bcbox

I've done a bunch of stuff the past few days. There's a lot of work to do when doing a full featured Midibox64! I'm still working on putting on all the connectors for each part/module . There's a couple pcb's I have to remake because of bad fit - not a huge deal but time consuming. I painted the panel today. It's sort of a metal silver color with a glossy overcoat - it's hard to see in the horrible picture I took (I couldn't get a good pic with all the lighting and stuff). The paint came out great. I still think what I might do is when I'm completely done with the design and testing I might sand it down and re-paint the panel again - I have a feeling it might get beat up while I'm fitting and testing everything. Also I want it to be perfect for when I attempt to silkscreen it. Today I was working on fitting some of the modules and making sure they fit properly. I also tested some of the lighting stuff to make sure all the wiring is correct and everything is ready to just be plugged in. Here's a couple pics below of the backside and the frontside of the panel. Keep in mind all the main modules, the Core module, AIN, DIN, DOUT are all in the chassis and aren't connected or seen in the pic. The second pics shows the panel from front with some of the stuff lit up.. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/back1.jpg Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/front1.jpg

yeah, it's all CNC. They do beautiful panels. you can send in your own or use their stock. There's no charge for using your own material - just send it in. I've used them twice and both times the parts came back beautiful.

Not too much to update here. I have been doing a lot of research on painting anodized aluminum - so I can paint up and finish the panel. I guess aluminum is a very hard material to paint or powdercoat without proper pretreatment. The consensus appears to be to clean the anodized aluminum part with an aluminum cleanser followed by a light sanding with 220 grit wet sandin. Next is a second wiping with the metal clenaser and then apply an acrylic polyurethane paint. That's were I'm heading. I'm trying to get this done asap becuase I'm pretty much ready to attachment parts to the panel. ....about those MEC switches I quoted them at many of the distributors in the US and I got prices anywhere from $2.39 to $3.20 each for small quantities. Most places had a lead time on the part of 3-4 weeks. I ended up getting them from Target Electronics because they had them on hand. I paid $2.88 for each switch/cap. The fader caps are coming in tommorrow (Monday). I sampled a couple different variations of a standard black fader cap with white line. One is the typical hard plastic variety and the second is a soft touch type. I'll post some pics tommorrow ...heading to bed now (I'm recovering from a late night last night - I didn't get anything done today :-\ unless a load of laundry counts ;D) I'm looking to have a productive week this week, including a bunch of hours on the midibox....so I'll keep posting.

Nice. Thanks for the response! What happened with me is I was impatient with it. I quickly did the fix that I thought was necessary and then I realized I did the wrong thing...then I had to patch up the change and do the correct thing. Then I did the wrong thing again ::) The 3rd time I got it right, and my core board has 4 or 5 scars on it when it should have just one! Nice pic.

The panel just came in. It looks great. I am still researching exaclty what kind of primer and paint I need to use on the aluminum. I have decided I will be sending out for screens and doing my own silkscreening when the times comes. Right now there's still a lot of wiring and testing to do. Here's the panel, it's 2.5mm aluminum. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/panel1.jpg [sorry, can't find this image - will upload in future if I can locate] Please don't - stryd_one

