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I appreciate you coming forward. If you wish I can restore your original posts without issue (which I think we should). My intention was not to deter you from this project but of course I had to say something. I'm not going to say anything else on the matter. There are things here that need to remain off the forums as they are not beneficial to anyone.
Very cool project.
For the LCD backlighting, I can sell/trade you some of our older backlight kits, which should be perfect for this since power LED removal isn't a problem. I have a very small stock of every color still.
DSC wrote:....
I appreciate you coming forward. If you wish I can restore your original posts without issue (which I think we should). My intention was not to deter you from this project but of course I had to say something. I'm not going to say anything else on the matter. There are things here that need to remain off the forums as they are not beneficial to anyone.
I agree, yes, please do. I will reestablish picture links.
I'm sorry to have offended you, and please let me know what I can do to make this more palatable.
Last edited by DSC (Jan 21, 2012 11:14 pm)
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2005/08/c … tendo-nes/
10 seconds on google yielded this.
I stand corrected. I would dare say the first rack mounted DMG-01, but I could be wrong there too.
I would like to ask, moving forward, I really like the idea of adding a gameport to the front for another midi controlled DMG. I think I will give it
its own arduinoboy so as to free up any confusion in the midi chain. Obviously I would have to add audio in jacks to the front panel. Might disturb
the clean look a bit, but it might be a cool feature too.
NeX brought up the crystal mod too. How many of you would use this feature regularly as an instrument. Just curious. I'm considering redesigning part of the insides in all aluminum as opposed to polycarbonate now to increase durability. This will also increase price, but I think it's a must for added durability.
If we are back on track I have a few comments. Based on what I remember of the thread there seems to be a plan for DSC to go into at least small scale production with this via kickstarter.
Stuff I like :
Unified back panel with Audio and Midi IO in one place looks great.
Unified PSU?
Stuff im not so keen on :
Philosophically, this seems like a large, not portable, expensive way to solve a problem that already has small, portable cheap solutions. I don't quite get the point? However if it is a personal vanity project for fun it is AWESOME.
Are you planning on having a cut off with your kick starter? Could you handle 20 or 50 or 100 orders?
What are you planning for after sales support? There seem to be an awful lot of things end users could have trouble with here.
As was raised earlier I think the interface / access to the internal carts / dials / buttons needs a fairly big re think.
I remember using my DMG with a PSU being impractically noisy is this going to be an issue?
Ideas, have you thought about a kick starter for an enclosure and a PSU with all the nice plugs and a nice (re thought) control surface with a nice detailed BOM and build guide? Then people could build the arduinos and source the carts, backlights, gameboys (none of which are particularly hard to find) and it would keep the project cheaper, easier and faster for you to produce?
You could always look at a clock mod like what getlofi uses. http://www.getlofi.com/?page_id=1302 Can use either a rotary pot or a slider (which was NeX's idea) with a toggle or rocker switch. This is something I'm currently working on for a Game Boy I'm modding along with a reverb/echo kit which was also done by NeX originally. Either the crystal mod or getlofi kit would take less then 1"X1" of space and do offer some good built in effects.
Ideas, have you thought about a kick starter for an enclosure and a PSU with all the nice plugs and a nice (re thought) control surface with a nice detailed BOM and build guide? Then people could build the arduinos and source the carts, backlights, gameboys (none of which are particularly hard to find) and it would keep the project cheaper, easier and faster for you to produce?
All your questions are good ones. The short answer is I have not really gotten that far. Originally I built this concept because I wasn't even sure it could be done. The second reason I built this unit was to see if I could combine the Chip Maestro and mGB into one midi controlled sound module. I trigger most of my sounds with a sequencer, both software and hardware, so it made sense to put them in a rack mount.
As far as a Kickstarter, I'm having to rethink that too. Mostly because the cost is so great. Also I have the software to be concerned about.
As far as a kit, I'm open to ideas. If we can figure out the issues you pose, I would be glad to add my part(s) to the party.
Everyone please realize. If you can bring something to the table with this project, whether software or hardware, please pitch in. I would love to make the ultimate all features inclusive rack mount.
I even contacted Seth Nemec who had started a Kickstarter with is filter for the GB.
Here is the link to what he wanted to start.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wor … -bit-music
NeX is right, and he should know more than most of us, there is only so much room inside a DMG-01. If we could put all of our ideas in one box, imagine what we all could come up with.
You could always look at a clock mod like what getlofi uses. http://www.getlofi.com/?page_id=1302 Can use either a rotary pot or a slider (which was NeX's idea) with a toggle or rocker switch. This is something I'm currently working on for a Game Boy I'm modding along with a reverb/echo kit which was also done by NeX originally. Either the crystal mod or getlofi kit would take less then 1"X1" of space and do offer some good built in effects.
I spent two hours on Nex's site again last night and came across his version of this. I think it's pretty cool, but I would like more feedback to anyone who has done this and whether they think it's cool enough to offer in the rackmount.
Figure price and time over usefulness.
Pushing the boundaries on concepts is what I do best. I am a polarizer.
i want to put this chip in the project: http://www.musikding.de/product_info.ph … rb-IC.html
but at the moment i cant afford it, i think this would make a huge difference because so much can be done with just this chip.
I love that you seem excited about this, Nex. Just having you interested means so many things for this project that I can't even fathom.
NeX, I think that you are headed in the right direction. The raw sounds could use some effects.
If we added that chip, do you think we would still need to add the LTC 1799, or a crystal mod?
I noticed it had 'pitch' as one of it's effects.
I guess the next logical thing would be a switchable mixer to select what sound you want affected?
Maybe just a on/off/thru switch for each DMG or NES?
NeX, I think that you are headed in the right direction. The raw sounds could use some effects.
If we added that chip, do you think we would still need to add the LTC 1799, or a crystal mod?
I noticed it had 'pitch' as one of it's effects.I guess the next logical thing would be a switchable mixer to select what sound you want affected?
Maybe just a on/off/thru switch for each DMG or NES?
i think it would be worth keeping the LTC1799, you could probably have a set of pre defined resistances that give you the over and underclocked speeds, the LTC effects the CPU speed, which gives other effects other than just pitch change
The box I would buy in a heartbeat:
- 4x DMG + Cart slots
- Breakout ports for controllers
- 4x pitch with the LTC1799 controlled by MIDI
- 4x MIDI controlled lowpass filters
- Possibly an opamp circuit to boost the GB's a little bit
- That chip NeX linked does look cool... maybe a little much though.
Some arduino jimmy rigging would be needed to get the extra outputs for the LTC1799's and filters, might even need to move to a bigger platform like the arduino mega. I would just leave the software part out of all of this, so as to not infringe on any material or whatnot. (Cart slots mostly solve this problem).
I'd just leave the NES seperate from this project. It might be worth it to remove the screens all together, as pretty as they look. 
Can't say I'm a fan of the "Ninstrument" name. I think it would be a better idea to move away from association with video games to really get a professional project. + another hear hear for a DIY kit version! Keep up the good work though - great potential here. 
(If you really wanted to go all out, you could design new PCB's for this form factor. See: http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/4485/ … pcb-files/ )
Last edited by Theta_Frost (Jan 22, 2012 7:35 pm)
