MIDI MERGE : how to get a professional product with PCBWay

After having tested the services of PCBWay during the creation of prototypes, I decided to call again on this company for the realization of the final printed circuit board.

This circuit is a MIDI merger with six buffered outputs, two standard MIDI inputs, a MIDI input / output via the USB bus, and the possible use of a sound generation module :

As usual, the circuit is perfect and came to me very quickly. This time, I chose a black solder mask for a better rendering :

The printed circuit board.

This is what the circuit looks like once the components are installed :

It is also possible to install a sound module on this board. I chose a Dream Blaster compatible module from Serdaco. This module is available at this address :

https://www.serdashop.com/waveblaster

It should also be possible to use the X2 version, offering more possibilities :

The board is currently equipped with the S2 module :

This board closes the series of prototypes previously made :

Now it's time to move on to creating the firmware for this system.

You can follow the progress of this project on this FaceBook page:

If you have similar printed circuits to make, do not hesitate to use PCBWay's prototype production service.
It's simple, fast and inexpensive for a professional result :

 

Enjoy!

MOOG 104 HP 17" EURORACK CASE

For the first time, a Moog product at home : 

Picture from thomann.de

In fact, all started with the need to test my MIDI CV / GATE converter :

I should be able to generate signals from the voltages supplied by my converter. For that I had the choice between buying a MODEL D type synthesizer for example, or one or more modular type VCO modules. Finally I chose to buy two VCO modules. I choosen two modules of different types in order to verify in a more 'real' way the behavior of the set.

One PICO VCO2 :

One 3340 ANALOG VCO :

Obviously, there was no longer any question of testing these modules on the table, with all the risks that this implies. I needed a 'box' to store and supply these materials. There is a choice for this type of case. For example, Behringer also offers its rack version :

Picture from thomann.de

But in this case, the maximum height of the modules is lower than that of the Moog model. Moog also offers another rack but with a smaller width. For the price and the characteristics, I therefore chose the Moog Eurorack 104 HP 17 model. Also, few days after placing an order, I received this:

Screws, and a power cable for Moog modules, are also provided. The nuts are already inserted in the rack rails. So I installed the two VCO modules to verify that they fit correctly in the rack :

It works fine!

The job is not finished because the rack is supplied without PSU. Thereby I can't really use this material as is. But I am also currently in the process of creating a power supply which I hope is the most versatile possible especially to supply this type of modules or to replace old power supplies for synthesizers.