It's been a couple days since I posted. I've been busy and didn't want to stop to take the time to do an update - shame on me. The panel and chassis are coming tommorrow and I still have a lot of wiring to do. Just the crazy number of connections takes a lot of time and effort. I'm working slow deliberately so I don't make mistakes. A few interesting things have come about. - The first is the power supply. I realized that with potentially 54 led's and the backlight for the LCD being on at the same time I need at least 1.0A. I calculated the current draw would be less than 1.5A max at any time. I also realized (and more on this below) I've got a blue backlight LCD with white/yellow characters so it has a negative contrast voltage, so I need -5V as well as +5V. Considering all this I scrapped the 7805 voltage regulator on the Core Module . I built a basic linear power supply using the higher current TO-93 packaged 7805 and 7905 regulators. If you want a more efficient power supply or have limited space you might want to consider a switching power supply for this job, although I decided on an old-school linear supply. The layout and finished piece look like this: Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/power-supply-pcb.jpg Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/power-supply.jpg - The second problem I've been having is that LCD. Since it needs -5v for the contrast voltage I had to tap this from my power supply. The problem I came accross is that the 5V available on the core module travels along in a more serial fashion, so when I cut in to disrupt the +5V going to Vd of the LCD I realized I had to place a lot of jumpers around to make sure everything else that is still supposed to get +5V still get's it! Also variable resistor P2 on the core module needs to be referenced to -5V and not +5V when using a negative contrast LCD. It actually turned out to be a time consuming task and my core module doesn't look so pretty from the bottom anymore. I have finished all but (2) pcb's to this point - I thought I would do a rundown of each part. 1. 4-pot and 4-switch pcb. Here you can see I finally got around to assembling these ones where the switch board piggybacks on the pot board: Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/piggyback1.jpg Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/piggyback2.jpg 2. Here are the little pcb's I made for the faders to make hook-up a lot easier. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/fader-pcb.jpg 3. Here is the dual illuminated switches that go in the bottom left position of the panel Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one ]http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/dual-illuminated-pushbuttons.jpg 4. This is the illuminated dial that goes in the bottom right area of the panel. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/illuminated-dial.jpg 5. These are the square buttons that go below each fader. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/square-buttons.jpg 6. These are some of the boards with the led buttons. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/led-buttons.jpg Here is a pic of all the control stuff, the pots, sliders, buttons, and led's layed out somewhat in the arrangement they will be in in the final panel. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/layout2.jpg I still have alot of work to do before I retire for the night so I'm going to get back to it ;)

I got a lot done today. So much so that I don't yet have time to take a look at and post the pics of what I did (it's 1:30am and I need to go to bed :-\). I finished most of the remaining prototype pcb's including....... 1. pcb x 9 for each fader 2. pcb for the dual illuminated buttons (ones that go lower left) 3. pcb for the illuminated dial 4. pcb for the bottom row of 12 switches that have the black square caps on them 5. pcb for the up and down switches (the red square buttons) 6. pcb's for the last two rows of pots, leds, and switches The only pcb's I have left to do are the one for the 16 mec switches and the one for the 4 mec switches below the LCD. The reason I did all these pcb's was that it makes it MUCH easier to hook everything up once I'm ready to plug in and go. Simply put, each component (or section of components) resides on a pcb along with a connector which will simply interface with the midibox modules by plugging them in. This will be easier to see once I get to that part. I got home at 1:00am tonight and got a surprise. The MEC switches and caps came in :) I was expecting them mext Tuesday. This is what they look like... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/mec-switch-real.jpg These feel perfect for the application I wanted. The are more of a tact switch with LED and cap type of a thing. Very nice. I also confirmed today the panel is delayed until after the weekend. It's coming Monday. The Chassis should be coming tomorrow. Once those parts come in all I really have left is to get the panel done up (painted and silkscreened) and finish up the rest of the wiring.. bye for now, Brian

I finished most of the pcb's for now. I'm expecting the panel to come in from front panel express (schaffer) by the end of the week. The chassis should also be here by the end of the week. When the front panel comes in I need to double check everything and make sure it's all right, then I will try to finish the printing layout as soon as possible. I want to do a two color silkscreen. I'm still not sure who I'm going to have do it, but hopefully my connections at work will help me get it done cheaper than usual (it's expensive for just one piece!). I'm also waiting for the MEC illuminated switches to come in. They should be here the week of June 6. Also the fader caps will be here that week. In the meantime I will be making pcb's for mounting the remaining components including the final two rows of pots, switches, and led's. I will making little pcb's for mounting the slide pots - so I can use a connector to make it easier to hook them up (they'll just plug in). Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/proto-layout2.jpg

