midiphy SEQ v4+

[Antichambre]

Great! :) Congratulations for number #30!
Best regards
Bruno

[Hawkeye]

@modus0perandi has completed a new SEQ v4+ - Congratulations! :)

Here is his post, copied over from the official V4 development thread:

Quote

Here is another Midibox in the wild. Lacking both time and skills to really build one myself, i had one of the trusted builder to handle that part for me.

This one was built by @Menzman (Michael Menze) here on the forum. Very nice chap and highly recommended if anyone else wanna take this route to get your hands on this wonderful piece of hardware. You can find him via the trusted builders list @ midiphy)

 

Looking very good! Cheers to SEQ v4+ number #31!

Best regards and enjoy!
Peter

[keves]

Hi! I hope this is the right place to ask a question: How are the two button rows used, and how does it compare to the original Wilba SEQv4 panel?

For example, whats the process for switching between different layers (I think that's the correct term? notes/velocity/length/etc)?

I'm curious about the workflow differences between the Wilba panel and the new one, which by the way looks so amazing!

 

[latigid on]

Hi, sure is!

Top row is equivalent to Wilba GP buttons. They action items on the OLEDs or e.g. in track mode toggle gates/triggers on and off.

Bottom selection row changes function depending on the selection LEDs (around the datawheel/dial). So instead of Wilba's 4x track groups and 4x tracks, you have all 16 tracks available on individual buttons, (up to) 16 step views or whatever the track supports. Likewise you have up to 16 layers available, whereas you only had layer A/B/(C: multipurpose) on Wilba's. Layers are either parameters or triggers, check the amazing user guide here.

Other than that it's quite similar, so most of the smaller dedicated buttons will be the same. Shift = Select!

[keves]

Awesome, thank you!

[keves]

Is there a shortcut for quickly saving a session? On Wilba's panel I mapped F4 (I think) but it is unclear to me what a good solution is with the new layout. Something with Shift perhaps?

[latigid on]

Right, there are no F buttons on the midiphy SEQ v4+. Here are a couple of approaches:

1. Press 'Exit' until you reach the menu then the 10th button
2. Assign a bookmark to the page; see seq_ui_pages.h for a list of pages to jump to
3. Freely assign any other button that you don't use (e.g. metronome) in the hardware configuration
4. Hack the firmware/code yourself
5. Request such a feature 

[keves]

Sweet, thanks! I find that quick saving is important for my workflow.

[Enginerd_0x12F]

Hi all,

I just joined to post the pic of my finished unit.

 

Some comments from my side if someone starts building one and reads this before ;)

- Pay good attention to the video instructions about the parts and part numbers. Always double-check the right manufacturer part number in the BOM, as some are very similar, but have totally different functionality.

- If you accidently mix up the resistor network ICs and realise it too late, you can also use a chep "non-industrial" heat-gun to unsolder them, one which is not for soldering only, but e.g. for heating up and forming plastic stuff. (i use mine mainly to  ignite my charcoal for BBQ ;). I checked my user manual to see what temperature setting on the heatgun (1-9 or something) is approximately which temperature, i set it to about 320-350°C. Worked fine for me, jus make sure not to force the IC off to early, wait until the solder is liquid again. The resistor network itself is not very head sensitive, be sure to disassemble or cover everything else around it that might get damaged (i removed the pushbotton caps again).

- Do not forget to set the 3V jumper for the OLEDs in the beginning, you have to disassemble a lot if you are almost finished ;) Test your OLEDs as early as possible.

- I mixed up some of the different pinheaders of the mouser BOM, ended up having not the long ones left to connect the two PCBs. Then i used some different ones i had left (i think from Reichelt) and they worked even better as i did not have to push them down again as Peter did in his video.

- A little bit longer cable from the JA board (on the left-hand version only?) to the next board would have been helpful, the fitting and assembly was very tight, several times the connector went out of the socket.

 

Ok, now i have to connect all my stuff to get going again.

This was a lot of fun, and regarding the complexity of the project the drawbacks were minimal and easy to fix.

Thank you all for this awesome work!

 

Have a good time,

Enginerd

[Hawkeye]

@Enginerd_0x12F looks great - well done! Congratulations to #32 or #0x20 if you prefer hex :)

Also thanks for the great feedback, this surely is helpful for future builders!

