Olorin

I see what you mean. A full kit attracts a whole lot more newbies which will give you a lot more questions to answer ;)

Just out of curiousity. Is this the first and only full kit for any midibox project?

Thank you all for you input, Maybe a board holder is better hand helping hands. I just gotta hope Wilba will make enough kits eventually so I can give it a try.

Well I am on the waiting list now and if I get a kit I will go by the advice from Lyle and Wilba and get a temperature controlled solder station like Wellers model 40 which is about 90 euros in my part of the world. Cause I don't want to risk burning any components - and if it is easy with a manual iron - trust me it will happen to me :) AS for pliers and stuff I have a few so that is covered perhaps. But it surprice me that none of you advice or getting some vice or helping hands to hold the board while working on it. How many hands do you guys have? :)

In recent years I had to rebuild most of my house. I bought cheap tools and soon realised that they either broke down, made me work much slower or give a bad end result. A real pro workman can cut joinery and bords straight with a plain hand saw. I could not. So in the end I had to buy new better tools anyway. I am totally new to electronics, but I have a fear that bad tools will increase my chances of making a mess of the project. So when(if I get a kit) I will build it I will atleast get things that the majority of you think are the least demanding to use in a reasonable price range.

Yes, but I included the tools and the shipping and change things a bit. HardSID 4U = 399 Euros = 587 U.S. dollars sammichSID = 139 Euros = 205 U.S. dollars + tools* for 160 euros *Tools that seems sensible to use Helping Hands = 25 euros Some Pliers = 20 euro A good cutter = 10 euro Weller soldering station 90(cheapest in Sweden) euros(after reading recommendations, it seems to that a newbie like me has a greater chance of success with a soldering station that can set the heat so I don't burn stuff) Solder wire and misc = 15 euros So for a newbie it amounts to about the same kind of cash. Anyway I have decided to go for the sammichSID (and maybe a hardsid4 too) :D

Thank you Lyle, helping hands definitely seems like something I will use. Last time I tried to solder together a simple lampcord it slid around the table and I burned a mark in the table :)

Just decided and signed up for the sammichSID kit! There are lots of people before me in line so I will have plenty of time to figure out what tools to buy and perhaps even test them out on some crap project or something until it is my turn. :)

You asked for it. I think it is too much SID in the song. If the lead was something else I think the rest of the sound would shine more.

ok... 1, I didn't get a clear picture of the difference from those pages. It seems like the midibox is 2 voice and the hardsid4u is 4 voice and has a VST-plugin editor, but then there is the poly-mode on the MIDIBOX that confuse me... I would really appreciate if somebody rack up a few differences. 2, That seems pretty basic, any minimum requriments for a soldering iron? I had a quick google and found models from5 bucks an up way over 200 bucks so I assume there is a difference :)

Ok, now I am interrested again. This new design looks a bit easier to build and the fact that it comes in kits help a lot. But as usual I have to ask two daft questions before I sign up to the black-matte version(unless there is a orange-matte coming). 1, Why should I build a sammichSID and not buy a Hardsid4u? Why is the Sammich better? 2, Considering that I have ZERO electronic tools, what tools must I buy to build a Sammich?

Thumbs up, finally one here that understands! I am bad at it, I don't like it and it goes on in a downward spiral :D

No, that would be a bad idea for all of us. You will get crazy and think "why doesn't he ever make it right, how on earth could he break that, what is wrong now..." . And I will blame you all for dragging me into something that will only cost me time and money and never work. So I guess I will lurk around and see if there will be any legitimate sales of units here on the forum, and pounce on that.

Maybe you like to know. I passed on bidding on the Midibox on ebay, but it sold for 401 euro. Did he make a profit?

I saw his joke and I agree. I don't need to be smarter. I need to abandon reason for madness to even try it ;)

Don't want to talk about it... sounds interesting, is this some kind of infamous Midibox? ??? Do you have a blacklist?

