Lall

Salut a tous, Juste un petit post en francais pour vous annoncer deux nouveaux projets/concepts non lies directement a la midibox: VirtuAL3101 et Miss Parker. J'ai deja mis deux posts dans la section misc: http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=misc;action=display;num=1086255002 http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=misc;action=display;num=1086254880 Voici toujours une mini-explication en francais: VirtuAL3101 est un environnement de developpement pour l'AL3101 de chez Alesis: http://www.alesis-semi.com. En fait, on a cree: - un simulateur en ligne de commande pour aider au developpement de .asm. - et un generateur d'applications sur base de modules assembleur histoire qu'on puisse creer des applis sans ecrire une ligne d'assembleur. - Miss Parker est une pedale a effet digitale. On peut recharger des effets dedans par USB et il y a quatre potards pour le controle de parametres (eux aussi assignables a partir du PC). On peut egalement modifier une volee de parametres en plus a partir du PC. Notre site est en anglais mais on peut bien sur donner (a la demande) des explications en francais... http://www.axoris.be A propos, on pense serieusement a: 1) mettre une Miss Parker sans la boite comme post-process audio d'un SID 2) ajouter l'AL3201 de chez Alesis a notre Miss Parker et donc aussi au SID pour pouvoir faire de la reverb... A+ Lall

Hi Thorsten, hi all, I'm slowly thinking of making PCBs for my Quad-SID and was wondering about the proposed change... Do I understand correctly from the thread above and from the fact that MIOS 1.7 is available for download that the HW/MIOS modifications are now validated? In other words, can I modify the PCBs according to the changes proposed or should I still wait a little while? Thanks in advance, Lall

Our DSP it the AL3101 from Alesis semiconductors now called Wavefront, here are the two links: http://www.alesis-semi.com/index.html http://www.wavefrontsemi.com/index.html Best regards, Lall

The EZ-USB is indeed getting short on resources on the program memory point of view. The main problem is the way they have implemented their IO port; it is done differently from the standard 8051 and it unfortunately costs a lot of program memory to do serial communication as the one we have with the AL3101. As addition of MIDI is planned, there will be a need to write some piece of code in assembly to gain on memory but that has not started yet. I've only performed basic easy optimization so far... Lall

Hi all, I'm again very proud to present the other "project" of our team. The project is about a tool suite for the AL3101 from Alesis (or now Wavefront) that we call VirtuAL3101. This DSP is actually a nice small DSP very dedicated to audio processing and was already the subject of some posts in here. The problem to our opinion is the lack of development tools for the DSP. So, we've started developing our own tools for this chip and we now have: - an assembler/disassembler - a command-line simulator - an application generator: AgALag In the kitchen, we are also working on: - a simulator with a GUI - generating automatically projects for the Miss Parker generator from AgALag - adding to the Miss Parker manager the possibility of controlling any AL3101 board via a dynamic library system For us, this project is of course very much linked to the Miss Parker project but anybody using the AL3101 can use VirtuAL3101. Some more explanations, screenshots, demo songs are available from our website at http://www.axoris.be in the VirtuAL3101 section. Some Win32 packages are also available for download... Feedback and comments is of course very welcome... Best regards, Lall on behalf of the "Axoris team" (isn't it a big word for a group of friends ;))

Hi all, I'm proud to present the Miss Parker concept to you guys. The concept is quite simple, it is an effect pedal aimed first for guitarists but also for keyboardists which contains an AL3101 DSP. The effects are downloadable and controllable from the PC via a USB link (using the EZ-USB chip). On top of this the pedal has for potentiometers to control effect parameters, an input for an expression pedal and of course an on/off button. The project is open-hardware, open-firmware and open-source (even though some parts are not available from the web yet but only on demand). The aim is also to build a collection of assembly modules for the AL3101 that can be shared amongst users. Anybody could in theory build a Miss Parker; it is actually an ADIY (Almost DIY for experimented guys) project as the board would be hard to etch and solder by amateurs. It's unfortunately not "as easy" as a MidiBox but that was the price to pay to have it fit in a pedal enclosure. In any case, some pictures, schematics, layouts, demo sounds are better than long sentences so let me invite you on our website at http://www.axoris.be in the Miss Parker section. Feedback and comments is of course very welcome... :D Lall on behalf of the "Axoris team" (isn't it a big word for a group of friends ;))

