madox

@lylehaze - Were you an Amigan? I grew up on the Music-X sequencer.

Just on a technical note, the capacitance of a silicon diode could possibly degrade the signal of a poor current driver, with a long or poor quality cable. The cable introduces RLC impedance components (mostly R at MIDI frequencies). This is just an RLC response (with low L), and the output waveform is subject to a MIDI interface's drive capability. However, as stated above, the problem is not in the silicon diode. The silicon diode is suitable for this application, as circuit protection. Most likely, problems exist in the driver, the cable, or the optocoupler gain. Opto's vary in performance, as well as degradation. Sometimes in electronics, one has to patch a problem in some way that does not truely address the cause, though the diode would definitely not be the first thing I would look at in thid case.

By the way, what supply voltages do you have onboard your HID?

The chemical is certainly around. Some countries restrict access to many chemicals though.

Hi Kaleaf, That's an interesting looking device, and seems to provide a convenient entry for HID experimentation. What kind of background do you have in electronics? If you are not so confident with design/trouble shooting, then you could use a very simple op-amp buffer to drive the LED. The buffer input will be very high impedance, and will not significantly effect the wiper voltage. I have attached an image with a basic circuit. However, this may not give you exactly the brightness response you would like. You may need to go to a slightly more complicated circuit, to provide minimum illumination at low voltage, and to give a brightness 'curve' which is satisfying to the user. This should give you something to get you started, though.

Hi Kaleaf, Few questions: I think you want the intensity of your LED to vary with your potentiometer wiper voltage, right? You are concerned that the load of the LED will interfere with any other stages connected to the potentiometer wiper voltage? Are all your potentiometers the same taper (linear/log)? What other types of loads (inputs of following stages) will be driven by the potentiometers? The usual way to avoid interaction between loads, is to isolate stages with buffers. Connect your potentiometer wiper to buffer stages, and connect the buffers to the loads. A very easy way to do this, is using opamp buffers, though I think a correctly biassed transistor of some kind should be feasible for your application. You may even wish to introduce some nonlinearity in the LED buffer. If you are looking for other fora to discuss design issues, there should be something for generic electronics. This type of question is application independant. I doubt too many people would mind you asking this question in the miscellaneous section here, though. Cheers

Many countries will restrict access to this type of chemical, at least in pure form, or high concentrations. It is not really suitable for most households.

XP requires a lot of customisation to make it behave well, and to make it robust. However, if it is setup well, then it is very capable and convenient for music/multimedia tasks. I have had far more trouble with MacOS than WinXP. Much of the help provided by MacOS is just a hinderance, and some of it is genuinely broken. Not many people seem to notice the disfunctional aspects of the OS though, and just accept the autoconfig behaviour. If one requires a specific setup from the OS, then it can be very painful. I do like Mac hardware - quiet, well built, attractive. Linux of course requires much customisation too, and one needs a greater level of understanding to do so, than with WinXP. For me, I use XP for music, and Linux for pretty much everything else, though it does get used a bit for music too. I also use MacOS for my mum. ;) They are well suited to eachother. @thread - I'm pretty sure jakeman wrote that he is not going to torrent logic studio. Don't know if that was eidted by him after the fact. @jakeman - do you realise this forum is mainly for discussing the DIY open source MIDIBox projects, primarily designed by Thorsten Close? There are many other fora for general discussion of computer music. I'm not meaning to discourage you from participating here, but just trying to offer some guidance. edit - spelling

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, happy new year for 2009! ~498ppm more awesome than 2008!

Hmm, I have certainly experinced that kind of development 'guidance' before. Some quotes; "no one cares if you just string this thing together with spaghetti code", "it doesn't have to work first time, just get it on the market, quick! We can always fix it later." However, I'm not so anti capitalism. Every system has its faults, and I think capitalism is the best option we have seen in practice so far. I do think open source is a very fine thing, though I think it is a long way from replacing capitalism as an all pervasive system.

