MIDIbox of the Week (MB6582-MkII by Wilba)

MIDIbox of the Week (MB6582-MkII by Wilba) Rate Topic:

#1 TK.

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Posted 18 June 2008 - 20:35

Ca. one year after Wilba introduced his famous MB-6582 to the world, which became one of the most popular MBSID designs with dozen of PCB/kits orders, he created a new version with a lot of improvements: the MB-6582 MkII

Posted Image

More photos (for example with the first happy owner of a MkII :)) can be found at Wilba's flickr page

#2 Smithy

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Posted 18 June 2008 - 20:46

:o

That is seriously sexy man!

Congratulations on your 2nd child! ;D

Is it a boy or girl this time? :P

#3 MTE

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Posted 18 June 2008 - 21:14

Wow again :o *speechless

1 question, for what is this "printer port" ? For external Filters etc ?

Interesting picture of the "1st happy owner" ;D *Bow !

#4 nILS

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Posted 18 June 2008 - 22:34

Nice one Wilba ;-) Red LEDs - way better than the blue ones!

edit: For everyone awaiting PCBs or Kits for the mb6582 - be patient, it's so worth it. I actually got to play around with this beauty for a bit and I can honestly say it's the prettiest DIY-anything I've ever seen.

#5 dioioib

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Posted 19 June 2008 - 00:00

Wow I think I just busted a n%^ !!! :o

This thing is amazing. I am looking forward to the PCB's becoming available..

#6 sineSurfer

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Posted 19 June 2008 - 02:49

see bugfight? red looks sexier!!!

#7 moogah

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Posted 19 June 2008 - 04:13

Wow. Such an impressive project! I've def. got some studying to do before I start again myself.. although I'm not too interested in the SID sound I'm really thinking about building one of these just to get to know it better.

Great work Wilba! 8)

#8 Sasha

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Posted 19 June 2008 - 07:25

I`m not surprised but I can say it look way much better than the first one. :) Very nice looking box.

#9 theprotool

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Posted 19 June 2008 - 08:18

you know after making my first sid i've been wanting to make a rackmount 8core for a while, but after seeing that wilba i think you might have just converted me over... excellent work(again) wilba!

#10 stryd_one

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Posted 19 June 2008 - 10:35

Quote

it's the prettiest DIY-anything I've ever seen.

Yeh I've been face to face with this one too and I second that... and around here, that's not something I say lightly.

#11 Wilba

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Posted 19 June 2008 - 12:17

Thanks for the nice comments.

I'll pre-emptively answer some questions:

"MkII" merely refers to the fact that this one was made with the PCBs from the bulk order I organised last year (the red ones, as visible in the photos), which have a different layout to my original MB-6582 PCBs (which is now referred to as "the prototype").

The panels were made by Front Panel Express, using the optimised artwork, i.e. a single HPGL engraving object which was created by exporting to DXF within FPD, then importing into AutoCAD, then plotting to an HPGL file in AutoCAD, then importing back into FPD. Quite a laborious process, but saved money, and I like not paying Front Panel Express any more than I need to. Thanks to Doug Wellington for the DXF exporting (catch-22 of saying thanks is he'll now be pestered by everyone wanting to save money on their FPE/Schaeffer panels!)

The knobs are the "Waldorf" knobs from ALBS, not from Goblinz, but thanks Goblinz for running ALBS bulk orders for these knobs!

The rotary encoders are from the SoundWell bulk order, with detents removed, except for the menu encoder, which is detented and has a switch, this one came from mc4 from some samples from SoundWell when he ran his last bulk order for rotary encoders. Thanks mc4!

The base PCB parts and red LEDs came from SmashTV. Thanks Smash! SmashTV's red LEDs work best with 1K resistors.

The feedback knobs at the back are from a local store, attached to 100K dual-gang pots with shafts shortened using a Dremel and grinding disc.

In the ~3mm gap between the LCD and frontpanel is a piece of 3mm thick smoky transparent acrylic, about 5mm larger than the cutout of the panel, attached to the panel using superglue at the corners. The edge of the cutout is made black using a Sharpie (permanent marker pen).

The red LCD was bought directly from EIO (there was also a bulk order arranged for this LCD a few months ago). It happily works in 4-bit mode, and is a lot less noisy than a PLED!

Finally, in case it wasn't obvious, this MB-6582 was built specifically for TK and was given to him as a gift during my visit to Munich on the 14th June, 2008, where I also got to meet nILS, seppoman and PolyKobol, drink lots of beer, eat lots of pork, and jam with lots of synths and MIDIboxes.

Posted Image

#12 Zolo

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Posted 24 June 2008 - 10:58

Damn - Its too sexy :P Looking perfect :)

#13 seppoman

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Posted 24 June 2008 - 11:04

Quote

Damn - Its too sexy :P Looking perfect :)

Are you talking about the MkII or about TK's back side? :P

S

#14 Davo

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Posted 24 June 2008 - 11:59

Hmmm... So, how many midibox meet-and-greets has there been so far besides in Germany? I'm on the west coast of the US...

#15 bill

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Posted 24 June 2008 - 12:33

Hey cool, i have the same one ! ;)

#16 Zolo

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Posted 24 June 2008 - 19:39

Quote

Damn - Its too sexy :P Looking perfect :)

Are you talking about the MkII or about TK's back side?

I meant his back side of course - wtf is a MkII ? ;D

#17 Dentrassis

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Posted 24 June 2008 - 22:15

where did you find that red lcd display - looks so cool 8)

#18 TK.

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Posted 24 June 2008 - 22:56

Quote

where did you find that red lcd display - looks so cool 8)

Read Wilba's posting again.

Best Regards, Thorsten (loves his new toy :))

#19 snebenan

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Posted 25 June 2008 - 08:42

Wow!
This is better looking than many commercial synths.
Every week I get blown away with the skilled and creative work displayed in the M-box of the week. Very inspiring and motivating.

//Peter