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Initial reflections


Flemming
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First i just have to express myself regarding the quality of MB-SID ... It really amazes me :) playing around with the presets in the 'vintage bank', this box is so cool and easily competes with the commercial synths i own! I expected it to sound C64-like, and it can ;) but it does so much more. The list of parameters is overwhealming and the modulation scheme is among the most complex i've seen ever :) i especially find the ability to add modulation sources with eachother using logic functions to be of an extremely sexy character!!! In just a few days i've come to love my baby SID-box enormously!

1) I read somewhere that more banks than 'vintage' was available, but i can't find any... were more banks actually available?

2) I'm using 4*20 LCD and only uses the 2 upper lines. I would really like my LCD to behave as in the MB6582 (2 upper lines for info and 2 lower lines for 'parameter surfing')... Can i achieve this by using the MB6582 hex instead of the 8580 hex? (aka. how much difference besides the LCD setup does the MB6582 hex carry?), and if the MB6582 hex is a no-go for me as standard MB-SID 8580 user, did anyone before me create a 8580 hex for 4*20 use that i may have a copy of before i desperately throws myself in the arms of the source code??

3) The NRPN scheme is just brilliant :) and i see that the assignable knobs have been assigned NRPN values too - How about the controls on the 'minimal control surface'? i don't see them in the NRPN lists :( if the minimal controls were available through CC or NRPN i could build a small VST to control my MB-SID, kinda like a virtual CS

4) When MIDI out is connected to my box and i turn it on i get all squares on the LCD. and it stays that way until i hook up the MIDI interface to the PC and start up a MIDI host... my guess is that the squares indicate that 2sec startup-time where sysex is sent, and when MIDI out is connected it badly wants to send, but if no port is open it cannot. As said, as soon as MIDI communication is open it gives me the copyright msg and starts up..... i searched for an answer and i looked in the manual too but did not find anything about this... but it seems like it's meant to behave in this way, is this correct ??

5) I love the feedback idea and soldered a potmeter between audio in and out, but all i get is louder output.. I tinkered around with NRPN#8 on a bassline (which should set the filter to 'ext in') but without luck... now, without me having any kind of control surface (my box is still pretty naked) what is the easiest way for me to get to experience the joy of feedback ???

6) I'm also turned on by the swin-sid idea :) as far as i have understood the case it can be done with my 1core/1sid setup... if i upload the swin-sid hex and exchanges the SID chip with a swin chip i'm good to go ??

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3) The NRPN scheme is just brilliant :) and i see that the assignable knobs have been assigned NRPN values too - How about the controls on the 'minimal control surface'? i don't see them in the NRPN lists :( if the minimal controls were available through CC or NRPN i could build a small VST to control my MB-SID, kinda like a virtual CS

I cant help with your other questions im afraid but i can tell you that every parameter inside the MBSID is available either via NRPN or SYSEX

Cheers

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here's the code you'll need:

	;; number of LCD lines (supported: 2 for 2x* LCDs and 4 for 4x* LCDs)

#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINES 4

	;; LCD line -> cursor offsets
#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINE_Y0	0x40
#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINE_Y1	0x14
#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINE_Y2	0x00
#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINE_Y3	0x54

Of course you're gonna have to recompile the .hex file after that, but there are instructions on the wiki I think on how to do that. It's not too hard, I was able to fumble through it.  :P

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I cant help with your other questions im afraid but i can tell you that every parameter inside the MBSID is available either via NRPN or SYSEX

Yeah, i know.. there's a lovely list full of the parameters inside the MBSID, but the controls i hoped to automate is the buttons and 'edit' knob on the 'minimal control surface', so it's kinda 'outside'. It may not be possible at all, but i just had to ask :)

btw. i really love that TK chose to use NRPN instead of CCs ;)

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here's the code you'll need:

	;; number of LCD lines (supported: 2 for 2x* LCDs and 4 for 4x* LCDs)

