I'm thinking about diving into midbox, Gurus advise

[Technosoul]

So, Heres my story. Maybe you guys can give me a lead into the right direction. So I just sold alot of gear and have been thinking about getting a modular system, but truthfully thats not really floating my boat. Evertime I go to this website or youtube and listen to the sounds of 1,2,3,4 sid chips, its ridiculous. Future retro sounds dont come close, analog solutions sound dont come close, acid labs dont come close. So I want to build a Midibox.

This past summer, I went and got a soldering station, bread board and wires and some other things, so I could figure out how to make sounds, granted I dont know anything about these parts, I was just following pictures and directions to make things happened. Another thing I did was print out the documentation to produce a midibox.

Well, its 2009 I just sold some gear, I want something new and sick, I see some sid chips for sale, and I'm thinking about going for it but I'm scared as shit. I really dont want to screw this up and I have absolutely no education in this, I'm just a guy who's been tweaking knobs for years, so this is hugely new as far as building a synth.

So if you guys could give me a little encouragement so I dont feel so alone in the Las Vegas desert and maybe a little step 1-5 of what needs to be done and hopely I'll be able to catch on.

Not to kiss ass, but you guys that build these projects after projects; you guys are amazing, so I totally inspired and want to have my own midisid. I'm think with two chips.

As far as buying sid chips, is ebay a safe source to pick those up?

thanks.

[stryd_one]

Welcome aboard Techhnosound,

Well I think you'll be fine. So long as you can read through a bit of documentation, and follow it, you will be fine I'm sure. If you trip up, there are currently a few thousand members who might like to help you ;)

I'd grab my SIDs from Wilba if I were you...

Have a poke around the wiki and ucapps.de for your 1-2-3-4-5 steps (what's there, is what there is!), and if there's stuff missing, have a search, and let us know if you see anything that needs updating or explaining.

And don't be afraid. You can see lots of threads on the forum, and many others people never even mention, where total newbies have come here and walked out with a synth under their belt. My electronics experience prior to midiboxing, with the exception of a few mostly failed experiments with old electronics like TV's (ZAP, OUCH) was only the high school electronics course. Now I'd have a shot at almost anything!

Like I always say: I don't know anyone who was born a guru.

And what better place to start learning than here ;)

[Technosoul]

Welcome aboard Techhnosound,

Well I think you'll be fine. So long as you can read through a bit of documentation, and follow it, you will be fine I'm sure. If you trip up, there are currently a few thousand members who might like to help you ;)

I'd grab my SIDs from Wilba if I were you...

Have a poke around the wiki and ucapps.de for your 1-2-3-4-5 steps (what's there, is what there is!), and if there's stuff missing, have a search, and let us know if you see anything that needs updating or explaining.

And don't be afraid. You can see lots of threads on the forum, and many others people never even mention, where total newbies have come here and walked out with a synth under their belt. My electronics experience prior to midiboxing, with the exception of a few mostly failed experiments with old electronics like TV's (ZAP, OUCH) was only the high school electronics course. Now I'd have a shot at almost anything!

Like I always say: I don't know anyone who was born a guru.

And what better place to start learning than here ;)

Thanks for replying...I'm starting to feelit, once I go back and start reading the documents I printed off and organized this summer, it will all start to make some sense.

Question...Is Wilba the resident 6581 sid chip supplier?

Is it much harder to make a sid synth with two chips versus a mono synth.

[stryd_one]

Question...Is Wilba the resident 6581 sid chip supplier?

Is it much harder to make a sid synth with two chips versus a mono synth.

These are the kind of things that fall into this category:

Have a poke around the wiki and ucapps.de for your 1-2-3-4-5 steps (what's there, is what there is!), and if there's stuff missing, have a search, and let us know if you see anything that needs updating or explaining.

:D

[Technosoul]

[stryd_one]

Pat on the back, not kick in the ass ;)

Rock on!

[Goblinz]

Reading will get you everywhere. it means that you will be able to ask the right questions... The right questions always get answers :)

As for what to build.... The MB-6582 is especially Sick. looks good, sounds good, smells good too (Ok, I made that one up!). If you're aiming on building one of them then I would suggest building something smaller to start with so you get the hang of how things work. You couldn't go wrong with the minimal setup and the Minimal Control Unit (http://ucapps.de/midibox_sid_manual_hw.html). Once you've done you could always re-use the LCD and a few other parts for use in the MB-6582, or keep them for further experimentation. The CORE module would be good for re-use as it is used in all MB hardware.