Best regards,
Peter

[ear ear]

Got mine going -- many, many thanks to Michael Menze for building it.

 

 

[Hawkeye]

@ear ear - very nice! Cheers to lucky number 33! :)

Best regards,
Peter

[srmaietta]

Done!!!!    Cant wait to get this set into my rig!

Amazing job by Hawkeye, Latigid, and of course TK!  Thank so much for making this beast available, it is truly an AWESOME piece of sequencing hardware!!

~Steve

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by srmaietta

[latigid on]

Awesome job! 

Almost forgot your serial number #34

Edited August 7, 2020 by latigid on

[MicLue]

Also done!

My first DIY in a long time - sorry Michael Menze, but i had to try it by myself 

Also i've build the LoopA and both are running fine now (several hours).

Thanks for this great opportunity to build such a fine hardware.

~ Mic

[Hawkeye]

@MicLue

Great work, looks very good! Cheers to official SEQ v4+ number #35! Enjoy!

Best regards!
Peter

[latigid on]

Very well done and thanks for the beers!?! Hope you can enjoy one yourself -- during the next jam?

Best,
Andy

[Hawkeye]

It has been nearly two years already since the SEQ v4+ became available: to celebrate (and to integrate the newest L4 keycaps, the newly developed light|shields and the rack mount kit), here's the new 2020 facelift version: :-)

Enjoy and have a nice weekend!
Peter

[analogue700]

Finished mine today.

What an amazing project. I'm really impressed about the quality of this kit. I've been building and soldering stuff for many years (MOTM, Oakley and more) but the quality and attention to detail is unmatched. The tolerances alone are amazing (how the buttons fit into the case openings, the displays, the screw positions on the boards and case... the solid back plates etc.

It's been mentioned somewhere on this forum already: beveled tips for your soldering iron do wonders! I admit I was terrified about SMT soldering. Turns out I really, really like it; in fact, I like it more than soldering through hole - how weird.

Thank you so very much for doing this guys! 

Greetings from California

[latigid on]

Congrats and thanks for the kind testimonial! Totally right about SMT not being the devil, well as long as it's conceived for hand soldering in the design. :)

#36 is your serial number

[gresade]

I want to extend my Midibox SEQ V4 with CORE_STM32F4 and V4+ firmware that is based on wilba CS frontpanel with midiphy PCBs. But I did not find schematics to check the connector pin signals, if they are compatible. From first sight it looks like it may be possible. Specifically I want to use:

• RES-SD PCB to add a SD-card socket (this one is not super important)
• MIDI8 PCB instead of using the longer-size 2xMIDI_IO
• I2C PCB for 4 MIDI extra outs (I guess multiple of these boards could be used for more midi outs as described here: http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp_iic_midi.html ?)
• LINETX PCB for the line transmission to eurorack extension
• Eurorack modules (I read they should be compatible somewhere)

Are the connectors on these boards compatible to the  CORE_STM32F4 connectors? Is there a documentation on the board schematics (especially the connectors pinout)?

I will have to construct a backplate (drill holes etc.) anyways for all the conectors and only have one MIDI_IO with 4 ports for testing at the moment, so using the new and space-efficient midiphy pcbs makes sense for me, as I need more Midi outs etc. anyways and I am located in Germany, so ordering is easyer.

Looking at the I2C PCB , there are 4 flat-cable connectors at the bottom at the board, what are they good for? I need more Midi outs, not ins, so maybe sticking with the MIDI_IO and using two I2C PCB to get 8 outs may make more sense (especially space wise), the Heidenreich case has not so much space.

[latigid on]

3 hours ago, gresade said:

I want to extend my Midibox SEQ V4 with CORE_STM32F4 and V4+ firmware that is based on wilba CS frontpanel with midiphy PCBs. But I did not find schematics to check the connector pin signals, if they are compatible. From first sight it looks like it may be possible. Specifically I want to use:

Sure, all parts and ports are compatible.

 

3 hours ago, gresade said:

• RES-SD PCB to add a SD-card socket (this one is not super important)

You can also use a wCore if you prefer to breakout your SD card and LEDs to the rear panel, otherwise the DISCO core should work without requiring RES-SD. The wCore J16E header is a combination of J16 plus the LEDs on the DISCO board plus reset.