#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINES 4

	;; LCD line -> cursor offsets
#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINE_Y0	0x40
#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINE_Y1	0x14
#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINE_Y2	0x00
#define DEFAULT_LCD_LINE_Y3	0x54

Of course you're gonna have to recompile the .hex file after that, but there are instructions on the wiki I think on how to do that. It's not too hard, I was able to fumble through it.  :P

Thanks :) i think i can manage to compile myself, but i'm afraid it will take a while to figure out ;) so i hoped someone had done such a hex before that i could just smooch off of, hehe.... well, no time to whine :) i just have to give it a go!

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1) I read somewhere that more banks than 'vintage' was available, but i can't find any... were more banks actually available?

I am working on an online patchShare database with automated uploader etc. atm. I hope that this will help the few people that actually make presets spread them ;)

3) The NRPN scheme is just brilliant  and i see that the assignable knobs have been assigned NRPN values too - How about the controls on the 'minimal control surface'? i don't see them in the NRPN lists  if the minimal controls were available through CC or NRPN i could build a small VST to control my MB-SID, kinda like a virtual CS

You might wanna wait a bit with that as it's a *lot* of work and rumour has it that sth similar is in the making, too.

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i really love that TK chose to use NRPN instead of CCs ;)

I actually thought the opposite, because FL Studio is my sequencer of choice, and I haven't had much luck getting NRPNs to work correctly in FL thus far. But thankfully, for those of us that want it, TK is graciously working on a fix for that.

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I actually thought the opposite, because FL Studio is my sequencer of choice, and I haven't had much luck getting NRPNs to work correctly in FL thus far. But thankfully, for those of us that want it, TK is graciously working on a fix for that.

Well i use FL too, almost every day :) i have no problem using NRPNs, it works fine even using the normal 'MIDI out' channel generator. I often setup filter cut and reso in this manner to play with the filter on presets. If a real 'panel' was built for FL it would sure hold more controls and sport a better layout, and a VST would be the perfect solution :) if the rumors nILS is referring to are true i will be happy as hell!!!!

NRPNs in FL is really a pleasant experience... please let me know if i can assist you in any way :)

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This is the error i get from MSYS

C:\msys\1.0\postinstall>PATH ..\bin;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\Sy
stem32\Wbem

C:\msys\1.0\postinstall>..\bin\sh.exe pi.sh
AllocationBase 0x0, BaseAddress 0x715B0000, RegionSize 0x150000, State 0x10000
C:\msys\1.0\bin\sh.exe: *** Couldn't reserve space for cygwin's heap, Win32 erro
r 6

C:\msys\1.0\postinstall>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

It's kinda the same error i get when i try to compile.. anyone has a clue how to tame MSYS into submission ??

The other programs seems to install just fine, but still no 4-line LCD joy for me!

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Well i use FL too, almost every day :) i have no problem using NRPNs, it works fine even using the normal 'MIDI out' channel generator. I often setup filter cut and reso in this manner to play with the filter on presets. If a real 'panel' was built for FL it would sure hold more controls and sport a better layout, and a VST would be the perfect solution :) if the rumors nILS is referring to are true i will be happy as hell!!!!

NRPNs in FL is really a pleasant experience... please let me know if i can assist you in any way :)

To be honest, I only have one synth other than the MB Sid I'm working on that uses NRPNs, an Alesis Micron. The trouble I had with that was getting a VST interface to work correctly so that I could more easily program patches that way rather than using it's infamous one knob interface. It's not completely out of the question to say that I could have had something set up incorrectly. Other than that I love FL and have loads of experience with it. I've been using it since version 2.
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GRR! I hate that bug!

