toneburst

Cool, will do. I've a horrible feeling it's not going to work, but fingers crossed I might be wrong... a|x

Any MIDIBox SID-owning Ableton Live users tried building a Max4Live editor for the MB-6582? I'll give it a go myself, if I get a chance, if not. a|x

Can anyone tell my where to get the feedback knobs featured on the back of Wilba's original MA-6582? http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?hash=fbb1c9&media=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3279%2F2545754812_f013e9c8cb.jpg ... or suggest a good alternative. I'm in the UK, so a European supplier would be preferable, but I can do international orders if I can get just 4 units, and postage is reasonable. a|x

The EX-8000 is pretty primitive, MIDI-wise. None of the parameters have ranges that go beyond 99, so I should be OK. I may have to do some scaling though. a|x

Wow, thanks for the instant response, tk! That looks relatively simple. So would the complete application forward all other MIDI events to the MIDI out unchanged? a|x

Quick query: would it be possible to write a MIOS application to take a MIDI CC as an input, and output a sysex string? I have an old MIDI synth module, whose sounds are editable via sysex, but my favoured DAW, Ableton Live, actively filters out sysex, so it would be cool to retrofit the synth so the sounds could be edited via CCs. I've never done any MIOS coding, but I'd love to see what the program above would look like. If someone could post a snipped demonstrating how to convert a single CC to a sysex string I'd be really grateful. Cheers, a|x

Thanks for the fast replies, and kind offers, guys. This is exactly the helpful, friendly response I remember from my previous visits here! I'm going to talk to sparx first, since he's just down the road from me. Thanks again, a|x

Hi guys, this is a rather odd request, but some time ago, I started building one of Wilba's amazing MB-6582s. I bought all the parts, including the circuitboards from SmashTV, and started to put it all together. However, as those with long memories might remember, I hit a few problems, and eventually life, as it has a habit of doing, took over, and I ran out of time to spend on the project, sadly. I'd still really like to complete the project, but can't realistically see myself having the time to do it myself in the near future, so was wondering if (and I know this is a big ask), maybe I could commission one of the more experienced MIDIBox builders to complete the work for me. I'd say the project is around 2/3 to 3/4 complete, but then I don't know how much time would be needed to track down the bugs I was experiencing. I suspect one of the Core chips might be fried. I think all the SIDs are fine. I've soldered all of the main board, had the panel made by Schaefer, and got the box. I've also started work on the control panel electronics, so there's only really the LEDs, some switches, and getting the whole thing to work to do. I say 'only', but I have only the vaguest idea of what might be involved in the last bit, hence, in part, giving up on the whole thing all those months ago. Anyone any thoughts on whether they might be able to help me out at all? I'm of course willing to pay a fair price. I'm UK-based (London), so it might be easier transport-wise if someone else in the UK could help. Anyone any thoughts? This is a preliminary enquiry, I can provide more specifics if anyone is interested. Thanks a lot guys, alx

To open the .fdp file, you need a program called 'Front Panel Designer', which is a free download from the Schaefer or Front Panel Express websites. It's Windows-only, unfortunately. It probably has an export option of some kind. Cheers, a|x

I'd buy one of those, if 'someone' did design one.. a|x

That's cool. I have to put more time into mine, I think. I bought all the bits ages ago, but other things have taken precedence lately, and I've lost most of the impetus. Have to get back to it soon though. a|x

Nice one!! Mine isn't going so well (need to do some troubleshooting on the mainboard because I'm not getting anything from channels 2>4 :( Glad yours is working though. a|x

I'm not at home at the moment, but I can look into it when I get back to work on Monday. There probaby are standard colours for gels. They tend to be sold in largish quantities for use with video/film lights, so it might be possible to get as much as you need by writing a carefully-worded email to a local supplier, requesting a free sample. I've managed to get hold of several different enclosures this way (though none turned out to be as cool as the PT-10). a|x

I'm not sure, to be honest. I should be able to find out though. I'm probably going to steal some from work if they have the right colour- they have it in Big rolls. a|x

Ah, true. Hmmmm.. I guess there's no way to make this work in a logical way with my controller, in that case. I guess the best way to do it would be with 7 separate buttons. Unfortunately, the XStation doesn't have enough buttons for that. a|x