yeah, you're basically talking about tact switches, like the ones ones in most gear - just like the E-Switch part# you were given. Tact switches are ok for alot of things. They don't have much travel so it's the tact, the audible snap and feeling, that tells you it's been pressed. These are used most on consumer gear because they are right for the job, they're cheap, mount straight to pcb, and all is well. A typical mechanical momentary push-button switch will look something liek this one: Why are you linking to an IP address? That's dodgy.... - stryd_one http://66.97.36.105/midibox/push-1.jpg There are also mechanical tact switches around that operate like typical tact switches, but actually have a spring-like snap component, and have a travel of 2mm, more like the traditional spring-based push-button in the pic above. At the same time they have the snap like the Tact switch. Kind of like half way in between. I bought a dozen of these type from Digikey a few weeks back when I was sorting out my project. They are actually rather nice. The have a very nice snap feel but at the same time way more travel than a tact switch. The part I got is Panasonic ESE-20C441 and it looks like this.. Why are you linking to an IP address? That's dodgy.... - stryd_one http://66.97.36.105/midibox/push-2.jpg just another option I guess...have fun

I got some work done today. Mostly just making the pcb's. It takes a lot of time from start to finish. I started laying out the componenets. I cut out a piece of wood the size the panel and I'm laying things out in similar way as they will be in the final midibox. This is the layout for testing everything and making sure everything works so when the panel comes back from silkscreening everything will be ready to pop right in. You can see I still have a lot of proto-pcb's to stuff with the pots, switches, and led's. Then I need to interface the pots/switches/leds to the various modules. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/proto-layout1.jpg

Hi , MikeB. You got it exactly. The pots are threaded so they will panel mount...the pcb's will be perpendicular to the panel. The switch-board simply piggybacks under the pot-board using 1/4" standoff's. There are concentric holes marked on both the pot-board and the swtich-board so I can line this up properly. I also got the courage to take this route from scoping out my allen & heath xone:32 mixer, which has vertical/perpendicular mounted modular boards with pots and pusbutton switches. The xone:32 looks like this inside: Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/xone32-back.jpg about the lightpipe dial thing I just think it's cool and I realized it would work well for tempo control since the dial is so big it'll take a good amount of movement at the dial to move the pots shaft a certain small amount. Also it sits so low it can't accidentally be touched. And of course it lights up all blue and stuff! Afro88 - for the pcb design I used the freeware version of Eagle from http://www.cadsoft.de When I'm done with a board layout I export it as a black & white bitmap image and transfer it into an image editing/layout program (I use Paint Shop Pro). Once I get all the pcb's laid out how I want them I print the image on laserjet onto blue transfer paper. I find the blue transfer paper the best. when using the heat transfer method. I use an iron to iron it onto piecs of 1oz copper board....and so on from there... My girlfriends out of town so I couldn't help but build up all those parts! I stuffed all the boards and I have just started doing some of the interconnects. I'm calling it quits for tonight. It looks like this so far.... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/mbhp.jpg

The parts from SmashTV came in the mail today :) Excellent packaging. I would recommend to anyone to just buy the PCB's along with the parts kits and PIC. His prices are very fair and you couldn't get the parts cheaper from Mouser/Digikey, etc...after shipping is said and done. I'm very happy. PCB's are good quality. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/parts.jpg

if they're designed well and come out good you probalbly wouldn't have to send out for real parts ;) nice. you have to use what you can get. Search the internet at 3am for switches and whatnot! I made most of the two main pcb's today. Here's a shot of a 3-pack of the switch-boards after etching and cleaning... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/pcb-proto.jpg Here are shots of the switch board and the pot boards after I've finished them and soldered in the main component... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/pot4-nocap.jpg Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/pot4-cap.jpg Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/switch4-nocap.jpg Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/switch4-cap.jpg I also sent out the final panel to be made. I should have it in a week and a half...the final one came out like this Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/panel-final.jpg

you mean you will get a hold of behringer customer service department and buy them through them - or do you know who makes them? good luck, sounds good. sounds good. I'd love to see pics. It's really hard to get parts no matter where you live - so it must be especially hard for you. Luckily I work for an audio company so I can pretend I'm sampling for some fictitious project and get most of this stuff :-\ otherwise it's very difficult to get oem parts. If there's a part I can help you with I'd have no problem trying to help you out.. for the guts I'm using all the custom pcb's from smash tv. For mounting parts and stuff I'm doing custom pcb's but just prototype ones (basic tone transfer on copper board stuff) - I'm not actually sending them out to get "real" pcb's, it's much too expensive.

