New hosted site - Electron Coaxing Techniques and Notes
May 03, 2011, 12:43:26 PM by expanoncolin
We have a new site hosted at Experimentalists Anonymous! "Electron Coaxing Techniques and Notes" is an ever-expanding collection of information, tutorials and tips by forumite ve3wwg, aka Warren. So far, there's a bunch of notes about different types of clipping as well as a steadily growing LTSpice tutorial. Lots of theory accompanies practical advice for making new, interesting audio circuits. Shown below is a diode tracer, which allows you to plot a diode's transfer function on an oscilloscope.
The page is set up so that users can comment on certain pages. If anything needs clarification, feel free to post something and Warren will take note!
-Colin
The page is set up so that users can comment on certain pages. If anything needs clarification, feel free to post something and Warren will take note!
-Colin
Gameboy on an oscilloscope
February 21, 2011, 02:36:14 PM by expanoncolin
Check out this very interesting project - re-routing an old gameboy's video signal to an oscilloscope. Just watch the video.
There's a really great tutorial on how to do it yourself here. It's interesting how hacking/technological interest tends to lag so far behind technological progress - the gameboy has been out for a long time, but only now are we messing with the vide signal. I think it's because when the technology is "new", the only people who fully understand it are those designing the products...
-Colin
There's a really great tutorial on how to do it yourself here. It's interesting how hacking/technological interest tends to lag so far behind technological progress - the gameboy has been out for a long time, but only now are we messing with the vide signal. I think it's because when the technology is "new", the only people who fully understand it are those designing the products...
-Colin
Fixed some board cruft
February 02, 2011, 03:28:19 PM by expanoncolin
Some of you may have noticed that images from old threads weren't displaying. There was some bogus issue where images were being given two http:// in their URL. It was a problem with how the entries were stored in the database; after some PHP kludging, I fixed it. You may have also noticed that old posts weren't displaying smilies - fixed that with another kludge. Finally, you may have noticed that old posts all had the text "Last edited December 31, 1969 by (poster name)" at the bottom. Fixed that too. Now let's see if I can fix the blog (or just migrate to different software...!) (EDIT - fixed that too, I'm on a roll!)
Maintaining message board software has never been fun
-Colin
Maintaining message board software has never been fun
-Colin
LM13600/13700 History and links
October 17, 2010, 10:03:05 AM by expanoncolin
Last night I stumbled upon this story about how the LM13600/13700 operational transconductance amplifier was created. Interestingly, it is a pretty blatant rip-off of the 3080 series chip, and was mostly made as an exercise to learn IC design! I particularly liked this image, which is a hacked together solder prototype of the chip:
The LM13600/13700 has now outlasted the 3080, and is a totally vital chip for synths because of its voltage-controllability. It also has really nice clipping characteristics. It's somewhat common in analog synths, but I'm surprised it isn't completely ubiquitous. The page also has a lot of great links to application examples, including articles and the very helpful datasheet (scroll to the bottom).
-Colin
The LM13600/13700 has now outlasted the 3080, and is a totally vital chip for synths because of its voltage-controllability. It also has really nice clipping characteristics. It's somewhat common in analog synths, but I'm surprised it isn't completely ubiquitous. The page also has a lot of great links to application examples, including articles and the very helpful datasheet (scroll to the bottom).
-Colin
Audio effects on LeafLabs Maple
July 25, 2010, 10:07:13 AM by expanoncolin
The LeafLabs guys made a prototype shield for doing audio processing on the Maple using the onboard ADC and PWM DAC. Pretty cool!
The results are not great yet (and hopefully one day I2S will be implemented), but it's promising. I posted about the Maple's promises a few months back..
-Colin
The results are not great yet (and hopefully one day I2S will be implemented), but it's promising. I posted about the Maple's promises a few months back..
-Colin
More delay guts (and on a Tuesday too)
June 22, 2010, 06:55:46 AM by crochambeau
I recently acquired an early 80s (1982 on the MOBO) Audio Digital TC2 digital delay from a parts pile/junk heap, and after replacing the corroded power cable was delighted to hear it work. Roughly one second at 12 bit 30khz near as I can figure. Here's a peek at the business section of the front panel, rather standard delay range switching to the right of what has to be the coolest delay modulation section I've encountered, it'll either operate on a garden variety onboard LFO for standard flange, or you can set the delay speed (playback pitch) to follow the pitch at the audio input.
Let's have a peek inside and bask in the glory of what once was the manufacturing norm, through hole technology:
..use of metal can transistors, mica capacitors, 5% tolerance resistors..
..and socketed DIP package RAM.
