jackan

I fried all the PICs! :) But nothing else... When I changed the master PIC everything worked fine. The SID seems stable and I haven't seen the freeze problem since. Lets just hope it keeps working! Thank you for posting!

Well, thats not good news at all :) Guess I will start by changing the PICs and the Optocoupler..

I don't have any regulators :) I have wired directly from my PSU to all the COREs and the SIDs.

More trouble.... I changed all the power wires (5V, 12V) in a desperate attempt to fix the freeze problem... And (of course) I accidentaly switched +5V and + 12V, now (after I switched back) all my SID does is lighting all the LEDs, and never start... :) Not a sound neither... Any ideas of what might have died when from running of 12V instead of 5? Regards, Jack.

As I said, it IS a Switcher. I believe that it produces about 2A on the 5V, and something like 1A on the 12V. That should be enough, right? But as you say it might be voltage noise related... Too bad I don't have a scope.. I guess I could add a couple of caps on the 5V lines. 0,1uF?

Jaicen: I have shorted the Audio-In on J4 to ground with a wire. I'll try using a cap, thanks for the tip! Altitude: Now I'm using and SMPS from an old scanner or something. I know it's not ideal, but since the noise dosen't really bother me anymore I'll stick to it. Unless you think that this can be related to the "stall problem"?

Thank you for answering. I have shorted all J4. Unfortunately that did not reduce any noise. But I have learned to live with the noise :) My problem now is the stall thing...

Hi again, folks. Now I have another problem with my SID! Sometimes when I switch it on the SID "stalls" and all the LEDs go bright, with no other signs of life.. If I open it up and "play around" with the internal cables, the SID usually reboots and starts working. But it seems impossible to locate exactly where I have to touch in order to get it working. And sometimes I can just manually reboot the machine and everething will work fine (without touching anything else). This leads be to believe that its accutally not a bad cable or anything like that.. Does anyone have a clue what might be the problem? I would really appreciate the help!

Okay, thank you for answering. So the 8580s are less noisy? I tried these newer chips when I started my designing, but as I rembermber they did not work very well. I changed the filter capacitors, voltage regulators and loaded the 8580-program. But (still as I remember) I could not get sound from some patches. Is there anything else I have to change when switching chips? By the way, someone said something about grounding audio in order to reduce noise? Ground in what way? Like shorting the pins? Regards, Jack of Sweden!

Hi, guys. I have quite recently completed my 4x Midibox SID, but now I have started to notice all the noise it generates. It is only noticeable when not playing and it sound really "pointy" like a sawtooth wave. The noise can be reduced almost completly by setting the filter, and on some patches, for example "NT Bass" there is almost no noise at all. What I'm wondering is if the noise comes, internally, from the 6581:s or if something else might contribute to the problem? I have tried with different PSUs, without any luck. My filter capacitors are all 470p and all my chips sounds pretty much the same. I hope I have described the problem well enough and I really appreciate all the help I can get! Best Regards, Jack from Sweden.

Thank you guys for your comments! The panel was made by someone on this forum. The result was not so good when you take a good look at it, and the panel was scratched on arrival. I e-mailed this person, telling him about my concerns, but he has not replied. Therefore I choose not to mention his name. I painted the case myself. I have never heard of original black C64s. Do these exist?

Can't wait to try this release on my, soon existing, Quad SID. You are doing a great job, TK! Much appreciated!

NorthernLightX: Understood. I realize now that Smash does not bring in a lot of profit (or none) on this. It was selfish of me to ask for even cheaper stuff and for that I apologize.

Smash: Will you provide kits for these boards as well? If so, how much will these cost? Have you thougt of providing a complete kit for the Midibox SID Step C? With all the boards and all the components, in one package. Maybe with a better price than when buying them piece by piece? :) Just trying to get my costs together :) Keep up the good work!

Hi, boys and girls. I've got some SID chips if anyone is interested. I have the following available for immediate delivery: CSG6581R5 1 piece MOS6581CBM 1 piece CSG6581R4 3 pieces CSG8580R5 7 pieces The price is €30/each + shipping. If you want 100% working chips shipped immediately to wherever, let me know. Contact me at stereojacks -at- gmail dot com. Regards, Jack.