nebula

Without innovation there is only stagnation! I find the 3372 concept more intriguing, but probably out of my league, unless the CEM fairy sprinkles my house with filter chips. I was surfing the Wiki (yes I do have a life thank-you) and found this: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/ssm2044_pcb The MB-SID application already allows envelopes and LFOs to be routed to CV for external filters. I wish I had more experience than what the documentation suggests, but I hope to be getting sounds out of my MB-6582 by the end of next week (after which I may be able to speak with more nameity). Since I assume the mode selection isn't there in the MB-SID app anyway, you could probably do as well for now with 4 toggle switches ;D Regardless, I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect a switched "filter on/off" parameter suitable for Seppo's board, which could be enhanced to be a list of choices other than on/off. By making this control a user-selectable number of bits, you could theoretically tack on as many filters as you want (CEM, SSM, ladder, 303, whatever), pick from them within the SID UI, and store them with your patches. By the way please don't think I'm telling you to do or not to do anything. This is "Design Concepts", so I am just sharing my thoughts. Cheers

Yanko, It sounds like you're trying to build 6 of the same MIDIbox. I'm not accusing you of anything, but why do you want 6 COREs if you have never built a MIDIbox? Do you realize that you are not allowed to build them to sell? BTW if you order direct from SmashTV's web site, weight for everything you list totals 6 pounds. I don't know if this helps.

True, but ... you would need a D/A plus an A/D when the circuits are right there beside each other. Voltage control would work, but would add extra expense and more to go wrong. If, down the road, either of those components goes out of calibration, most of your patches would end up using the wrong filter mode! A standard DOUTX4 module would be usable to select 16 modes from 4 filters. Looking at this schematic you could lose the A/D and everything to the left of it, and connect the 4 digital lines directly to half of a 74HC595 on a DOUT. I think if external filter mode switching were ever to be added to the MIDIbox app, it would use this method instead of the voltage-control method. As it is, Seppo's SSM2044 board in development provides for a simple digital on/off control. If we think of "on" and "off" as two possible filter "modes", then this scheme becomes scalable (interfacing with a hypothetical 256-mode filter would not be a problem, but would you want to use a CV to switch between 256 modes?) The filter "modes" could then be named by the builder as part of a table when compiling the SID app.

Maybe you're thinking like I am: each OPL3 as a voice with its own external filter. There's nothing like excess!

*whack*

... any Canadians found this case for under $40?

I'm waiting for samples!

Damn. I think I just need to start building this thing. I'm becoming delusional, or else just not remembering things right. For some reason I was under the impression that these switches I have wouldn't be quite right, but I guess they'll be just fine. I don't have my panel yet to check... http://spec.e-switch.com/P-J/P010005C.pdf

Edit the Wiki. Brilliant.

I have a big bag of 13 mm tactiles switches (not 13.5 mm as specified). The shaft is the correct diameter, including taper. I want to start building my panel once the encoders arrive - likely early next week. Will I be able to achieve this with the slightly smaller switches? Best I can figure out is that the board will need to be 0.5 mm closer to the panel, which will only serve to raise my knobs by a negligible amount. Wilba: am I missing anything?

I wish I could hear that filter ... looks awesome. But since it's not going in a modular, I sorta question the merits of making the mode selection voltage controlled if you intend to use this as part of a MB-SID. Wouldn't it be easier to just add some DOUTs?

MAX6007 doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere in North America, so the min is around 2500 pieces. Digi-Key has MAX525 for around $38 each. Since my sample requests have been unsuccessful so far, I'm going to buy two MAX525. The LM4051 Adjustable seems perfect. The pinout is different, so it looks like you'd have to rotate it 1/3 turn clockwise and add a couple of resistors on pin 1, then it should work with no problem. Otherwise it looks generally superior to MAX6007. Did anybody actually try the National shunt?

I will check, but that Rapid price is pretty inexpensive, and you can get exactly as many as you need.

The P401 is sold in multiples of 1000. I am already asking what the minimums are for other products. Last night I checked my samples at home. I have the 3 Flexi-fit knobs: F311, F313, F317. They are all nice to look at and feel great in operation. I took some pictures. I think I would like to also order some F311 or F313 knobs. Pics to follow

Prof: Neutrik (USA) also told me that P401 is discontinued. Either they're out of sync, or they just don't care enough to make the effort to sell Re'an. A few days ago I got this directly from Werfo: I'd like to reiterate that I don't want to annoy them with five of us going in and requesting small-potatoes quotes all for the same stuff at the same time. So ... let's instead dream a little ... maybe we could do up the motherlode Re'an order that would put DIY on their map! I have a little bag of samples at home. I'm going to pull them out and snap a couple of pictures tomorrow night. I'm presently waiting for samples of P401 to arrive. Perhaps by that time we will have a better picture on some other stuff we might like to order as well. So ... put your thinking cap on. Remember that it's best if we order up all of this stuff at once. I am not insisting on being the guy who does it, although I am willing. Why don't you list some Re'an knobs you like enough to take 50-100 of. Talk about the colours you like and dislike. Talk about what knobs are useful and useless for MIDIbox stuff. In a few weeks I'll have my P401 samples (sorry I don't want to act without 'em), and I will be able to verify the quality of the samples I already have.

