m00dawg

According to TK's bulk order page for the chips, yes you can now request chips with this bulk-order: "But Nils runs a bulk order for the gm5x5x5 which provides all 5 MIDI IN/OUTs on a single board. The remaining GM5 chips can be purchased via Nils!" So now we just have to get to 100 boards again :) Almost halfway. I have to say mine works like a CHAMP so I highly recommend grabbing these up if you're in the market for an inexpensive and fun MIDI->USB option. SMD soldering was not all that hard either (though I think I may have killed one chip out of the 3 I bought from the last bulk order - doh!).

It would figure after spending a few days on a new board design that the old one now pops up in the forums. Oh well :) All of them, I realized, were a bit off since they assumed 1 button for each data-pin. That's not what's going on with the MB-6852 (see http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=mb-6582:mb-6582_cs_din_wiring.pdf) so I have now updated the board to compensate. The pinouts, of course, are only for the items on the board itself so it will potentially take some additional wiring (on another board) to bring all this together. I thought about leaving my original design as-is since that would allow for more options with how to use it, but since it was also lacking diodes I figured I might as well. 8x8-LED-Matrix.zip

Though not a PIC, the offerings from TI are both inexpensive and super super low powered. I forget the name of the kit but it was like $5.00 and in its lowest active state, it draws less current than the natural resistance of a CR032 battery (!). Obviously for the chip to do anything interesting it draws more but might be something to look at maybe.

Ah yeah good point. Sent them an e-mail to see if they can provide some measurements and overall specs. Otherwise a good find!

Found a few places to get 3U enclosures: http://www.par-metal.com/product-rmc-10series.php There is an eBay store that sells them as well; http://stores.ebay.com.sg:80/Antek-inc/_i.html?_fsub=5 Keep in mind, the default 19" rack template in Front Panel Express has the handle-mount holes in different places. I have e-mailed par-metal to get exact dimensions (I could not easily read them off the low resolution diagrams they had on their website). They are a bit pricey but I think otherwise should do the trick.

So I tried KiCAD and PCB Artist so far. KiCAD is plausible though not near as fluid as eagleCAD. Figuring out how to get my board populated with my schematic was a bit of a chore. I was using it on a Windows VM under OS X (VMWare Fusion) so that could be part of it. PCB Artist is better at some things but their component library is confusing and slow. I was looking for an 8x1 SIL but only found 2-5x1 and also no DILs. Supposedly adding your own components is easy but I haven't figured it out. Never did find an 8x1... Still on the list is GEDA. Going to install Ubuntu Desktop as a VM tomorrow to see how GEDA goes and how KiCAD works under Linux instead of Winders. I suspect I'll have some of the same VM annoyances but do not have an extra box to throw Linux on easily (I guess I could dual boot my Winders box...). Long story short, so far Eagle is the winner but I don't know if that's just because it's what I'm used to. The interface was quirky at first but I like it's so easy to move/rotate and stuff. No need to click+drag, etc. On the other hand, group selection is really annoying. So is the price :) I would almost spring for the non-profit standard version if the allowable board dimensions were just a tiny bit larger. The question is if Eagle is really good enough to live with either not making larger boards or having to spend $$$ doing it over things that are free. I'm hoping my cheapness ultimately wins out :)

Hey! I found this cool thing called KiCAD that I think I'm going to try! (fun aside, thanks for the suggestion - I'll definitely take it for a spin!)

So I lost the original schematics and noticed that they got nuked when the forum was updated too. No matter, now I have a better one :) This one included the extra button and LEDs found on the MB-6852 to switch between Meter and Matrix modes. It's a simpler design (though that means the board is larger too). Not sure if I am going to use this guy or not, but it's purpose was to be used for my Rackmount MB-6582 design that I want to put together. Suggestions welcome! Though I was not looking for feedback as much as to just contribute work back in the event anyone could use this. 8x8-LED-Matrix.zip

Ah. I miss those discounts. I guess I could go back to college but the full price of EagleCAD would surely be less than a semester :)

Yep that was my thought. I guess I'll start with the ones BatchPCB recommends (there is one that runs under X11 so I can use it on OS X so that's a plus). Man EagleCAD...I bet that cost you quite a bit to buy a full license to. Ouch.

Yeah I know there are a few other options (batchpcb.com actually has a few recommendations beyond Eagle) that I'm thinking of trying. Anyone have any suggestions?

The full version of Eagle or PCB CAD? I may try PCB CAD just to see how good/bad it actually is. The possibility of being able to make larger boards, though I won't need to use very often, is intriguing. I thought about buying the non-profit version of Eagle but even that limits board sizes to 4" x 6". I actually don't mind spending more on board fabbing but dropping over a grand for Eagle is excessive :)

EagleCAD works fine most of the time but it sure would be nice if I could just design one big board (similar to the MB-6582 board) in some cases, such as for a rackmount version of the MB-6582. I have been able to create a mod-matrix board in EagleCAD without having to get too creative (looks like it will be compatible with the MB-6582 one just with the addition of screw holes) but that won't easily do for the other sections. I thought about buying the non-profit version but even that would not allow me to one single board. I noticed that 4pcb.com offers some PCB design software. It does not appear to be limited though I have not tried it yet. I was curious - has anyone else given this a go? If I went for a large board I would likely go with 4pcb.com instead of batchpcb.com since I might not be saving all that much at those sizes anyway (and I can have multiple copies to either bulk order out to people or use in case I mess something up). Thoughts?

