rambinator

yes, it's just like building 3 separate lc's into one housing, connecting each one to a separate midiport on your host. first one is set as mackie-control-universal, the other two as mackie-control-extension edit: i must correct myself... indeed you have to change something. you must change this accordingly in main.asm: ;; these settings are used in lc_init.inc to initialize the drivers #define LC_EMULATION_ID 0x14 ; use 0x10 for Logic Control ; 0x11 for Logic Control XT ; 0x14 for Mackie Control ; 0x15 for Mackie Control XT (?) at least i think so, i've never done it

wow... viel günstiger als bei reichelt. da steht negative konstrastspannung... muss ich da was umbauen wenn ich vorher die LCD 402A von reichelt drinne hatte? sollte ich direkt beide tauschen, damit man keine unterschiede sieht?

Hi! Weiss jemand wo es noch die grünen lcd module 2x40 zeichen, hintergrundbeleuchtet gibt? ich hatte meine von reichelt und mir ist eins durchgeschossen. leider haben die dort nurnoch die blauen. die passen aber von style her nich zu meiner box

i have to remove them because they peel off otherwise. let me explain in more detail: My frontpanel is made from stainless steel, so very few things really stick to it (unless i would etch the surface or destroy the surface somehow with abrasive agents which i'd like to avoid). Now lazertran comes into play... the new inkjet lazertran doesnt stick to the panel unless you use a primer (which doesnt really stick either but it is better than nothing, you have to use your fingernails to get if off). If I decide to give this option a go I would have to use an etch-primer first i guess. the old lazertran doesnt stick face up so i have too use the face-down/oven method. when i do this only the toner really fuses to the panel. all the surounding parts of the decal do not, i can peel them off using the fingers with little force. if you peel it of mechanically until you reach tonered areas, the edges of the black areas look really messy. that is why i think I have to remove the whole transparent decal parts, leaving nothing but the fused toner on the panel. After that I couldnt use clear coat, as this would also stick to the toner areas only. I would eventually try to apply something like these nanocoat sealers which can be rubbed on steelsurfaces to make it a little more resistant. Edit: After some new trials today i think i give up on the toner method. i only tried a very small part of black area with white letters in it and i really made sure there was no air left beneath the decal. then i heated it up with the heatgun very very slowly, always measuring with the infrared thermometer. all of a sudden bubbles started to appear at around 150C, and it was not just like two or three that you could cover with a permanent pen. That is the fourth test with bubbles phenomenon. I think i would never get a decent artwork on a panel that big.

ok, more trials more hassle :/I I got me a heat gun and tried it (old lazertran). it goes quite well if you are patient. the toner fuses to the steelplate really well, but not the transparent part of the decal. these part peel of easily. if you could peel off everything but the toner it would turn out really well. but if you have artwork and fonts you cant really peel off all the small parts with your fingers without damaging the toner. On the lazertran site i read that you could dissolve the decal (for example if you want it as an etchresist). But with dissolver my toner also washes off (like they wrote would happen with some modern toner). For those modern toners they now recomend 2-Propanol. I tried that aswell and it kind off dissolves the decal a little but you cant really wipe it off, it gets sticky and looks very ugly. Maybe you would need gallons of 2-propanol to get it all off. you still need to use some force with your fingers to pill off the rest which might also affect the toner. But: In case that you get it all off you'd need to spray it with some varnish for protection. then the problem would just come back as the varnish would stick to the toner but not to the steelplate. clueless...

ok guys! you persuaded me to try again ;) I also have some of this inkjet lazertran laying around from my first tests (which turned out bad). I tried inkjet lazertran last year on a test sheet of the steel my panels are made from. It turned out that it doesnt stick at all (i allready reported that). now I took another testsheet and put a metalprimer on it. i tried both types of lazertran on it again (the old lazertran with the gum on the panel not the face down method). Both were sticking quite well to the primer. Problem is, that the primer can also be scratched off quite easily, stainless steel has the bad property of beeing stainless. Originally I wanted the panel to have black artwork on the shiny metal. Now it seems like I have to destroy the surface, maybe I should also try with scotch-brite. I also sprayed three layers of clearcoat (on polyurethane base) on top but the new lazertran didnt turn transparent at all (something that i allready experienced the last time). How many layers would i need from your experience? Another question: I was also looking for an etchant primer, but i couldnt find one. even on the internet (except for boats). anybody knows where to get it in germany? Something else for the 9090ers. how and when did you get the holes into the artwork? with a drill or knife? before or after putting the clearcoat on? @twin-x: for the old lazertran, do you think i can get an even teparature on a 70x30cm panel up to 200°C for that long with a heat gun? i guess the thing would just blow up after a while.

