Midibox 64/E traktor mixer.

[vanaema78]

Hello. :)

First i want to talk a little about me.

Im Jaan, from estonia. Haven't done any DIY electronics yet, but have been playing with Rc cars and planes for 5 so I have some experience.

My dad is a pascal and C++ programmer. So maybe he can help me a little with programming, but i would like to learn it for myself for the future.

My friend is studying cnc stuff so, he can help me out with the faceplate.

Im trying to build a mixer for my dj rig between the turntables or Cdj-s so i can use only one device wich makes everything faster.

I dont have the actual desing yet, but i have sketching and allmost know what i want. ;)

SO the desing is pretty much influenced from all the other midi controller on the market.

This will be the first post of this thread. I hope to use it like that i dont have to spam in any others threads and can ask

things that i don't get from wiki in here.

Edited December 31, 2010 by vanaema78

[vanaema78]

The first thing wich i dont get, is what core i should use.

I wanna use 64E desing, but is it possible to use it on the STM32 core or should i use the pic based core?

I don't get the diffrence between 64 and 64E. Is it just software (so you could use rotary encoders) or are there enything else between them?

And can i allso use regular pot's on the 64E? Im thinking about using regular pots for the eq/effects section and

rotary encoders for the loop size/song selection/effects selection.

Is there any chance of buying presoldered cores? I have done some soldering (batteries, motors), but nothing on so small scale.

And im pretty scared of messing something up :D

But, where i could find some buttons with nice covers, like the other midi controllers have. With caps'n'stuff.

Everything i have found have very small buttons, or they are arcade buttons.

Allso, has anybody used thouse cheap 5pounds midi-to-usb interfaces?

Edited December 31, 2010 by vanaema78

[phunk]

The first thing wich i dont get, is what core i should use.

I wanna use 64E desing, but is it possible to use it on the STM32 core or should i use the pic based core?

I don't get the diffrence between 64 and 64E. Is it just software (so you could use rotary encoders) or are there enything else between them?

And can i allso use regular pot's on the 64E? Im thinking about using regular pots for the eq/effects section and

rotary encoders for the loop size/song selection/effects selection.

Is there any chance of buying presoldered cores? I have done some soldering (batteries, motors), but nothing on so small scale.

And im pretty scared of messing something up :D

But, where i could find some buttons with nice covers, like the other midi controllers have. With caps'n'stuff.

Everything i have found have very small buttons, or they are arcade buttons.

Hi,

the mb64(e) firmware has not been ported (yet) to the new STM32 Core. So either you do that yourself or you use the PIC Core.

The difference between the MB64 and MB64e is that first has analog in modules while the latter has digital in modules, supporting

pots vs. encoders. Firmware is different. You can mix encoders and pots though.

There are no presoldered PIC cores available. It´s easy to solder them with a lil practice. You have to do that anyway when dealing with

other midibox modules.

STM32 comes presoldered when you buy it at SmashTV´s Store (avishowtech.com)

Have fun..

[vanaema78]

Well, thanks for the answer mate.

But, what dou mean by digital in and analog in modules.

I read that they use the same modules.

The information about the Midibox64 is provided very well,

but with the 64E it gets harder.

[phunk]

Well, thanks for the answer mate.

But, what dou mean by digital in and analog in modules.

I read that they use the same modules.

The information about the Midibox64 is provided very well,

but with the 64E it gets harder.

Then you must have overlooked something. There is a AIN Module and there is a DIN Module. Both are used for the MB64, DINS only with the MB64E...you can combine them though.

Read again ;-)

Edited December 31, 2010 by phunk

[ssp]

The mb64e is not that difficult a system to build and is a good start point.

Lets look at a build, first the core, as phunk has said you will want the pic core, the pic sits in a socket so it is not directly soldered to the board so no chance of damaging it with an iron! The rest of the components are easy enough to solder in as they are all through-hole. My advice is to buy a small cheap multimeter from ebay and also a good soldering iron with a selection of tips, a tip cleaner pad and some solder-wick and a solder sucker, basic tools to get on with.

the schematics for the core are on ucapps.de and give value ratings to the location of the parts, also the boards are clearly labeled.

this is also the same for the dinx4 and ainx4 boards, the "chips" or "ic's" sit in sockets and are not soldered directly to the board. As phunk explained the mb64e can use ain's and din's so you can mix pot's , faders and encoders.

a 16x2 lcd is great for debugging and for editing.

so for a traktor controller you will need 2 faders for the pitch, 2 for left and right volume, one for master and one for crossfade.

then you will need upto 28 pots for balance, eq, gain, fx etc these can goto the ainx4 boardsas do the faders, remembering that you will have to set the value for the amount of ain connections in the asm file and recompile so as not to get random values from the ain boards for ungrounded pins.

all buttons will goto the dinx4 boards you can have 8 buttons per shift register so one dinx4 board will take 32 buttons or 16 encoders or a mix. encoders take two pins on a dinx4 board and gnd. this means that each 8 way shift register can only take 4 encoders. Remember that you need to also set the encoders to 40 -+1 speed for NI software, this is done in either the onscreen editor or using the inbuilt editor.

there are many threads on traktor controllers some have been finished, do a forum search for traktor and do some reading up.