That's pretty impressive etching, but I don't think the compromises with materials safety would be adviseable for beginners. Personally, I have never found issue with etching time, but precision is always a factor. I think the main issue I have had is with transparent paper coatings remaining on the unmasked copper.

hmm, thinking about this list has just reminded me of how many of my 2009 projects are really just my projects from the past several years that I haven't gotten around to. Music projects: -MB6582 -MBFM -MB808 -TP9090 -X0XB0X (+1 for a friend) -New audio interface -New PC -Transformer saturation processor -Monitor speakers -Get some old second hand effects units -Edrum + trigger pads -SDS3 module -Fix my Viscount OB-12 -Build a full GM5, with additional MIDI merge inputs -Buy a 'virtual orchestra' type soft synth I'm happy with -Think about a MonoWave(X) and some MB controllers for 2010 -Spend time actually playing/writing music (I want to really finish at least one track) Work -Starting an R&D dev team with a couple of mates -C++ programming/embedded systems development -Perhaps revisit some of the engineering topics I brushed over in uni -Try to earn enough money to actually pay for my mortgage Other hobbies -Develop my automobile mechanics (I do a little more each year) -Purchase a cheap hobby car to modify and play with -Continue learning about Linux based operating systems Nurture my relationship with my wife (this is one of the few things I am actually satisfied with in my life) Keep an eye out for any new and interesting opportunities

Hey, not bad. I hadn't thought of doing an open sided sandwich case. Why did you get this one laser cut? Isn't that expensive? I would have thought two off the shelf box lids would have sufficed.

Yeah, absolutely, and your input was exactly the kind of response I was looking for. £600 is a lot for that mixer; I can find it for a much better price shipped to Australia from the US. I don't know if you have high tax or transport costs. I thought Aus was already pretty bad for shipping rates. I will definitely keep an eye on mixers on ebay though. I am a little hesitant to buy this kind of product second hand though. Mixers can really get trashed by misuse. I have confirmed with Phonic that the mixer is capable of full bandwidth for each channel. I have never used a digital desk, so can't yet relate to the comparison being discussed here. What would be the main characteric differences in the timbre of each option? I am familiar with the change in character of sound when digitally recorded vs. played live strait from the jack of an analgue synth; is it this kind of difference in character that one gets from a digital vs. analogue desk? The only reason I may want to record at 96kHz, is if doing a lot of processing/editing on a DAW. I don't know if it makes much of a difference or not (apart from my hard drive usage). I have done listening tests comparing 16 bit 44.1kHz recordings vs 24 bit 96kHz recordings with a profesional audio rack in an annechoic chamber at uni; it was very subtle, barely noticeable in the highest frequencies. These days, I doubt my hearing is any where near good enough to pick that up (I was young at the time of the test). Well, my wife is drawing me away now (of course this is part cause of my time and financial constraints). Thanks you both so much for your input on this; much appreciated. madox

Yeah, I don't think anyone is getting down on him for how he has conducted the order. He has put in the effort, and stuck with it, and I'm definitely happy for the service he is providing the rest of us. It's still good to know the developments at the Maxim online store. I hadn't bothered to check back there for quite some time. Funny how easily I can adopt past truths as untested assumptions. Ahh, the good old days. I'm still in the mode of reading $US in online stores, and thinking how affordable everything looks. Even with the snafu $AU, it's still cheaper to source most electronics and audio gear from OS though.

Cool, cheers dude. I forgot to mention, I do very little work with mic's or passive instruments, so the pre's are really not a big factor for me. In the past I have used the pre on my Nord G2X, which has been good enough for me. Also, I've found the quality of the Behringer input stages to be sufficient for my uses, although I have only very rarely had anything better to compare to. My general feeling is that my kind of synth work is much less sensitive to the mixer inputs than something like orchestral mic'ing, or soulful jaz vocals etc. I know a lot of audio engineers in recording studios rate the Behringer desks very poorly. I did notice some difference using my friend's much higher priced Yamaha desk, though the difference didn't seem worth the money, on my meagre budget. Cheers, madox