I assume you've googled that msys error by now and have already discovered that it's a bit of a mystery bug that only appears on certain machines and is only sometimes solved. 'Rebasing' seems to be the ost successful fix. Read this thread to see one possible easy way to rebase it. Otherwise you may have to download the rebasing tool and do it manually. Search the forum for 'cygwin' to see a few other examples. A workaround that has only failed once is to download the posix_bin zip (you can find the link in the search results). I switched to ubuntu ;)

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To be honest, I only have one synth other than the MB Sid I'm working on that uses NRPNs, an Alesis Micron. The trouble I had with that was getting a VST interface to work correctly so that I could more easily program patches that way rather than using it's infamous one knob interface. It's not completely out of the question to say that I could have had something set up incorrectly. Other than that I love FL and have loads of experience with it. I've been using it since version 2.

Man :) I own a Micron too!!! what a coincidence... both Micron-owners using FL, and midiboxing. Hmm, you should by any chance not own a Supernova II, a Virus rack classic and a Kaosillator too ;)

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GRR! I hate that bug!

I assume you've googled that msys error by now and have already discovered that it's a bit of a mystery bug that only appears on certain machines and is only sometimes solved. 'Rebasing' seems to be the ost successful fix. Read this thread to see one possible easy way to rebase it. Otherwise you may have to download the rebasing tool and do it manually. Search the forum for 'cygwin' to see a few other examples. A workaround that has only failed once is to download the posix_bin zip (you can find the link in the search results). I switched to ubuntu ;)

YESS MAMA :) Stryd, thanks a lot man!!!! The 'overwrite-the-dll-file-with-a-rebased-one'-trick was all i had to do... I uploaded a new version of the 8580 hex with 4 lines enabled, but still i only see the two initial lines. I guess it's neccesary to have at least some kind of button to press on the synth to get to see the parameters on the lower two lines then ???? .... i'll have to be patient then, dusting off my first build, a DINx4 from Mike's shop and get some buttons up'n running

And yes, i love Supernova II too :) it's the rack version though, but it's fantastic especially in it's effect section. The sound is really polished (sounds almost japanese :)) i think it's the best synth that Novation made!

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Great stuff :)

Spectators: this is why I always encourage people to post the answer :)

As for the 3/4 lines... no you don't need buttons there. Maybe search around to confirm that code is OK (although labelwhore seemed confident, as though he's done this before). Did you remember to remove the old lines? Are you sure it rebuilt the file when you ran make? Delete it and run make again to be sure...

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Great stuff :)

Spectators: this is why I always encourage people to post the answer :)

As for the 3/4 lines... no you don't need buttons there. Maybe search around to confirm that code is OK (although labelwhore seemed confident, as though he's done this before). Did you remember to remove the old lines? Are you sure it rebuilt the file when you ran make? Delete it and run make again to be sure...

yep, I got that code from a post I made a while back when I was troubleshooting the same issue. Once I get home from work I'll double check that code though just to be sure

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Yeay Labelwhore.. i found your post, compiled it and it looks just like the MB6582 file - i get line 1/2 on line 2/3 instead, and still no parameters or menu.... but i guess it will help if i get some control surface. Looking at the famous video here

i can see that the MB6582 also only utilizes line 2/3 to start off with. When a knob is tweaked it will go to the menu screen...

I'd really love such behavior from the LCD on my lovely new baby SIDbox :)

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Man :) I own a Micron too!!! what a coincidence... both Micron-owners using FL, and midiboxing. Hmm, you should by any chance not own a Supernova II, a Virus rack classic and a Kaosillator too ;)

Nope, no Supernova II or Virus Rack, but I'd like to pick up a Kaosilator at some point. In case you're curious here's what I'm working with currently: http://www.th3rdwave.com/?p=22 Remove the 2nd PC and add a Yamaha RM1X, Digitech TSR-12, and Gakken SX-150 (for modding of course) to that list.
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Wow!! I really need to arrange my stuff into a studio-setup too. It looks good, and it's a lot more intuitive to sit down and make some sounds - now when i start up i have to setup everything, cables everywhere and what now :(

What is that thing to the right with the arcade-machine-looking buttons ???

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