What's going on here?

[hat]

Hello.

 

I want to assemble a midibox SID.

Was looking through the wiki, and saw user implementations of midibox. sammichSID and MB-6582.

MB-6582 is awesome, but too expensive for me. sammichSID is no longer available (but it's really lovely).

 

SO, a midibox is a modular synth. You buy parts (e.g. for a MBHP_CORE), solder them to a PCB and you got a module. Then, connecting modules, patching a PIC, insert SIDs, music! Am I right?

 

Well, as I can try to make a PCB myself (except that it won't be <printed>) and as the sammichSID PCB layouts are available, (in pdf, but they are.) I can try to make a sammichSID clone.

So, what is better? To buy modules, for creating your own SID monster, or to give a try to make a sammichSID?

[Imp]

Hi and welcome!

It really depends on your skills, if tracing and creating your own PCB is a good option.

The modular approach is much easier.

It may cost a little more and won't be as compact as a sammich clone,

but is well documented and easier to troubleshoot. 

[alchemist]

Hello,

 

You can also buy the MBHP at Mike's MIDI shop : http://www.mikes-elektronikseite.de/

There is also a US site with MB-6582 PCBs : http://mbhp.coinoptech.com/

[Hawkeye]

Hola!

 

Recommend to go for a MB6582 - at the beginning you can fit it with only a single pair of SIDs, and a single PIC - it will work like this and it has room to grow - and won´t be much more expensive than the modular approach with that minimal configuration.

 

It is a very nice way to to get into MBSID land, as you can reuse a C64 power brick and have everything on a single baseboard without cable spaghetti - you can control it at first without frontpanel from your PC. And later on build a nice panel with all the cool "hands on" features - so my vote is for the MB6582, it gives you a lot of options! :-)

 

Many greets,

Peter

Edited October 8, 2014 by Hawkeye

[hat]

Thanks everybody for replying. :)

I have already found shops that sell midibox stuff.

Peter,

Hmmm, interesting.

Ok, these two MB6582 PCBs have all modules already combined. But will it work properly without some components (SIDs, PICs, ya'know) installed? If it will, will I have to program it myself? Or MIOS will automatically detect all the stuff and start working. If it will, then I'm going this way.

Oh, almost forgot about power supply: is a Commodore PSU necessary to use, or there are alternatives?

Edited October 8, 2014 by hat

[Hawkeye]

You can run the baseboard with only a single PIC and two SIDs installed- the other PICs will be auto-detected, but won´t hurt, if they are not in there. It is like the modular MBSID with only one Core8 and two MBSID modules. No need to program anything, the precompiled .hex on the first core should work fine.

 

On the MB6582 baseboard, you should solder in all other passive components like chip sockets, resistors, caps, but they are cheap, if you buy them from china, although i would recommend SmashTVs excellently packed parts kit. But if cost is an issue, go the other way!

 

And yes, you can go without frontpanel/control surface board, the PT10 case and the expensive aluminum panel at first. There are patch editors for the MBSID and it even makes sense to learn all features in a "big" GUI first.

 

You can use a Commodore PSU, as most often you have one lying around when harvesting (ohhh that bad karma! :-)) from old C64s. But it would be recommend to build a better PSU later on, as the C64 PSUs can be unreliable (and there have been reports of fried SIDs which is not nice, but don´t worry too much!). You´ll need a supply with stabilized 5V=/around 2A and 9V~ around 1A.

 

Many greets,

Peter

Edited October 8, 2014 by Hawkeye

[hat]

Huge thanks, Peter! Thanks for your feedback, gotta build it (Midibox, not feedback :)) soon. :D

Edited October 10, 2014 by hat