bhc303 Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 Good news: there are 8 orders for black opaque... I'm assuming people will really like the matte black that I'm arranging right now.sounds great!cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Thanks for the response. One thing that just crossed my mind was power supply. Does the kit come with one or do we get our own?The kit doesn't include power supply (i.e. walwart/AC adapter). It really doesn't make sense for me to import power supplies for various countries only to send them back overseas, adding to the cost of the kit and shipping. Plus I suspect most people are like me and have adapters lying around to power their other electronic toys.As for the filter option I was referring to a project where someone added analog filters to their midibox sid. I think it was a Moog filter copy and the person made it a rack mount.You can do this, although it won't fit in the stock sammichSID case. The J6/J7 headers (bottom middle of the PCB) are what you use to connect to an AOUT_NG (or another AOUT module), which then can control an analog filter with CV, such as the stereo SSM2044 filter module or some homemade Moog filter. The AOUT and SSM2044 filters would need their own bipolar power supplies, housed in its own box perhaps... but it would be controlled by the MIDIbox SID firmware running on the sammichSID, i.e. you can modulate an external filter cutoff/resonance just like the internal SID filter (it's just configuration switches).Now if that doesn't make your head explode, listen to this: http://www.ucapps.de/mp3/midibox_sid/mbsidv2_bassline_demo4.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted September 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 BTW Ponoko are great to deal with when you want a custom material... I requested a specific black satin finish acrylic and they tried to get that but it wasn't available, so to show me the closest thing their supplier could offer, they sent me a video clip:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPjqny-jq0EFinally an excuse to upload something on YouTube! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00dawg Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Wow that is awesome! I love it when companies have kick-ass customer service! Makes such a difference!That said, is Ponoko pretty good in terms of prices for prototyping? For my next project (an MB64 or MB64E - long way away :) I wanted to use an acrylic control surface to save on costs but also for looks since I dig translucent things. I assume, though, that they don't accept Front Panel Express templates? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted September 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 That said, is Ponoko pretty good in terms of prices for prototyping?Well for people in USA and New Zealand (where there are Ponoko "hubs"), the shipping is cheap and so the overall price for prototyping is excellent. For me in Australia, it's close enough to NZ for shipping to be reasonable too. For Europe, it sucks majorly, the shipping from either NZ or USA is ridiculous, basically because they have to use a courier.Example: I'm ordering the smallest size panel (181mm x 181mm x 3mm) to test this custom material, to ship to me from NZ is US$6.38 + US$2 handling. If it was to Europe from US, it would be US$59.90 + US$2 handling. You can see the shipping costs here. It's unfortunate that there's not a Ponoko hub in Europe yet, because I'm sure it would be a huge success, since the NZ hub seems to be doing fine and is probably mostly servicing such small populations as NZ and Australia due to the high shipping costs to anywhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 BTW Ponoko are great to deal with when you want a custom material... I requested a specific black satin finish acrylic and they tried to get that but it wasn't available, so to show me the closest thing their supplier could offer, they sent me a video clipThe non shiny side looks murdered out. :)What is this about MBSID V3 upgradeable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fussylizard Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Wilba, Can you describe the overall process on working with Ponoko? What apps do you find easiest to use to make front panel designs, what sort of files do you send them, how does the prototyping work, etc.? What about the engraving/painting for the graphics? Just curious since I'm working on a CS for my MB-FM now that the LCD bulk order isn't sucking tons of time now and I might consider trying them instead of FPE. Thx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Wilba, Can you describe the overall process on working with Ponoko? What apps do you find easiest to use to make front panel designs, what sort of files do you send them, how does the prototyping work, etc.? What about the engraving/painting for the graphics? Just curious since I'm working on a CS for my MB-FM now that the LCD bulk order isn't sucking tons of time now and I might consider trying them instead of FPE. Thx!The process is pretty simple... you can go on their website and download a starter pack, so I don't need to explain the details really...My workflow is essentially:- design what I want in Inkscape using mm units everywhere, lots of guidelines, and 0mm stroke lines, using Outline mode so you can see them- make a "Ponoko" version of the design by replacing the 0mm stroke lines with the right setting for laser cutting (i.e. 0.003mm blue lines) and the other stroke/fill types for engraving.- copy and paste these into the three SVG files that Ponoko provides, which have an orange border showing where the "safe area" is. Arrange to minimize waste and save as new version.- upload this file to Ponoko and get a price.If you want something that looks more like an FPE panel (i.e. single-stroke DIN1451 like my SEQ panel) then you can do this with a few extra steps - create the text in a CAD program using a vector font, export to SVG, then optionally do some stroke/outline magic to create a three-stroke engraving (i.e. the original vector font plus a rounded outline). This will produce a very clean, sharp-edged engraved text that can be paint filled. If you want text smaller than 2.5mm high then you can skip the outline step and just duplicate the same vector font lines (i.e. so the laser goes over it twice). That will make it go deeper but not much thicker.I recommend Inkscape 0.47 (it's still not released as of this post, but using the devel build gets you some awesome snapping improvements which really helps with this CAD-like work). