Wilba

Excuse me if I missed this in the discussions... did you leave the space left of C5 empty on purpose, so you can mount C5 flat against the PCB? ;D

I believe someone else had trouble because their username had "/" in it. If you still have trouble, just let me know.

Oh look what just fell off my desk... a tube of YM262 and a reel of YAC512. Green Xenon, if you want an OPL3 chipset, just PM me. ;D

[move]I dare you I am lame[/move] Last edited by Santa Claus

I'm confused, why wouldn't you just use regular airmail?

It looks fantastic. It's got that old-school vibe to it, like it's a tribute to TK's original MB-SID case, but with the V2 mods to the CS and in sexy red and black. It's good to see someone build their own CS the hard way with veroboard and lots of wire, totally original and incredibly cool. You've earned supreme respect from me for wiring up a control surface to match the default MB-6582 switch/LED matrix! That wiring was hard enough to do with "virtual" wires on a PCB - doing it with real wires must have taken a lot of patience and careful planning. In case people were wondering, that is a prototype of the new MB-6582 base PCBs about to go into full production.

It's not a bulk order, it's a MEGA-SALE!

You will need to experiment. But yeah, you could increase the resistor value to 1K, 2K or higher for less brightness and less current per LED. http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm

Atomic is a 16 step sequencer composing tool with a built in synth that also has the ability to control other softsynths or even hardware via it's MIDI out function. The design is circular which allows a different approach to composing and sound design. Inspired by circular step sequencers such as the Buchla Arbitrary Function Generator and Future Retro Revolution. Dedicated to electronic music pioneer Allen Strange (1943-2008) http://www.algomusic.net/ambatomic.html maybe old news, but I found the demo an interesting toy to play with for a few hours, although all the time thinking about how a MIDIbox hardware version could be made ;D

It's not a group buy, it's a MEGA-SALE!

Matrix loves Sasha... :-* http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2008/05/lasering-midi-controller-sub-panel.html Not the first time Sasha makes it into Matrixsynth... does he read the MIDIbox forums or does Sasha pimp his work? :P

I don't know about which .sid tune tests the filters, but I do know that the opening of Warhawk uses all three oscillators evenly... i.e. there's a sort of delay effect achieved by osc 1 playing a note followed by osc 2 and then osc 3, all with slow release phases. Therefore it would be a quick test to hear if all the oscillators are working and sound the same.

Looks like an interesting project... I wish I had a vintage synth worthy of MIDIfication... The main problem you have with this circuit is the keyboard switches are in a matrix. At a guess, N2-N7 are outputs from IC1, one of these will be high, the rest low. When one is high, then any closed switches (pressed keys) connected to that output will conduct the high signal into B11,B12,B21,B22,B31,B32. You can view this as a group of six keys being "sampled" as each of the N2-N7 outputs is cycled. (Also, some other switches are sampled this way, like the waveform switch). Now perhaps the easiest (but rather brute force) method of adding MIDI In would be to connect something like a 4066 chip, i.e. bilateral switches, in parallel with each switch of the keyboard, and then connecting the control pin to a DOUT pin, and running the MIDIIO128 application. The application should be easy to configure and not require any real coding to get things working. One 4066 chip could drive four keys. See here: http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/CD/CD4066BC.pdf The other more elegant way (which would involve a lot of custom programming) is to work out when N2-N7 is being turned on, and insert your own high signals into B11,B12,B21,B22,B31,B32. This is probably a lot more effort than you'd expect. It's been done before with other synths (see http://www.maxmidi.com/diy/sk1/article.html). Also, it probably won't be possible with MIOS because you'd need a dedicated processor just to make sure B11,B12,B21,B22,B31,B32 are driven high within microseconds of N2-N7 changing, you can't have MIOS interrupting this process. So I'd go for plan A. Watch out for the very bizarre voltages! It looks like everything works on GND being "high" and -9V being "low"... this complicates everything, as I would suspect that IC1 also is running on a 9V difference between high and low... perhaps a 4066 won't work then... and you'll need some other solution to control the switches (i.e. relays). Someone with more experience with MIDIfication could help you there.

[me=Wilba]sends nILS some pants.[/me] Glad to hear you're OK.