I GIVE UP ON LAZERTRAN! After some small successfull tests with steelplates in the oven, which turned out quite nice I finally tried the backpanel of my midibox. It is quite big and barely fits in the oven. It turned out that it is almost impossible to get an even temparature (i am measuring with an IR-Thermometer all the time). I spend very much time getting the decal on the metal without any bubbles. First it looked really nice but then during the heat-up bubbles started to appear everywhere. This is normally a sign of heating up too fast. In fact this is due to the different temparatures in the different regions of the oven. I think there are better ovens but i didnt find one where the panel fits in. I was finally able to wash off the lazertran with a thinner. Now I am really clueless how to get artwork onto my panel.

Bad News! I tried 4 different daws resulting in 4 different positions. I have a photo but currently i cant download from my mobile. It looks somehow like this: | | |< Ableton live (it is sending pitchbend 108) | |< Sonar |< Cubase | |< Reaper | | | That is ugly and i cant understand how genuine mcu owners can live with that. What I am planing to do is to set the scale to sonar requirements (which i am using most of the time) and have a small line on the oposite side indicating 0db in Live (which only has one line in the guy, too) btw: can somebody explain how to use midi-ox to monitor what the mbox-lc is doing? i am using the serial connection with the yamaha cbx-driver. In live I can just make it monitor the input. In sonar it wouldnt work with the input as it says "driver allready in use" and it wont show anything on the output...

exactly

can anyone confirm this? seems that i cant find anything about this issue with original mackie control

Hi there! When I made the artwork for my midibox LC I measured the position of the fader when it is set to 0db in Ableton Live. I used this point to align the scales on the artwork. Now I realised that the faders reach a different position when set to 0db in Sonar. Is this normal? Is it the same for real mackie owners? The printed scales would be quite useless then. cheers, rambinator

hehe, pizzeria hab ich auchschon drann gedacht und auch an die problematik mit den "giftigen dämpfen". ich bin mir blos nich sicher wie das mit der temparaturregelung bei diesen steinöfen aussieht. töpferöfen heizen in einem wesentlich höheren bereich (1000° oder so)

Ich verstehe garnich wie ihr hier die Erfahrung gemacht habt, dass Lazertran kratzempfindlich wäre. Ich habe diese Woche eine Grafik mit dem "alten" Lazertran (das original für Laserdrucker) mit der "spiegelverkehrt" Methode auf eine Edelstahlplatte aufgebracht und im Ofen eingebrannt. Bei dieser Methode schützt die Trägerschicht den Druck. Ich habe nach dem Brennen mit den Fingern und Plastikgegenständen gekratzt wie blöde und keine Beschädigung festellen können. Lediglich ein Schraubenzieher und Lösungsmittel konnte Kratzer erzeugen. Bezüglich der Methode die Durchbrüche reinzubekommen bin ich noch am experimentieren. Meine Frontplatte ist lasergeschnitten, nachträgliches Bohren kommt also nicht in Frage. Diejenigen, die die Reihenfolge noch planen sollten bedenken, dass es bei großen Lazertranflächen von vorteil ist, in der Fläche Löcher zu haben (entweder in der Platte oder in der Folie) um das Entfernen von Luftblasen zu erleichtern.

Hallo Leute! Wie vielleicht einige im Tips&Tricks Forum gelesen haben, plane ich die Frontplatte meiner MboxLC mit Lazertran zu "dekorieren". Es handelt sich um eine 1,5mm Edelstahlplatte mit den Maßen 70x40 (es gibt noch zwei kleinere für die Meterbridge und die Rückseite). Ich plane das original Lazertran mit der "Reversemethode" zu verwenden, da ich im Test damit tolle Ergebnisse erzielt habe. Nach dem Aufbringen der Folie muss das Material allerdings im Ofen "eingebrannt" werden. Es stellte sich heraus, dass es sehr problematisch ist einen Ofen zu finden, in den die Frontplatte hineinpasst (selbst wenn man die Platte diagonal reinstellt). Daher suche ich jemanden aus dem Raum NRW (besser noch Aachen), der einen passenden Ofen besitzt und bereit wäre, mich hier zu unterstützen. Der Ofen müsste so regelbar sein, dass man im Laufe einer Stunde die Temparatur langsam hochregeln kann bis ca 200°. Ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn mir jemand weiterhelfen würde oder eine Idee hat, was ich tun könnte. Beste Grüße, rambinator

