bahm
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Post by bahm on Aug 14, 2019 19:07:52 GMT
Directly connected everything as the specs are the same as ae modular. Don't have pots yet, but my breadboards arrived today, so I had to do something.
VCDO1 and VCLFO10 chips.
Somehow the note input is reversed.
Enjoy, I think they are cool.
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Post by NightMachines on Aug 14, 2019 20:17:52 GMT
Ha! That’s cool! I just received the same two ICs last week as well. Won’t have time to build something with them until September unfortunately, but I’ll stay tuned for your module creations in the meantime  |
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ben
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Post by ben on Aug 21, 2019 21:19:58 GMT
Cool! I've got a while ago pentanoise and VCADSR. So far pentanoise is a super simple chip to use and it works well, but with VCADSR had some issues and it doesn't seem to be working at all, had checked soldering part a multiple times - no results.. I saw they finally got one shot event generators, was curious to get one and try it out, just need to find some free time. Altho I still have tap lfo chip laying around electricdruid.net/product/oneshot-event-generator/Anyways, looking forward to see your further tests! |
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bahm
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Post by bahm on Aug 22, 2019 13:55:33 GMT
I am on vacation right now so the next week nothing will happen. But i'm still waiting for the potentiometers anyway. Made a circuit for V subtracting with an opamp as the vco needs 5 to 0V instead of 0 to 5V to get the right notes. Meanwhile I tested to print a first test for the frontplates.  |
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bahm
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Post by bahm on Sept 5, 2019 10:42:01 GMT
Made another test video with the almost ready lfo.
I like it a lot!
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ben
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Post by ben on Sept 17, 2019 18:55:32 GMT
Finally managed to solder another chip. It's Tap tempo LFO. And I love it! Here's a short video (sorry the volume is a bit low): Love the idea of being able to tap tempo with a simple push button and - it has a random levels option! Other than that, this LFO has a lot of different waveforms: ramp up, ramp down, triangle, square, sine, sweep, random levels and random slopes. Control knobs: Frequency, waveform, Depth, Offset. Has an external sync option. Easy to build, simple schematics. Highly recommended.   |
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Post by 101 on Sept 17, 2019 21:16:08 GMT
Can I ask where you sourced those metal pin headers?
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ben
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Post by ben on Sept 18, 2019 7:57:57 GMT
Can I ask where you sourced those metal pin headers? Do you mean female headers? I've just bought a bunch of 20pin chip sockets from eBay and cut them to the size I need. |
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Post by sycophante on Sept 18, 2019 9:37:32 GMT
Wow! really cool!
Makes me want to go DIY!
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ben
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Post by ben on Sept 18, 2019 13:31:52 GMT
sycophante Yes, go for it! I have no background in electronics nor any knowledge, but reading schematics and being able to solder is all you need
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Post by 101 on Sept 18, 2019 16:32:51 GMT
Can I ask where you sourced those metal pin headers? Do you mean female headers? I've just bought a bunch of 20pin chip sockets from eBay and cut them to the size I need. Sounds like a plan |
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bahm
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Post by bahm on Sept 19, 2019 5:53:59 GMT
I have some round ones from ebay too, but the new patch cables are to big for them.
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ben
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Post by ben on Sept 19, 2019 8:53:08 GMT
I have some round ones from ebay too, but the new patch cables are to big for them. oh, that's a bummer. i bought (also from eBay) a few breadboards and round patching cables were included so all fits well. Just had to solder a few extra long ones for three-rack set. Don't have any new patch cables from AE, but as long as there's no problem with the regular ones - all fine |
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ben
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Post by ben on Oct 11, 2019 16:36:53 GMT
Just soldered another chip: ENVGEN 8 VCADSR Envelope generator. At first had some issues because the envelope seems to be always on if there's no signal fed into it. But then came up with the solution - added a simple buffer on the input. Thanks to NightMachines for providing an info about this simple and super useful MCP602 buffer! Envelope chip has three selectable modes: ADSR, Gated Loop and LFO. (in the video Envelope module is in yellow colour) Once will find more time will also make a short demo about another amazing chip - One Shot generator, which is a hybrid between LFO and Envelope. |
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anton
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Posts: 29
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Post by anton on Oct 14, 2019 12:35:34 GMT