Sorry, I guess my description wasn't very clear there, but that's what I did, for Core 2, anyway. So, with the testtone app running on Pic #1 in Core 2, and two known-good SIDs in the two sockets connected to Core 2, I don't get a tone. I've just run the same test again with PIC #1 in Core 3 and 4, with the same SID chips. Core 3 gives on initial tone, when the mainboard is switched on, but the tone falls in pitch, glitches, and disappears after a second or so. Core 4 gives no tone. Cool. I will try the interconnect test app. I should have thought of that myself (I remember it now from when I was building a modular SID a couple of years ago). It's quite possible there are some bad joints there. As I said, I had great difficulty soldering some of the components. At least now I have an idea where to look though! Thanks again, Wilba, a|x

Great work on the CC implementation TK! I've just been experimenting with it, and attempting to setup a template on my Novation XStation controller. Voice 1/2/3 Waveform | 0-15: val | | | Bit 0: Triangle | | | | Bit 1: Saw | | | | Bit 2: Pulse | | | | Bit 3: Noise (disables all other waveforms)| | | | Bit 4: Disable Voice | | | | Bit 5: Sync | | | | Bit 6: Ringmodulator | | | | Example: 02h = 2 = Saw | | | | Example: 05h = 5 = Triangle & Pulse | | | | Example: 21h = 33 = Triangle & Sync I must admit to being a bit confused as to how to control the parameter above (and a few others that work in a similar way) from a MIDI controller, though. Unless I'm completely misinterpreting, there doesn't seem to be a sane way to setup a knob or incrementing button type control to send out the appropriate data. Wouldn't it be easier just to divide the 0 > 127 range into (in this case) 7 regions, so that a value of 0 would give a Triangle wave, 18 would give a Saw wave, etc. That way, it would be possible to setup a control with an appropriate increment step (if it was a button), or if it was a slider or rotary control, just have to have it switch waveforms in a logical way so that at one end of the control's movement, you'd get the first option, and at the other extreme, you'd get the last option. Or is this already possible, and I'm missing something obvious? Cheers, a|x

Hi Wilba, thanks very much for the rapid response! Yeah, I know, it's weird. Well, I've had 'feedback from Core' turned on all the time, so I'm pretty sure that I AM managing to upload to PICs in the other Core slots. I just retried uploading MIOS, then the SID app to PIC #1 in Core slot 2, and it worked fine. I still get so audio from the SIDs with the PIC in Core 2 though. If I place PIC 1 with newly-uploaded SID app in Core slot 1, then it works, but only responds on MIDI ch.1, not 2. I'll test for shorts there, thanks for the pointers. I'm beginning to realise that my soldering has been generally sh*t on the whole of the mainboard, mainly down to not being able to get the solder to stick properly to most of the pads connected to Ground. I suspect that might be at the root of all this. Just retried uploading the Testtone app to PIC 1 in Core 2. App uploaded fine. However, with SIDs in SID slots 2 and 4 (ie the ones connected to Core 2), I don't get any tone from them. I get tone when I remove the SIDs and short across the SID sockets pins 8 and 27.

Ah, solved. Sorry for wasting your time. a|x

Sorry, this is probably an RTFM case, but any tips on how to get hold of the version of the SID app with CC support and getting it uploaded into a Core PIC? a|x

A selection of gels in front of my white/blue LCD: The contrast and brightness with the red gel isn't as good as I remembered, disappointingly. I think it would be acceptable, though, given that the display is arguably a little too bright without something in front of it. a|x

Definitely bright! Oddly, the LCD backlight brightness pot doesn't seem to do anything when I turn it.

True, true. It's a pretty bright LCD though, so I think I'll be OK, and actually, it might increase the contrast, since more of the blue background will be filtered-out that the white characters, which is cool. a|x

MIOS successfully uploaded to PIC #0 in Core slots 1, 2, 3 and 4 Testtone app uploaded to PIC #0 in Core 1, 2, 3, 4 Audio output from SID slot 7 still not working, but test-tone output on all other channels. I was able to re-upload the SID app to the PIC #0 in Core 1, 2, 3 and 4, but no audio output from SIDs except when in SID slots 1 and 2, with PIC #0 in Core 1 This doesn't seem to be the case, in fact. I have PIC #0 in Core 1 currently, and it only responds to MIDI on ch.1. No audio from SIDs. I don't know if this helps at all. I've tried to be as rigourous about this as I can. Any advice at all as to what to try next very much appreciated. Am I missing something obvious? a|x

Good thought. I've been thinking about this, too. What I'd really like is a shaped piece of perspex that fitted exactly into the hole in the front-panel, so that it's flush with the top of the panel. I'd then put my gel between the bottom of this and the display. a|x