DIY Synth

b0bsquish

Has anyone on here ever attempted to make there own synth? Ive been looking around at various kits like http://www.ladyada.net/make/x0xb0x/ But Im not sure exactly how hard its going to be, not to mention the quality of it by the time your done? anyone got any input for me?

cornbb

I tried and failed to get hold of a x0xb0x kit last year, it looks manageable enough for someone who's new to soldering and electronics like me. I then thought about making one of these: http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/SOUNDLABMINISYNTH/soundlab.html but it looked a bit too ambitious for me. Would still love to get my hands on a x0xb0x kit though...

I suppose the question of how hard it is going to be is dependent on how skilled you are at working with electronics. Its not difficult to learn how to solder, you can get started by buying the basic gear and some small beginner kits which are around €10 from Maplin etc: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=22554&DOY=15m11 I reckon the x0xb0x should be do-able to someone who's practiced with a few of these kits and who is patient enough to follow the instructions carefully. But then I'm only new to the whole electronics thing myself really.

Setun

Tempted to get an arduino, we had a workshop in college with them which was very enjoyable. Seems like a good way to start synthbuilding aswell.

jiltloop

I just put myself on the waiting list there for the x0xb0x kit, 1300 on the list already though eek! How much are these worth when fully assembled?

cornbb

I've seen them go for over 600-700 on ebay, but those were very-well put together and heavily modded versions. Are they doing another run for certain or did you sign up just in case? There was some guy on boards selling one on adverts.ie ages ago, I forget the name now...

b0bsquish

Thats a crazy list for it, I just signed up didnt think it would be in that much demand really, is it that good to warrant the wait?
There's another 100 ready to go out to the next folk on the list at the mo I think.
I may have to look for another kit then so, but something simple that someone with basic enough electronic skills will understand.
I

jiltloop

I think they're doing another run of 100 soon, but i'd say that alot of that 1300 on the list can be scratched off when it comes to the crunch and paying up. Probably not enough to give me a chance though.

studiorat

That's a very big pcb for a man who's new to soldering and identifying components. It's very easy to make a shambles of the whole board.

I'd say the x0xb0x is the business but I'm handy enough with a soldering iron and I wouldn't go near it!!!

You could try building software synths and using a vst wrapper.

I'd say start smaller and work your way up, and get a program like 5spice and learn a bit about electronics too.

Is there a modular synth kit available?

cornbb

studiorat wrote: »

That's a very big pcb for a man who's new to soldering and identifying components. It's very easy to make a shambles of the whole board.

I'd say the x0xb0x is the business but I'm handy enough with a soldering iron and I wouldn't go near it!!!

You could try building software synths and using a vst wrapper.

I'd say start smaller and work your way up, and get a program like 5spice and learn a bit about electronics too.

Is there a modular synth kit available?

The x0xb0x comes with very detailed instructions for assembly, testing, debugging etc. and all the components are numbered/indexed. I'd be willing to give it a crack if I was patient enough I think.

Haven't come across a modular project but I took a look at this, it looks much more ambitious than the x0xb0x - no step-by-step instructions, no casing, and the kit has only just been made available.

I've had a go at writing soft synths from scratch too, thats no joke either! The lure of a DIY analogue synth is much stronger.

studiorat

That is a very cool looking machine.

I know the xoxobox thingy has all the instructions but the actual soldering of the components onto the board would be very tricky to do neatly. At least with software you can undo easier and it's cheaper.

They are mains powered?

cornbb

studiorat wrote: »

That is a very cool looking machine.

I know the xoxobox thingy has all the instructions but the actual soldering of the components onto the board would be very tricky to do neatly. At least with software you can undo easier and it's cheaper.

They are mains powered?

They take a 9v DC input I think.

You're right about the soldering, but the ability to solder neatly is all you need really... it would take a bit of practice with something a bit easier, and plenty of patience and self discipline. I don't think an in-depth understanding of electronics is a strict necessity, although obviously it would help hugely if you wanted to do a perfect job, or if any sort of debugging was required. You'd know better than me though!

studiorat

cornbb wrote: »

You'd know better than me though!

I doubt it...:)

cavedave

There is a DIY synth kits guide from make here .

I have an arduino and really should make an effort coding some music stuff in it. A mechanical tremelo is my next DIY project though.

Anima

That x0xb0x looks a bit complicated for someone whos never soldered before tbh. I remember doing PCBs and analog stuff in 1st/2nd year of college. Its so easy to make a mistake and debugging is a nightmare. We had a whole module on debugging PCBs and its not nice at all. A few dry joints here and there or some diodes facing the wrong way and it can mess it all up. And if you've to remove a few components, you could risk damaging the tracks and then your PCB is fecked.

If you did get one, I'd get someone else to put it together. I think theres places that will do it for you, I remember one guy in the course had to get tiny pins soldered to some board and he ended up hiring a company for it.

jimi_t

cornbb wrote: »

I've seen them go for over 600-700 on ebay, but those were very-well put together and heavily modded versions. Are they doing another run for certain or did you sign up just in case? There was some guy on boards selling one on adverts.ie ages ago, I forget the name now...

That would be me Adverts (and Ireland in general) just isn't the place to be selling gear that esoteric unfortunately... The modded ones (devilfish, built in distortion etc...) can go up as high as 900 on eBay (and thats in the states). There's less than 100 in the UK/Ireland from what I was told before. Important to note that the x0xb0x is a 1 OSC/1 Filter synth with (comparatively) very few modulation options - its a one-trick pony, but WHAT a one-trick pony .

