vedge

Hi. yes most chip i know can handle lots of different clocks. (ive tried lots of mix and matching). For my Pokey I now have two IC sockets for a crystal and a 74hc74N (set to /2) and 3 jumpers, so i can fairly experiment easily with combinations

One of the great advantages of the YM2149 is that you can use a straight 3.57Mhz clock and ground pin 26in order to get 1.79 without a separate clock divider chip. (i have a jumper on my board to do so)

A little reminder that if you plan on making a protoboard yourself, a AY-3-8910 works fine, and ... so does a YM2149F - if you can find one :)

Hi ! Thanks that works just fine now so far... AND levels are playable by MIDI on power on without a C64 kb, which is a great too!.. more reports soon...

Hum Curious about this lounge too in fact.

Thanks Lemonhorse, OK! Just wanted to check if the behavior i was experiencing wasn't due to bad wiring/components first. If it can be explained by the current requirement for the C64kb in 0004, i know where to look next. More progress reports! soon...

Hi, and thanks for the spec/code. Just filled myself a breadboard with a spare 8910, and uploaded 0004. (im not using the menu or c64 kb, just bare MIDI) CCs seem to work, but volume is odd. I sampled and analyzed the signal using my audio interface -> All notes sound @ -22dBFS until i mess with CC7 and when it hits the val=54-55 range the volume jumps to -7dBFS (much more acceptable) But only for the length of the current note. I feel like some values are getting overwritten somehow, but i cant figure it out from the code. The envelope CCs dont do a thing, but Noise and tones can be turned on and off ok, and the tuning is alright so im a bit puzzled. I took the 8910/8912 sheets and im pullup'ing more things than 8912 (since theres more on the 8910) But before i go on i just wanted to ask if you had an idea of what i should check first...

Hi I also have 9 AY 3 8910 units that are sitting in a tube, so it might come in handy.

Hi All Tried the editor brifley and quite thrilled by it. Just one question though, am i missing something really obvious in the menus or theres no way to set up a "master keyboard" port? How does one hear/play their patch modifications then?

I do agree with you, in fact i take my own music so seriously that i dont ever release anything :) And our products are often in "perpetual beta" .. so yeah we are way too perfectionist to claim its finished in any way ;) And you had no way to know otherwise. Especially when I was acting like a whiny bitch wanting presets .. LOL. I made quite a few presets for my MBSID, muting voices in sidplay, then sound editing and evaluating periods and wavetable changes. Had fun doing Chimera/Master of magic -LIKE - sounds, and some others from Maniac Mansion, which to be are the definition of what SID music was so different. I also duplicated most of my patches legato and others poly, so that depending on what i need i have less "SID residual noise' But ive mentally came to a point where i feel ive spent too much time on the FM already , just making the -12;+12 power supply with my very lame electronic abilities (altHough my sense of logic is not gone, and i helped finding an error in TK's schematic) see http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=8510.msg59938#msg59938 Time to get reward.... So back on topic.... Who wants to contribute to a nice FM presets list? I promise i will contribute :)

Im not offenced, :) Dont you agree that each synth/app has its own degree of difficulty? Creating one MBFM patch is not the same as coming up with a stochastic note generator, cellular automaton modular patch. And yes, i had the most fun just sending CCs to the default GM bank, because sometimes you need to just let it go. I design and program audio apps (and, what a coincidence a modular app) for a living. For me MIDIBox is a hobby (im a total electronics newbie and like to learn the "other side" of the trade), and idd like to try the presets the others did, like i like trying out presets of my collegue's VSTis, when i just want to play music and let the right brain sleep. Its not because i couldnt be able to do "some" of them myself. Its because i want to appreciate the work people have done. The goal is in no way "claim you made them" (although again, lets agree on the difficulty level here), or diss the hard work some have done. Its the same thing with DJs vs Song Writers. for me the real star here, is TK for his code. That requires effort. Yeah my post disapeared, because my i tought i had a better ansewer original post for the curious; But sometimes i just feel like i have a left brain left that just wants to noodle with presets! (especially after a few drinks, i cant even understand my own apps :) I dont mean that you can do a cellular automaton, a stochastic note generators placing random modules in a patchbay. But the parameter list of MBFM is so small, heck even with a random script you can generate pretty damn cool stuff, and with FM, by experience, its either youre a fraud (and say you analysed the maths behind all the harmonics required for a sound, then you placed the exact params, or you admit that you just random NOODLED with the thing :) Im not an FM expert by any means, but our modular app has a 2 op example FM patch bundled. Yes there are some that take the time to do proper FM presets (ENO) (and think about what they do), and thats why i asked in the first place. For me the MIDIBox stuff is a hobby. (even if i built and coded a MIDIBox to drive a SN76489 chip - that i hope to release soon after my zillions of other things). Somtimes i just feel like playing and not thinking (that also includes being a whiny bitch using a pseudoname) ... Doenst that occur to anyone else?

