build: sammichSID & mb6582 sid chip synthesizers

[brain]

Feel the fail of "stadium rock" Foreigner.. You should see this play Michael Bolton.

As I dont know one end of a keyboard to another this was the easy option to demo.

Building it was "fun", especially the asshole who supplied IC sockets with bendy legs.Almost bricked the 40 pin ic socket tracks. Luckily I replaced it with straight legs as heatflow is way better.. rant over. yes thats the 400ft of film still unfinished.
Also heatsink & cpu heat conductive paste on the 6581s, theyre running warm and are highly likely to fail. And watch the out of tune ness for the bonus if you forget to drop in the correct capacitor buffers.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WahhCGs-5o oh and after the orig 6581 burnout/failure, i tried a matched pair delivered that actually worked: 6581 from 1984

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdUEZ...el_video_title

[playthatbeat]

awesome... I just finished mine today.. i used 2 of the newer 8580 sids, had 3 in the stash, one of then got so hot i could smell it toasting when i tested it, so that got pulled.. i ran it first without the 'left over' tiny capacitors, and it sounds so awesomely glitchy, i may put them on a switch.. there are 2 rails of plugs next to the SID chips for these, so i guess they help keep it all smooth - removing them is awesomess!!

So, much fun in the build, the instructions are precise, the design is sound, the result is DELIGHTFUL!!

If anyone is wondering weather or not to build one of these beasts, STOP THINKING AND ORDER ONE.. i have a shitload of toys (as you do..) and this is easily the biggest smile in the least amount of time since i discovered my nob.

Please to listen to this mp3 jam with my new sammichSID..

[playthatbeat]

Behold.. the 6581s... also http://wizball.is-a-geek.com:8064 radio6581

[playthatbeat]

So last night we had a Sidstation , with an original 6581 sidchip, and the 2 sammich sids, one with a pair of 6581A4 and one with a pair of 8580 chips on board..

First off, the Sidstation is defo the grotmeister.. sounds FAR grittier then the sammiches.. The 6581 sammich sounds TOTALLY different to the 8580 sammich.. Difference being: the 6581 is "buzzier" - it has far more HF content to the sawtooth, and an idle noise to match.. Some patches on the 6581 sound totally different! like the 303-esque sounds are far more raspy, while on the 8580 they are 'honkier' - more punch and more mid to the 8580 for sure.. In fact, after hearing the 6581 doing a patch you may be forgiven if you thought the 8580 was BROKEN it sounds so lame, until you discover the reverse can also be true! Some things on the 8580 are just amazingly punchy and ballsey, but sound pissy on the 6581..

I would love to make a call on this, and tell You which to strive for, but i'm afraid there is NO ALTERNATIVE - you must have a set of both to cover all angles.

But, if you want fuzzy cutting hard leads and farty basses, then the 6581 is your man, and if you want studio quality noisefloor and 'stab-in-the-eye' honkieness, then the 8580 is the one..

Some patches (from the sammichSID factory set) sound IDENTICAL on both - like the SAMPLE & HOLD patches, but the majority of the bank sound very different indeed..

So, here is an 'sid-a-pella' of CARS by GARY NUMAN using sidchip lines - sidstation on bassline, sammiches on melodys,, all raw, all awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4HIApjpfFQ

[playthatbeat]

And, because it's so awesome you need it as a ringtone, here's a nice mp3 of it for Your collection of stuff you never listen to..

[playthatbeat]

Oh shi-, the BUILD - yes, i forgot.. This was 50/50 fun/stress kit to build.. while everything makes perfect sense once You get into the style of instruction, there are sometimes some OPTIONS, depending on where You are going, and these can confuse, depending on how wasted You are.. BUT, overall, the operation is flawless and foolproof.. the only thing that will fu*k You up is Your choice of SID chips.. WHERE TO? well, fleabay has STILL got fakes available, so go there if you want to be disappointed, or like to gamble.. Don't get me wrong - if You do the research, and buy from someone who has a reputation on fleabay, then You will come up roses - buy from ropey ropington in the far east, and EXPECT to be dicked.

brain got his working pair in Hungary, from a m8 that serviced commodore gear in tha' past, i got my 8580s from a stash of ex-serviceguy gear we were given from dublin, out of 12 chips only 3 appear to work, with some originally working then failing after a while, so i got some backup 6581s from TOUCHED BY SOUND in case i end up sidless.

oh, and you will need a MIDI interface on Your computer, to run the flashing blah to get the sammichSID firmware into the PIC - it already comes with a bootloader and so on, so you just need to pipe through it with the latest firmware from the midibox.org pages, then upload the patch bank.

as kits go, and as noisemakers go, this CRAPS ALL OVER the rest. you know me, right? you know i like my toys, TRUST ME when i tell you this is worth the effort!

[brain]

and based on that, we await confirmation to do another kit from mr sammich. i feel a 4 sammichSID opera in the future maby..

[playthatbeat]

I emailed about the next batch of sammichsids, and it looks like it may not happen - the LAST batchj is currently being prepared, and we might get another kit if someone bottles out.. but, jas was pretty hinty that there might not be another batch

i got the balance of my chips from TOUCHED BY SOUND this week, another pair of 6581, and now i have a matched (weekcode) pair of them also: he threw in an 8580! heh, so we have a pair fo them now spare as well, since i had one still that kind of worked..

Mmm.. i wonder - how about one of the 6-sid machines!!! midibox.org needs a proper read...