I can thoroughly reccomend SmashTV's MB-6582 (and other) kits. The quality is amazing. You will still need to sort out you rown control surface parts (encoders, LEDS, switches, etc) but the cost is lower than self source, you get everything in one package and you know that the componants are correct. look out for the front panel thread, somebody is going to be making them (search) and I'm sure there will be a case bulk order before so long.

Good luck with everything and please keep us posted as to your progress.

[Technosoul]

Sounds good, I'm to order a paia fatman kit today to build, I feel more safe screwing that up at first than this, if I screw up. It seems like a good first project. Maybe I can post my fatman kit.

[Goblinz]

Sounds good, I'm to order a paia fatman kit today to build, I feel more safe screwing that up at first than this, if I screw up. It seems like a good first project. Maybe I can post my fatman kit.

I'm sure people here would be gratefull for some construction photos and information. Would go down well in the miscellaneous thread!

[lief138]

Sounds good, I'm to order a paia fatman kit today to build, I feel more safe screwing that up at first than this, if I screw up. It seems like a good first project. Maybe I can post my fatman kit.

Hey dude, if your going to build a fatman, go for the panel mount version and make sure to check out Scott's site with lots of mods to make the fatman a 3/4 ways decent jammie. It will give you lots of modding practice and additonal functions

http://home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/index.htm

[sakodak]

I did a Fatman a while back, you can see pics here:

http://www.argonautnetworks.com/smil/?album=/projects/paia/

[ultra]

the paia stuff is pretty easy because of the guides/tutorials.  it's pretty much step-by-step.  my girlfriend is just completing her theremax and has never worked with electronics before.

if you go with a 6582, the pt-10 case seems cheapest at allied electronics (http://www.alliedelec.com/Search/SearchResults.aspx?N=0&Ntk=Primary&Ntt=pt-10&sid=11FB9D74305C).  it's about $7 more at mouser, which is surprising.  might be a moot point if you're not in the states.

[Technosoul]

the paia stuff is pretty easy because of the guides/tutorials.  it's pretty much step-by-step.  my girlfriend is just completing her theremax and has never worked with electronics before.

So are you saying if your girlfriend can do it, I can do it; Naa just joking. I just placed my order so we'll see. Isnt it harder to get the 6582 chips over the 6581's

[sakodak]

So are you saying if your girlfriend can do it, I can do it;

Hey, I did it, you can too.  The Paia manuals are amazing.  I had delusions of creating a Paia-like manual for the mb-6582, but I don't know if I've got the patience for it.

I just placed my order so we'll see. Isnt it harder to get the 6582 chips over the 6581's

Wilba somehow gets tons of 6582s.  The ones I got from him were marked CSG and manufactured in 1992.

What gets me is that he gets them from some warehouse in Texas, then they ship to him in AU, then back to me in the US, about 600 miles from where they originated.  I feel kind of guilty from a "green" standpoint.  I'm a raging liberal, though. :)

Anyway, my point is that if you want 6581s you're probably going to have to pull them from old breadbox 64s, and you run the risk of them being defective.  (And some would say 6581s are too noisy anyway -- but even Bob Yannes said he never got the noise floor low enough for his tastes.  For me it's all about the grit, but 6582s are gritty enough.)

[ultra]

I feel kind of guilty from a "green" standpoint. 

hey at least you're using chips manufactured in 1992.

[stryd_one]

What gets me is that he gets them from some warehouse in Texas, then they ship to him in AU, then back to me in the US, about 600 miles from where they originated.  I feel kind of guilty from a "green" standpoint.  I'm a raging liberal, though. :)

Maybe you should be more raging... you didn't choose it, you just have to use it. Thus; get mad, not guilty. Use your midibox to write a song about it if it bugs you enough ;)

[sakodak]

Use your midibox to write a song about it if it bugs you enough ;)

I have to finish the build first!

:)

[Labelwhore]

Sounds good, I'm to order a paia fatman kit today to build, I feel more safe screwing that up at first than this, if I screw up. It seems like a good first project. Maybe I can post my fatman kit.

