DragonMaster

He is, Since 2005... look at the other items. His 150 positive feedbacks have been done selling MIDIboxes. You know... from my experience, and from what we can see, it's VERY hard to get eBay to close an account. It took me over two months to get any actions done from eBay for someone who sold FTP links to ripped DVDs. :-\ >:(

Anyone outside of the US will have to pay taxes if the declared value is over a certain price (Example : $20 CAD in Canada) I think there are separate orders either because some parts are too expensive to get outside of a specific continent, or the person doing the order is too lazy to use USPS and fill a CN 22 form (USPS PS Form 2976). The membrane pots are flat and would fit in a bubble envelope so there's no problem with shipping costs.

Oh OK! They make me think about those impossible-to-find 360° pots used in ambisonic mixers :D

You really have to order in multiples of 100?

Nice! Yep, it definitely looks like there's interest in here, already 56 units in less than 12 hours. (Without counting the possible 8 more units I might buy) If the list continues to grow at that speed you'll probably be able to buy much more than 100 and the price will be even lower! ;D

Je leur ai parlé encore, il n'y a pas de meilleur prix pour 64 unités. Finalement, c'est les interrupteurs SPDT qui feraient le mieux ce que vous cherchez à faire, tant qu'il ne faut pas vérifier la force en continu et seulement à l'attaque...

Interest in : 16 20 Realistically (Money wise) : 8 12 EDIT: I put 4 more in both cases, Wilba's 20 units got me to realize I forgot to put four "master faders" (They'd be used in a MB-based mixer -> they're much cheaper than motor faders) Note : Phineus, I'm in for 12, but ask me before ordering if I'll take more (It may be 12, 16, 20, 24, I'm not sure. I'll see how much money and what idea I'll have at that moment.)

You can see things the other way around : Your chip is already soldered. If it dies, you'll be able to remove the chip easily by cutting the pins and installing a socket instead. You will probably not using this method for the moment I believe, and, while there are other ways to unsolder the chip, it's very painful to do... I'd leave the chip there and if it happens to die, you'll be able to use the easy destructive chip removal method to solder in a new socket. Also, you'd probably have trouble inserting a chip that already has solder on it's pins in a socket. If you really want to remove it, http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=7649.0

SMPS PSUs are used in a lot of audio equipment now, it's just a bit too hard to implement an SMPS with a clean output for the average DIYer (Like me).

Using a serially-controlled LED PWM conencted to /OE pins of the shift registers. There are a few reasons: -The PIC doesn't seem to have D/A pins. -A software-generated signal would overload the core. -There are only two PWM pins on the PIC. -Almost no modifications to do to the existing DOUT module. -Cheap (Chip costs less than $3). -The PWM is optimized for LEDs. I looked a bit at NXP's PCA9635(second result I found on Google), it has an I2C input, and 16 independent outputs which seem quite flexible (Overall and independant PWM control, "blink" feature, etc.) It can drive a LED directly or drive a controller (The SR in this case) and even invert the output signal (No need for an inverting transistor) The good: -There's only a 5V source, the I2C serial port + address pins and the PWM outputs to connect, there are no other pins on the chip. -Does everything you need (Over 3 PWM sources, can drive the /OE pins directly), there are no other components to buy. Problems: -Only available at Digikey (probably not from a local store) -Surface mount (But TSSOP looks quite easy to solder), needs a PCB. -Software to write. If you can deal with these problems, it could be quite simple to use. I'd personally prefer this chip vs. making three 555-based circuits, but that's my opinion, you could have another one.

If you can adjust it through a menu, it's going to be a simple software modification I think.

The PIC has only two PWM, and I checked the PIC datasheet, and it looks like there's only A/D pins, no D/A. It looks like a serially-controlled LED PWM driver or an analog solution would work the best. I don't know how hard it would be to program the feature in software, but those little serially-controlled LED drivers cost only around $2.50.

The 555 could be controlled by this IIRC.

I wonder if one of those serial-controlled LED drivers could be connected to /OE... I just found the PCA9635, that one really does just brightness control over I2C, and they claim an external driver can be connected to the outputs (It can invert the output as well, so there's no signal to invert between it and the SR.) There's a problem called TSSOP28-only with this chip though. (But a TSSOP package doesn't look too much like a PITA to solder compared to changing the complete DOUT module for an other controller.)

I realize I only read half of your post ;D ::) What a stupid image I had in my head earlier... ---> individual DIN inputs for each buttons... :o ??? Of course, if you need patterns and a matrix, the MBSEQ 3 with the 64 button extension would be great! The MBSEQ already supports a 4-track 16-step LED/button matrix. It already does everything you need except outputting nothing else than MIDI data. You could strip out lots of features as well as I can see.

If you simply need triggers that send a code on button press, then basing your project on the MIDIO128 is probably a better solution.