The most impressive stuff that we know can be done comes from the example mp3's. I just wonder why some of these didnt become presets and thats all. I did a few cool patches of my own, but there doesnt seem to be a single post where people talk about making a default bank like the one for the SID. I know there are probably only the tenth of MBFM vs MBSID users here though im not dumb :) Should we start thread and and collectively make one? A good set of presets is very important for a synth, but that seems like a taboo thing, since so many people despise "preset" lusers. And editing a pre made patch that has 20 or so parameters is for me like making your own. You can totally destroy a patch especially changing the FM algo. with one or two edits Its not like it takes month and tons of research to create a FM patch, like a complex NKI or SFZ.

My thing was a bunch of presets can be used as is, but can also inspire us to tweak or make our own, getting a glimpse of what CAN be done, which aint the case for the default GM bank. With all the crappy FM GM stuff we all had to endure over the years, i wonder why im alone :)

Well, if we could just have a few people sharing presets that would be a start. the built in GM MIDI kit is not exaclty making me want to play, that is until i whack some of those with live ccs

i just ordered 4 here: http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/LCD-107/365/24_CHARACTER_X_2_LINE_LCD_W__EL_BACKLIGHT,_USED_.html They are used, but, the price is right!

Or it could be broken rom/ram on the LCD itself. as the other chars printed are just a random mess.... Ill try to find a suitable replacement 2x24 but the drill holes dimensions must be the same sigh. Thanks

Hello Ive got a nice 1U rack with an LCD built in, so i figured there was a chance it would work (like other alien LCDs did) with my mBOX Its a DataView DV-24200 2x24 display: http://www.datasheet4u.com/download.php?id=282867 (supposedly KS-0066U controllable) It seems that only letters work (attached MIOS boot screen), so, looking at the character grid, im thinking D5 would be bust! but its not. (ive tripple checked the lines) Im sure this lcd used to work before i thrashed whatever was in the original 1U .. any clues? is it just bust, or do i need to setup a different flag in my projects, and recompile? If i plug another LCD in that spot (ive got 3 others), i do get the right picture

Im using the smashtv's kits with included parts. Could it be the transfos? iirc they are 500 or 600ma (will check tonight)

Thanks for the interresting bits about recent chips Maybe i should collect them and do graphs and post them on the wiki. i woke up at night and remembered that my particular MBox SID hums when ask too much current, say i boost the LCD's brightness (it even reboots the pic) so maybe this hum was just caused by the R4 sucking more juice?

So much for R4's superiority! There must be something that eludes me here. I had my CBM (r3) MIDIBox sid for a while, then decided to look at what other SID i had in this c64c i found in a recylcing facility for 2$.. It had an R4 in it, Yay i says, lets swap it.... These shots were taken right after a program change in both cases. Is there a solid link/comparison thats been made across chip revs/dates etc?

What about the 12VCT / 300mA Transformer from that same dealer: http://www.rpelectronics.com/English/Content/Items/640-1203.asp 12VCT should be enough to drive a 7912 and a 7812? and wouldn't generate as much heat as the 18VCT.. in any case ill order both of them and report. Thanks again for the dimensions!

Wow, if i had known, i would have bought this pre made kit too! Id be currious on the dimensions of the transformator, ill wait for the results. Im using a separate transfo for the normal MB operations.

On a related note, anyone knows of a _small_ =+12/center/-12 transfo with enough amperage to drive the three opamp, that would FIT inside a 1U rack??? Ive got two of them from different manufacturers, but they are way too big (one is 2A and the other 1A) Cheers

Which one are you refering to: This: http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_opl3_psu.pdf Or That: http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_bipolar_ps.pdf

Its that dual-Rectifier thing. A friend of mine (attending college in electronics), to whom i've shown the suggested MBFM PSU schematics told me that this was a recipe for disaster, so i removed one of the rectifier and rewired the input stage of my boards a bit like this: http://www.tonmeister.ca/main/textbook/img600.png (like his suggestions, but this picture has a typo, shows both +12, when the lower one should be -12) Then both my psus's worked fine. No rattling transformers or exploding fuses. Sadly he didn't take the time to explain why it was dangerous, i remember something vague about "jumping negatives" or "jumping grounds" or something like that, its not my field so ill let others argue. In any case. Thanks for the help, i now have a nice MBFM that i can play with.