[vanaema78]

Hehe, thanks mate.

All ready figuret that allmos out myself.

Have been reading here like for almost 6 months or so. Allready time for some work.

Dont have a solder sucker only yet. Maybe i can loan my friends.

Multimeter Check.

I've got a 25W Weller old-school soldering iron which i hope is enough. Just have to find a new tip for it.

Made a nice box for it at school. Just have to finish the base and maybe cover it with veneer. Im affraid that its too small, but i can make a new one anytime. Its 33x33 cm.

Sorry for the crappy picture, made with my android.

I made another sketch on paper (how the hell im going to get it nice into my computer for cnc :D )

And i will need about:

26 potentiometers (3 faders, 23knobs)

3 Rotary encoders (for loop size and song browsing)

16 Arcade buttons and 22 regular buttons.

And its still a prototype so nothing shure.

Edited January 1, 2011 by vanaema78

[ssp]

which traktor are you using? traktor-le, pro, scratch??

I have been working on a traktor controller myself, stopped just before xmas to have some down time. I am using some jog wheels from an old gemini cdm3600, i would have liked to have got a pair of platters from a numark cdx or some from the ns7's.

my issue with these controllers is the fact i like the feel of a rotating platter, similar to the hdx or the ns7, that feel of a motorised platter makes things so much nicer than a static jog wheel.

my plan is to have two seperate control units similar to the ns7's and then a centre control unit as the mixer section. the two controllers will link to the centre via 5 pin mini din sockets.

as soon as i get time to get on with things i will put the details up.

[vanaema78]

Im going to use Traktor scratch with Audio 4 dj and technics 1200-s or maybe a Denon DNSC2000 if im lazy.

Yeah, i love moving platters too.

Just, there isn't really anything on the market for a decent dvs setup, especialy when i dont want to use external mixer.

So im building my own.

[phunk]

native instruments kontrol s4

It´s worth every penny :-)

besides that DIY is great!

:frantics:

[vanaema78]

First,

Make shure your children doesn't have a chance to visit midibox.org.

They will fail school, get geeky and be some musicans or something without a regular salary.

But, lets talk about THE thing a little too.

Im stuck basically.

I talk to my dad today, he has a co-worker who have been working as SUPERHYPERMEGA electronic man (USSR, stuff just doesnt work :D )

Have been sketching and thinking here.

The STM32 looks soo much better, its got USB/more powaa basically anything, BUT, if i have to convert a 64E soft for it, its going to be worst buttpain ever.

A little bit of Offtopic to: Im a Wiring freak, been to AWF, anonymus wiring freaks for few times but it doesnt work.

Can i use thouse Futaba servo connectors for connecting stuff to DIN and AIN?

So i tought if i could somehow to manage to desing PCB-s it would be much more cleaner. Looked at some project and it looks damn cool.

Never done it, so reading about it now. Damn midibox thing, getting too complicated.

And thouse mouser and elfa catalogs, how the fck i'm going to find something OK from there.

If anyone has sugestions for rotary potentiometers and encoders. (pannel mounts) And led buttons too, let me know.

Felt like allmost giving up, but not yet ;)

[phunk]

The STM32 looks soo much better, its got USB/more powaa basically anything, BUT, if i have to convert a 64E soft for it, its going to be worst buttpain ever.

Forget about it. You will never succeed. USE a PIC Core. Nothing bad about it, served for years and is still doing great. Combine it with a GM5 and you have your USB Connectivity.

STM is overkill for a MB64 and not needed.

Can i use thouse Futaba servo connectors for connecting stuff to DIN and AIN?

Of course you can but Futaba for sure was not the inventor of those. Just normal sil pin housings (mouser# 855-M20-1060200) and (855-M20-1180042) to fit in.

So i tought if i could somehow to manage to desing PCB-s it would be much more cleaner. Looked at some project and it looks damn cool.

Never done it, so reading about it now. Damn midibox thing, getting too complicated.

Work in little steps. It doesnt make any sense at all to start coding, manufacturing pcbs and all that stuff when you never did it before. Just build a "normal" box with some pcbs from

smash and wire the parts. It works very well...you can do all of the other stuff later but learning an ecad app is hell of a lot of work, so is coding. :-)

And thouse mouser and elfa catalogs, how the fck i'm going to find something OK from there.

Search? Fail. Search again...download the pdf catalogue. Its a lot easier to find parts...

f anyone has sugestions for rotary potentiometers and encoders. (pannel mounts) And led buttons too, let me know.

Heaps of them available. ALBS STEC16B03 Encoders (not available at mouser), Alpha (Taiwan) Encoders, Bourns Encoders. (both available at mouser) Should have 24 Steps, non detent.

Pots: depends on a lot of things . Many different sizes and resistances...

Edited January 15, 2011 by phunk

[vanaema78]

well, now another 2 weeks to think about it :)