FlavioB Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 Hi there. I'm really interested in getting a V4 MIDIBox. The question is: where do I start from? I've read that you can somehow "customize" many options/parts (like MIDI IN/OUT, CV/Gate, and so on). I'd like to have a "decent" amount of MIDI OUT and a couple of CV/Gate outs... Can anybody help me in deciding? Also: is there anybody who'd be offering DIY build services? Thanks, F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EsotericLabs Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 (edited) Read up on http://ucapps.de about the STM32F4 core, on the MIDIO and AOUT_NG boards. 2 MIDIOs are 4x midi in & out, AOUT is 8 CV's. Quad IIC Midi adds four more midi out.You will also need a SEQ CS pcb. Check out boards and kits at http://midibox-shop.com, some are unfortunately sold out. Check the fleamarket regularly. SEQ's do come by. Edited April 14, 2017 by EsotericLabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlavioB Posted April 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 Hi EsotericLabs, thanks for your reply. I'm gonna read about the core CPU, but I guess I won't understand too much of it :-/ About the IN and OUTS, I'd say that 4 MIDI IN/OUT and 8 CVs would be pretty ok for me. Is there any case which can fit them already? I've seen that the SEQ CS PCB is sold out - do you know if that's the only source? Last but not least: where's the fleamarket you're talking about? Thanks, F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EsotericLabs Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 Well, you will have to work yourself through the soldering guide of these hardware modules. They are really step by step. I suppose you can solder a kit. Cases here or get / make a front panel and build a simple wooden enclosure. Lots of info in the forum, be sure to dig deeply into all threads. Fleamarket is another forum section, you'll find it. I don't know when SEQ CS boards will be available again. Smash TV aka Tim aka midibox-shop.com is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlavioB Posted April 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 Hi and thanks again. As of today I only soldered an ARPIE MIDI arpeggiator. It took me 2 hours and it worked from the beginning. Do you think it's feasible to solder the MIDIBox SEQ V4, or would I need more/better skills? I've found the flea market, thanks. So nobody offering their soldering skills? F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjonas Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 You should tell people where you're located, maybe you'll find local help easier that way. In terms of building the SEQv4, the bottleneck really is the availability of the CS board. If it's available, it's not too difficult to solder it and make the connections to the other necessary modules. Soldering the AOUT_NG needs SMD (surface mounted device) soldering, that's perhaps not for beginners. It's easy to overheat SMD components and the tiny scale requires some experience. But it's by no means impossible. Maybe if the CS becomes available and you manage to get hold of one, you can solder that yourself and test it without the AOUT_NG, and when you find it's working, then find someone in a local hackerspace (if one exists) to solder the one SMD component on AOUT_NG for you, and solder the rest yourself. That's one option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EsotericLabs Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 1 hour ago, jjonas said: In terms of building the SEQv4, the bottleneck really is the availability of the CS board. If it's available, it's not too difficult to solder it and make the connections to the other necessary modules. I agree, the basic SEQ V4 (core & midio) is not too hard to build. If you did an arpie you will manage I expect. But you will need a CS pcb though.. Another route is to build a custom control panel, i.e. wire all individual buttons, encoders and leds to DIN and DOUT or the combined DIO matrix module. There are two front panel variants: straight wiring, needing 3 x DINx4 and 1x or more DOUTx4. Then there is matrix wiring, needing one DIO and one DINx4 module. Read ucapps > SEQ V4 > user manual > hardware options and look for "standard front panel" . the premade CS board is "Wilba CS' . I gave a try once at the matrixed version, but well umm, made a huge mess out of it. There is a reason Wilba made this amazing pcb, get what I'm saying? Maybe I should have done the straight version, that looks more doable. But I would not hesitate a second to get a SEQ CS pcb once they're available again. Oh and there is talk on the forum that some of the gurus are designing a new front panel PCB for a new software version called V4+. Read up on that as well. Some ppl seem to postpone their build for that. >> But why don't you post an ad in the fleamarket that you want a SEQ, or parts for it and see what comes up?<< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlavioB Posted April 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 2 hours ago, jjonas said: You should tell people where you're located, maybe you'll find local help easier that way. You're right! I'm triple based: mainly in Switzerland, but also Italy and Germany would be ok for somebody to build it for me. Or Austria as well, and France (that's where I got my Yocto from). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlavioB Posted April 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 4 hours ago, EsotericLabs said: Oh and there is talk on the forum that some of the gurus are designing a new front panel PCB for a new software version called V4+. Read up on that as well. Some ppl seem to postpone their build for that. >> But why don't you post an ad in the fleamarket that you want a SEQ, or parts for it and see what comes up?<< I've just found a guy in the States, selling his V4 (with black enclosure) for a bit more than 900 Bucks. Am I getting ripped of, or is it a "fair price"? F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EsotericLabs Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 Much depends on build quality.. Pics & specs needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
escargot Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 Raph @ Michigan Synth Works helped me build mine. highly recommended Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlavioB Posted April 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 USA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latigid on Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 @Altitude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlavioB Posted April 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 Yeah sorry I could have been reading "Michigan" :-/ 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.