Mitsubishi M5K4164, a 65,536 bit dynamic RAM chip, six in all here... see gutshot of this part here:
http://microblog.routed.net/2008/07/18/ic-friday-mitsubishi-m5k4164/
Not a sign of SMT in this device, which is somewhat refreshing in the 21st century. (This is coming from a guy who uses 20th century tools to work on 21st century stuff, which often keeps my sailor vocabulary well polished, which in and of itself isn't so bad either...)
Let's have a peek inside and bask in the glory of what once was the manufacturing norm, through hole technology:
..use of metal can transistors, mica capacitors, 5% tolerance resistors..
..and socketed DIP package RAM.
Mitsubishi M5K4164, a 65,536 bit dynamic RAM chip, six in all here... see gutshot of this part here:
http://microblog.routed.net/2008/07/18/ic-friday-mitsubishi-m5k4164/
Not a sign of SMT in this device, which is somewhat refreshing in the 21st century. (This is coming from a guy who uses 20th century tools to work on 21st century stuff, which often keeps my sailor vocabulary well polished, which in and of itself isn't so bad either...)
New DSP board for audio
June 22, 2010, 12:41:24 AM by expanoncolin
Just recently stumbled across this platform being developed by a forumite (under the company name Next Audio) over at Aron's stompbox forum: a very small and very powerful audio-specific DSP development board. It basically pairs a Wavefront Semiconductor DSP-1K with an AVR microcontroller. The microcontroller handles the program loading for the DSP, as well as a couple of analog inputs which update registers in the DSP for real-time control. Amazingly, the tiny board packs 50 MIPS (that's 1024 instructions per sample) at 48 kHz and 24-bit. You can read more about it here.
I'll be beta testing this little beast. It sounds like it will be like the SPIN FV-1 development board I posted about earlier, but smaller (eg something you could put in pedal(s)), more powerful, with better quality, and with better control options. Sorry about all the posts about DSP development lately - it's just a reflection of what's been on my mind.
-Colin
I'll be beta testing this little beast. It sounds like it will be like the SPIN FV-1 development board I posted about earlier, but smaller (eg something you could put in pedal(s)), more powerful, with better quality, and with better control options. Sorry about all the posts about DSP development lately - it's just a reflection of what's been on my mind.
-Colin
Spam/upgrade
March 26, 2010, 10:57:04 PM by expanoncolin
Sorry about the intermittent spam appearing in the last couple of days. I upgraded the board software, which will hopefully resolve the issue. Thanks to those of you who reported posts.
-Colin
-Colin
Highly belated NAMM post
March 26, 2010, 10:24:42 PM by expanoncolin
So, I have been meaning to post up my experiences at this year's NAMM for a bit, but for lack of a better excuse, have been doing other stuff! This is all pretty much old news, but I wanted to share my pictures and thoughts. Sorry about the washed out quality on some photos - I had only my phone to take pictures with.
Definitely the "theme" of this year's NAMM for me was really smart products. It seemed like everyone was introducing these devices that were really thought out... normally when someone comes out with a pedal, synth module, etc, you want to say "But wait, where's this feature?" But most of the stuff I saw, you really can't say that... my reaction tended to be, "wow, you really thought of everything". In no particular order, here are some of the things I saw and tried out...
I finally got to play a Buchla 200e, which was impressive to say the least. The modules are really well-designed and unique, and the preset system is pretty smart. Certainly something I will buy when I am overflowing with money.
The guys at Diamond pedals were super nice, and had some cool stuff. The memory lane was a lot of fun to zone out with, and the tremolo pedal (which it looks like is out now) had a really excellently chosen feature set. Coincidentally, I'm wearing the shirt they gave me right now. Take a look at the impressive innards of the Memory Lane:
Matchless also had their guts on proud display, in the form of a very cool transparent acrylic amp case:
The Analogue Haven booth was probably my favorite, if for no other reason than because it had such a huge number of cool companies at it. One of which being Doepfer, who was showing off a soon-to-be-released DIY synth kit. It has a pretty ridiculous feature set for a really small PCB. Should be a fun build when it's out!
Also at the Analogue Haven booth was Tiptop Audio. The Z-DSP module is INCREDIBLY smart and cool, and the matrix sequencer was mind-blowingly impressive. I'll also put the really smart Stackables in the category of "when I'm overflowing with money".
I don't have pictures, but I got to check out the Mungo Enterprises State Zero. Without a doubt this took the cake for "wow, you thought of everything". Pretty much every practical problem with the modular synth setup is addressed - full polyphony, absolute offset/level control for all inputs, full presetting, etc. Pretty ridiculous.
