Wilba

The "blue" are not that blue, and are actually quite grey-ish and neutral. I chose "blue" on my MB-6582 because I was going to use blue LEDs, but after receiving them, I actually thought I had got some kind of "clear" because they really weren't blue like the transparent red ones. IMHO I think that any LED colour would match... (please excuse gratuitous gear porn photo) Here's the same knobs (I believe) on Jackan's MB-SID ... and just so we know what we're talking about with "red" (no introduction necessary) I must admit, the red ones look great too, I had a hard time deciding which ones to get (stryd_one can testify, I think we debated about it for weeks!) If I was voting, I would vote for opaque white for the same reason as Sasha... the contrast would look much better than any of the transparent ones, and match a white-on-black panel perfectly.

A very relevant thread about the knobs from ALBS http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=9558.0

Many people have asked about the knob that TK uses on his MB-SID, and the ones on my MB-6582, and it's been posted many times in the forum that these knobs come from ALBS (http://www.albs.de). Here's a picture of the ones I use ("transparent blue"): The "transparent red" ones are on TK's MB-SID, here's a close-up from subatomicglue's blog: http://www.subatomicglue.com/sidl0g/IMG_1388.JPG As the stock of these knobs have run out, Balthasar from ALBS told me he was thinking about manufacturing more. The minimum production is 5000 pieces, so he asked me what colour I preferred. I assume he means the inner colour, the knob would still be black. What colour I prefer is a bit irrelevant, so I am polling the MIDIbox community (especially all those people who are building an MB-6582) which knobs they prefer, and then telling Balthasar the results. There are options other than those shown above, perhaps "opaque white" and "clear" should also be considered. So vote if you're planning to buy these knobs soon or in the future... enough votes might actually get them produced!

I had the pleasure of buying from Maplin when I was in London recently doing an exhibition, we urgently needed a 10m VGA cable so we could put the projector in the ceiling of our booth. £39.99 for a 10m VGA cable? That's like three times the price here. Scandalous indeed!

DO NOT USE ANYTHING ELSE. These are so goddamn cheap that there's no reason why you shouldn't have one. Also, it's a good idea to use an extra IC socket when you plug SID into your PCB, as then it's a lot easier to remove while you're testing/building your MB-SID. Once it's all working, you can plug the SID in directly.

It's in the wiki! http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=encoder_specifications http://www.voti.nl/docs/rotary-encoder.jpg

If by "UNISON mode" you mean play each of the four SID engines simultaneously from the same note events, then you can do that now in V1, and do it with even less latency in V2, since all PICs receive the same MIDI In. Just configure each SID engine to the same MIDI channel ;D This actually sounds awesome when using the Multi engine, as you then get 6-note polyphony and can detune or transpose each SID engine to layer/fatten the sound (i.e. four oscs per note).

I don't mind if someone accidentally overlooks a post, especially when they then pay within 10 minutes. ;D

I can produce a DXF version of the panels manually... I should probably do this anyway for getting quotes on the panel bulk order, I think a lot of places prefer DXF files.

To start with, the panel is 1.5mm thick to suit the case. Maybe plastic that thin with a lot of ribbing behind it would be strong enough, but part of the "design" of the MB-6582 was to let the panel reinforce (and straighten!) the PCB, since the PCB is so large, the warping is obvious.

I also had a little trouble taking off the "Waldorf" knobs, but I used the end of a plastic cable tie, which didn't scratch the panel or knob. You could lightly sand the encoder shaft if it really concerns you.

I am still waiting on confirmation of PCB orders, an email address and a PayPal email address from the following people: insky foxtecca Fall_X analog_geek NAS recoil_sun acidman Last chance.

