Looking back at my list of projects outlined by my first post from last February I can see that I accomplished some things and others not. I finished the CORM piece, even if it didn’t turn out how I had originally envisioned. I did not decide the fate of my labels Gift Tapes or DRAFT, or begin the project of reissuing Brother Raven releases, and I didn’t finish HG’s synth. The beginning of the year is a good time to mull over those things and revise my plans for 2020. In the meantime, here’s an update on recent projects:
I repaired a Motu 828 MKII audio interface, which had an intermittent power issue due to a 3.3V Regulator, thanks to the useful guide below. This is a Firewire 400 interface that I picked up use years ago to take advantage of it being a DC coupled audio interface. The 10 outputs supply +/- 4.5V, which makes it very useful in controlling my modular synth. Thats a 9V range and though they’re not the most accurate signals, they work great for envelopes, gates and lfos. They will work for pitch, but if accuracy is desired, each output has to be meticulously calibrated, and done so with every boot.
https://www.staze.org/repair-motu-828mkii/
I successfully modified my Roland MKS-70 with Vecoven’s PWM and Flash mods. Frederic Vecoven has reverse engineered the code in the SuperJX and MKS-70 synths, greatly improving it to take advantage of the capabilities of the synth with less buggy code, adding a pulse width modulation waveform like most other Roland’s of the era, and even extending the functionality, 2 extra envelopes, arpeggiator, another lfo, individual PWM lfos, etc. His regular updates increasingly add functions to the synth and they now be updated via sysex code through MIDI with the flash mod. I could not have accomplished this without Guy Wilkinson’s useful fitting guide and other resources. He has also collaborated with Vecoven and made useful mods and DIY guides. My next step is to install his newly released OLED screen to take advantage of improved display capabilities the original screen can’t handle. And while I’m doing that I’ll reroute the internal cables to reduce the noise and hum, which Wilkinson has also outlined.
I made a patch demonstrating the PWM mod, using most of the new modulation capabilities and new arpeggiator. All PWM waveforms, no effects, recorded direct to RME Firewire 800 to Audacity.