Just soldered another chip: ENVGEN 8 VCADSR Envelope generator. At first had some issues because the envelope seems to be always on if there's no signal fed into it. But then came up with the solution - added a simple buffer on the input. Thanks to NightMachines for providing an info about this simple and super useful MCP602 buffer! Envelope chip has three selectable modes: ADSR, Gated Loop and LFO. (in the video Envelope module is in yellow colour) Once will find more time will also make a short demo about another amazing chip - One Shot generator, which is a hybrid between LFO and Envelope. Hi, Ben! Last week I had great fun having assembled Electric One Shot Generator on a 2,5 * 10 cm board. And it works amazingly smooth and stable right out of the box! After it I tried to assemble the ENVGEN 8 and ran into a bunch of problems. I'll try to reassemble the board (I think, that's my design flaws) and write back as soon as I have any success or not. Could you please provide any photos of the board so that I could compare it to my design? My main complaints are overall glitches (like each cv influences the others and when I turn clock cv or some other controls full on the chip dies away and plays only after I switch off/on the power), the problem you've mentioned above (env always on - I'll try to cure it with the buffer) and the gate input not working. Here's the One Shot without the front panel, haven't found a suitable material yet. If you are interested in some photos of the inside, I may provide them a bit later.  |
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ben
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Post by ben on Oct 15, 2019 11:04:25 GMT
Hey! Well my pcb is already hidden and fixed under the panel... The only thing which you have to do if you even soldered it correctly - each time you have to reset the envelope once the power is on. As you probably have seen in the schematics - there's an optional switch for selecting different modes. I haven't got a switch so simply used 3 pin headers for selecting different modes with wire. So what I do each time - switching to gated loop mode and then back to a regular ADSR mode, and then it works. (this issue is mentioned in the product's page). I have only one pin empty, not soldered to anywhere - PIN 4, with which you can choose between two modes: Linear and Exponential. I left it unconnected, in this case it works in linear mode. So make sure you have no empty pins, other than pin 4 (also optionally). Also - connect Gate and Trigger inputs together. Hope this was helpful somehow. Let me know how it turned out for you! *Oh, btw, you can also contact electricdruid's shop via his contact form, Tom is open to any questions and seems to be willing to solve any problems. I have wrote to him but then found the solution before he replied. |
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ben
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Post by ben on Oct 15, 2019 13:00:38 GMT
Directly connected everything as the specs are the same as ae modular. Don't have pots yet, but my breadboards arrived today, so I had to do something. VCDO1 and VCLFO10 chips. Somehow the note input is reversed. Enjoy, I think they are cool. bahm - did you managed to finish your VCDO? In the schematics I was looking it shows some things that have to be connected to the negative voltage. I was wandering how it all turned out for you. Did you left it all only on a scale between 5V and Ground or made some adjustments. Dunno shall i get this chip or not... |
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bahm
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Post by bahm on Oct 15, 2019 18:33:01 GMT
Look at the video in the 5th post. It works fine.
There are no negative voltages needed. Just look in the chips datasheet. On the list with the ins and outs all the expected voltages are 0 to 5V.
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ben
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Post by ben on Oct 16, 2019 7:57:26 GMT
Look at the video in the 5th post. It works fine. There are no negative voltages needed. Just look in the chips datasheet. On the list with the ins and outs all the expected voltages are 0 to 5V. oh ok, I thought in that video it's only VCLFO10 test (test #2), and as long as I can tell you're using 2OSC/d by AE Modular in there? Or which one in there is DIY'ed voltage controlled digital oscillator? |
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anton
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Post by anton on Oct 16, 2019 8:04:44 GMT
Hey! Well my pcb is already hidden and fixed under the panel... The only thing which you have to do if you even soldered it correctly - each time you have to reset the envelope once the power is on. As you probably have seen in the schematics - there's an optional switch for selecting different modes. I haven't got a switch so simply used 3 pin headers for selecting different modes with wire. So what I do each time - switching to gated loop mode and then back to a regular ADSR mode, and then it works. (this issue is mentioned in the product's page). I have only one pin empty, not soldered to anywhere - PIN 4, with which you can choose between two modes: Linear and Exponential. I left it unconnected, in this case it works in linear mode. So make sure you have no empty pins, other than pin 4 (also optionally). Also - connect Gate and Trigger inputs together. Hope this was helpful somehow. Let me know how it turned out for you! *Oh, btw, you can also contact electricdruid's shop via his contact form, Tom is open to any questions and seems to be willing to solve any problems. I have wrote to him but then found the solution before he replied. Many thanks, Ben! I'll try to change the scheme according to your recommendation this week and get back in touch! Have a good day! |
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anton
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Post by anton on Oct 17, 2019 14:20:45 GMT
Hi everyone! Though I haven't tried to test the ENVGEN8 on the breadboard yet I decided to draw my layout for VCLFO10. I've already soldered one according to this layout but decided to omit the CV pots filtering, sync in filtering, cv inputs 100k to ground pull down and output filtering to see how the IC will work all by itself. I should say I noticed slight harsh "glitches" at some highest or lowest pots positions, otherwise the LFO works stable and takes the sync input very accurately. I have little or less radioelectronic experience, maybe some more experienced users here may help me to find out if I should omit some stages or not. Space is critical with the AE format.) Here's my layout. Please be so kind to tell me what you don't like (or maybe do like)) here, I would be really thankful! P.S.: Sorry for being a bit messy, I'm rather a noob.    |
