...pocket mult?!

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...pocket mult?!

Postby rachelp » Fri May 01, 2009 8:42 pm

Hi,
does anyone know of a product that is like a set of mults for (example, a modular synth) that come in a handy
format similar to a stompbox?

I need a pair of mults to split a CV/Gate connection on my System 100, in lieu of getting modded for now.

The idea is that the System 100 modules 101 & 102 function as two independant modules.
There is no way to make it function like a 2 Oscillator synth however, except from the keyboard itself.
If you send the 101 keyboard a CV/Gate signal, it is not re-routed back to the output ports. The 101's outputs are only
from the keyboard. So there is a simple mod for this, but I am too nervous to do it myself. I plan to
get Steve to do this for me eventually!

But in the meantime, I was hoping there was like a pocket mult type thing I could use to do the job. No one makes stuff like this
anymore. I couldn't even get a MIDI Thru box with buss power until I finally scoured one on ebay today after 2 months of searching,
so I reckon my mult is going to be just as annoying to find!


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Postby Thirteen » Fri May 01, 2009 10:35 pm

What about one of those AB boxes that has A - B - both switching? I think Dunlop make one.
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Postby no-fi » Fri May 01, 2009 10:49 pm

this will do what you want....

http://www.tonetweakers.com/new/tonetwe ... jax3x4.htm
funny though - when someone sent me a link to it the other day I thought "who on earth would need one of these?"
:-)
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Postby no-fi » Fri May 01, 2009 10:50 pm

oh.. they're out of stock....
well, if you're desperate, you can make your own with 12 switched jacks, a metal box, and a bit of wire. Maybe a bit of a scary idea if you don't solder much, but as far as soldering stuff goes, you don't get a much simpler circuit than this, and it beats modding your system 100!
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Postby rachelp » Sat May 02, 2009 1:09 am

That is exactly what I want. I know it is sort of simple to make, but I am cack handed and don't have the tools.
I would want to do a nice job on it, too, but I don't even have a dremel to drill any nice neat holes.


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Postby no-fi » Sat May 02, 2009 1:50 pm

well - since it's just 2 signals and you only want to double them, have you thought of just using 2 slots from a patchbay? if you don't already have one with spare spaces, the be!@#$%^& ultrapatch pro (PX2000) will do what you want for $70-ish brand new.... and leave you with 14 extra patching slots for other stuff....

...come to think of it - for that special purpose synth box I linked you only need two switching jacks, and 10 normal ones.... if you have access to a soldering iron and a normal drill, and even the most absolutely rudimentary idea of how to solder, it'll cost you about $20 to make your own. and maybe an hour of your time. (10 minutes if you knew exactly what you were doing)

......or blow off the whole idea of a splitter box, and just wire up two special purpose cables to split the CV signal and the gate signal into 2.
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Postby no-fi » Fri May 22, 2009 2:40 pm

actually - I just realised that the PX2000 is a 22 way patchbay, not a 16 way - so you'd have 20 spare slots if you used one of them!


What did you end up doing, anyway?
:-)
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Postby rachelp » Fri May 22, 2009 2:47 pm

no-fi wrote:actually - I just realised that the PX2000 is a 22 way patchbay, not a 16 way - so you'd have 20 spare slots if you used one of them!


What did you end up doing, anyway?
:-)


Nothing yet! I have an old Signex patchbay that I can pull apart to do the job. But I have been held up because I
also needed a MIDI thru box to fix keyboard input into the Octopus from my controller. And then I got sick.
And then.... ...anyway, I am just trying to work out which way to patch the connections to do this. Do I just leave the
patchbay "normal" mode or do I have 1/2 normal or denormal the connection?


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Postby no-fi » Fri May 22, 2009 3:12 pm

I think full normalled won't work. For a patchbay slot in half normalled (top-bottom are connected UNLESS you insert a jack in the front on the bottom row) mode, easiest way to do a split is insert the signal at the top back, then take the signal from the top front, and from the bottom back.
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Postby rachelp » Fri May 22, 2009 4:06 pm

Cool, I will try this tonight and report back ;)


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Postby Kurt » Fri May 22, 2009 5:29 pm

Anything wrong with a simple y-cable? Or an A/B/Y box as Steve suggested. Both much easier than modding patchbays!
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Postby no-fi » Fri May 22, 2009 7:14 pm

It depends on the patchbay - be!@#$%^& PX2000 goes from open to full normalled to half normalled to parallel with the flick of a switch for each slot... that's pretty simple.