Indeed, very interesting idea. This would help reducing significantly the size of the boards. Why not then make an ultra-slim sequencer/SID that can fit in a small suitcase ;D If you go for it, maybe you can look at alternative chips (if they can easily be found in shops) that work in 16-bits instead of 8. I found some on the web for AIN, DIN or DOUT I don't remember. That would also help reduce the size. Best regards, Lall

Salut, Pour melanger un thru et un out, il te faut un merger... Le merger propose ici a l'air assez simple a construire, y a juste un PIC et de deux opto-coupleurs et l'affaire est dans le sac... A+ Lall

Salut, Comme je le disais, j'ai pas de beau rack 1U ou de StepC mais une super boite a chaussure toute ouverte pour loger mon SID. C'est pas tres beau mais qu'est-ce que c'est facile a percer une boite a chaussure ;D Enfin, l'idee est quand même de le mettre en boite un de ces 4... A+ Lall

Salut a tous, Juste un petit post pour faire partager ma joie, mon SID a enfin emis son premier son hier :) :) :) J'ai pas fait de photo car c'est pas tres beau, j'ai tout fixe dans le couvercle d'une boite a chaussure. Enfin ca a son petit style... 8) A+ Lall

Salut a tous, Voila le resume pour Xanboroon et moi (faut qu'on se force l'un l'autre sinon on prend pas le temps ;))... Le but est d'avoir la combinaison quad-SID et sequenceur. On se fait les "grosses" interfaces pour les deux, on va donc faire peter 7 unites de rack d'un coup :o. Histoire de se faire la main (Schaeffer, mise en boite, Lazertrans, ...), on va surement commencer par un mono-SID en rack 1U ;D. Voila, voila, A+ Lall

Salut, Y en a chez GoTronic (www.gotronic.fr) dans la rubrique passif / potentiometres / pots a glissiere. J'avais achete des pots similaires y a quelques annees chez eux et ils etaient pas mal du tout. Par contre, je ne sais pas ce que ceux-la valent. A+ Lall

Hi all, Very interesting discussion... let me react on some points. The idea is not to redesign three boards but actually "only" one. Indeed, the master core will remain as it is and the master SID too. Only one slave core and one SID will be merged into one board. As a result, we would have 1 standard core PCB, 1 standard SID PCB and 3 Core+SID PCBs. Wilba, your point about updates is a very good one. To a certain extent, this structure ensures that we can benefit from HW updates which I hope will mainly affect the main core and of course from software updates. This should also allow people to add as many combined boards as they need therefore keeping some modularity. The reasons why we are thinking about it is: - less fixing as there will be less boards so less mechanical "problems" - less cables between boards as the combined ones will only need MIDI and power. - less PCB space but that's not really the main goal for us - less PCBs to etch as I'm considering doing it myself. Finally, when I look at the Core and at the SID and when I look at what can be removed if we go for a combination, I believe we have good chances of having it fit on a half euro size. Therefore, the eagle light version should be OK which is a must as Arumblack mentions. An argument in favor is also that the redesign of the PCB is actually about removing some parts and copy/pasting the SID onto the core so the work should remain limited. We'll still think about it for a while and give more news later on. I may still give a try to this combined board to check if this makes sense from PCB point of view at all. Best regards, Lall

Hi all, Xanboroon and myself are planning to build some Quad-SID and sequencer. We have received our SID chips and are now starting to think about practical details. As we plan to build 3 Quad-SID in total, that makes a total of 12 Core and 12 SID PCBs which is quite a lot I must say. To reduce that number, we thought about combining the Core and SID on one single board. This would apply for the slave cores on which a lot of connectors, parts, ... can be removed. We would then have 1 Core, 1 SID and 3 combined Core+SID. Before starting playing with Eagle for hours, I just wanted to check whether someone would have already done that or not. Re-use is the best thing on earth, isn't it? Â ;) If it's not available yet, then we'll make it available when it will be tested of course. Best regards, Lall