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anton
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Post by anton on Oct 23, 2019 7:56:52 GMT
Hi everyone! Though I haven't tried to test the ENVGEN8 on the breadboard yet I decided to draw my layout for VCLFO10. I've already soldered one according to this layout but decided to omit the CV pots filtering, sync in filtering, cv inputs 100k to ground pull down and output filtering to see how the IC will work all by itself. I should say I noticed slight harsh "glitches" at some highest or lowest pots positions, otherwise the LFO works stable and takes the sync input very accurately. I have little or less radioelectronic experience, maybe some more experienced users here may help me to find out if I should omit some stages or not. Space is critical with the AE format.) Here's my layout. Please be so kind to tell me what you don't like (or maybe do like)) here, I would be really thankful! P.S.: Sorry for being a bit messy, I'm rather a noob. Ney, I managed to make two VCLFO10s according to the scheme, they work, but have random problems from time to time. I think that my poor soldering skill is insufficcient to place the scheme on such a small board. However, the ONESHOTs I made in a similar way work fine. Considering that VCLFO10 also has a sync bug right out of the box I think I'll shift to STOMPLFOs for AE Modular format as it's basically the same chip as the stable and simple ONESHOT. |
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ben
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Post by ben on Oct 23, 2019 11:34:00 GMT
Hi everyone! Though I haven't tried to test the ENVGEN8 on the breadboard yet I decided to draw my layout for VCLFO10. I've already soldered one according to this layout but decided to omit the CV pots filtering, sync in filtering, cv inputs 100k to ground pull down and output filtering to see how the IC will work all by itself. I should say I noticed slight harsh "glitches" at some highest or lowest pots positions, otherwise the LFO works stable and takes the sync input very accurately. I have little or less radioelectronic experience, maybe some more experienced users here may help me to find out if I should omit some stages or not. Space is critical with the AE format.) Here's my layout. Please be so kind to tell me what you don't like (or maybe do like)) here, I would be really thankful! P.S.: Sorry for being a bit messy, I'm rather a noob. Ney, I managed to make two VCLFO10s according to the scheme, they work, but have random problems from time to time. I think that my poor soldering skill is insufficcient to place the scheme on such a small board. However, the ONESHOTs I made in a similar way work fine. Considering that VCLFO10 also has a sync bug right out of the box I think I'll shift to STOMPLFOs for AE Modular format as it's basically the same chip as the stable and simple ONESHOT. Do you use flux for soldering? I'd suggest to clean every pcb after soldering with isopropyl alcohol and a brush (I use a dedicated toothbrush for that) just to make sure there's no macro-sized dust in between. But yeah, Stomp LFO is great and has all the functions you might need - different waveforms, sync in, frequency, depth, etc. |
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anton
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Post by anton on Oct 23, 2019 13:25:23 GMT
Ney, I managed to make two VCLFO10s according to the scheme, they work, but have random problems from time to time. I think that my poor soldering skill is insufficcient to place the scheme on such a small board. However, the ONESHOTs I made in a similar way work fine. Considering that VCLFO10 also has a sync bug right out of the box I think I'll shift to STOMPLFOs for AE Modular format as it's basically the same chip as the stable and simple ONESHOT. Do you use flux for soldering? I'd suggest to clean every pcb after soldering with isopropyl alcohol and a brush (I use a dedicated toothbrush for that) just to make sure there's no macro-sized dust in between. But yeah, Stomp LFO is great and has all the functions you might need - different waveforms, sync in, frequency, depth, etc. Yes, Ben, thanks for the advice, I'll try to clean the pcbs with alcohol. I use a solder wire with flux inside by chinese brand "Mechanic", believe it's HX-T100 model. I'm quite new to pcb soldering but I've used this soldering wire for years for soldering xlr and trs connectors and cables and all the solder joints have lasted ever since. As for Stomp LFO - it has the same PDM output as the ONESHOT, instead of PWM as VCLFO10, and, frankly speaking, ONESHOTs PDM is more pleasant to my ears than VCLFO10s PWM). I admit it was quite a foolish idea to have all the functions of VCLFO10 on the 25 x 100 mm pcb, comfortwise it should be no more than 4 pots on a board like this. BTW have you played the VCLFO10 as an oscillator? I got some very pleasant drones by modulating the wave distort function by the external slow lfo with the VCLFO10 set nearly to maximum rate. |
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ben
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Post by ben on Oct 23, 2019 14:26:06 GMT
Yeah I started my DIY journey with AE Modular simply just by soldering without any after-cleaning. Until I tried to solder a few LM358 op-amps - soldered three pcb's and all of them had some sonic artifacts or just haven't worked at all. Couldn't get my head around of what's wrong, and then decided to clean it with isopropyl alcohol - all problems were solved. Now everytime I solder something - always cleaning pcb's after soldering with alcohol, just to make sure all works as it should. No I haven't, I don't have VCLFO10, I'm using Tap LFO and a couple of One Shot's + VCADSR. My guess VCADSR might sound similar to your VCLFO10, where the lfo turns into audible range. I just wasn't able to get any external tweaking/modulation happening with VCADSR if it runs on LFO mode, maybe that's not possible, but that doesn't seem to be a problem as mostly I'm using it as an Envelope. However - oscillator sounds great, I agree |
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