[playthatbeat]

http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/sammichsid

The final FINAL run of sammichSID is being prepared.. i think that will mean a final final total of 600 units..

meanwhile, i have the parts for my MB-6582 on the way from smashtv of midibox.org - thats the main board and parts, the empty control surface board, the encoders.. Add to this the sexy LCD (black with white characters), the micro buttons & the case i got at RS, and the front and rear panels from Schaeffer in Germany and i'm ready to jump in making the 8-sid monster synth any day now.. The only bitch was the PSU, but i got a recon/rebuild one on fleabay from basicwayne that behaves like the C64 one.. hope this will be OK.. else i have to start fuc*ing about with dual powersupplys and the likes..

Anyways, anyone thinking of a sammich kit - TIME IS RUNNING OUT..

[brain]

Preparing for last OCD build.
The 2 Sammich's will look cute together, one with 6581s and the other planned is 8580s.

also C64 station feed. enjoy http://orange.citrus3.com:8326/ throw into VLC or whatever.

[playthatbeat]

I cannot even start to comment on building the Midibox 6582.. it's no sammich, i'll say that!!!

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Here's my finished MB6582.. too knackered to even talk about it.. the build was hard, right to the last step i was re-doing and patching mistakes.. still nto 100%, fan is noisey, and the sexy display causes issues with the A4 sids, but hey, more to do later innit.. also: homebrew commodore 64 power supply, made with 2 wallwarts.. innit..

[playthatbeat]

This is a test of my MB6582.. On-board is a pair of 6581's in stereo, then 2 8580s in mono and a single 6581 which seems to be brighter then the others in the pair.. Shame as i had a 'same date code' pair, but they sounded so different, i actually got a better sonic match between 2 totally different date codes.. ah well..

so i used the first movement from Beethoven's 9th Symphony for this.. 4 instruments only out of the possible traditional minimum of 16, so there are some important parts missing, but who cares, i expect you give about as much of a shit about an accurate rendition of this as i do! point is, this is a seminal classical work, not only is it 176bpm, solidly, kind of, but it's SO the place QUEEN lifted 'bohemian rapsody' from, and, this symphony is featured in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE heavily..

I have to say i'm so impressed with some of the passages in this, i'll be going for a full (sic) 16-track version, using only sids, in the near future.. I'll have to multitrack it, but it's worth it..

This rendition was created by using ONLY the midibox MB6582, 5 SID chips in total on 4 midi channels, with a slight mix on a behringer cheapo for position, and the addition of some on-board reverb to help cover the nasty idle noise from the 6581 chips.

SO!! Enjoy - beethoven, for commodore 64..

[brain]

2 sammiches now. Roll on the SammichFM next? 6581 on left, 8580 on right.. Flashed this on a train to vienna, the funny looks while that was going on was worth the ocd manual i had to suffer. .)

[playthatbeat]

So, to elaborate on my hard-times build of the MB6582.. I really think You need the auld BALLS OF STEEL to build this.. It's not as well documented as the SammichSID build.. there is alot of little stuff to catch You out and make You think.. For example - powering the LCD backlight - i killed one the first time as i had no idea of knowing how many LEDs were in the device, until i blew it that is.. No worry, i took it apart and replaced the lame LED with a nice black light one.. I wouldn't have dared on a new unit.. but yeh, beware if you are going to make one - treat Your LCD as if it has only 1 LED, and get those extra resistors in there FIRST..

Also, the connections between the CS and the mainboard.. this has been the bane of my build. Every time i open the fuc*er to fiddle, i get a new fault on the CS.. an encoder only working as a subtracter or adder, or a whole section goes wonky.. This is down to my choice of using ribbons to connect the 2.. i SHOULD have soldered risers to these places, and from there used ribbon leads.. the simple fact is , ribbon cables are not flexible enough at the solder points to take the movement of opening & closing the device, so they just snap off.. If i had to go again, i's not use ribbon. This messing probably caused the next little issue:

I also had a re-run of the fun i had with the MBAY build, where the cs went 'hands-free' due to the earths on some of the resistor packs being disconnected.. this is because the track on the board from the (dotted) pin on the resistor pack is SO small that it will break from the heat of soldering if You aren't precise and single-action. I had 3 go bad on me, but it's easy to patch from the dotted pin to a nearby common ground pad.. the symptoms of this are simple - the controls or LEDs go bananas when you move your hand near the device. lol yes, i know.. freaky.

Also waiting to throw you will be the LCD screen mounting, and the mounting of the CS panel to the case.. No matter what way You look at it, it's going to require some visualization.. it will NOT fit together in a simple fashion. The LCD will not mount flush to anything, well, the ones i got would not. So, i had to fashion standoffs, and took several attempts to get it at optimum. Then comes the lovely etched panel. i ended up using epoxy resin to hold the it to the case, as well as the usual stuff nuts and bolts and stuff, because it just would not stay tight. Yes, the PT-10 box is a nice case, and yes it all looks epic, but just don't expect it to just all screw together and look tight and spaceless, because it won't get close without alot of work.

It's only now i realize how totally awesome the Sammich sid build is.. It's a stunning piece of design and the process of building it is a breeze thanks to the docs.. the MB6582 is not for the casual tweaker.. it will make you cry. i assure you. Don't get me wrong , it's not impossible as long as midibox.org is there and you can use a search engine, but there is alot there for YOU to work out for Yourself. SO, if You aren't into improvising, then forget it..

Now to where we are at now..

Box has a pair of 6581 in stereo with large heatsinks, a pair of 8580 in stereo, a single 6582 and a single A4 6581 which seems to have excessive HF in it when compard to the pair of older 6581. It's stable, everything works. I have yet to install the dual pots for feedback. It's still running on my homebrew pair of PSUs, the 5v 2amp switcher does get quite warm though still.

Oh yes, we are building a SID army.