MakeZine have that guide which should be your first stop off point.

If you can solder (which is complete piss if you have two hands and depth perception, unless you're doing tiny LEDs or Surface Mount components) then that soundlabs minisynth is probably the way to go. If you go down the guitar fuzzbox route, there's probably schematics for something that tracks a signal with an oscillator like the BOSS SYB range.

If you're a Minimoog/Yamaha CS/KORG MS fan then you'd probably be best off looking at the Paia Fatman - about $250 before shipping but still far less then you'd pay for a legacy analog synth, and heavily supported and modable.
http://www.paia.com/fatman.asp

The Theremin is a nice and wonderfully tactile instrument which is easy to build - any of the LCR/Op-amp packages can be bought relatively cheaply off eBay and can be put together and tested in a weekend - Expect to pay around 50 euro all-in; great starter project - maplin might even have one.

V.Important to remember that all these kits will be based entirely on control voltages (CV) and that to control them/interface them with contemporary gear you'll need a decent CV-MIDI processor.

Alternatively, you could go down the Arduino/Audioshield route, or again go down the Midibox route but, to me anyways, it seems to be more concerned with racking SID and legacy FM synth chips than creating something from scratch.

OT: Anyone know where the best place to get small orders of parts into the country - i.e. a one-stop for resistors, pots, enclosures and the like?

cornbb

jimi_t wrote: »

That would be me

Ahh so it was Did you ever get that built, if so how did it turn out?

jimi_t

cornbb wrote: »

Ahh so it was Did you ever get that built, if so how did it turn out?

Fecking thing has been half built since last christmas - was missing a single resistor so had it flightcased with other gear and its been inaccessible (and will continue to be so - long story) till the new year.

As for my previous post, I was onto Curious Inventor scoping them out; sent them an eMail regarding shipping and got a very prompt reply. For the bare-bones Voice of Saturn Synth and separate CV 16 step sequencer with some additional Ribbon Cable (so handy) it works out at $124 + $26 shipping (insured USPS Priority mail).

So basicaly, for $150 all told you get this (w/out enclosures or knobs);

"The video shows the VOICE OF SATURN generating sound just by itself, then later through some delay. It also shows its LFO being used to drive another synth. At the end, recompas's next kit, the VOICE OF SATURN SEQUENCER, is driving the control inputs to create sound (as opposed to turning the knobs). You can even just touch the free end of a wire to warp the sound."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kys-N2R0bE

A better video by Oliver Chesler aka Berlin EBM/Techno stalwart 'The Horrorist' from his blog wiretotheear.com is available here

http://www.wiretotheear.com/2008/06/10/the-voice-of-saturn-synthesizer-sequencer/

dbs_sailor

I'm kind of making my own synth at the moment.

http://mtsynth.blogspot.com :rolleyes:

synesthesia

HEllo hello - I'm actually planing to get a x0xb0x ... anyone finished it ? anyojne sellin one , even not finisheD?

did you see this one on ebay ? rgeat review with future music ...

http://cgi.ebay.ie/REAL-ANALOG-SYNTH-SYNTHETIZER-w-EXPRESS-INSURED-packet_W0QQitemZ260433525660QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Pro_Audio_Synthesisers_CV?hash=item3ca30c3b9c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1301%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

ato

can anyone help me with etching a circuit board and burn HEX to an AVR microcontroller?
it is for a midi -to-cv project

rcaz

For anyone who wants to try soft synth stuff, I started learning Pure Data a few months ago. I'm not very good, but it's great fun.

Pure Data

Great Pd tutorial book

empirix

cornbb wrote: »

The x0xb0x comes with very detailed instructions for assembly, testing, debugging etc. and all the components are numbered/indexed. I'd be willing to give it a crack if I was patient enough I think.

Haven't come across a modular project but I took a look at this, it looks much more ambitious than the x0xb0x - no step-by-step instructions, no casing, and the kit has only just been made available.

I've had a go at writing soft synths from scratch too, thats no joke either! The lure of a DIY analogue synth is much stronger.

Id go with studiorat here - only do this if you will have no regrets blowing your money should things go wrong, i am "handy" too with an iron but also wouldnt attempt it, you really need to do a neat job soldering a board together - make sure you practice on something before hand, maybe get an old radio or something - good luck

empirix

synesthesia wrote: »

HEllo hello - I'm actually planing to get a x0xb0x ... anyone finished it ? anyojne sellin one , even not finisheD?

did you see this one on ebay ? rgeat review with future music ...

http://cgi.ebay.ie/REAL-ANALOG-SYNTH-SYNTHETIZER-w-EXPRESS-INSURED-packet_W0QQitemZ260433525660QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Pro_Audio_Synthesisers_CV?hash=item3ca30c3b9c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1301%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

www.acidlab.de - quality and fairly cheap!

jimi_t

I've still got my unfinished x0xb0x kit up for sale. It's the USB prebuilt version with the centre detent tuning pot and diffused LED pack. The PSU board is nearly finished and the main PCB populated with a fair amount of resistors et al.

It comes with the caveat that its missing a single resistor for the PSU which it was never shipped with; this is easily gotten from just about any electronics store for under 50c.

Available for viewing, in original shipping box w/documentation and so on, in Ranelagh - inquiries to PM I suppose.

synesthesia

Hey Guys,

I am thinking creating some kind of SDIY irish group, where we could share ressources, PCB's parts - etc .

anyone interested ?