dtg84

Hey Carl, I know this post is for a trade, but if you are at all interested in selling any of your 6581s please let me know.

@ JRock: I used the CCs to automate operators' frequency multiplicators. I think for the next track I will try to make some more interesting modulations and avoid using just presets.

Thanks guys. BTW @m00dawg, really digging your "Victim Cache" tunes.

Dear MIDIboxers, Here is a simple track I threw together after spending some time getting to know the OPL3. Using mostly stock sounds and presets (with some CC automation here and there), it has kind of a shmup or racing game kind of feel. Hope you enjoy it!

This is a long-shot, but if anyone has any of these guys to sell (two of one type) I would be very, very grateful.

Although it would be nice to be able to use JSynthLib patch editor...

Thanks, guys. I will check the LCD solder joints again. I am pretty sure it is just the LCD because the sound engine and core module appear to be working as they should (I can still navigate interface, select patches and playback audio).

It seems to be erratic - at short intervals, when scrolling through patches with encoder or buttons, it will display random characters but then a short time later it will be fine and display as desired. Weird.

Had a few hours to mess with the sammichFM. I was rocking the box in Ableton and making some nice tunes and then all of a sudden the LCD displays gibberish. Tried turning it off and back on - initially the OS won't bootstrap, so I tried turning it on and off again. Managed to get the MIOS prompt after turning on and off. Everything appeared as though it were back to normal, but then when i turn the rotary encoder to switch patches, I am presented with more random characters on the display. What might be happening here?

No sweat, uploaded patches with MIOS studio and it worked perfectly!

Hi, Finally got my sammichFM working and I am trying to upload default patches with JSynthLib. I set up my MIDI in and out accordingly, added the MIDIBoxFM driver in JSynthLib preferences, then opened the midibox fm patchlib file. I clicked on PatchBank 1 and selected "store", selected Bank A in the dialogue window and hit "store" again. The midi monitor in JSynthLib confirms a whole bunch of sysex messages were sent, yet there are no new patches in bank one (still have 128 patches of Rhodes piano). If I click on any of the patches in JSynthLib window and hit play, it will play the Rhodes every time. Any ideas? Thanks

Derp! "Destroy due to overheating" is what I meant. In any event, glad to know I am not alone in my mistakery. I guess we all start out as newbies anyhow... Best, Dylan

I have a Weller soldering pen, which I got for 40 dollars. I am bummed that I already managed to mess up the board by stripping a couple pads, but I certainly don't want to overheat the OPL3 chips due to overheating... I am kicking myself in the shins for making such stupid mistakes. I will heed your advice and take a trip to Fry's. Thanks for your help!

In both cases, I ended up pulling the pads after trying to get the solder off with the soldering pen and the solder sucker. I think maybe I worked to aggressively with the iron, or held it on the contact for too long(?). My soldering pen doesn't have a potentiometer on it - the heat is fixed.

Thanks, it appears that the bottom leg of R65 has the same trace as R69. Should I connect the two bottom legs(I managed to strip the pad on the bottom joint of R65 too)?

ahhh, i incorrectly traced the top of R65 to the small hole just to the right of R58 (face palm). I removed the wire again (second mistake), but can't get the solder out of the small hole next to R58, since R58 is already soldered in there, making it hard to remove. Is this a big deal? What will happen otherwise? Also, the top of R65, if you look at the PCB, doesn't appear to trace anywhere. suggestions? (sorry for all of the careless mistakes; I am really mad at myself right now). thanks, dylan

For what it's worth, the resistor is R65. Can't seem to find a track for the top end of the resistor (front surface), but I can see one on the bottom end of the resistor (front surface). Not sure what you meant following the first comma of the last sentence above "or you can [...]".

Sorry, I am not quite sure what you mean by using a "short wire from another solder point". Can you please explain in detail? Unfortunately I don't have a decent camera to get a close-up shot. All I can say is that on the top of the PCB on one contact point of the resistor seems to be completely stripped of metal. The other contact point seems to be stripped of metal on the backside.

Hello, I am new to MIDIbox and have minimal experience soldering. Everything has been going swimmingly (even got ICs on without much trouble). However, I noticed that I soldered the incorrect resistor in one part of the PCB. I desoldered it and removed the resistor, but in doing so ended up stripping the contact points for the two sides of the through-hole resistor. My question: am I SOL??? I hope I didn't ruin the board... Thanks, Dylan