DavidBanner

way I see it - if you want to beat mix, use vinyl, there is nothing like the feel of a 1200/1210, anything else is like kissing your sister. there are lots of ways to use ableton, sure you can program it to do a set for you and stand there and pretend, or you can use it like having 200 decks all at the correct pitch, plus all your your VST plugin are available at your finger tips, and lots and lots of other very cool tricks. and of course you can mess up a mix on ableton! I use the quantise at 1/4 usually and it entirely posible to make mixes sound awful. But if you look at the new possiblities given to you by ableton it's a whole new way of performing. Besides, really and truely I don't think anyone has cared about mixing for years, the only time you ever hear anyone comment on a mix is if it's done badly. Last time I hear someone say "wow, this guy's mixing is amazing" was about 5 years ago. Truth is the kids in the clubs aren't impressed with long flawless mixes anymore. But having say all that, I still love getting on my decks and I still use a few bits of vinyl in my sets, I like vinyl, I always have, I love decks, I love scratching, but times have changed and it's not practical to lug boxes of records over hill and dale. I haven't seen many international DJs who are still using vinyl anymore (Normal Cook et al aside), this fact was 1st brought home to me a few years ago giving vinyl to various Djs and them all asking for it on CD, I make sure there are CDs in all of my Vinyl promos given to DJs now....

Hi Steve, Yeah - I had a quick read up about the isolation transformers, they all sounded and looked huge - wanted to check I wasn't missing a smaller portable variety. I really need something that I can take to gigs with me, preferably (as in almost essential) something that can be carried on a plane as hand luggage along with my laptop and HW controller.

Hey Steve, Will check out the deal isolation transformers, I think the Isobars will do a similar job. The ground loop hum is actually the most minor side effect, the PIC frying is the thing that's doing my head in at the moment. How portable are isolation transformers? I'm guessing they don't provide surge protection?

Cheer Roger, That's a really good point - I'll bet I have a couple in boxes that kit came in, and possibly in one of the cable boxes (aka the snake pits). Nice one!! That'll get me started while I source the plugs.

I just got some Isobar filters, but you can't get them in the UK plug type. So I need make some connectors, that way I know the cables are 240v, I don't think using 110v rated plugs will present a problem. As to why I need the isobars see: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=7131.0

Hey Roger, I need 8 plugs and 2 sockets, all 3 pin. D

you want to build a midi box with 1024 buttons? :o

hey Steve, cheers for the tip, I'll use the Mouser option if I can't source in Europe, seems a shame to ship from the states unless nessasary. I was hoping that big electronics place in Germany might have 'em - what's the name of that place again???

fear of a midi planet :o

Hi ya'll, I'm desperately trying to track down some NEMA 5-15P power plugs in the UK / Europe. Does anyone know where to get them? I've tried Farnell and RS but without much luck. This is what they look like: Cheers, D

it's cyberdynne systems in the making!! the folks at reprap are chatting about making a RepRap available for hire/loan so you can use it to make your own one!

luckily for us mere humans, it's only self-replicating, not self assembling. You could just imagine leaving the unit on and coming home after a weekend away to a house full of 'em all busy cloning themselves....

there are a few different ways to use ableton, depending on the situation. For DJing here's what I do: you leave the main-view in the clips window - and trigger the tracks from there when you load in tracks, you do a "beat-mapper" type thing, where you put hit points on the beats (think ReCycle). This way all of your tracks are pefectly BPMed (depending on how well you did the hit point stuff) to the master tempo. Personally I resisted moving from vinyl until I saw Ableton Live 5, and then everything clicked into place. The decision was made for me once I saw what you can do with ableton and the potential once you add a HW interface.

it's even better than that, in a few years, this thing should be able to do the PCB, Knobs, Button Caps and any other custom bits you need. in fact it could potentially do most of that now, but the dev work needs to be done. obviously there's the cost/time issues, but what a cool concept - the RepRap is even going be self-replicating!

then check this out my friend: there is a project called the "RepRap" project: http://staff.bath.ac.uk/ensab/replicator/ it's a GNU, PIC based project designed to be built for sub $500 from Newscientist http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7165: "3D printers normally build circuits by fusing together a powdered metal with a laser. But Bowyer plans instead on using a low-melting point metal alloy of bismuth, lead, tin and cadmium that can be squirted from a heated syringe to form circuits. Bowyer has already produced an electronic circuit by squirting the alloy inside a plastic autonomous robot, which itself was created using a commercial 3D printer. Because the heated syringe he used is very similar to the nozzle that deposits plastic layers in the printer, he envisions squirting both plastic and metal from the same nozzle in future self-replicating machines."

