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hi, i'm planning my first box, it will most likely have 32 knobs, I'm writing to ask if i will be able to use this as a sequencer? (ideally 16 steps) also, how important have any of you found the LED's? i'm thinking to make a box with no LEDS to keep it more simple, but don't know if they'll be important or not i'm thinking to have 16 buttons to use as track mutes (so sending out volume 0 or 127 on each midi channel) so i think it might be handy to have leds next to these buttons, so that i can see which channels are muted this comes from the way i've been using my groovebox lately, i put 3 or 4 basslines in the same pattern on seperate tracks, then use the mute buttons to switch between them, i like this because it makes much more interesting music than switching patterns all the time (especially if there are lots of basslines in the same pattern, 4 or 5 works really well, lots of variety is possible)... anyway bye for now best wishes adam

thanks smash.. i'll investigate the local possibilities.. in the uk radio shack is/was called tandy, i think they might have gone bust over here though.. best wishes adam

thanks...

i've noticed lead free solder in a local shop for use in plumbing (fixing water pipes), i'm asking if anyone knows if this can be used for electronics, or if there is any lead free solder available for electronics use? bye for now best wishes adam

hi olli, if your synth has cv inputs then a midi-cv convertor can be used to midify it... philip rees sell a small one for about 120 euro http://www.philrees.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_59&products_id=29 best wishes Adam

hi there thanks for the reply, opitec do have a uk office, the main warehouse is in germany... i don't know the exact web address, maybe www.opitec.de or www.de.opitec.com or just www.opitec.com they are an educational supplier who also sells to private individuals..... they sell a whole range of creative type stuff, tools for most crafts, metalworking, electronics, lots of different art materials, in the uk a lot of their stuff is much much cheaper than in local shops I thought they would be worth mentioning here as another source of parts.. they only have a small range of components but a lot of other things which may be useful in this type of project (or just for making nice things)... they have offices in most EU countries, all except portugal and ireland i think, I find them  quick and good value.. every friday they send out an email with new special offers.. those pots were on sale this week, some good stuff does appear there from time to time... and some really tasteless garbage too ;-) best wishes Adam PS... i've just found some nice ones on ebay, i just bought most of them but there are 10 left now, they are in the uk, do a search for 50k ALPS Potentiometer to find them... £0.20 each... ;-)

i'm totally new to this, and am still investigating...so i don't have any parts yet. i have a rough figure of about euro 120,- for a 32 knob box, calculated from the prices on the homepage.. does this sound accurate? this is just for knobs and a basic enclosure, and excludes any tools needed. i have pretty much zero experience with electronics... i really like the idea of making equipment and this looks like an ideal project for me... i have a groovebox and a keyboard but would like better controls... i'm thinking to make a box with knobs and an octave or so of big buttons to use as keys.. i like the idea of using those big buttons from jamma videogame machines! Testing one pot first sounds like a good idea... but when i see these good deals on pots i want to buy 35 right away! i am looking at the changelog for the mb right now, and thorsten mentions that a jitter filter is no longer needed because of the new 10 bit resolution... on another post on here somebody talks about using extra earthing techniques to get rid of jitter... did you (or anybody else) use this when building your box? does it work without the use of the ferrite beads or whatever it was? and how has anyone found building this box? was it straightforward? has anybody had any real disasters? i'm curious to find out all this stuff before beginning... best wishes Adam

hi there.. i'm writing to ask which kind of pots are good to use on a midibox. i see that some people use 10k and remember reading that 100k were not so good... how about 50k? opitec, a german supplier have some on special this week, 100k and 47k pots with what looks like a very long stem, for about 75% off... http://db.opitec.com/cgi/IOFRAME?&P_L=E&P_S=E&P_V=3585226-&P_P=IOIAHS&P_1=&P_2=&P_3=&P_4=&P_5=&P_6= bye for now best wishes Adam