davidv

Indeed it must be recent since last contact I had with him (ice-elements) was on June 28th. I think I can summarise my dealings with ice-elements as the following: His 6581 are remarked and currently doesnt have the equipment to test them before shipping. Uses his past feedback from previous users to justify that his SIDs are fine (poor chaps probably give feedback before the end of assembly of their MIDIBoxes, and or cant discreminate bad voices/filters easily). However, his communications skills (at least with me) were great. For two SIDs I won, it took 3 shipments until I had two fully working ones. (3 out of 8 received worked 100%), he went out of his way to please me, and you surely dont get this from people who are just looking to scam you. Moral: there ARE good remarked SIDS comming from China, whats the real percentage? I would love to have a lot to try. put the SIDS to the TEST before giving feedback. (if you can)

UPDATE: Another set was sold to another buyer and it got this as feedback: 2/4 chips w/bad filters, ok hard to spot but shouldn't have described as tested I have another lot coming my way, so will update when I test them. [EDIT]: got my second set of 4 SIDs and they all passed. Hmmm maybe her kept the best for me since im vocal, know knows....

Hi Smithy Ah, maybe. The MIDIBox platform has been proven a real great research tool for me. As I say in the video, for what I needed (remotely writing to Chip registers using a PC), I could have used lots of solutions, but I was already familiar with MIDIBox. (the whole crew is credited in the manual of my plugin btw). I doubt anyone would be interrested in my custom code, but if there is demand, yeah i could clean it and share it. Right now I'm kind of on a crusade so that people dont get bad SIDs. Just one of my many pet obsessions I guess :)

Bought a previous lot sold by this guy http://cgi.ebay.ca/4-commodore-sid-chips-tested-and-working-6581_W0QQitemZ170494963744 The image doesnt match what you get (not the exact same chips), but the previous lot passed my test suite.

Seller:ice-elements http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110509876364 (not australia but china) Seller:rarity_stores http://cgi.ebay.ca/MOS-6581-x-2-SID-Station-IC-CHIP-Commodore-64-MOS6581_W0QQitemZ150447984140 (say UK, reality?) EXACT same pictures on both, read feedback.

Hi I just finished working on this simple test code for SIDs: http://ploguechipsounds.blogspot.com/2010/05/one-page-basic-sid-benchmark.html I find it kind of usefull when dealing with SIDs that you acquire from either old 64's or Ebay.

Thanks JRock. I've already ordered, waiting for results.

Hi Anyboy ordered 6581's (not 8580's) from this seller: http://cgi.ebay.com/110526004232 please msg me. thanks.

Hi. The only thing left to solve in my setup is that when the LCD is hooked in my core, there is a certain amount of hum that creeps in the analog output of the SID. 1)The higher the brightness of the LCD (with the panpot), the worse it gets. 2)The core randomly resets when i wiggle the panpot as well. 3)I have two LCDs (one from smashTV and antother generic 2x16 savlaged from the 1U rack im using. Both cause hum with various degrees, but its worse with the generic. Do i have some weirdo short in my bord? My core's PSU (independent of the SID) is 9v 500ma .. is 500ma not enough for a Core+LCD? At this point im thinking of adding a front panel switch to turn off the backlight of the LCD. I will also prepare my second SmashTV core and swap it with my old one as a test.

Im clueless on anything not code related :)

Sharing the same PSU did create a ground loop. So i reverted. only one final bug and i can close my 1U Rack...

Ok, but what about the wiring? Just Y-splitting each pole of the PSU towards the J1's of the core and SID? I havent completely understood the possible ground loop issues here, but it rings a warning bell in my head.

Wiki updated...

Hello. First thanks to TK, smashtv and everyone who contributed all their time and knowledge in this desing. Im an electronic "tourist", but a 10+ years c/c++ programmer, still with all the docs I didnt have much trouble getting this to work. Ive read a bunch of old posts, but when i backtracked to early 2005 i felt lazy after :) (maybe a sticky/FAQ for most common PSU issues might be apropriate?) So ok. I love my box, sounds great, and in my opinion the current S/N ratio i get is JUST fine: -Highest peak freq is 60 Hz @ -77dB when no note has been already played, and after that, no need to calculate, the 6581 (CBM-R3) bug is just all too evident and way higher than the previous noise floor. The catch? Im using TWO SEPARATE walwarts, a 12VAC/1.2A for the sid and a 9vdc/500ma for the core. like many people i have boxes of walwarts to choose from. So its a pain to hook up, But again, i would rather not spend more time and canibalise and hack a C64 PSU, even if everyone says the output will be much better. (in my case im not convinced). Id rather get on with my FM or other MIDIBOX128 hack i have planned. Ok so if i unsderstand correctly, theres no chance i could use the 12VAC/1.2A for both the core(+smashtv lcd) and SID, without having to do as much work as the C64optimised hack? If yes, if a big ass heat sink required for the regulator? What kind of ground loop avoidance trick i could easily use? Otherwise ill just place the two wallwarts ripped open in my 1U rack, and feed them off the same 3-prong power socket Anybody did that? You think the Heat inside the rack mount will be too much for the poor components? Cheers

Yes i shamefully admit i bought them all :) (cost just around 12 USD for the pack however) I wasnt aware of that wiki list. ill try to update it in the next few days .. busy busy...