m00dawg

I'm curious as to if it's possible to setup balanced audio out without having to do anything overly special with the MB-6582 baseboard? I was going to use my own passive mixer design using a Cmoy-inspired design and that is where I was thinking about using balanced connectors since I mostly end up using the passive output most of the time anyway. It looks like the circuit should be easy to modify to have balanced outs after the op-amp but is there a way to do balanced connectors for the direct SID outputs without having to use an op-amp? If it was rather simple, I was thinking about using balanced connectors for those as well. I know it's not necessary for short runs but my next audio I/O solution will likely have balanced XLR connectors so I figured it can't hurt and I'll have plenty of room on the back of my chassis anyway. Thoughts?

Which one, Yakuza? Either way, glad you like! Unfortunately, I've been getting behind on mastering our next songs. Had the stomach flu this week so that kinda pushed everything back a bit :/

You can easily convert to Metric - look at the bottom where the coordinates are. There is a little arrow next to in which you can use to change to mm. Can't tell you much about converting to other formats in FPE. I think it might have an export feature but it's a proprietary program so I wouldn't hold my breath there. They do good work, however, if you don't mind having them make you a panel.

I use FrontPanel Express though it's really for buying panels directly from them and could use some additional features (like being able to mark up measurements between two holes or spaces) but it otherwise works pretty well. There are others you can use. In fact if you're doing your own drilling, there is some Linux software that may interest you a friend of mine used a while back. I can't remember what it was though :/

Actually, I sometimes have similar problems with the sammichFM such that I have wondered if it was a software thing?

Awesome! Took me a while to find the bulk cabling but indeed they had a good price on the cabling. The XLR connectors were a bit higher than I thought they might be but not a huge deal. I suppose I could look at getting those off Mouser (though they are usually expensive there too).

I'm looking for a place to buy inexpensive bulk audio cabling and connectors. Mostly 2-conductor + shield for stereo or balanced cabling and XLR / RCA / 1/4" TRS jacks for the ends. monoprice.com has excellent prices for pre-made cables but I was hoping to find even cheaper options if I was willing to do all the soldering myself. Plus I can make cables to the exact length I need. Any suggestions?

I love my sammichFM! I've even used the shitty stock GMIDI patches with it, and with good results (namely when that kind of sound is exactly what I wanted). I dig it! It's a bit different to mess with than the SID and I think the full control-surface of the MBSID tends to offer a more versatile synth but I generally agree. If you want a SID, why wouldn't you also want an OPL3 chip :)

So I did more looking around and I think the Grant is driving the tubes somewhere between 100-250V according to some pics I was able to find of the inside of the unit and mention of a transformer. Compared to the pre-amps I was looking at, it's great for the price, but has no way to drive the inputs hot or anything like an actual tube pre-amp. The Grant is not a rackmount solution either and anything I create I could retrofit into a rackmount. So that's a minus. Another minus is that the tubes use are 6SN7 instead of the 12..7 ones commonly used in guitar amps and things. *shrug*

Indeed as far as building anything, I'd probably build a low voltage project. I assume, just like building a PSU, doing any high voltage just takes common sense and diligence but no need to push the envelope. I haven't found many A/B tests online except for the Grant Fidelity one. Though it was a YouTube (and seemed to be biased towards the Grant Fidelity stuff), it did indeed sound warmer. In this case, it was being used in an effect loop on a guitar amp. I'll keep looking for A/B tests. Local music store is a good idea but while they have a good amount of synths, I didn't see a lot of tube effect processors that weren't strictly part of guitar amps.

Haha, yes. I was more referring to the differences in sound, specifically when using tubes in a buffer or pre-amp? Most of the unfavorable reviews for the Paia refer to a dirty, as opposed to truly warm, sound. But I'm not sure how that matters in something like a tube buffer (the first link).

Thanks guys! I've done some more research and unfortunately just added confusion for myself :) I'm having trouble figuring out the differences between tube pre-amps and buffers. What is the difference between a tube buffer (something like this), the starved-plate design (like the PAIA and, I think the design nILS recommended?) and full-plate (like a DBX386)? I think more importantly than listening to audio sources (like my turntable), I really want to add color and warmth (harmonic distortion I guess to sciency types) by using it in a send/return sort of way (bouncing tracks from Ableton Live out to whatever magic box I go with and back in). In terms of DIY, I also found these guys. No idea how they compare to other designs but thought I'd share.