Hi folk, I'm considering buying a Phonic Helix 24 MkII mixer / firewire audio interface, and wondered if anyone here could offer opinions about this or other Phonic products? Would anyone have any suggestions for similar alternatives that would be worth considering? I think the features for the money are really good. I currently only have a Behringer Eurorack 1602, 12 channel analogue mixer, and a Numark DJ mixer. I could really use a lot more mixer channels, and a new PC audio interface (I'm using Intel's motherboard Analog Devices audio chipset :( ). I recently used my friend's M-Audio FireWire 410, and was very impressed with the processing performance and sound quality. The headphone out on the 410 has a practically imperceptable noise floor, which is a really surprising relief for extensive headphone monitoring. I am not expecting the same level of sound quality from the Helix, but if I could get similar processing performance, that would suit me. The Helix firewire interface is rated as being 24 bit 96kHz; would anyone here know if this is a max data throughput that would be shared between the 18 audio channels, or would each channel be capable of streaming at 24 bit 96kHz simultaneously? I'm asking Phonic the same question, of course. One downside of the interface, is that it only has two outputs. I'm not sure how much of an issue this will be for me. In the past, I have only really used my PC as a sequencer, not an audio workstation. I am now using a few soft synths, some PC sample work, and plan to record to PC hard disk. I figure I can do effects processing for the soft synths and samples entirely within software, so probably don't need to route these signals to individual outputs. This is going to be fairly new ground for me though, so any thoughts from more experienced musos would really be greatly appreciated. One alternative I am considering, is using a pair of Phonic Firefly 808 interfaces, each having 8 analogue ins and 8 analogue outs (there are some more I/O's available, though these are what I would primarily see myself as using). Firefly 808's also have a superior 24 bit 192kHz interface. Looking at the Firefly's interface spec leads me to think that these data rates are only shared between all the I/O being undertaken by the interface. Thanks a lot for reading, and sharing any opinions. Cheers madox

Hmm, I guess this is a recent development; I don't think this option was available when the order commenced. This does seem like a slightly cheaper option, though I guess it may be a hassle to change the supplier at this stage.

That PIC Kit 2 looks pretty decent. I used the Microchip MPLAB ICD2 in my last job, and found it pretty flakey. When they work, they work well enough, but we had a lot of programmers die inexplicably. I use a Willem programmer from Sivava. These are also affordable, and do a wide range of chips, including many EPROMs. The one I bought from Sivava is essentially a parallel port device though (it has a USB port, but this is only for power, in the absence of a separate DC supply), and I believe it will not work with Windows Vista. It requires a patch for Windows XP to allow direct access to the port hardware. There are USB Willem programmers available too, from willem.org, and probably other suppliers as well. willem.org's USB version is quite a bit more expensive than the one I bought, though. One thing to be aware of with the Willem porgrammer, is that it is open source, and there are different layouts in use from the various suppliers. For the older parallel port generation which I use, one really needs documentation to identify the PCB jumpers. Cheaper suppliers don't always provide this. I had a quick look at the latest USB programmer, and it doesn't appear to have all these jumpers. I have found the Willem to be reliable and versatile.

Heard this story on the news tonight, and thought it was pretty cool: BBC article Surgeon in a low grade hospital in the Congo performed a shoulder amputation on a 16 year old kid. The surgeon hadn't performed this type of operation before, and sent an SMS to a professor in London for instructions. There was very limited equipment, to intensive care unit, and inly one pint of blood for transfusion. It was estimated that the chance of death was ~80%, though the surgery appears to have been a complete success. I thought it was pretty awesome, and reminded me of some old war time achievements in field surgery.

