Echopraxia Posted June 11, 2010 Report Share Posted June 11, 2010 I got my MBFM fired up and have to say the sounds this things make are wonderful. I am having a problem with the whole unit though. I can play any where from 1 to 5 notes and they will play fine but then I get a very different note usually much higher at about the 3-6 note played. I have played with the LFOs and have the desired results but if I try to mess with certain attacks on different pages the unit goes crazy as well. When I turn on the MBFM it usually starts off with the random note issue and a couple of times I got it to fire up without any issues but when I started playing with knobs I would get the craziness wacko behavior. I had the same issue with the random notes last time I made a opl3 board and core. I have a new core and new opl3 board and good chips I am pretty sure. Would your first guess be to check soldering/joint errors? Ground issue? Any guidance would be grateful. Regards, echo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparx Posted June 12, 2010 Report Share Posted June 12, 2010 Yes check the soldering first. You could try re-uploading the application or trying the core in another set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuriken Posted June 12, 2010 Report Share Posted June 12, 2010 (edited) Upload the testone app and check voltages. Especially 5V. Check across different components. Also how long are your leads from Core to OPL3 board? Edited June 12, 2010 by Shuriken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Upload the testone app and check voltages. Especially 5V. Check across different components. Also how long are your leads from Core to OPL3 board? Thanks for getting back to me. I have had no time to check anything yet but the cable from the core to the opl3 board is as small as it can be without the two boards back to back (Its only like 2 inches long) When I last uploaded the test tone hex the test tone was working just fine. Where should I check for voltages? At the yacs and ymf? If every thing is normal with the voltages where do I go next? If I have weird voltages where should I look? I may be asking more questions than I should be but maybe you know what to do next :) I'll check voltages and soldering errors when I get a chance and report back. Would it possibly have anything to do with the panel that the encoders are mounted on? The encoders are screwed in with a nut to a metal panel? I would try to change parameters with the jsynthlib program but I can't get it to talk with the MBFM. My XP computer is buggy too :( regards, echo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janis1279 Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 May be you can find some more usefull info in this : topic Regards, Janis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 Ok I have good 4.9v on both core ics, good 4.9v on the YMF and the 2x YACs, good 12v + -12v on the 3x tl op amps and good 4.9v on all the DIN ICs. I tried adjusting the volume for each instrument and operator to zero and I was still getting audio with no change in volume. I am using pic18f452 and I don't have the led on the opl3 board soldered in. I used the opl3 interconnection test before but will try it again. I have not found any bad solder joints yet but I am still looking. Is it something to do with the 14.318 osc/crystal? Is there a way to test it? The lfo functions work fine but I still get the weird notes every few notes and other parameters don't seem to do much or anything at all. i also noticed a digital scratching noise when adjusting certain parameters while playing the keys almost like a scratchy analog pot. Any other thoughts? Regards, echo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nILS Posted June 14, 2010 Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 Semi-random errors on a basically working system hint towards a failed/incomplete upload. Try reuploading the app. Also - did you use the correct pic (18F452)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janis1279 Posted June 14, 2010 Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 The Pic18F452 is correct for MBFM. I am thinking about 5v power supply part . Is it stable 4,9v as echo wrote all the time and the +5v ic is not so hot ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2010 (edited) The Pic18F452 is correct for MBFM. I am thinking about 5v power supply part . Is it stable 4,9v as echo wrote all the time and the +5v ic is not so hot ? Yes 4.9v is very stable. Can I touch the ICs with my finger when they are turned on without frying them? There are obviosly still a few things I could learn about electronics. I currently am using a 9vAC 400ma to pwer the core. I have switched between the mbfm testone and mbfm hex a few times but I will try again. Thanks for all your replies. I will try the interconnection test again and if it is successful does that mean my pic and ymf are good? Could it be that my pic is only partially bad? Should I try with my 18F4620? When I built the ultracore I put a header on j14 but that shouldn't cause a problem right? I also have 2 out of 8 banksticks connected and they did auto format when MBFM hex was loaded. Is there any reason they are the problem? I also retried the jsynthlib editor and was able to make the mbfm audio cut out when changing parameters from jsynthlib but I did not hear any changes on the FM itself and the midi is sending correctly I believe. Regards, echo Edited June 15, 2010 by