Quick note to all: I plan to order a large quantity of Re'an encoder knobs from a Canadian distributor. They are soft-touch, push-on knobs that look like this (but BLACK): I am not aware yet of my exact minimum order, but estimates are approximately 2000-3000 pieces. I only want 100. They would be perfect for MB-SEQ, MB-LC, or on anything where you want to densely pack some encoders. I hope to offer them out in multiples of 100. I have been quoted a pretty good price. And I highly doubt I will have them before January. I will have more details next week. There is a lot I'm not sure of yet, so please don't hijack this thread - if you have questions or want to make suggestions pertaining to a possible bulk order of Re'an knobs, post here: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=10125.0

I have made some progress here. Looks like I'll be getting at least some P401 black, possibly some other knobs. Stay tuned.

I got what I believe was a bullshit reply from some guy in NYC who said he asked Neutrik USA, who told him P401 is discontinued. One of the two New York reps I contacted had forwarded my email to him. The other one didn't even want to deal with me, and that I should instead order through Newark. Still no quote from the Canadian rep, but at least his cell phone number is on his web site ;D If I have no luck by the end of the day I'm going to contact Werfo (Re'an parent company) directly and tell them about my luck. Maybe they will at least rag on their reps for not doing their job. It seems all these reps want to sell big, expensive stuff, and knobs just aren't worth their time.

I don't know about Sysex, but according to the site it allows parameter editing via CC.

They communicate using a proprietary protocol over a 6-pin DIN cable. They get their power from the host synth. I've looked at this, and I think it sounds great but expensive (79 Euro), but might be worthwhile. After all, a stock JX-3P can't do MIDI and a PG-200 at the same time. Still, "MIDIbox PG" is exactly what I was thinking of calling a PG-200 / PG-800 clone that actually can communicate over the programmer bus. I suspect the PG-800 and PG-200 are likely very similar in the way they talk to the synth. I think, when I eventually get to this project, I'll build a MIDIbox64 first, with the JX parameters hard-coded into it, and have it control a JX-3P with MIDI Expansion Kit. Phase 2 would then be to create a custom interface via Roland Programmer cable. Awesome! Testimonials are always helpful when it comes to deciding about stuff like this.

Wilba, how does the time frame look on these?

That's some outstanding photography, Wilba! They look delicious!

Good point. Stupid of me. Always avoid euphemisms in discussions like this, or risk looking dumb like I just did. It does? I don't believe altitude is the vendor. Alti is merely the enabler - the helper. (See below) I see where you're going with this, but ... what is substandard for some is perfectly adequate for others. Did Altitude overlook 1 or 2 really bad ones? I dunno, maybe ... as far as I'm concerned however, I paid very little money for my panel, it's a DIY project, and the "big picture" here is that you end up with a kickass MIDIbox SID V2 regardless of some imperfections on the panel. For me, it won't affect the sound quality, so I'm totally cool with whatever my panel looks like. All I cared about in the first place is that the cuts are in the right spots. Because he's a person. He's not a big corporation, a manufacturer, or even a small business. He's a MIDIboxer! If you think Alti did poorly, don't buy from him again. But holding him responsible for hundreds of dollars in shipping means that maybe he won't make his rent. Or afford tires for his car. Or feed his kid. Or pay his credit card bill. Maybe you don't care, but I do. If it was that big a deal to me, I'd let it go, get better panels elsewhere, and be out only a few bucks. Rather than put one individual out by a crippling sum of money. Besides: do you realize at this point in time given the number of interested people who "missed" the MB-6582 panel order, that even your imperfect panels are likely worth more right now than what you paid? As I write this I am considering buying them from you! I think you're letting your pure logic cloud your human decency. That's akin to blaming your stock broker when your stocks tank. Um.... how about the panel vendor? Dude, even if my silkscreen looks like I spilled "Liquid Paper" all over the panel and called it "done", I would still rather have the panel now than send it back again. I want to move on with this project. If Altitude had taken the time to canvass every buyer in this forum it would have slowed me down. And with all due respect, to me, my time is just as valuable as your panel. So they weren't perfect, but perhaps adequate for most, and Altitude sent the panels out. I'm glad he did.

Greg, how are you doing with this? Was this resolved? The garbage characters sound like a missing wire, or like maybe you got some of the data interface lines (0-7) reversed.

:) Good stuff ... Suggestion: "crystalsforboxes" table should be part of this page IMHO