everything you need as far as info can be found on here, there are links to some great soldering tutorials in the wiki (and possibly the forums). then all you need to do is spend the time to read and digest the info and practice the soldering. Also once u start the actual midibox build i'd suggest doing a few DINs, AINs and DOUTs first and then move onto the core. the projects can seem a lot more daunting than they really are sometimes, esp with the kits from smashTV and all the friendly folks in the forum for when you get truely stuck.

you could also use an Epson R200 - they have direct CD printing via a tray which should be able to be modified very quckly to hold PCBS.

hi c0nsumer, thanks for the tips, esp on safety - I'll be ordering a dremmel, a stand and a respirator in the next few days...

I've noticed the commercial PCB drilling machines have ultra high speed drills, how important is that? Can I get away with a nice cheap 7,000 rpm drill press for doing my PCBs?

here's a couple of snips from a messages from smashTV who explains it much better than I could: "I think your laptop supply and the quattro wall wart are fighting each other. Actually I know it is, having fought this issue on my own systems (but with powerbooks and onkyo and aja audio interfaces, and some monitors on the vga port)." "This explanation/values is theoretical, not sure what you will actually find with a meter considering the differences between our mains standards..... Let's call the quattro's ground our reference, at zero volts. If you measure from this ground to the chips in the interface, 5v as expected. -Usually- thats a linear ps inside, like the one on the CORE. Now add the PC supply to the mix, it's a switcher (switch mode) design. These work differently than a linear, taking chunks of the incoming AC wave and using capacitors and a high speed switching circuit to -approximate- a clean DC out. Switchers are heat/power/weight efficient compared to linear. The problem here is the way the switcher works, the ground on the output is different than what the linear gives as ground, if referenced to the linear there could be a few millivolts difference, or all the way up to full mains voltage difference depending on the specifics of the design(s). This difference is your nasty hum, and it will stress everything while connected." ** snip ** "My bet then is we have the ground loop and it's acting like an antenna to the dirty supply power (tainted by the hash pushed out on a ground the analog parts are sharing, laptop charger supplies are apparently bad about this). I have always fought this issue by using isolation transformers and cap filtered power strips. I have a power distribution box with isolation transformers in my main FOH rack, and I have a few isobar brand outlet strips that use caps and transformers to block DC and keep it from leaking outlet to outlet. I have all of my computer equipment plugged in through isobars, all of my outboard racks, etc. "

Hey Stryd, The laptop is only a few weeks old and it's got a 3 yr warranty, but I'm not sure it's a problems with the laptop as such, or a better way to put it would be that I think another one would do the same thing. I think it's a power supply issue and/or a quirk with the Quattro. I've got a feeling that a decent unit like a MOTU traveller wouldn't be giving these problems. I think the quattro is highlighting a problem with the power supplies I'm using - I have a gigital switch mode PSU for the Laptop, A digital switch mode PSU for the core and a wall wart for the Quattro. All these PSUs are fighting each other and the result is that some mad voltages and spikes etc are being tranmitted to ground and frying the analogue stuff in the PIC chip in the core. But the Quattro is nice and small and would be great if I can get it working, if not I'll bite the bullet and go and get a traveller. But there is also the issue with clean power in clubs that hopefully the Isobars will sort out. I saw Sasha asking for clean power at a club in London a couple of weeks ago and the sound tech nearly died laughing.

excellent idea - and you can stash you wages from the gig in there too!

hey bionix - thanks for the info, but alas Stryd is right. Rogic - I'm using a Toshiba Tecra M5 This problem has been frying the Chip in my core too - after much help from SmashTv the problem looks like the various PSUs fighting and sending voltage down the midi ground. I think the solution (i.e. Tim suggested) will be to put the isobar filters on the mains and run a cable from a screw in the chassis on the laptop to ground. I'm currently completely immobilised with my back at the moment, but as soon as I'm up on my feet I'll be doing some more experimenting and i'll report back on the results. Once I've got a solution I'll post it and add some info to the Wiki for the next victim of the dreaded ground loop.

hey stryd, true, true, but UPSs aren't that portable either, fingers crossed the Isobars will do the trick.

hello fellas, thanks for the suggestions!! lol, not a bad idea, but I can just imagine the reaction trying to check a car battery in at the airport :D Smash has given me the low-down on the situation, and it seems you guys are bang on - the PSUs I'm using are fighting each other, it's also frying my core chips too :( But - the solution it would seem is using Isobar filter/surge protectors - i'm waiting on some now, I'll let y'all know how they go...