Echopraxia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janis1279 Posted June 15, 2010 Report Share Posted June 15, 2010 (edited) Yes 4.9v is very stable. Can I touch the ICs with my finger when they are turned on without frying them? There are obviosly still a few things I could learn about electronics. I currently am using a 9vAC 400ma to pwer the core. I have switched between the mbfm testone and mbfm hex a few times but I will try again. I also have 2 out of 8 banksticks connected and they did auto format when MBFM hex was loaded. Is there any reason they are the problem? I also retried the jsynthlib editor and was able to make the mbfm audio cut out when changing parameters from jsynthlib but I did not hear any changes on the FM itself and the midi is sending correctly I believe. How hot or warm is the +5v IC I do'not know, but to screw on it to a heatsink I want to recommend anyway. Your 9Vac 400mA power supply looks very good ! Another ICs in normal conditions are never be very hot. Quantity of banksticks are more for future possibilities. Could it be that my pic is only partially bad? Should I try with my 18F4620? You can try with Pic18F4620 too, i am not sure your PIC18F452 is damaged. In earlier post you wrote: "I tried adjusting the volume for each instrument and operator to zero and I was still getting audio with no change in volume. " Are your MBFM CS is working properly or i did not understand something? May be somewhere are connection mistakes ? Regards, Janis Edited June 15, 2010 by Janis1279 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 In earlier post you wrote: "I tried adjusting the volume for each instrument and operator to zero and I was still getting audio with no change in volume. " Are your MBFM CS is working properly or i did not understand something? May be somewhere are connection mistakes ? I have a good connection between the core,din and the control surface as I see the parameters changing on the lcd display like they should. It is the audio that is not responding correctly to the parameter changes. I would have to think now that this is a YMF/YAC problem (This is the second new old stock that I have tried) Would the Tl op-amps have anything to do with this unresponsive behavior? I am off tomorrow and will have some time to go through the core opl3 interconnection test. I will also try to upload the MBFM hex file from another computer to rule a out a buggy computer. Again thank you for your replies. Regards, echo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 I just tested the core to opl3 interconnection test and it each pin registered 4.8v steady one by one. I was using mios studio to switch through the pins with the virtual keyboard. I then uploaded the test tone again (I could hear the test tone) then uploaded the MBFM hex. At this point I could play notes fine but when I tried to adjust the default cc values in mios studio (right above the virtual keyboard)I would then get the weird note behaviors. So it is not just my control surface that is doing this. Somewhere from the pic to ymf to yac it gets buggy? I read on the other post (that was linked a few messages back) about pin 2 of the yac512s being connected to ground. It should not be solder joined with the caps c3 and c5 that are real close to pin 2 of yacs correct? I am going to try to upload the hex from another computer now. echo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 (edited) I just tried uploading on a new computer and was able to change the cc values on mios studio 2.1 without affecting the note behavior ( I was however not getting any response and thought this was possibly normal). So I thought maybe things would work now but I am still getting the behavior when using the control surface. :angry: And now i even noticed that my encoders are scrolling way fast and pretty much jumping from say patch 1 to 5 to 8 to 14 ect. I am going to try my seq pic a little later. Edited June 16, 2010 by Echopraxia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 I have not tried the other pic yet but I have been monitoing MIOS studio and have noticed that communication gets cut off between MIOS and the Core randomly. Do this solve my problem? I will try the other pic soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Seq pic did not help. I still get the same behavior with the new pic. So do I have to believe that I have bad ymf or bad yacs now? I have also used midi ox to send cc values to the MBFM and get the same strange behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janis1279 Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 (edited) In a setup_mbfm_v1.asm file you can find more info about encoder types and encoder's speeds Can you upload some pics of your soldered OPL3 board both sides ? Regards, Janis Edited June 16, 2010 by Janis1279 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted June 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2010 Well I decided to clean up my solder on my opl3 chips (I get very nervous about smds, de-soldering wick and flux paste ect) and now I have good news. So far I seem to be getting good responses from changing values now. I haven't checked everything yet but so far everything seems very promising. I can't thank every one enough for your support. Now I will check on the encoders speed (forgot about that) and finish my led matrix and rewire the grounds for less hiss on the audio. Regards, echo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.