445 replies to this topic

[joewhat]

wow.! 

[nebula]

is black opaque a non translucent look?

Correct.  You can't see through something opaque.

[pricklyrobot]

Good work. You have indeed banished my doubts about my SID-synth building abilities with this proposed kit. Time to get myself on that list!

[Theta_Frost]

Fantastic! E-mailing shortly...

[otto]

Someone else request opaque white. I really want to do one in white but he'd like 2 requests first. Think how cool and spacey this would look in white!

[RH]

Can someone clarify for me. What can/can't this version of the midibox sid do? What about patch storage? I have been using a C64 with MSSIAH and dual SIDs and like the 6 note poly, 3 note/3 track or 6 track modes but don't like having to have a monitor.

I've been wanting to build a midibox for ages and this one sounds like the push I've been needing. If it would have had a filter option my head would have exploded.

[Wilba]

On an aside, I noticed those photos appear to have a covering over the LCD? Is that part of the kit or are we on our own for having to figure out that part?

There is a clear acrylic piece (2mm or 3mm thick) that can snap into the hole of the front panel. It is held in place just by being a tight fit, and can be pushed out if you apply force, but that seems unlikely from normal use and careful transport. You could use superglue or acrylic glue to permanently adhere it to the top panel. I will include this piece in all kits, even if/when I sell kits without cases.

[Wilba]

Can someone clarify for me. What can/can't this version of the midibox sid do? What about patch storage? I have been using a C64 with MSSIAH and dual SIDs and like the 6 note poly, 3 note/3 track or 6 track modes but don't like having to have a monitor.

It can do everything a MIDIbox SID V2 can do with two (stereo) SID configuration (i.e. it is not a multi-Core setup, it is two SIDs and one Core)
Go to http://www.ucapps.de/ and click the links under "MIDIbox SID V2 Synth" in the left menu bar. Read the User Manual in particular.

You can do 6 note poly with the "Multi" engine, or use 6 oscilators (i.e. 3 oscillators in stereo) in the "Lead" engine, or two independent basslines with the "Bassline" engine, plus the "Drum" engine.

It has five "BankStick" slots, so you can store 4 banks of 128 patches, plus 128 "Ensembles" (patch/engine configurations). Five "BankStick" memory ICs are included in the kit.

The sammichSID base PCB is not designed to be used in a multi-Core configuration. The PSU section can only handle two SIDs, and the control surface is missing SID 1/2/3/4 buttons. People should consider MB-6582 if they want the full 8xSID experience.

I've been wanting to build a midibox for ages and this one sounds like the push I've been needing. If it would have had a filter option my head would have exploded.

What do you mean by "filter option"?

[Wilba]

is black opaque a non translucent look?

Yes. I am actually getting some Ponoko samples of a black opaque acrylic with a matte (almost satin) finish. Apparently this material is fingerprint and scratch resistant, perhaps more like black anodized aluminium. I will probably order a panel of 5 cases in this material even if there are less than 5 orders for it.

[Wilba]

I just got pre-order emails for 13, plus 10 who have expressed interest in this thread and privately, which means there's possibly only 2 kits available from the first batch of 25.

People who send me pre-order emails now should expect to go on a waiting list... but please do it anyway, so I can perhaps order different case colours in advance. (i.e. I might order 5 red tint cases even if there's only 2 wanted from the first batch).

[joewhat]

i want  kit or two,, where can i order?

[Wilba]

The pre-order info was in this post: http://www.midibox.o....html#msg121425

The first batch of 25 kits are now all reserved.
If you send in a pre-order now, it will be for another batch, unless someone cancels their order from the first batch.

[Wilba]

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.

[Flying Panther]

Great build! I only think that if I'd buy one, I never get to finishing my 8x sid ;)

[RH]

I've been wanting to build a midibox for ages and this one sounds like the push I've been needing. If it would have had a filter option my head would have exploded.

What do you mean by "filter option"?

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?

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.

[bhc303]

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

[Wilba]

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:

[Wilba]

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:

[youtube=640,505][/media]

Finally an excuse to upload something on YouTube!

[m00dawg]

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?

[Wilba]

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.