toneburst

Hi Yogi. Funnily enough, I've just bought a Soundgin development board and chip set from a US website. I don't have any real idea how I'm going to go about getting the chip under MIDIBox control, though... I'm moving over to the LPCXPRESSO development board ( http://ucapps.de/mbhp_core_lpc17.html ), after TK suggested a simple circuit to control the SpeakJet, and tweaked Audiocommander's KII MIOS app for me so it would run on the new hardware. It's working pretty well so far, much to my surprise. My matrixboard wiring skills leave a lot to be desired, I can tell you... Any tips on getting the Soundgin and LPCXPRESSO talking? Are the electrical and serial communications requirements of the Speakjet and Soundgin identical, do you think? Sorry for the newbie questions. a|x

Well, I've got TKs LPC17-based MIDIbox SJ 2 up-and-running, despite serial soldering incompetence.. ;) I'm thinking of attempting to design a PCB for it, as I hate the messiness of the matrixboard solution. I'd also like to get a display connected, and maybe at some point design some kind of UI for it. That's a longterm project though, as it would require learning to write MIOS application code. I'll post some photos of my board and some audio clips later, for anyone who's interested. a|x

Interesting. Going back to the hardware approach, I've discovered another speech synth chip that seems to have a nice voice, and is quite well documented. It's called the Soundgin, and it seems to be quite like the SpeakJet in some ways. a|x

You say 'higher audio quality', Thorsten, but I quite like the crunchiness of low-quality speech synthesis (hence my interest in vintage speech ICs) ;) Just out of interest, is it possible/advisable to output audio directly from the LCPXPRESSO, or is some kind of external DAC required? a|x

Just been listening to some of the Cantarino demos. That sounds great! Not very understandable, but lovely and crunchy. Would be cool to hear that running from a MIDIbox, under MIDI control. I wonder if it was written in C. a|x

Definitely not a 'weekend project' for me. More a 6-month project, probably ;) a|x

That does sound cool. I guess if you were going strip it down to MIDI-controlled phoneme synthesis, you could probably strip out the majority of the quoted 1.4MB of program code, too, leaving just the phoneme tables and formant engine. Never done any hardware programming in C though, so I may be talking out of my hat. a|x

Interesting. I was more interested in the sound of those vintage chips, but under MIDI control. Having said that, an entirely software-based solution, would also be quite cool. Would you envisage that being possible within a MIOS framework, TK? Incidentally, did you get my pvt message re. the the SpeakJet circuit? a|x

Hi Phil, antix, thanks for the rapid replies. I know about the SpeakJet project. I'm about to build one based on TKs new version of audiocommander's original code, tweaked to run on the LPCXPRESSO board. I was just wondering if anyone had done something similar for any older chips. I have the datasheet for the SP0256-AL2, and it looks like getting it to output basic allophones wouldn't be too challenging, for someone who knew what they were doing (unlike me). It doesn't seem to have any information about pitching the oscillators though. The Votrax also sounds intriguing. There's apparently a patent application from Kraftwerk (no less) for a circuit to add MIDI control for this IC. I have a suspicion it's what they used on their remake of Autobahn from their The Mix album. a|x

Anyone tried to MIDIfy any vintage speech synth chips using a MIDIBox core? I'm thinking of the old SP0256 and Votrax chips that used to be available as addons to personal computers in the '80s, and were apparently also used in some arcade games. a|x

Excellent, TK :) Really looking forward to giving this a go! I've got my LPCXPRESSO now, just waiting on matrixboard and USB socket. I've probably got all the other components in stock. a|x

Excellent, thanks TK. a|x

Excellent! Will I be able to use USB buss power, or will I need a separate DC input? Sorry if this is a really stupid question- I'm a bit of a dunce when it comes to electronics, I'm afraid.... a|x

Hi again TK, That all sounds great! I was hoping to put the whole setup in quite a small enclosure, so it's good I may be able to do the whole thing on one board. With just audio out and USB MIDI in, it'll be nice and neat! Will you also translate the LCD driver part of the application? I guess having display support makes the host board for the LPC a bit more complicated. This all sounds excellent. I think I'll wait until you've got it working before investing in an LPC board though ;) Keep up the good work, TK, a|x

That's great news TK! Since the MIDIBox companion board for the LCPXPRESSO isn't yet ready, is there any chance of also tweaking the app to work with the existing STM32 Core? You mentioned I think that the KII daughterboard would also not be required with this core. a|x

Hmm, does anyone happen to have a spare PIC16F88 with the KII firmware burnt onto it that I could buy from them? a|x

I see. I might try and teach myself how to use Eagle any try and knock one up myself, or something. I work at a university, and it's possible there might be facilities here for making one-off PCBs. I'll have to look into it. Ah, OK, so there's no particular reason to paint the boards, then. That's good to know. a|x

Also, may I ask what you used to paint the upper surface of the board audiocommander, and was that purely an aesthetic thing? I was thinking some nice shiny self-adhesive sheet might be nice.. a|x

I'd definitely like to make the hand-tracker too, someday (I remember being very impressed when I saw it at a gallery in London). For the moment though, I'm mainly concerned with getting the SpeakJet to work under MIDI control. Incidentally, did anyone ever come up with a PCB layout for this one? I'm going to try and make up the circuit on matrix board as suggested, but it would be nice ultimately to implement a neater solution using a custom PCB. That way, I could put it in a nice transparent box like my Shruthi-1 ( http://mutable-instruments.net ), and not have to be so ashamed of my terrible-looking soldering ;) a|x

But I can still upload the SpeakJet application to the Core PIC using MIOS Studio, presumably..? I'm happy tweaking some constants etc. in the C code, if I know where to look (and assuming it is written in C, of course). a|x

I think it was an actual problem burning the data onto the PIC 16F88- mike was getting a "Fehler in Bereichsprüfung" error (which I guess is just a generic burn error). He reckons TK did an updated version of the firmware hex file to fix the problem. I'll pvt-message TK and see if he can throw any light on the issue. Thanks again, a|x

Hi again guys. Sorry to keep resurrecting this ancient thread ;) I just ordered the PIC for the kII board from Mike's MIDIShop, and asked him to burn the firmware onto it, as I don't have access to a PIC burner. Unfortunately, he's having problems burning the file onto the PIC, for some reason. He reckons there's a more recent version of the firmware that was produced to fix this issue, but I can't seem to find it. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks, a|x

If there is any chance of another GM5 mini PCB run, I'd like to register an interest. Cheers, a|x

:) ShruthiJet! a|x

Hmm, I suppose so... I'll get the thing working without it, then maybe add it later. Incidentally, are you the same rosch as the rosch in the Mutable Instruments forum? a|x