Dim the whole matrix? The LEDs are connected to shift registers, you can disconnect the /OE (Output Enable, active-low) pin from ground and connect an oscillator there. Maybe the PWM source could come from software using an unused DOUT pin, but I'm not sure if software performance would suffer from this. I think it depends of which MIDIbox you're building. I can't tell you what can be done there though... There are other possible PWM sources. Custom-tasked chips like the one you're talking about, a 555 timer circuit controlled by a potentiometer, or even an AOUT module, etc. You'll need to tell more about what you're already planning to run from the core module and/or wait the reply from someone else to see if the PWM could be done in software. If it works, it's a matter of cutting a pin, soldering a wire and modifying the software. If it doesn't, it's going to be an oscillator. Controlling the brightness from software could be done from a menu, an encoder or a potentiometer.

Eh bien, chez Tactex, ils demandent $200 USD pour 6 senseurs avec le circuit optique à voltage analogue.

Well, the 4 Core+OPL3 with a single surface would be possible IMO. It would need either LCD+buttons switching (lots of logic) or TK's bankstick solution. However, since there seems to be a demand, maybe things will change...

I did... a while ago. OK, wrong way 'round! I remember now!

These chips were made a little bit more than 10 years ago, these shouldn't be as prone to failure as SID chips... Amazingly, yes! Big stores sell them for $100 and more though. I found some models on smaller stores and eBay for $20-$50 though. I changed my qty from 1 to 4 ;D Reasons: -While I could deal with unsoldering, maybe it will be another blocking step. -Could use my OPLs stuck on sound cards later if I see more channels would be great. It's not going to be as integrated together as the SID, but chaining modules should be possible, even if it's done from MIDI and hardware switches.

Make two patches for two different MBFM then? Converting the SysEx would be a better option I think. I don't think that anyone made a program for this or we would have heard about it... However, it might be possible, even if some features are present on one chip and not another... The sound would just be different.

Au fait: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=5835.0 Le logiciel est déjà fait, il manque les interrupteurs maintenant... (J'ai envoyé un e-mail à une autre compagnie pour savoir qu'est-ce qu'ils auraient comme interrupteur. Le problème c'est qu'il faut un interrupteur SPDT ou ON-(ON), mais pas un "snap action", et pas un modèle interrupteur qui risque d'avoir des points de contacts à des endroits différents entre chacune des 64 notes.)

Bonjour, c'est intéressant ce projet. Certains claviers MIDI utilise normalement deux contacts pour détecter la vélocité. Un contact se fait avant l'autre, et le délai mesuré entre les deux déterminent la vélocité. Pour utiliser cette méthode il faut un DINX4 et un moyen d'avoir 64 paires qui ont la même distance entre chaque boutons. Les claviers que j'ai ouverts utilisaient une membrane et un circuit imprimé, comme une télécommande. Pas tout à fait simple... Mais, un interrupteur SPDT pourrait être utilisé. Il faudrait utiliser un modèle qui débranche un pôle avant de connecter l'autre. Il y a moyen de mesurer le délai pendant lequel il n'y a pas de contact de cette façon. Est-ce que la pression doit aussi être reconnue (Une fois la touche enfoncée, être capable de détecter la pression) ou seulement savoir la vitesse d'attaque? (La pression individuelle sur chaque note n'a jamais existée jusqu'à récemment.) Sinon, il y a moyen d'utiliser l'effet hall, des senseurs optiques, etc. Il y a quelques idées ici pour différentes façons de reproduire la vélocité : http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=3088.0 http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=1233.0 Dans un des sujets quelqu'un parle de senseurs Tactex, qui détectent la pression et la force en continu. Ça semble intéressant, mais à $100 USD / 6 senseurs, c'est un peu cher... http://www.tactex.com/ http://www.tactex.com/files/Tactex_Product_List.pdf Je vois très bien un senseur placé sous une touche qui aurait son propre ressort (Pour avoir la course nécessaire) la compagnie fait aussi des interfaces pour convertir le signal optique à analogique, alors pas de problèmes avec des modules AIN. Reste à programmer le logiciel. Je viens d'envoyer un message à Tactex, pour voir si ça fonctionnerait et savoir si ça couterait pas trop cher 64 senseurs + modules optiques->analogue. En tout cas, j'ai vu sur leur site que le MiniMoog Voyager utilisent leur senseurs. Bon, il y a tellement de moyens de faire un bouton avec détection de vélocité, mais en même temps, pas un seul de simple... Personnellement j'oublierais les interrupteurs à potentiomètres, c'est pas très précis et il faudrait calibrer chaque notes différemment. L'effet hall est un peu trop compliqué, et le Tactex coûte une fortune. Enfin, la méthode avec interrupteur SPDT serait probablement la méthode la moins compliquée et la plus économique selon moi, et le DINX4 avec ses 128 entrées serait parfait pour cela. Il faudrait par contre trouver quel interrupteur serait utilisable : Certains modèles n'ouvrent et ferment pas nécessairement le contact au même endroit, et d'autres changent d'un contact à l'autre à la même vitesse peu importe la vitesse d'appui. Si la pression est absolument nécessaire, on peut toujours voir ce qu'il ont comme solution chez Tactex si on reste dans l'abordable!

If it's the wrong way 'round: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=7649.0 Otherwise, as the others said, you can leave it there.