The JDM connects to the serial port (aka. COM port, RS232 port), typically a 9-pin male DSUB socket. I don't think a USB to serial adapter will work for JDM, as they probably do not generate the +/-12V on the Tx pin which is how JDM generates the programming voltage. Luckily, my "modern PC" isn't so modern that it doesn't have a serial port.

What kind of chips are they? It does makes a difference, as some tunes were written for a specific chip.

What if the layer and channel select buttons were connected to multiple DIN module inputs, one on each Core? i.e. the physical switch is sensed by both Cores at the same time. A switch is pulling the DIN input low, if these switches are not in a matrix of some kind then there's no problem with a switch being connected to multiple DIN inputs, either on the same DIN module or separate DIN modules connected to the same or separate Cores, assuming a common 5V/ground.

One DIN kit is required to use the rotary encoder and switches. You're off to a good start. You ordered almost everything you need. You're right, request all 0's for the ID, and practically any character LCD you find on eBay will be HD44780 compatible. You could even consider a 2x40 LCD for a "simple" MB-SID (i.e. without all the knobs) and then display 10 menu items at once (with 10 buttons underneath the LCD). Or stick with your plan of a 2x20 LCD and 5 buttons underneath. Taking it slow is a good thing. Get the Core kit done, get the LCD working, even get the DIN kit connected and upload the MB-SID application and connect the buttons, even before you get the SID module going perhaps... get familiar with uploading MIOS applications and proving your Core works fine... then tackle the connection to the SID module, the extra power supply requirements, etc. You might gain confidence this way and some satisfaction seeing text on the LCD, and some interaction with buttons and encoder... and start planning your control surface.

I've notified people on my waiting list who want four SIDs. If there are no buyers in a week (unlikely!), I'll buy them back off you for what you paid (less postage).

hey buhler, I noticed that my PLED is very noisy in my MB-6582, do you notice any noise caused by your PLED? i.e. if you powered on with the PLED disconnected, do you notice a big difference in noise (ground noise)? Can you hear a different pitch of noise depending on what is being displayed on the screen?

He meant HD44780. PLEDs look great, but they can fail unexpectedly and have a much shorter lifespan than LCDs, which is why PLEDs (at least these character displays) were discontinued. They are also very noisy when used in an MB-SID. I'm talking high-pitched digital noise that apparently is getting into the ground, and from my experience, SIDs are fantastic at amplifying a noisy ground... you won't really know if it bothers you until you try one, as it might also vary between PLED make/model. Just be warned.

I just bought a thousand SSM2044 filter chips... if anyone wants one, send one dollar to Happy Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Don't delay. Eternal happiness is just a dollar away. for the humour impaired, that's a joke

Blue LEDs are bad. Seriously. I regret the blue LEDs now on my MB-6582. One or two blue LED indicators on your notebook or monitor are fine, a whole panel lit up like a Christmas tree in blue LEDs is way too much for your eyes to handle, and a black panel makes it even worse. They may look good in photos, but it's not until you're looking at it in real life that you discover how bad blue light is, even at relatively low brightness levels. (My second MB-6582 uses red LEDs and it's a lot easier to look at! Green would be similarly cool). People should also avoid white LEDs, as they are essentially a blue and yellow LED put in one package, tricking the eye into thinking it's white because it's stimulating the red, green and blue sensors of the retina. Avoid anything with UV as well! Those purple ones are just as bad as blue. FYI: http://texyt.com/bright+blue+leds+annoyance+health+risks

No problems with that design... This is exactly how MB-SID V1 worked, where up to three slave PICs were controlled from a master PIC with direct Tx->Rx connections, plus the MIDI Out via 220 ohm resistors. However, I would suggest headers and jumpers that lets you switch the MIDI In/Out connections between the two PICs, i.e. some way of connecting each PIC directly to MIDI In/Out sockets (via an optocoupler). This will make uploading new firmware easier. Also, have you considered how you would deal with separating SysEx dumps (for SEQ patterns and FM patches) to/from each PIC? Maybe a couple of SPDT switches near the MIDI In/Out ports are an option.

Count me in for 2,000 in ultrapink!