Hi Jaun, I'm not using the motorized faders becuase I'm strictly using the controller as a live controller - there will never be input from the computer (mouse etc...) It wouldn't hurt to have them there though but they're very expensive and I decided I wouldn't use the feature. I didn't have time to make the pcb's today but i did get a bunch of parts in! Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/button1.jpg Black button: E-Switch part# TA2800BLK Knob: Rean Part# P-300-S-06CS-D6-E Red button: Not sure what part# this is... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/fader.jpg Slide pot: Panasonic Part# PNE060SB This is an awesome fader. Very smooth and very high quality. They're about $5 each - not too bad. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/pot1.jpg Rotary pot: Panasonic Part# EVU-E2JFK4B14 I ordered the MEC led switches and clear switch caps. The switches were quite expensive ($2.50 each) but since I was able to buy only the 20 I needed with no lead time I am content. The switch is part# 3FTL620. The cap is part# 1S11-16. I updated the panel layout. I'm triple checking the dimensions and I will be sending it out on Monday. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/panel2.jpg

I finished the layout for the "4-switch pcb" I will be making these on Thursday or Friday. I also changed the "4-pot pcb" somewhat. I've marked several thru-holes on the boards where they can line up and piggyback... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/pot-pcb2.jpg Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/switch-pcb.jpg

...about those round green illuminated switches beside the faders I have decided I am not going to use those keypad style ones as I was talking about in the original post I found the North American distributor for the MEC switches and I am going to use the illuminated ones they have. I'll get the same result but with much better push action and reliablity (see the parts archive section of the forum for my post about MEC in the US).. The switch looks like this... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/42255289.jpg ...and the clear/diffuse round cap looks like this... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/mec-cap.jpg

OK I've been chasing down MEC of Denmark. They make beautiful switches of all sorts, including what I was looking for...led-centralized push-button switches with clear diffuse round caps! After a few hours searching I found.... - They are known as MEC/Solico in the US www.solico.com - They have many oem distributors/reps in the US. Check here MEC/Solico Distributors The local rep to me is actually in the same city as my work and they've got these suckers in stock. I'm going to setup an account at work tommorrow and inquire about samples/pricing. if you're on the look out for switches check these guys out. Of coures if you're in the UK you can buy these from Farnell (they won't export to the US).

I got the LCD today from Crystalfontz.com - as recommended by SuperBad. It appears to be a very nice part. It was right about $16... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/lcd1.jpg Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/lcd2.jpg

Here are some of the parts I have so far. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/large_switch.jpg Large Push Switch. Alps part# SPUN191000. This is used for 15 of the push buttons, including all the square-cap ones and the illuminated push button at the bottom left of the front panel Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/small_switch.jpg Small Push Switch. ITT/Cannon Part# PHA2UOA. This is used for the 30 small push buttons that are accompanied by LED's. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/small_button_caps.jpg Small switch caps. These are the black caps used on the small switch above Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/illum_dial.jpg Illuminated Dial. This is an LED illuminated dial that will be used for the tempo control. This is a custom part some guys designed at work for one of my projects Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/illum_button.jpg Illuminated button. This is an led light-pipe that lights up a ring around a button using 4 led's. This is for the Record button that will be in the lower left of the front panel. This is another part that was custom designed for some other project. Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/tact_switch.jpg keypad switch with surface mount green LED. This is a part I have tentatively decided to use for the 8 sets of green switches alongside each channel. These are those pcb keypad type switches that have small very bright surface mount led's mounted in the middle. The button is that typical round rubbery stuff you usually get with this type of switch (think tv remote controls etc..) This part is a keypad from one of those custom in-house A/V room management systems you see around these days. I haven't decided 100% whether I will use this yet because I'm worried about reliabity over the long term. I'm going to play around with it for a week or two and see what's up... I will post again when I get more parts in and when I start making the pcb's!.. Brian.