Also lacking pictures but very cool was Malekko, who let me play with their pedals for a good long while. I was particularly blown away by the mini phase, which is tiny but has a huge phase sound, and is pretty cheap, too.
Probably my most surprising encounter was meeting forumite Aen at his über-legit stand for Dwarfcraft Devices. Some very cool noisy stuff, and always good to see a familiar face!
I spent probably way too much time at the Moog booth playing the minimoog and little phatty. They had a really excellent history booth up about Bob Moog's inventions and life, which was a cool read.
Last but not least, I got to check out Z Vex's Inventobox, which created quite a stir back in January. This is definitely a really well thought-out design. It does a really, really good job of allowing you to breadboard a circuit and put it in an expandable enclosure. Again, very smart! The many articles written about it do a much better job describing its impressive features.
So, that's pretty much it! Hope to get to go next year. Certainly an experience I'd recommend everyone trying to get to do at least once...
-Colin
Definitely the "theme" of this year's NAMM for me was really smart products. It seemed like everyone was introducing these devices that were really thought out... normally when someone comes out with a pedal, synth module, etc, you want to say "But wait, where's this feature?" But most of the stuff I saw, you really can't say that... my reaction tended to be, "wow, you really thought of everything". In no particular order, here are some of the things I saw and tried out...
I finally got to play a Buchla 200e, which was impressive to say the least. The modules are really well-designed and unique, and the preset system is pretty smart. Certainly something I will buy when I am overflowing with money.
The guys at Diamond pedals were super nice, and had some cool stuff. The memory lane was a lot of fun to zone out with, and the tremolo pedal (which it looks like is out now) had a really excellently chosen feature set. Coincidentally, I'm wearing the shirt they gave me right now. Take a look at the impressive innards of the Memory Lane:
Matchless also had their guts on proud display, in the form of a very cool transparent acrylic amp case:
The Analogue Haven booth was probably my favorite, if for no other reason than because it had such a huge number of cool companies at it. One of which being Doepfer, who was showing off a soon-to-be-released DIY synth kit. It has a pretty ridiculous feature set for a really small PCB. Should be a fun build when it's out!
Also at the Analogue Haven booth was Tiptop Audio. The Z-DSP module is INCREDIBLY smart and cool, and the matrix sequencer was mind-blowingly impressive. I'll also put the really smart Stackables in the category of "when I'm overflowing with money".
I don't have pictures, but I got to check out the Mungo Enterprises State Zero. Without a doubt this took the cake for "wow, you thought of everything". Pretty much every practical problem with the modular synth setup is addressed - full polyphony, absolute offset/level control for all inputs, full presetting, etc. Pretty ridiculous.
Also lacking pictures but very cool was Malekko, who let me play with their pedals for a good long while. I was particularly blown away by the mini phase, which is tiny but has a huge phase sound, and is pretty cheap, too.
Probably my most surprising encounter was meeting forumite Aen at his über-legit stand for Dwarfcraft Devices. Some very cool noisy stuff, and always good to see a familiar face!
I spent probably way too much time at the Moog booth playing the minimoog and little phatty. They had a really excellent history booth up about Bob Moog's inventions and life, which was a cool read.
Last but not least, I got to check out Z Vex's Inventobox, which created quite a stir back in January. This is definitely a really well thought-out design. It does a really, really good job of allowing you to breadboard a circuit and put it in an expandable enclosure. Again, very smart! The many articles written about it do a much better job describing its impressive features.
So, that's pretty much it! Hope to get to go next year. Certainly an experience I'd recommend everyone trying to get to do at least once...
-Colin
Arduino-style DSP board redux: LeafLabs Maple
January 14, 2010, 12:17:33 PM by expanoncolin
In the spirit of finding higher-power, DSP-capable, easy-to-program development boards, here's a relatively new offering from LeafLabs called the Maple. In contrast with the Spin FV-1 board I posted about a little while back, the maple is set up more like a highly-powerful microcontroller development board.
The STM32F103RB chip is a little more like an AVR32 than the Arduino's AVR because it's 32 bit, it runs at 72Mhz, and it has 16 channel, 12-bit ADC (still waiting for a microcontroller with onboard 16-bit ADC). It costs a little more ($50) and the development environment is not nearly as mature, but it seems like a very powerful board with a similar design philosophy.
-Colin
The STM32F103RB chip is a little more like an AVR32 than the Arduino's AVR because it's 32 bit, it runs at 72Mhz, and it has 16 channel, 12-bit ADC (still waiting for a microcontroller with onboard 16-bit ADC). It costs a little more ($50) and the development environment is not nearly as mature, but it seems like a very powerful board with a similar design philosophy.
-Colin
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