hi folks! i have been playing around with old lazertran again. with a small piece of stainless steel board. it works like a charm with the reverse method, burning it in the oven. it almost looks like printed, just with a slight yellowish shine (i guess it is a minimum of remaining gum on the backside). i is also absolutely scratch resistant and when i apply one sprayed layer of varnish it gets a nice powderish look. the big problem still remaining is: MY OVEN IS TOO SMALL FOR THE PANEL! bummer... just wanted to inform you about the fact theat it works.... in theory :(

bad news! the new lazertran doesnt stick to steel either. nor does the varnish. it peels off like skin. I am clueless about what to do with the frontpanel... any ideas? is there a way to diy-etch the artwork?

hey there! i've been experimenting with lazertran on steel. the results so far: - old lazertran doesnt really work. i guess it would work with the upsidedown-baking method but my panel is too large to fit in the oven. the gumside does not stick to the steel at, it peals off imediately - the new lazertran looks quite promising. it seems to stick farely well (didt really try with more force to peel off). anyway i've got problems getting it clear. it doesn't really work with sprayed varnish. it just gets semi transparent like with very small sprinkles, even with several coats. painting small parts with a brush gave better result but getting a big area smooth with a brush is quite difficult i guess. what is the experience of those of you who used the new lazertran? how did you varnish it?

Oh, yes I saw the artwork. Great design! I meant how you want to bring it to your panel... engraving, lazertran, etching...? I thought i didn't want to post pictures until i am ready, but... well i'm gonna start my own thread when the box is finished. this is the backside of the panel. it is kinda messed. the frontside is still protected by a stickyfoil and it is shiny. this is what the different panels look like fitted into the case i built. inside the box... the design isnt ready yet... i do it in coreldraw. my main problem is how i should bring it onto the panel as i heard so many different things about stuff and varnish stickin/not sticking to ss

Hi! I also have a steelfrontplate laying around here for my MBLC. What sort of Artwork are you planing to use? What would stick to the steel?

did anyone ever try lazertran on stainless steel? would a varnish stick to it?

yeah, it is called electrosex. you put electrodes on your testicles...

i just tried with a good lab psu and it doesnt change anything. i also installed another resistor to have exactly 7,5V mf_voltage. what i really find weird is that in the calibration app nothing moves at all, not even the slightest bit and with LC the faders drive crazy edit: problem seems to be partially solved. the calibration app couldnt read the positions properly due to a defunct connection edit2: problem seems to be almost completely solved: bad dont trust jumpers to give you a good connection! something else now: is there something i can do so that all faders have the same position when the software sets them to 0db or unity gain?

hi thorsten! I am using this psu: http://www.exclaim.de/tests/artikel/212_1/Externes-Universal-Netzeil.html so far i didnt see any voltage drops when i move 2 faders at the same time (this is what i tried): if i set a lover mf_voltage so that the faders barely move they still try to slowly move to the bedstop. as i said this doesnt happen with the direct control application. some other issue that i found out about yesterday. so far i had been using a 10k pot to regulate the mf_voltage (as i didnt find another one). it was very painfull to really hit the right value with it. so i got a 1k pot like in the schematics, yesterday. the weird thing is that i cant go further than mf_v: 6,8V with it. does this mean that some other parts of my circuit are out of spec?

hi there! I have problems with the mf's (alps) and the MBLC i am currently working on: The faders are connected correctly, the touchsensors are not connected yet. The mf_directcontrol lets me test the faders correctly. i press a button, fader moves, fader stops. When i try the calibration tool, moving one fader doesn't work to move the others, they just move some milimeters occasionally. I am using a voltage of 7,5 but allso tried higher. When i load the LC 1.6 app and use a daw with it the faders drive to their limit and still "struggle" to move further. that makes the ic's get hot very quickly. when i move a fader in the software the MF also moves but it doesnt stop at the place where it should, it just moves on slowly to the other and and "drives against the wall" again. i am quite clueless about what could be going on. btw: my psu is sais it can supply 2A on the 12V rail, so that shoudlnt be a problem i guess (didnt measure for voltage drops) cheers, rambinator

hm, ok i'm building with wood so this is something different 2 - What is the english word for that : a "cutter" in french... It took me about half an hour for all the wholes.... But it was not perfect.