Wisefire

on another note.. i got some new sid chips.. finally got around to testing them.. one of them works.. the other one doesnt.. volume is 2 damn low.. the filter doesnt respond but the different waveforms seem to work (as far as i can tell.. the sound is smothered in noise when i put my volume to full) its not the core or the sid module as they work with other sid chips.. what am i doing wrong?

midichannel is both the same.. both are on channel one..

ive been thinking.. first of all the xy pad needs to be thought out... how to get the xy data out of the pad.. ill be looking into that.. but i first have to find a non destructive way to get the xy pad connected.. i also have another idea.. remember the stylophone.. i sure dont.. but i know it it has been used by some cewl musician people.. so why not incorporate that into my midibox chaos.. 2 different methods of achieving this are.. 1. each contact point a different input in a din module.. or 2. each contact point has got a different resistance.. and put that into a ain module.. and ofcourse program the core to understand it all..

nope, both of the 8580 chips i have where socketed..

i have actually tried it on an unimportant smd chip first.. and the technique ill probably use is as follows.. first desolder it with desolder litze(wick) let it cool down.. put a thin metal wire in the space between the pins and the body.. one end is connected to something.. the other end is used to pull the pins slightly up when i solder them.. its described on the opl3 page on ucapps.. the technique of alternating between chips, thats something i havent thought of.. that wouldnt hinder workflow as much.. good idea.. as for keeping my iron sharp.. yeh.. ill put a new head in especially for this.. but ill have to order the opl3 PCB first.. and prolly a core module aswell so ill have to wait for funds to rise a bit.. :P SmashTV??? why do you only supply the OPL3 module without parts.. is it cuz of the weird oscillator?? not enough interest from midiboxers?

and now for some photos..

i will be trying to recreate a midicontroller along the lines of a korg kaoss pad. i have received some ribbon controllers and an x/y pad some time ago, and ive been wanting to do something with it.. this would mean i would have program the specific application myself.. im not a master programmer so i will be needing some help.. pictures will soon follow as usual.. obviously everybody can join in.. building the same controller in my footsteps.. its all good..

as my midibox sid now works, i am now confident in my own quality of work and the quality of TKz designs. i have now 2 soundblaster chips with 1 opl3 chip and 1 YAC512 each.. pictures will follow later.. i will document here.. as i have documented my "becoming of a midibox sid" topic.. this will be substantially more difficult as i will have to solder SMD parts.. however im confident i will succeed..

and how to controll it with a core module!

ok.. thats good thinking (obviously) but how do i make my second sid speak when link is enabled..

well.. i temporarily used one of my 10 buttons on my box.. and tried the link function.. when engaged it manages to shut one of my sids up.. and only speaks through one output.. no trace of the second sid.. but when i press both sid buttons (sacrificed another 2 of my selectionbuttons) it does work.. what trickery is this??

no prob..

TK: thnx now i understand.. its a sh*tload of work.. and its not used often.. and i agree with you, it should always be fun for you.. else mios midibox and ucapps will be dead in a mather of months.. also we arent your "customers" i just didnt know that it was that hard to get it into the menu structure.. oh and btw.. its not drilling i have to jig saw it out.. the buttons are square :P im looking forward to building the MBFM.. sounds like a bit more complexity (i do like complexity.. it gives me the oppertunity to have a synth for 6 months and still discover new things.. but it should never compromize intuitiveness..) as for the link button.. there is a sysex code i can type into midi-ox and link is enabled.. this worked good enough for me.. sysex code:F0 00 00 7E 40 00 0D 01 00 58 28 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 F7 drin: 1. i would want it the other way.. my detents feel way to weak.. when i find the time.. ill open it.. 2. encoder speed.. yeah.. i was thinking of that aswell.. which sliders are you talking about?

TK: ok.. i can understand that you'd want them readily available.. but doubling this kind of setup stuff inside the menu is a good idea aswell imho.. allthough im hesitant to drag a synth in the discussion which you may not know or not like, ill do it anyway.. my korg ms2000 has a extensive menu structure.. all the stuff that is on the outside can be controlled through the menu aswell.. its not the resources.. well i would a dout in there aswell.. i do have all my PCBs done for a complete CS.. the whole problem is that i would have to put the time i dont have right now into jigsawing another couple of holes in there. and would have to mount the prints on my interface aswell.. this takes time.. which i dont have right now.. so it'll have to wait... maybe there is some sysex command i can use for those buttons instead? that way i atleast can test the stereo factor of my 2 sids.. the others: on another note.. im having trouble with my encoder, i bought it from smashtv.. it has a switch in it aswell.. it behaving irraticly.. i just have to touch the knob.. and it goes changing patches on me.. very irritating.. i have yet to test the voti encoders.. but they feel sturdier. this one i have now wiggles.. :S

ofcourse TK, thanx.. but i knew that already.. i dont have that part of the control surface yet.. and im not planning on doing that soon.. as ive got other stuff to attend to.. is there a menu option.. instead of the radio buttons.. i was expecting that the 2 sids would behave the same once i got them both "linked"

thnx.. well then its done for now.. it works.. and i really have to spend time on other things.. but my complete CS WILL be done sometime.. as for my conclusions on the midibox system as a whole.. its actually really nice.. but it has a learning curve.. luckily the documentation IS there.. still got one problem though.. my slave sid isnt loading the same patch as my master.. and it doesnt react to the filter settings i make in the menu.. how can i control 2 sids at the same time within the menu.. where is the option for that.. it does react to midinotes i play.. oh the obligatory photos.. its not great to look at.. remember its temporary.. but it works and thats all that matters right now..

i was wondering.. is it ok for the switches to share a common ground on the DINx4.. instead of routing 4 different wires for it?

hey TK, you are absolutely right.. thank you.. its in plain view on one of the pages.. and i didnt read it at first.. ive sent a sysex message via midi-ox to my box and now it works.. yay.. real stereo: one take, no FX.. http://student-kmt.hku.nl/~ijsbrand/midiboxsid/sounds/arpy.mp3 only some buttons and i call it finished for now.. i have to find a way to get a cheap frontplate.. with lettering..

well.. built it in.. and it works .. sort of.. as far as i can tell the noise is slightly more.. but its still very minute.. but i didnt put a cap on the end yet.. first some nice pics.. soldered pins to my lcd and i made the wire switch thing on the plug itself.. it works.. now for the problem.. im getting sound out of my master.. but my slave doesnt do jack.. its not the sid chip.. ive checked that.. its not the pic processor, ive exchanged it. it is powering up.. and sending sysex..(if i plug in the midi into the slave core) what am i doing wrong?

this is not that kind of a forum.. the only people lurking here are either midibox builders or aspiring midibox builders.. and we dont build stuff for other people.. not even midibox stuff.. certainly not something totally unrelated to midibox.. this forum is for knowledge transfer only..

nice.. you did this by hand?

well i think it works.. im getting around 5v and around 13v now for the building it into my temporary box..

well ok.. how about this then? now to check if it actually works..

thank you moebius, didnt have any doubt that it wouldnt.. but what now.. do i need to re use this topic?