Ok here's a first real stab at a rackmount MB-6582 inspired control surface. The mod-matrix hole mounts are likely to change since I will likely get that printed from BatchPCB or somewhere and want to have room for some headers. The other stuff I was going to put on protoboard since not only is it cost prohibitive to use BatchPCB for such a large board, I can't even create them since I don't have a full EagleCAD license :) I was thinking about making small boards for all the sections - I just need to spread things apart a bit more, but the only one I thought I really should have fabbed was the mod matrix. It's only a first go at it because I have not found places to get a 3U rack in the US which means I also don't know panel dimensions and stuff. I e-mailed PAIA but haven't heard back yet. The holes on the sides of the panel are using a system holes from Front Panel. I tried looking up the vendors listed in FPD but I only found large prices and general overall pain :) mb6582-R.fpd

Oooh that's pretty! I also noticed someone has a PT-10 like case? I wonder if there exists a case that fits the same mainbaord and CS from the MB-6582. That would solve SO many of my problems. But then again, if that were the case, Wilba probably would have used that one in the first place. I think my CS will be similar to the C64 one though I am going to move things around a bit. I want to have 20x4 LCD display as well and some things. Once I have that ready to go, I'll post it here.

Wow I didn't think the size of the panel was actually 5U. That plus my GM5 would basically fill out the remaining space in my Rack :) I was thinking of having all my ports out the back though so that's one less thing assuming I can put things side-by-side. Even if, space wise, that fits, I'm not sure how to exactly mount that yet. I assume I'll need to be doing some cutting to the rack to cut some big gaping holes in order to mount the panels?

Side-by-side would have been wonderful but yeah I don't see that as being an easy thing to do. Did you try fitting them both in the same rackmount chassis? As far as MB-6582, since you cannot use the pre-printed MB-6582 control surface board; and since there is not a pre-printed one for the standard C64-like control surface that I am aware of (though that would be fantastic), you have to do more work with wiring up your own boards, either on prototype boards or by making your own. Most of the designs I see use the standard prototype boards. It looks a bit ugly due to the mess of wires but otherwise works just fine and is inexpensive. I was planning on fabbing some smaller boards for the various modules (such as the LED matrix) to make it easier. Fabbing a full-sized board, outside of a bulk order, would be expensive. I assume the same holds true for the XoXBox but I don't have one (yet) so I can't speak to that too much. I can say it will be nice to have all that room in the RU for extra stuff, like a filter section, and a power section, as well as a huge amount of cooling potential.

After using my Sammich, I actually do miss the MB-6582 interface quite a bit. Sammich is great when I already have a set of patches to use, particularly when going over to my friends house to jam since it's so small. The Java app is actually very good and the latency is decent but context switching out of my DAW sort of ruins it. I know someone was working on a VST plugin a while back so I should probably check on that though, for this, I was planning on a full CS. I have rotary knobs, sliders, and things on my keyboard but I find I don't use them near as often and I think that's because I often switch around between various synths and soft-synths and have not really found a good system to manage that. So being able to reach over and tweak the ADSR and things is really valuable. Before I went with the standard MB-6582 (which I have decided to finish before tackling this project just so I have something ready for use), I was working on a modified control surface to include the 8th row of LEDs on the matrix so I could make it in-line with the MB-6582 control surface, so I may use that. That is sort of what I thought would be the best route to go. Thanks everyone for all the help! I'll definitely check out those places for racks since, in the shorter term, I still need one for my GM5x5x5 (it's in a LEGO case at the moment :) )

Recently I purchased a small desktop rack which currently houses my Virus Classic, my DJ power protector (best thing I ever bought since it has switches on the front for each AC input) and my sammichSID which really just sits on a table in the rack. My plan is to put my GM5x5x5 in a rack as well as some point but I was also thinking about my still unfinished MB6582. I know there are a few designs for a rackmount SID of some sort but searching for them on the forums did not come up with much. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? I assume most people use a modified version of the standard control surface normally used with old C64 cases. The parts I'm not sure about is where to buy the hollow rack enclosures, among other things. Thoughts?

Been trying to figure out how to make a case for the GM5x5x5 and while I would like a classy one made by Pokono, for now, I opted for the brute-force, lo-fi method: It's not perfect but better than leaving it bare. I wasn't so much worried about touching it with static discharge or anything without a case - I was more worried about it falling or the carpet or something along those lines. The case really helps. You can find more pictures and a bit more detail on my blog: http://www.moocowproductions.org/blog/details.php?postid=561 It was less expensive and more gratifying for the impatient so hopefully people get some good ideas from it if you are in need of a case. The GM5x5x5 itself is a work of art. Thanks to TK for the GM5 bulk order and nILS for the GM5x5x5 boards and bulk order. This thing is fantastic!

Yep, that's basically the problem. I just sample the drums into my DAW and use the sounds that way. Same is true for the drum sequencer. A bit more limiting in some respects, but it frees up the SID to do other things (such as make sweet sweet arps).

Faded Paper Figures just dropped a new album on CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fadedpaperfigures3 Still listening to it but it's a great follow-up to their first. Unless my ears deceive me, this album has even more hot SID action, complete with crazy arps, w00t!

Dude that was awesome! Music really started to rock there towards the middle too! Good times!

Ooh that looks nice! Know of any software one can use that is reasonably cheap for making the Pokono templates and/or would you be willing to share your template design? :)

Well, remove the captcha but only allow users with verified e-mails to post to the Wiki. Seems like that should do the trick. Either way, I'd be ok replacing the Captcha with something easier to read - such as a simple math problem or something like that. That would be an ok compromise for me.