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhc303 Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 the matt black looks sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvooh Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 very nice and alli've been looking for knobs like the one used on the sammichSIDwhere did you get it Wilba?I need a lot.I also posted in the nice knobs thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Re`an P401http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,11050.0.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbraad Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 just placed a pre-order for a white opaque kit. Assigned to batch #3.Thanks Wilba! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue_lu Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 First post!I also just placed an order for an opaque white kit - not yet assinged, but I hop Jason gets back to me soon.When I see the mate black though,,, hm... decision, decisions :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimfrost Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 This looks like a really nice project to start with :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIDIshark Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 First post!I also just placed an order for an opaque white kit - not yet assinged, but I hop Jason gets back to me soon.When I see the mate black though,,, hm... decision, decisions :)Me too! :) First post and order an opaque white kit.#3batch Can´t wait to get it, heat my iron and build the little beast!!eheh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netpusher Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 I placed an order for a white opaque kit as well, I am very excited to get started! :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue_lu Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 asigned to batch #4 :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted October 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Batches #1 to #4 are now all reserved.I received 60 pre-orders in the 48 hours since the midibox.org blog entry, and the subsequent Matrixsynth and Synthtopia articles.Things have gone quiet now, just as the magic 100 number was reached, which is a good thing actually because I don't like telling people they've missed out (for now), especially for such embarrasing reasons as I don't have enough time and spare cash to make kits faster. :-[ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhc303 Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 love your work wilba!I have to say to all the people that make this community work, a huge shout out, YOU GUYS ROCK!thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted October 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Demo shot of test panel made in matte black acrylic. Straight out of the parcel into the prototype (I haven't even cleaned and paint filled the engraving yet!) This is just the top panel, the sides are the dark grey tint, but the cut edges on the matte black are glossy like this, so what you see is what you get (if you pick matte black).This material is awesome. It has a silky smooth feel, looks cool, and is fingerprint and scratch resistant and I mean seriously resistant. I've been scratching the scraps with a screwdriver, and it's hard to make a visible scratch... you need a craft knife to really make a dent in the surface. It makes the dark grey tint acrylic look cheap by comparison.One thing that bothers me with the tint acrylics, they look cool if you polish them up, but it's so glossy that it shows every fingerprint, and it really doesn't feel nice. This stuff looks more like the black anodized aluminium from Front Panel Express, so much better.I am very tempted to force everyone to get their case made from this matte black acrylic... ;)This really is a case of what works best vs. what looks the coolest. I'd rather people be annoyed by lack of choice than annoyed their sammichSID always looks like crap because it's covered with highly visible greasy fingerprints and they're constantly polishing it. Half of the pre-orders were for black anyway, so I don't think they'll be many people annoyed, especially after they finish their own... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00dawg Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 *shrug* I'd be ok with the black. I dig translucency but I certainly see what you mean about the glossy factor. If you force us to go with the matte, I won't be complaining, and I'm sure that would make it easier on you for the bulk orders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhc303 Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Reminds me of mad max's car XB coupe, honey comb grill... mat black :oIt would look cool with silver paint filled engraving, would match the bushed aluminum lcd surrounding.Looking good wilba! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maniac Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 The matte acrylics looks really good, much better then glossy :oI’m ok with every color of panel, but if I get mate black, I’ll be more then happy.How do you fill engraving ? Whot kind of paint are You using ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 ... the sides are the dark grey tint, but the cut edges on the matte black are glossy like thisEdges can be fine sanded and they will look almost the same as sides! ;)this is made the same way... you can`t even see the joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavey Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Darn, that matte black looks awesome. I'm up for changing from acrylic grey to matte black (forcedly or by sheer free will :P) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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