Very nice! I just put my MBSid project aside for a while to build a Fatman too. And while my woodworking skills leave a lot to be desired, I put the whole thing in a cherry stained wood case complete with two octave keyboard from doepfer. Sooner or later I'll share pics. (I don't have a digital camera that's worth a shit)

[nebula]

MB-6582 vs. FatMan for the budding DIYer:

The FatMan doesn't sound all that great, and it's a nuisance to calibrate.  PAiA has some really weird ways of doing some things, too - like they've never caught on that nobody wants a bare PCB hanging in their rack, or a wall cube that's permanently attached to whatever it's powering.  They provide oddball heat sinks for the regulators (which actually causes your finished product to be more fragile), and there is almost no nice way to tidily wire the FatMan front panel to the PCB (i.e. there are just wires everywhere).  On the other hand it's truly analog, can be controlled with CVs and triggers, and it's easy and fun to mod.

I found MB-6582 easier to build than the FatMan.  MB-6582 puts the whole control panel on a nice PCB.  It is a self-contained unit.  It is a far more versatile synth.  It lacks step-by-step instructions, but there are lots of people in this forum who want to help you succeed.  And, unfortunately, you still have to source a lot of its parts yourself (even with Smash's  baseboard kit, you still need encoders, tact switches, LEDs, display, PT-10 case, flex cables, power supply, panels ...

Expect to pay quite a bit more to make MB-6582 with 8 SIDs than it would cost to make a FatMan. 

Regardless of what make first, if you think you might want to make a MIDIbox in the future, keep an eye out for the Bulk Orders here on the MIDIbox forum.  I have bought knobs, encoders, x0xb0x parts, MB-6582 panels, PCBs, LCDs, and other stuff through bulk orders here.  Watch the Flea Market too, as the spare parts that people sell off are often exactly what you're looking for.

[lief138]

Ill Second Nebula on the 6582 being easier to build and also a hell of alot more expensive. But for an ultra noob I think the fatman would be easier for the simple fact that you cant go wrong with the directions. plus if you FAIL you can always send it off, pay some cash, and have it back working.

Everything else Nebs says about the 'special qualities' of the finsihed product are sadly true also except for the part about it being truly analog ;).

I dont think you can get cheaper than that though and as I said before scotts site has some excellent addons.

All that being said its nothing compared the the mighty SID synth....

Oh well I suspect I might be rambling now...

have fun

[Labelwhore]

MB-6582 vs. FatMan for the budding DIYer:

The FatMan doesn't sound all that great, and it's a nuisance to calibrate.  PAiA has some really weird ways of doing some things, too - like they've never caught on that nobody wants a bare PCB hanging in their rack, or a wall cube that's permanently attached to whatever it's powering.  They provide oddball heat sinks for the regulators (which actually causes your finished product to be more fragile), and there is almost no nice way to tidily wire the FatMan front panel to the PCB (i.e. there are just wires everywhere).  On the other hand it's truly analog, can be controlled with CVs and triggers, and it's easy and fun to mod.

I found MB-6582 easier to build than the FatMan.  MB-6582 puts the whole control panel on a nice PCB.  It is a self-contained unit.  It is a far more versatile synth.  It lacks step-by-step instructions, but there are lots of people in this forum who want to help you succeed.  And, unfortunately, you still have to source a lot of its parts yourself (even with Smash's  baseboard kit, you still need encoders, tact switches, LEDs, display, PT-10 case, flex cables, power supply, panels ...

Expect to pay quite a bit more to make MB-6582 with 8 SIDs than it would cost to make a FatMan. 

Regardless of what make first, if you think you might want to make a MIDIbox in the future, keep an eye out for the Bulk Orders here on the MIDIbox forum.  I have bought knobs, encoders, x0xb0x parts, MB-6582 panels, PCBs, LCDs, and other stuff through bulk orders here.  Watch the Flea Market too, as the spare parts that people sell off are often exactly what you're looking for.

An MBSid is definately more road worthy that's for sure, the 6582 or the modular one really. Honestly I don't really think you can compare the two. The Fatman is surely a one-trick-pony, but that one trick it does, it does really well. That coming from my whole week's worth of experience with it. :) It seems to me that when my MBSid is complete, it will match up pretty well with the fatman sound.

[nebula]

Everything else Nebs says about the 'special qualities' of the finsihed product are sadly true also except for the part about it being truly analog ;).

I don't get it ... ?

[Djbillyharding@gmail.com]

What up technosoul,hey by any chance did ur midibox build ever jump off or was it a sucess. Reason im askin is im in the same postion rite now .i myself do live in vegas & checkin if its too dry to build :-)