OK I have decided to put all my effort in to design and build a Midibox64. It is the best solution I have found by far to use as a controller for Ableton Live. I thought it would be nice to document the design, build, and testing of a Midibox as it goes on over the next few months. I am going to post updates here as I go and hopefully I will have a beautiful Midibox in a couple months time. The purpose of my Midibox will be as a live controller for Ableton. It will not be the most original Midibox around but it will be very functional for the way I work. The specs of the box are as follows: 1. 55 rotary pots 2. 9 slide pots 3. 64 buttons 4. 46 LED's (16 of these 30 are on full-time, no DOUT) 5. Blue 16x2 LCD Obviously this requires: 1. (1) Core Module 2. (2) AIN Modules 3. (2) DIN Modules 4. (1) DOUT Modules I purchased these from SmashTV's place late last week. I did a little rendering of the layout of box and it will look like this: Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/midibox10sm.gif Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/midibox10.gif here's a link to a bigger pic I am an audio engineer and I have a lot of resources available at work. This will hopefully help me realize my goals. The first major decision I made was that I decided to protoype pcb's that will be modular parts that will hold the components. 1.The "4 pot board" Since my layout works around rows of 8 pots will re-use about 12 of these 4-pot pcb's. I am using 9mm panasonic panel mount pots. here is the board layout: Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://www.alphazone1.com/midibox/pot-board.gif 2. The "4 switch board" This will hold ITT/Cannon PHA (Alps SPUJ) type momentary push-buttons. It will also hold 4 leds that will indicate the state of each button. I haven't finished the layout of this one yet. This pcb will piggyback on the pot pcb using plastic standoffs. This will allow me to align the switch board correctly with the front panel (which the pot board is already connected to by use of the panel-mount pots). As far as the layout of the panel itself it is fairly staright-forward. There are 6 "clip" channels and 2 effects return channels (a "clip track" is just ableton-speak for an audio channel in Ableton's session view). Each clip track has.... 1. 8 pots - 4 for insert effects parameters, 2 for effects send levels and 2 for hi and low EQ 2. 8 buttons - 4 for insert effect parameters, one each for play, stop, cue, and A/B select 3. 60mm fader (for level of course) Each of the 2 FX tracks has... 1. 4 pots - 3 for send effect parameters and one for send level 2. 6 buttons - 4 for send effect parameters, one for cue and one for A/B select 3. 60mm fader for send level Globally there is: 1. Crossfader - fades between outputs A and B 2. Clip Up and Down buttons (the two red square buttons). These will be used a lot. These are used to select the clip you want to play. 3. Record button (to record the set into Ableton while it's going on) 4. Tempo dial - I have this cool led light-pipe dial I used on a project at work that I am giong to use as a dial that controls tempo in Ableton. It will only stick out slightly above the surface of the panel to avoid accidental movement. 5. Headphone cue level knob 6. The Midibox will have an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile built into it. There will just be a couple sets of audio outs and and IEC jack on the back of the unit. OK that's it for now. I will update soon when parts come in and pcb's are made this week... Brian.

Thank you! they look great. good price too.

subject says it all. I've found a few 20x2 blue backlit ones but nothing at 16x2. If anyone has a beat on this please reply ? Thanks Brian

you know like the momentary switches these use on the newer allen & heath xone stuff. I'm trying to figure out if this is an off-the-shelf part or if the actually tooled the part and did the led light-pipe design themselves?? anyone see anything for sale this. I'd love to use this style in my next project... Image removed due to possibly malicious content. Download at your own risk, it contains a strange script. - stryd_one http://66.97.36.105/led-button.jpg

that's exactly right. I am an EE and I can usually wrap my head around these things - I just need to chill and read up 8)