Jaicen Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 I've just stumbled on a 3396 and a 3394 so I bought them just in case (you know how it goes ;) ). I'm thinking i'll just design something simple and drive it from an MBCV if there's nothing currently in development. I was just wondering if anyone had been busy designing a synth to use these little beauties! I remember that Stryd was working on something, but that was late last year so perhap development has stalled.So, any news ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Heh yeh I've got a lot of projects on the boiler... But there are quite a few people keen on these things as you can see....midibox_3396CEM3396 ?CEM3396 MidiboxI think the best idea I've seen for implementing these is to base the code around the MBSID, so naturally I'm awaiting v2 before I start taking these too seriously... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted April 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Yeah, I was following all that a while back, but it's been awful quiet since then! I think i'll just use this as a starting point, http://www.ori.org/~aaronc/synth/CEM3394_V2.pdf which is basically ripped from the datasheet, and hook it up to an MBCV. However, MBCV has no ADSR, so I guess i'll probably have to use the two gate outputs and build a seperate ADSR module to power the VCO & VCA. EDIT: Scratch that, this guy has done all the work for us! 1-chip VCA plus a 1-Chip VCO & VCF and i'm sorted!http://www.tomwiltshire.co.uk/sdiy/envgen.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 Having done a little more research, I think I may actually be able to complete this project! The CEM3394 is completely voltage controlled, so it should integrate nicely with the MBCV. I'm going for a modular design, which means I'll start by building the MBCV with LCD and multiple CV-outs, then build the ADSR and LFO's into their own seperate modules. This synth is not going to have any pre-sets or anything, it'll be completely Knobby with patch leads for routing. Proper old-skool! So, with that in mind, this is the feature list i'm planning for:1x CEM3394 module (VCO, VCF and VCA)1x 3x envelope modules (PIC Based ADSR, 3 envelopes in one module)1x Dual LFO modules (PIC Based, as above)1x MBCV moduleAt some point i'm also planning to add a CEM3396, but since this requires an actual square wave frequency input rather than a CV to control the frequency, this is proving a little harder to work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneakthief Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 re. pic lfo & adsr: are you using these? http://www.tomwiltshire.co.uk/sdiy/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted April 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 I most certainly am!! I imagine that those one-chip solutions would allow for a complete CEM synth on one pcb of about A5 size. Originally, I was looking for a way to clone the SH-101, and apart from the sub-oscillator, this should get pretty close i'd imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted April 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 How's this then! I've knocked up a quick and dirty layout for the CEM3394 module. The circuit is from:http://www.ori.org/~aaronc/synth/CEM3394_V2.pdf clickI didn't really plan it all that well, so I ran out of room for the CV inputs to pins 6, 7 and 8, but they're just straight CV in's pretty much, so I just added pads for external pots or whatever. I think since the whole thing comes in at 3.6 x 2.1 inches, it's not a bad job for a dirty hack ;) Any thoughts or suggestions are more than welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneakthief Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 the layout looks good!i'm jealous - i've been looking for a reasonably-price cem3394 for the past year :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-funk Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 funny, i wanted to have a closer look at the cem3394 later this year, as 6 of them are sitting in my shelf ;Dbut ok, when you put it on schedule now... when i bought them i thought of 2-chip modules, for nice 2 oscillator sounds, with external modules for envelopes and lfo - or a 6-voice synth... 8) well, i think i´ll go for the 2-osci modules, as i plan to build several other filter and fx modules.i guess i´ll give the cem a try next week.best wishes,tobias. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted April 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 I'm guessing you're not going to be using my PCB, bearing in mind that I haven't checked it for errors just yet. I don't suppose you'd be able to part with one of those CEM's would you?? I'd like to have a two voice module, i'd planned to use the CEM3396 for a little extra variety, but that's not so easy to integrate into a modular system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-funk Posted April 27, 2007 Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 i´m going for the ori.org schem, but i´ll build it on breadboard first, then on perfboard...when it is<working like it should, i´ll maybe go for a etched pcb... about the cem... pm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaicen Posted April 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 Sweet, cheers! When you do get it breadboarded, i'd appreciate your thoughts on how well it performs, I don't currently have any CV equipment to test it with. I think i'm going to go for another PCB layout soon, not really happy with the first one i've done, but it's all progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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