Ah, actually, that's not too far off from a CMoy headphone amp design from what I can tell (which I have built before). I'm guessing the IC is an op-amp of some sort so I suspect the magic is in the choice of op-amps in this case?

I couldn't decide if this goes in Parts or Design Concepts since it's maybe a bit of a stretch either way, but I'm thinking about building or buying a tube pre-amp / saturator. I found Ableton Live's software version and while it's good, I guess I'm just old school and would prefer to get analog warmth from a real analog device. Or maybe I'm just being intentionally difficult :) I've been looking at some tube-amp solutions, including kits from the likes of PAiA and was curious as to if anyone can recommend anything, or if they have found that software solutions (like those found in Live) actually do a good enough job? The current application is to put it in the master chain, trying to approximate one of Live's "warming" mastering presets. After that I was thinking of using it for various synths (including my fleet of MidiBox gear, as well as my NES and GameBoy) to add warmth where needed. Finally, I thought about using it for my turntable after my phono pre-amp stage to see if I can add just a bit of warmth when using it as a normal (unsaturated) pre-amp, depending upon what solution I went with. Thoughts? What do folks around here use to add tube-like analog warmth and distortion?

Nice song! Digging the remix and also the rather skilled piloting :)

If you're in the states, take a quick trip to RatShack (Radio Shack) and pick one up for about $20. They also have a magnifying glass and things there too in order to help you trace the tracks, although there sammichFM schematic is around somewhere (I suspect on the wiki but I'm not 100% sure).

No, device should be off for continuity. You're just testing to see that there is a sufficient connection between two points (no shorts). You would test any any pins, via, etc. along the path. So start at a button, follow the trace from it to the next item (like the pin of the IC socket) and test there. Also test the other leg to make sure it is grounded by putting the probe there and on any exposed pin or joint that goes to ground. Stuff like that. You can always start with the paths that work (like the top buttons) so you can get the hang of what I'm trying to explain (albeit I'm doing a poor job :P) since you know those are good connections.

It's the mode that beeps usually by the other resistance tests (if you have a dial on your tester). I would be surprise if you didn't have one on your tester but stranger things are abounds in the world. The easiest way to test for it is to make the probes touch and try the different modes on your multimeter. The one that beeps is probably the one you're looking for. If you find that, then try it on a known good trace (like one of the ones for the top buttons) to make sure it works as it should. Then go to town testing all the end points around the bottom buttons to make sure everything is beeping at you. When testing pins on the sockets, remove the ICs and test on the top (that way you can test the solder joint for the socket easier). Just be sure you don't push down hard or it can bend the contact that comes in contact with the leg of the IC itself.

It could be one of the transistors but that's not all that common, particularly if you followed Wilba's advice for managing heat as per the build guide. Have you tried testing continuity yet?

Yep good points!

Yes, I would simply "reflow" solder on those pins, although you can also check for continuity using a multimeter before you do that as well. I had a cold solder joint I wasn't able to spot with my eyes for my sammichSID. Had to end up cutting tracks to find it :/ The problem would have been easily solved by just reflowing solder on the joint (in other words, I should have tried that first).

Glad you like! Wish he had a reason to use the MidiBox stuff more but the sound is more characteristic of the NES stuff. I think our next album (which will also be a bit more hi-fi) will see more use from them. Give me reason to work on my MB-6852 derived synth as well :)

+1 I don't speak German so I hope the above math portrays my liking of the song :) Curious as to what instruments/synths were used?

We are still forging ahead with our album and now have 7 songs completed. The last time I posted something we were up to 4 or so. We didn't use our sammichSID or sammichFM for these latest 3 songs (Symphony of Vengeance, Level Grindin' and Mr. Transistor) but did add the GameBoy to our growing list of chip-synths. Our forthcoming album is the fusion of chiptunes and surf guitar so be prepared when you listen :) Like Red Bull, it might be a bit of an acquired taste but it's rather high energy and hella fun to compose! EDIT: Added names of 3 latest songs.

See previous posts in this thread - there's an entire sub-discssion about these things, including links for where to buy.