Ok. I don't think I will ever get tools and stuff, fail and come and bitch you all to death for persuading me into it, but I will wait and see it the overhaul seems understandable anyway out of curiosity. So you did not recognise that box. Do you mean that this is not a midibox-project but some "commercial clone"?

BTW did anybody of you recognize the Midibox on the ebaylink I provided?

No they look complicated to me. At least far more complicated than replacing that Eprom in the Regelwerk(which I managed to kill). Speaking of the kits I did sift through those pages and I could not see a "midibox - kit" just a lot of boards and loose components. I don't think I would even manage to order the right stuff to build a Wilfa box :) Don't take this the wrong way but I don't think your information is very pedagogical. It is written by technicians for entusiasts, if this is all about making ever dumbwitted bum learing to build a synth it needs to be a whole lot easier to follow. Like a step-by-step guide. How-to 1. Order this packet. 2. Buy these tools 3. Order one of these cases 4. Read these instructions EXACTLY But really is this what it is all about, teaching soldering to idiots? As for riding a bike it is the wrong comparison. You surely must mean digging up the iron ore, melting it, pound the iron, welding and building a bike. No never tried to do that :) I am not a builder I am a user - give me car and I will drive it, give me a camera and I will take pictures or give me a synth and I will play it. Anyway, seeing how you feel about it I am now pretty certain that I will not bid on any Midiboxes on the web - that doesn't feel good at all now.

All my experience tells me I am useless with electronics. This is what I have tried so far: - building a joystick from instructions in a commodore magazine. I think I got the wrong components or something cause I could make more than half of them fit. Gave it up and bought a TacTwo = failed! - replacing an eprom in my Doepfer regelwerk. The instructions were inconclusive and left me three options, I took a chance and i broke the whole thing. I have no clue what died in there, but dead it is and just sits gloomily in my closet. Failed! - Replacing wallplug for some lamps = success! - Changing PCI-cards in my PC = success! - Jacking in modules in my Doepfer-case = success! I have come at peace with the fact that I can not do this. Can you honestly say that building a Midibox Sid like Wilba mkII is any easier than anything what I have failed before? I assume I will most likely end up with a pile of useless components, burned out or something. I guess it would be like two or the boards looking ok, but not working and I will have no clue what so ever which components are dead and which are not. It will end up on the recycle center. Wouldn't that just be a waste of good components? I see the point that TK would take it as an insult if a company picks up the designs and makes profit. But if somebody want to sell one of their creations(not to start a business) to make another, just cause they are bored with it or whatever... what is the harm?

I was kind of hoping you would like to hear a song or two made on your creations. If I am to make a song on a Midibox I am totally realistic about the fact that I will have to buy one since I don't steal stuff:) It is nice of you to have hopes of me making one, but that is just as likely as me winning Wimbledon in tennis. I would love to, but I just can not do it - I do not have that talent either. I did not build my car, my fridge, my tv, the PC, nor any of the synths I use and I guess you all use stuff you have not made too. If I am incorrect please add pictures of your cars and houses :) Maybe I missed the right thread here, but I don't see any Sids for sale here. If there are any point me to them cause I would definitely prefer to buy one here. The one that set me off is on ebay(guess that is the vile place you speak of), here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=250349072951 There is not much info about it, maybe you recognize it...

I just stumbled in on this thing cause I like the sound of the sid. Seems like a lot of work put into it, but it really really looks good!

Hi. Not sure this is the right place for this thread but it seems less wrong than the other forums. By chance I stumbled upon a midibox sid for sale. Never heard of it before but it seems way cooler and more to my liking than Sidstation. I have now been reading a few threads about is and understand that this is a non profit project and you are if you excuse me a bit fundamentalistic about it. So I wonder - will you accept a person that has bought his unit in your forums and help out if(heaven forbid) it will be defective or need repairs one day? To the obvious question - why don't you build one on your own - my answer is. I want to spend my time making music and my skills with a soldering iron is only good for fixing broken lamp cords. Some people are ment to make things - I am sadly not. And of course what is a fair price to pay?