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mbSID v2 "live" concept


nILS

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Hi, I'm super new by the way.

Welcome aboard then! :D

a bigger photo please  ;D

Smaller renders need no scrolling, but you just can't see what's what, so I'll stick to the big ones and maybe add a smaller one as well ;-)

I still reckon a rack mod would be do-able, if the PCB were in two sections....

Might be doable. The PCB will most likely be split cause a 60cm wide PCB is a major pain to handle. This has no real priority to me though as an in-studio rack-mount version sorta defeats the purpose of the concept ;-)

Have you considered digitally controlling the mixer and feedback?

Yes. A mixer integrated into the SID firmware would be incredibly nice, since you could store the volume and feedback settings for each patch. Comes with a lot of work though.

How about moving the shift button over near the modwheel so you can shift+spin with one hand?

Well, basically it's not a bad idea, but I really want to keep the shift Button close to as many buttons that use it as possible. Especially the three buttons below the encoder which select Patch/Ensemble/Bankstick mode.

some of the grouping of controls seems a little strange to me [...] the filters being before the LFO and the mixer before the oscillators... or the volume and feedback being together (you'd normally set the feedback when you're configuring the oscillator, at the beginning of the signal chain...

A lot of that is a matter of taste. I've been digging through tons of pictures of synth front panels lately - most synths arrange the controls differently:

Sequential Pro One: Mod -> Osc A -> Filter -> Osc B -> Glide -> LFO -> Seq -> Arp -> Mode -> Amp -> Master Volume

Moog Little Phatty: Mod -> Osc -> Filter -> Envelope -> Master Volume

Roland SH201: Ext. In -> OSC -> Mix/Mod -> Filter -> Amp -> FX / second row / LFO1 -> LFO2 -> Filter Env -> Amp Env

I personally don't think the controls need to be in the same order as the audio chain. We have grouped some elements (like Volume and Feedback) by  type rather than appearance in the chain to make using it easier. Apparently you'll need some time to figure out where all the controls are when you start fiddling with it first ;-) As I think we're done adding new controls (hopefully ;-)), we'll consider moving some stuff around. I uploaded a top view of the panel, so feel free to use [insertYourFavoriteGraphicsAppHere] to cut and rearrange the panel and post the results back here =)

octave and arp buttons being separated...

Well, the octave buttons are more important for live performance than for setting up the arp range. You need to be able to reach them quickly with the left hand while playing with the right hand (see:

).

Thanks for all the feedback s1!

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Might be doable. The PCB will most likely be split cause a 60cm wide PCB is a major pain to handle. This has no real priority to me though as an in-studio rack-mount version sorta defeats the purpose of the concept ;-)

Even if it cant be rack mountable i think a stand alone version should still be considered for people who dont want the keyboard.

At least if theres the option of both youll have more people interested.

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Even if it cant be rack mountable i think a stand alone version should still be considered for people who dont want the keyboard.

At least if theres the option of both youll have more people interested.

Um - I don't want people interested :D Besides, not adding the keyboard seems like one of the easier things to do ;-)

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Updates:

* decided on integrating a digital mixer. whee!

* mixer section changed: There's only one Volume and Feedback encoder which affect the SID pairs selected below (order of the encoders is not necessarily good yet)

* added buttons + LEDs to show output mode (Stereo, Mono or Mono-Mixdown)

* note the extra space on the right side of the panel ;-)

* renamed "knobs" section to "custom" for jimp

* added bi-color LEDs to display the output mode of every sid pair

Comments, questions, ideas are still welcome :D

iwannahavethat93.png

EDIT: minor update ;-)

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more updates:

* switched the regular, boring LCD to a cool, hip and trendy OPTREX display

* put in the new buttons (MEC 3F with 1U16 caps) -> no more plexi rings around the buttons

* changed colors of the LEDs

* removed the output-mode buttons and added a "mixer mode" button instead (which jumps to a non-existent mixer menu page)

* changed some of the "up" and "down" labels to arrows

iwannahavethat102.png

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switched the regular, boring LCD to a cool, hip and trendy OPTREX display

You copycat  ;D How you gonna get those optrex? As you probably seen I am going to use those on my Sequoia http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,10022.msg74380.html#msg74380.

Maybe we can make some deal and order it together.

put in the new buttons (MEC 3F with 1U16 caps) -> no more plexi rings around the buttons

Too bad. Those looked nice, even it takes much more effort to realize. I am planing to use those rings on every design, but eventually I give up probably for same reason as yours.

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You copycat  ;D How you gonna get those optrex?

If you check this site: http://www.optrex.com/products/partdetail.asp?PartNumber=C-51850NFQJ-LW-AAN you'll see, that mouser, digikey and apollo carry these. So when the time comes, we'll buy them from either one of these, depending on the source of the other parts.

Too bad. Those looked nice, even it takes much more effort to realize. I am planing to use those rings on every design, but eventually I give up probably for same reason as yours.

Don't get me wrong, we didn't give the idea up because it's too much work. Mainly we did so because the mec buttons were recommended to us and they seem to be of better quality then the ones we intended to use. I mainly put the rings in there since I couldn't find any nice, affordable, illuminated buttons - they were a compromise so to speak. The encoders still have the rings around them though ;-)

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If you check this site: http://www.optrex.com/products/partdetail.asp?PartNumber=C-51850NFQJ-LW-AAN you'll see, that mouser, digikey and apollo carry these. So when the time comes, we'll buy them from either one of these, depending on the source of the other parts.

I know that, but both distributors charge too much for shipping to Europe so I thought to join you when you be ordering these if it is not a problem.

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I know that, but both distributors charge too much for shipping to Europe so I thought to join you when you be ordering these if it is not a problem.

Yout more than welcome to, but it'll still be a bit until we actually oder the parts... I think I'Ve seen a digikey buld order around here somewhere - you might wanna check that ;-) Ahh, here it is: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,10638.0.html

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