For those who are interested, here's the latest version of the panel artwork: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wilba6581/mb-6582/MB-6582_frontpanel.fpd http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wilba6581/mb-6582/MB-6582_rearpanel.fpd ... and because a lot of you don't have (or really want) Front Panel Designer installed, here's a PDF version of the frontpanel for easy viewing: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wilba6581/mb-6582/MB-6582_frontpanel.pdf I still have to increase the size of the LCD hole to compensate for the LCD being further behind the panel. I know what to do, I just haven't got around to doing the math again. After feedback from TK, I've made the following changes: * new "Channel" button/LED pair above the menu encoder, for quick selection of left, right or both channels (SIDs). * "Shift" and "Menu" buttons are both under the menu encoder. * Envelope "Ctrl" label remains "Assign" like the original. For the seriously curious, here are the latest pics of the PCB: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wilba6581/mb-6582/MB-6582_Base_PCB.pdf http://members.optusnet.com.au/~wilba6581/mb-6582/MB-6582_CS_PCB.pdf I changed the CS PCB to match the new panel layout, and specified the internal route where the LCD bezel will poke through. The base PCB has some minor tinkering of component placements. I also decided to get the PCB manufacturer to route the two notches you need at the top of the board to make it fit in the PT-10 case. I used a Dremel to cut these notches on mine, but not everyone has a Dremel... ;)

I am just doing the PCB order now, and collecting "pre-orders" for panels at the same time to get some quotes.

For what it's worth, manually wiring the SID module ground will probably lead to less noise, if you separate digital ground from audio ground. The SID chip Vss pin should be connected to the audio ground.

http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=8190.msg56754#msg56754 A lot of people will want these knobs to make a "clone" of my MB-6582, so I'll be making a bulk order soon, currently I'm getting a quote to make a new batch of them!

I was thinking for convenience you can setup a Mouser order, because they have a huge range, including the PT-10 case at better price breaks than PacTec, i.e. cheaper than PacTec at the numbers we need. I mean you can hunt around on the net and find some parts cheaper but then you lose the savings in multiple postage costs. I've never ordered from Mouser before but they have a good website for making orders.

Yes, I already factor in PayPal fees in US$20 price.

So you can sequence the sequencer with another sequencer... Brilliant!

OK, I know English isn't everyone's first language, but... It's a very simple instruction. Send your email address please! Send your PayPal email address also. Any more requests without this information will be ignored. Any more posts to this thread telling me you want PCBs will be ignored. The order is officially closing.....

They are actually 10mm threaded spacers, glued to the back of the frontpanel with JB-Weld, PCB is held to those with screws. There are also flathead (countersunk) screws glued to the back of the frontpanel at the corners, which hold the panel to the PT-10 case.

I now have orders for 72 base PCBs, 50 control surface PCBs, and the total "pre-orders" for sets of panels is 42. Obviously I can't wait too long for the last few people to confirm their orders, so I will send out requests for PayPal payments now and start collecting the payments, giving everyone a week to send through their payment, so that by Friday the 13th July, I should have received everyone's payments and can order the PCBs. I know I said before that "No one will be left behind" but there's really no point in holding up this order due to someone who posts once that they want PCBs and then doesn't return. If you expressed interest in buying these PCBs but did not receive a PM from me with my email address asking you to email me with confirmation, then check your messages, and quickly email me! If you can't find it, send me a PM. If you are only just reading about this PCB order and want to join in, you must quickly send me a PM with your email address so I can include you in the PayPal payment requests, and also tell me if you want to join the future bulk order of panels so we can keep that total up to date. Payments received after Friday the 13th July will be politely refunded.

That is really nice to hear, since I'm just about to order 70+ PCBs based on MB-SID V2 using PIC18F4685! ;D

Oops, I didn't mean to imply that 303 acid basslines are boring. ;)

My opinion doesn't count for much, being very n00bish when it comes to sequencing ;) I would prefer the assignable parameter over more sequences. 8 is probably more than I'd use, 16 is therefore way more. I see a lot of potential value of the assignable parameter, esp. for stereo effect and a lot more interesting sequences than just the typical 303 acid bassline. So I vote for the third option, with possibly a one-bit flag which can switch between 8 sequences of 16 steps or 4 sequences of 32 steps (or whatever is meant by "A/B option (chaining)" )