A Y-cable would need to be soldered (insert lead won't do what she wants) and it seems she doesn't want to solder.

of course an A/B/Y box sounds good too, and could be the answer if you just want to buy something - but most people would have at least a simple patchbay already to play with.
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Postby no-fi » Fri May 22, 2009 7:19 pm

oh, and rachel - what kind of MIDI thru function do you need for setting up your system? would you be interested in a roland A880? it's an 8x8 MIDI patchbay with merge functionality.. might be overkill for your needs, but I bought one about a year ago and never actually used it, so it's on my byebye list that I'm slowly putting onto ebay. let me know if you're interested.
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Postby rachelp » Fri May 22, 2009 10:25 pm

no-fi wrote:oh, and rachel - what kind of MIDI thru function do you need for setting up your system? would you be interested in a roland A880? it's an 8x8 MIDI patchbay with merge functionality.. might be overkill for your needs, but I bought one about a year ago and never actually used it, so it's on my byebye list that I'm slowly putting onto ebay. let me know if you're interested.


I would have been interested in the A880 a few weeks ago, but I just got a Korg KMT-60. If you still have it in a month or so, I may be interested, as I am exploring
more means to not rely on the computer so much, with the Octopus as my main controller now.

The actual problem with MIDI I was trying to overcome was that my keyboard controller - a Moog Phatty does not send power on the MIDI buss, so the "touchprone"
MIDI thru I had would not work as it was buss powered. I had to get power to it via a PG-300 programmer which is not a very good use for it. Now the KMT does it for me.
LIke Steve says about buying stuff twice. And I stupidly sold my old thrub box years ago after I bought the AMT*.

I might be able to use an A880 down the track as an alternative if I ever change my computer setup as I have 3 emagic AMT8's which are pretty annoying to configure
without a computer....

I would actually keep it if I were you - MIDI thru boxes are rare now and a forgotten piece of primitive tech that serves a very important overlooked function!


BTW,the mult idea is cool. There is no voltage dropoff either, which I was worried about....


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Postby no-fi » Sat May 23, 2009 12:01 am

yeah, most CV and gate inputs I've had to deal with seem relatively high impedance. maybe paralleling 9 CV ins from one out would cause a problem, but two from one? easy!


I'm in 2 minds about the A880. It doesn't do anything I've ever had a need for in my entire time playing with MIDI - and I'm actually in a contracting gear phase right now... simpler setups.. so even less need in the future... but on the other hand, yeah who knows? I might have a use for some kind of MIDI patching one day... So finding someone who needed it now would save me from having to waste time worrying back and forth about if I need it or not....
:-)

Lets see how I go. I hope to sell off quite a few more bits of gear on the next few weeks. Made a small but OK start this week. only thing stopping me from having more things on ebay right now (maybe including the A880) is the crap weather of the last week not giving me any sunlight to take decent photos of stuff.
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Postby TimS » Sat May 23, 2009 12:04 am

I've got some custom made Y cables for a guitar rig that were never used (shame too, they cost me a bomb!!)
Your welcome to them rach if you need them..
Switchcraft connectors (1 x TRS and 2 x TS)

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Postby Kurt » Sat May 23, 2009 2:44 am

It would need to be 1ts->2ts

TimS wrote:I've got some custom made Y cables for a guitar rig that were never used (shame too, they cost me a bomb!!)
Your welcome to them rach if you need them..
Switchcraft connectors (1 x TRS and 2 x TS)

Tim..
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Postby rachelp » Sat May 23, 2009 10:53 am

Kurt wrote:It would need to be 1ts->2ts

TimS wrote:I've got some custom made Y cables for a guitar rig that were never used (shame too, they cost me a bomb!!)
Your welcome to them rach if you need them..
Switchcraft connectors (1 x TRS and 2 x TS)

Tim..



Hmm, Kurt is right. I used a TRS plug once before on my frostwave and it didn't like it!

I am multing away now, though - thanks guys....


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Postby rob » Sat May 23, 2009 7:45 pm

if you just need to mult one signal, then the Hard On can do it. ( and much more ! )

http://broadcastproaudio.com/new.htm

and always remember that down here at Broadcast and Pro Harmonic we build one-off widgets all day long, so if there is something you need that you can't get off the shelf, shoot me an email.
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