arumblack

You're right about the vectorboard. It is best if you can find the ones with the copper pads around the holes. You can do the whole thing on vectorboard if you want, but i think that would be a lot of work. well, compared to ordering the premade boards.... The mixer could be done, but if you plan on reusing the original C64 case like Thorsten did, it is very tight in there with a full 4xsid and full cs. I would think about a rack mount case, which is wider than the c64 panel, to allow for room for mixer and gate controls, and has more internal volume for the extra circuits.There are lots of simple mixer circuits on the net. You could even go for a VCA design and use the planned aout's to add automation to the panning and volume... but perhaps that is truly a mad idea...... check out this site http://sound.westhost.com/index.html and there are plenty more try this too, it has a mixer for a modular synth, could maybe be adapted http://mypeoplepc.com/members/scottnoanh/slsdiy/id19.html or here http://www.cgs.synth.net/ good luck!

Hey pay_c, thanks for the links! ;D

if you can find a pdf of the circuit, just make sure the options shrink large pages to fit and expand small pages to fit , or anything like that are not checked. then do a test and hold a socket up to it and be sure the pins line up.you can try the same with any other image, but i find the pdf worked best for me.

The SID bug is present, you can hear the oscilators in the background when no notes are played. as for noise, well, I am not really working a a setup of high enough quality to judge that, but i hear the noise floor is lower with the 8580 SID than the 6581.(I think it is the 6581 in the sidstations). I was already thinking about an internal gate, so maybe it is not madness ( though it is quite possible I too am mad ;) ). I havent got around to looking for a gate circuit though, if you find something, let me know by posting it here! I am stuck on the cs, I tried to make my own panel, using Thorstens layout, but my metal working skills are terrible and not having the best tools for the job doesn't help. It is all mis aligned and the straight cuts are wavy..... nothing is fitting right the first time...I keep trying though, and maybe one day I can afford those nice schaffer panels. You may want to hold on to that Sidstation till you get finished your MB SID. besides it is discontinued, so i would think the demand for a secondhand unit would only go up, which is good for you.

Just to add to the Captain's statements, the Midibox can do everything midi. you can convert control voltages to midi,use midi to triger relay's(and then whatever is attached to them, lights, fog machine, watermellon cannon.....).Me I am building a few SID's they sound great! I also plan to build the seq, and a couple custom boxes to ad controls to some old synths i have which sound great, but only have some buttons and a single control for the whole synth engine( what were they thinking back in the 80's???)

http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_seq.html at the bottom of the list it is planned to be able to use the box as a logic control. You should also be able to load in the mb64e firmware, though it wont support the 2 2x40 displays, without modification anyway...

You've got it. just remember, you get the audio back out the same jack as the SID output, so if you are playing sounds of the SID, you get a mix of the two.

awesome, I can get polystyrene and polyester! thanks DOC!!

It seems like styroflex caps are only in europe? do they have a different name here in the states? I can find polyester, but no styroflex.

Right, I knew about the tolerances, so i got ones rated at 5% for the filter caps... but I think I will get the styroflex caps now! Thanks everybody! oh, but which caps to replace? the 2 for the filter obviously,What about the 1nf's on the audio in and out? they seem to be tied to the ground, will they affect the audio?the 470pf on the audio out also looks like a prime suspect. The electrolytics are fine right? or pretty much any ceramic that is not on the power supply part of the schematic? thanks again!

cool thanks! I'm in the US, but i should be able to find the right parts. If anyone else cares to add to the above, I'd love to hear it!

Ok, sop iv'e been reading a lot of pro audio and diy forums lately, and i have seen a couple of times people who hate ceramic caps in an audio path. If anyone out there could explain why this is, and what i should use instead for better sound ( polystyrene, tanatalum??) I would appreciate it. If it really is a difference , I will get some better caps for my sid before i solder the rest of the boards up. Thanks in advance!

You can get the alps at Mouser www.mouser.com but i think they are about 40-50 dollars.

Ok, if Mios is loaded correctly you should get that string once only. as for encoders, there is an example on the din page.(it is a link) And of course I don't know about NG.....but i think that's the idea.

I believe so, yes. Just if you are not using them, ground them. If you do use them you may want to use a switch type jack (normalled) that shorts to ground when no cable is plugged in.

Maybe do some small practice boards.I screwed up at least 3-4 boards beforeIgot it right. check the forums for a thread called faster etching, for some tips.

the f0 00 00 7E 40 00 01 F7 is the request for mios upload. mios must be uploaded within 2 seconds of recieving this request. I don't rememver if this persists after mios upload, but i do not get it from my sid(after sid app upload.Did you try disconecting the dins to see if that's where the random data is coming from?

Well, In theory it should be possible. I think you may have to modify code for the controls, as that is the most likely thing to be implemented differently.Oh, and of course the two pices would need to use the same proccessor. I don't think all the hacking in the world would make my EA-1 into a Virus......

I think country boards would be cool.It would help a little to at least know who is around you, for help and burning pics and stuff like that. Also group orders and things too.Maybe even the US/Canada(since it is so big) could be broken up by time zone? Sorry if that sounds like a greedy american statement ;). I think it would be great to find out there is someone working on theese things near me, or near some place I may be vacationing. I mean the forums are great, but theres nothing like putting a face to the screen names!

Cool, Thanks TK!

Well, if this job is around in 3 and a half years when I have my degree, I'll be sure to apply....Maybe I could make their mixers not suck!( and still keep them cheap, the reason i have 2 of them... )

Thanks Thorsten. A collective order would be cool. I don't know much German anyway, so it could be a big help.

Where did you get the knobs and buttons(the cap part)? I have not had such great luck finding knobs without the line on them(No need for a line using encoders). And is that panel 3U or 4U? thanks , and again, great work!

I currently have my sid running with no control surface using the http://www.ucapps.de/mios/midibox_sid_v1_5c_18f_stepC.zip file. So it should work for you too. Please note that to use the 18f instead of the i6 f requires you to change the crystal on the core board to a 10mhz crystal (it is internally quadrupled by the pic to 40 mhz) also note a new release of MIOS and an alpha version of the SID program, which will only be supported by the 18f. Good luck!

Ok, thanks!