Mousikos Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Hey guys, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to this stuff. I consider myself a proficient programmer, and I'm comfortable with a number of programming languages. That being said, I've mainly focused on Computer Science, not Computer Engineering, so I lack adequate engineering knowledge. I'm hoping you guys could help me out with my most recent project with your suggestions, and setting me on the right path. Ok, so I own a Mackie DXB. It is a fantastic digital mixer, but it is no longer supported and it's starting to show its age. Recently, I took the whole thing apart and upgraded the CPU, mobo, PSU, RAM..etc. The DXB is nothing more than a computer in a very large case. All of the midi/automation, such as the motorized faders, rotary knobs, and buttons are controlled by two Brain Boards. I believe these boards were built by SaneWave, who have dropped off the face of the planet in the past few years. The drivers for these boards allows them to communicate with Windows XP 32bit. I want to fully upgrade my system to Windows 7 64 bit. Which leaves me with two options (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong), first option would be to modify the current Brain Boards to work with 64 bit windows. The second option, would be to implement my own Brain Boards to recognize all of the automation and pass those signals as MIDI to the OS. I would much rather do the second option, as it would allow me to have greater control over my automation, it would allow me stay up to date with supported hardware/firmware, and if anything happens to the Brain Boards, I could easily purchase a new one, instead of trying to track down SaneWave in the depths of oblivion. So can you guys help me out? What parts/boards would you recommend I buy in order to achieve my task? I took a look at the Livid Brain board, but I don't think it supports motorized faders. I also stumbled upon the MF_NG module, which looks fantastic! I was thinking of purchasing 4 x MF_NG modules, and maybe the Livid Brain board, and hopefully I could program all of the automation from there. Am I thinking about this whole thing the right way? The DXB has 25 faders, 178 buttons, and 29 rotary knobs. Let me know what you guys think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
findbuddha Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Try to get the part numbers for the motor faders and the LCDs if you can see them. They're probably the main parts that may have compatibility problems. You'll need probably 2 or 3 Core LPC modules, 4 MF_NG modules, and various DIN/DOUT/AIN boards depending on how they're connected in the mixer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilmenator Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 The second option, would be to implement my own Brain Boards to recognize all of the automation and pass those signals as MIDI to the OS. Are you sure that the d8b is using MIDI controller data internally? If so, do you have access to the physical MIDI connection inside the d8b (I wonder if there is any, though - could be a virtual MIDI port as well)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mousikos Posted March 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 (edited) I'm back, fully motivated to accomplish this goal! Try to get the part numbers for the motor faders and the LCDs if you can see them. They're probably the main parts that may have compatibility problems. You'll need probably 2 or 3 Core LPC modules, 4 MF_NG modules, and various DIN/DOUT/AIN boards depending on how they're connected in the mixer. The motorfaders are Penny + Giles PGFM 2000. These are no longer made, (though available on eBay) so I'd have no problem with upgrading to their newer model faders (PGFM 3200) or purchasing Alps faders if that becomes an issue. Here are some pictures of the DXB's innards for anyone that's interested: http://imgur.com/a/joVzz#6 These are not my photos, I found them online, I haven't dissected my mixer yet. Going to hold off on that until I order all the parts. 178 buttons, each with an LED, so I'll need at least 3 x DIN and 3 x DOUT's. There's 29 pots, so that's 1x AIN or AINSER64. Lastly, 25 motorized faders so 4 x MF_NG modules. 3x DIN 3x DOU 1x AIN or AINSER64 4x MF_NG Did I get that all right? All that's left is the CORE_LPC17 modules. My biggest question now is how many of those would I need to power all previously mentioned modules? How many modules can I connect to the LPC17? Getting really excited to start! Going to be ordering everything as soon as I figure everything out. I'm sure I'll make a ton of mistakes, but I'm really looking forward to this! Edit: I forgot to mention, there is also one rotary encoder. Would I need a special module for it? Sorry for all the noob questions! Edited March 9, 2012 by Mousikos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technobreath Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Hi. Exciting project. And quite big also. I haven't taken the time to go through any of your specs and compare to shopping list, so I won't comment on that. What I can say is that one encoder wants two DIN connections. I don't remember the specifics by heart, but I think there are some limitations to how u connect encoders and buttons on the same mux chip, I think its something like if u have one encoder on the chip, you can't use the 6 others for buttons, I think u have to divide it into multiples of 4. May be that I am totally wrong, and I'm sure someone will correct me if that is so. I haven't got a great many hours of build experience with din modules, so take my statement for what it is hehe. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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