 

3 hours ago, gresade said:

• MIDI8 PCB instead of using the longer-size 2xMIDI_IO

Just as you wrote

 

3 hours ago, gresade said:

• I2C PCB for 4 MIDI extra outs (I guess multiple of these boards could be used for more midi outs as described here: http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp_iic_midi.html ?)

The I2C header is 1:1 pinned with the corresponding I2C header on the Core. So it is more convenient to wire up. You can of course go for 8x I2C outs with the firmware "hack", but this was not implemented in the midiphy SEQ v4+ on TK.'s recommendation. Still, it was shown to work in at least one case, so if you feel it is worth it, go for it!

 

3 hours ago, gresade said:

• LINETX PCB for the line transmission to eurorack extension

Basically the same

 

3 hours ago, gresade said:

• Eurorack modules (I read they should be compatible somewhere)

Yes, all fine, AOUT (not AOUT_NG) in the SEQ config.

 

3 hours ago, gresade said:

Are the connectors on these boards compatible to the  CORE_STM32F4 connectors? Is there a documentation on the board schematics (especially the connectors pinout)?

There are schematics on the wiki but all was designed to be 1:1 pinned with existing boards.

 

3 hours ago, gresade said:

Looking at the I2C PCB , there are 4 flat-cable connectors at the bottom at the board, what are they good for? I need more Midi outs, not ins, so maybe sticking with the MIDI_IO and using two I2C PCB to get 8 outs may make more sense (especially space wise), the Heidenreich case has not so much space.

The I2C modules can theoretically connect analogue inputs and the ADCs are quite decent. So these headers are used to connect the AINs. In practice there is nothing in the software to scan them, so the headers should remain unpopulated unless you plan to write I2C drivers/modify the app.

Greetings,
Andy

 

[Eamoex]

Hello, this X-mas I'll probably order a MBSV4+. I would like to ask: what does the Morph function do? I've searched around here and in the V4 (non-plus) manual, but there is no mention of it. What does it "morph", and how?

EDIT: also, can recorded midi trigger events be left unquantized? When looking at the manual, it seems every trigger is forced-quantized. I use a Digitakt and I absolutely love the way quantization is implemented — as a quantization "ratio" (0-100%) from the original timing of live recorded triggers.

Edited November 2, 2020 by Eamoex
new question about features

[Hawkeye]

@Eamoex that's very cool - regarding Morphing, it's a transformation function that splits any track into two halves and allows seamless morphing between those two. For example you could record two sequences, one on steps 1..16, one on steps 17-32 - and with the morph function "fade" between them, but it's a real morphing, not like volume fading in a mixer - i.e at a morph value of 50%, you'd get an average note between the first and the second sequence. Cool when e.g. force-to-scale is on. In the big user manual over at ucapps.de: http://ucapps.de/midibox_seq_manual_m.html
you can find a slightly more in-depth description and two audio demos of morphed tracks. See section "Morph Page"

Regarding quantization: a step sequencer needs to map all recorded events to discrete steps. In the recording screen you can modify the "Quantize" percentage value, which defines how close to the original step any recording (notes, triggers, CCs) will be placed. But you can also record something that is similar to an unquantized recorder (e.g. LoopA :)) - to simulate this, you can increase the track step length and also change the tempo divider - this allows to record "human" sequences, e.g. of a drumloop that is not perfect with 100% spot-on timing and that could be configured to play back at the same speed as e.g. a 16-step sequence, resulting 16 "substeps" additional resolution per original step of the "slow" 16-step sequence. Hope that makes sense! :)

Many greets,
Peter

 

[Eamoex]

3 hours ago, Hawkeye said:

Hope that makes sense! :)

Thanks for your reply, makes total sense!

Actually, for those who don’t know Elektron’s little box, each step of a MIDI track in the Digitakt has a micro-timing parameter, allowing to nudge the trigger before or after the actual step time, and this parameter is defined for each step, on the fly, when recording live. It’s what makes « unquantized recording » possible in the sequencer. It’s actually quantized, but offset on a per-step basis using this micro-timing parameter (i.e. ultimately, you cannot record two events in one step). Pretty clever, and maybe something which could be implemented in the MBSV4+ software? :)

Morphing sounds great!

Boy I can’t wait to get to X-Mas and start building!

EDIT: oh and thanks for the big manual. Somehow I hadn’t found it yet.

Edited November 2, 2020 by Eamoex