Hi, I have spent just over a year in China. I used to work there in my university holidays. I think China is a great place to visit, if you have local contacts. I didn't get nearly so much out of guided tours. I think this is probably true of everywhere, though. My wife is Chinese, from the far North East, and I had a couple of contacts in Beijing, from my father's students, and I think the local contacts make a huge difference in the experience. Are you interested in major metropolitan sites? Historical sites? Wilderness? My favourite experiences in China, were getting to know some locals, in really undeveloped regional areas. I think it is possible to spend time in the major cities, and not see very much that is different from other major cities throughout the world. However, it really depends on how much opportunity you have to get away from the main stream. I really liked a couple of the clubs in Beijing. Some really nice Euro style shill clubs. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you where to find them. I was hanging out with a couple of Dutch and Norwegian guys who lived and worked there, and were known in most of the night spots. Beijing also has a serious modern art scene, with local and ex-pat artists, which I enjoyed a lot. I met quite a few artists there, and stayed in a studio complex, for visiting and resident foreign artists. I loved that experience, but my wife just felt we were slumming it (if you know what the average sculpture or painting studio looks like, you'll know what I mean). I really liked Xi'An. It reminded me in some ways of Melbourne. It has a huge art scene, but one has to really dig under the surface to see the serious art. There is a lot of pop illustrative work done for tourists, which is really just cheap rubbish, made to pull in a dollar from an undescerning customer. Xi'An also has a lot of interesting historical sites nearby. A lot architecture and relics remained there, and was missed during the very destructive phase of the cultural revolution. During that time, there was a sweeping movement to break ties with the old world of China, and move for complete adoption of the Communist paradigm. Unfortunately, this involved an enormous slash and burn process, but a lot was missed in Xi'An, and still survives today. I haven't ventured much into the wilderness of China, as I was always working while there, but there are some truly spectactular landscapes. Just be sure you are well looked after if you do venture out, and don't do any activities like white water rafting, or base jumping, unless you are experienced enough to take care of yourself. I did go to Hainan (a Chinese island) which is considered pretty nice by a lot of Chinese, but it was really nothing special for me. If you are using a tour guide, I suggest trying to get a guide recommended by a friend. A good guide can make for a really great experience, but there are lazy and selfish guides who will really dissapoint. One workmate has just come back from Asia, and his recommendation was to use an ex-pat tour guide, as he found them to be better at providing a good experience for a foreigner. I can't say if that is usually the case though. That workmate also recommends Cambodia as a better tourist destination than Vietnam. A couple of other friends went through Vietnam recently, and foudn that it is no longer much different from the rest of South East Asia, and also the caretaking of national monuments has been woefully neglected. If you have any questions, I could try to answer, though I expect my experiences there may not be completely relevant to what you are looking for, as I didn't really go as a tourist. Cheers, madox

Hi Wilba, Thanks for the confirmation. I am sourcing the case through Doug. I'm not sure if it will be any cheaper, with postage included, but I figured I would just see how it goes. Cheers mate, madox

Thanks Wilba - you the best! Just to confirm, this bulk purchase would cover all the control surface parts other than the common 1N4148 diodes? Cheers

I agree, it is not enough for most serious work, but it is enough to learn and play with. I imagine some of the MIDIBox PCBs would have fewer than 250 pins, though I haven't checked. The upside with this would be that the full version is still relatively affordable. I think a good UI can provide a lot of value. I'm off to have a play with it now...

Hi folks, Just thought I would mention another EDA suite, DipTrace, that I have come accross recently. A number of reviews described it as having an intuitive user interface. As this is in stark contrast to EAGLE, I thought some may be interested. DipTrace has a pattern based library part generator, which has recieved quite some praise in reviews. DipTrace has a free version, and some cheapish versions too, and the full suite is ~$US700.00. I believe the only restriction in the free version is a 250 pin limit. DipTrace comes with a Windows executable, with Wine compatibility. Wine compatibility is specified by the vendor, and has received positive reviews. DipTrace has recieved some criticism from professional EAGLE users for certain behaviours. It seems that EAGLE is generally more highly regarded amongst low budget professional designers. I think this may be mostly due to EAGLE being more established in the market. I will give DipTrace a try at home, though my employer has gone ahead and purchased EAGLE for my use at work. I think DipTrace would probably be suitable for a lot of hobby work. -madox