectively choose which resistor is used to complete the circuit to activate your string plucker. You have created a matrix where one axis controls the note, and the other, the dynamics. The problem with that method is that you couldn't have loud and quiet notes happening at the same instant. All notes played at one time would have to be through the same "dynamic" DOUT pin.

There is a timestamping capability for USB MIDI interfaces, in which the messages are sent to the interface shortly before they are actually to be sent out. The protocol calls for a timestamp, and when that time occurs, the interface sends out the message. This is to improve MIDI timing. MIDI timecode is essentially hours/minutes/seconds/frames encoded over MIDI. It is used to synchronize devices like DAWs, tape decks, video ... It should not be confused with MIDI clock, which is simply a byte sent out 24 times per quarter note, and its rate will vary depending on the tempo of the music - it's used to sync up stuff like drum machines and sequencers.

Works on OS X 10.4.11 on a Mac Pro with a chain of Unitors.

Those buttons look like Oberheim Xpander buttons. Very nice. Hey I never knew that Monolake used a MIDIbox like this. I've been enjoying Monolake for a while, so I just did some surfing. I'm really sorry to hijack this thread so quickly, but on this page he talks about using custom firmware to control the hue of all those gorgeous RGB LEDs. Since this is a user enhancement to existing MIDIbox software, shouldn't it be shared? Anyway, back to the topic at hand: I'm interested in the switches for my seq perhaps, but I'm concerned about the feel. I don't want anything nearly as "snappy" as the E-Switch tact switches I used in my MB-6582. I want something that feels rugged, robust ... Doug, can you describe the samples you got? How much travel is there? Do you have exact dimensions on the caps?

I know this is frivolous, but what about animation on the matrix display, like tenori-on? I have some tri-color LEDs that are just waiting for something to do with that third colour.

So does the Emagic Audiowerk 8.

the DAC is in an SOIC package, which is the easiest surface mount component to install. it is so ridiculously easy to do, that if you have reasonable experience with thru-hole, you'll wonder what you were so worried about. EDIT: deleted factual error. the group buy is indeed underway, although I thought it was on hold. I apologize for the misunderstanding.

The expansion hole fits a standard DB25 perfectly. If you want to route audio through it, the best thing to do would probably be to make a custom cable that has a DB25 on one end to mate with the expansion connector, which "fans out" to 4 stereo, or 8 mono plugs.

It's hidden in plain sight. When you're posting, just below the body of your message, click "Additional Options..." I'd like to see the pics too :)

Sonicwarrior, is there a reason you don't find the AOUT_NG option appealing? It's cheaper, and even with the slightly lower spec, MIDIbox CV made with this circuit has been found to outperform commercial MIDI>CV converters. http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/aout_ng

Hi there. Haven't even read anything yet. I am back. For good. I know there are a couple of people who were missed or shorted on the big mail-out. Please expect a PM within the next day. Just to quell any concerns, anybody who's been shorted can opt out or have me mail the outstanding knobs. I have recently come across a number of spare 12VDC wall wart transformers, and will include one for free to anybody who wants one with their outstanding knobs. I want to get any discrepancies cleared up by the end of the week, and resume my regularly scheduled life. Thanks, Steve.

Hi all, Not rave flu. In fact serious personal problems in which I could not be at home. I will gladly share the issues with anybody who cares to message me privately in need of an explanation. I really don't want to make the gorey, embarrassing details of my misfortunes and screwups public in a forum like this. I trusted a younger relative to mail them out for me. In exchange I gave him 50 bucks. I was lied to. Since then he has become not my relative (due to a divorce and some very bad blood flowing between some people, at which I found myself in the centre). Meanwhile I had to go away for a while, first on an unexpected work detail, then later for (mental) health reasons. I got back last week, and have made the situation right. Everybody's knobs are on the way. I assume no shame in this matter - these were circumstances beyond my control. Please give me a day or two to get caught up in what's left of my life and I will return to this forum. Sorry to all who were inconvenienced by this.

Hi all, It did take me longer to get this stuff organized than I thought. I got swamped with a variety of gigs musical and non-musical. Counting these things was not so bad, but re-counting SUCKS. A few packages were mailed out last week, and with only a couple of exceptions, the rest went today or will go tomorrow. If your package is not mailed out by tomorrow you will receive a PM with the details - most likely we have some special arrangement that needs to be completed. Thanks everybody for your patience.