Hi SmashTV, Indeed, you're right. Stupid me! I didn't thought that the boundary was in the other direction... By rotating the whole stuff first, I can know make some space available around the board. Thanks a lot :D Best regards, J-C

Hi all, I have successfully etched a few boards incl. Core, DIN, DOUT, AIN and SID ;D. I'm currently playing around with Eagle Light to make use of the "lost" space I have when making a core on a 16x10 board (2cm remaining on top and below of the core). I'd like to put more space between components and some connectors and stuff like that... I've tried grouping all the components of the core together and move them (also cut/paste them) but Eagle complains that this is not possible in the Light version :'(. Does any of you know if there's a work-around for that? I don't feel like moving all parts one by one... Thanks in advance, Best regards, Lall

Hi Steven, If you want to make a VCF, you should take a look at the NE5517 datasheet (LM13600 and LM13700 are pin-to-pin compatible equivalents). This chip is a transconductance amplifier or in other words a current-controlled amplifier. With a few limited passive components, you can build a VCA, VCF, ...; schematics are available in the datasheets. The current used to control the chip can be generated by a DAC. I'm pretty sure you can find 8-bits DACs with parallel input capabilities. If not, you'll find easily some DAC controlled by IIC. Those chips have a quite broad application scope but are also well suited for audio. Moreover, they are not too expensive and are available in "solderable" packages. Best regards, Lall

Hi JMJ, I don't know if there are some software around allowing the mapping of MIDI messages on Windows events such as mouse move or keyboard click... A possible solution would be to use the USB module and to modify the firmware normally provided with it so that it behaves as a HID instead of a MIDI device. By doing so, Windows could see your device as a keyboard and a mouse at the same time. There is a sample code on the Cypress website (http://www.cypress.com/support/software_download.cfm?objectID=D9D37BC1-AEB0-42E1-A63093AABECD1E69&tid=0AC3D3A6-D363-4D3B-98ACB18079FBE66B) for such a thing. Kind regards, Lall

Hi, The very strange thing about this is that Windows really gives the impression that it is installing a valid driver. It just does everything as for a HID for example which works. I think trying to understand MS is far too much work for a life ;) Thanks anyway... Kind regards, Lall

Hi all, Why not using an AL3101 between the optorec and the D/A? This would allow you to make the mix digitally and apply effects like compressors, equalizers, ... on the channels almost for free. Of course, the drawback is that you would then need a micro-controller to convert the fader signals into something usable by the DSP but on the other hand, only one D/A would be required... In any case, that would rock... 8) Kind regards, Lall

Hi all, First of all, thanks Thorsten for the work made here and to all for the interesting and living forum. I was just keeping on reading posts up to now but it is time for my first questions here. Let me explain first what I'm trying to do. I have for some time an EZ-USB development kit available. I'm running Windows 98 Second Edition and the tool set from Cypress works correctly. I've tried to play with HID devices which Win98 handles quite good and I've then decided to give a try to the mbhp_USB... Now comes the problem... Here is what happens: - I download the mbhp_usb.hex file on the board using the Cypress tool. - Windows finds the new device and proposes me to install the relevant drivers. - I install those drivers, Windows asks for its own CD and install some USB audio stuff. - Finally I have to reboot - The computer finally hangs when it restart => black screen. - I make a hard reset and let Windows start again. - Windows finds again the new device, install drivers and reboot... First question: I know from the site that Thorsten made his tests under Windows 2000 but has anybody tried out the mbhp_USB under Windows 98SE? Second question: should I burn the EEPROM so that it works? Third question (a stupid one...): how do I erase the EEPROM after? As far as I've seen, when the EZ-USB board is running a HID firmware for example, the Cypress tool doesn't work anymore. I guess it will be the same with the MIDI firmware. As the board is not mine, I'd like to avoid making something stupid :-[ Thanks in advance... Best regards, Lall