Check out the analog synth I built!

[adhmzaiusz]

Hey guys, long time since I started a thread. Anyways, I just finished building this synth, its a soundlab minisynth by ray wilson.

It took some time, but it was well worth it in the end! Its extremely useful and makes alot of cool sounds! If anyone here has built the x0xb0x, I recommend this synth, its probably the best monosynth i have right now!!

anyway, check this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfXXtKp17Zc

heres some pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... e416ab566f

This link will allow you access to my photoalbum even if you dont have a facebook!

Thanks!

Feel free to ask if you have any questions!

[Johnisfaster]

digging the music.

I bought a modular soundlab synth some time back and ended up selling it less than a week later as I realized I really wanted a quality modular. I currently have a pretty decent doepfer system that is just amazing to play with. I'm surprised it only took you 8 hours to build it though.

[adventurepants_]

wicked. the bitrate isnt kind to the sound, but im loving the squelchy goodness. how accurate are the oscillators? ie can you accurately and repeatedly get to any note with the freq knob?

[adventurepants_]

digging the music.

I bought a modular soundlab synth some time back and ended up selling it less than a week later as I realized I really wanted a quality modular. I currently have a pretty decent doepfer system that is just amazing to play with. I'm surprised it only took you 8 hours to build it though.

what didnt you like about the soundlab? ive looked at them before, id love another analog mod/semi mod box.

[Johnisfaster]

digging the music.

I bought a modular soundlab synth some time back and ended up selling it less than a week later as I realized I really wanted a quality modular. I currently have a pretty decent doepfer system that is just amazing to play with. I'm surprised it only took you 8 hours to build it though.

what didnt you like about the soundlab? ive looked at them before, id love another analog mod/semi mod box.

well nothing against the soundlabs, they are pretty cool, but you can get a soundlab synth with modular patch bays modded onto them for around $600-$700, now compare a proper doepfer rig that has the same exact features, it'll cost a hell of a lot more for sure but it's gonna sound wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better. I had the soundlab for only 3 or 4 days and I could tell that the vco's and filter weren't 'cream of the crop'. if your budget is only $600-700 then by all means get a soundlab but I held the bar a little higher and decided to let my credit card drown me absolutely no regrets about it here.

basically soundlabs sound pretty cool, very noisey and can give you a wide range of blips and bleeps and buzzes but you're never gonna listen to it and think "damn that filter sounds so awesome"

[john doe by choice]

Nice - I've got a few SID chips here myself, now waiting on PCB's from the UK to show up so I can start on my own SIDbox...maybe I'll have enough time to finish it by the end of the summer - if so, pics and samples up then.

[adhmzaiusz]

digging the music.

I bought a modular soundlab synth some time back and ended up selling it less than a week later as I realized I really wanted a quality modular. I currently have a pretty decent doepfer system that is just amazing to play with. I'm surprised it only took you 8 hours to build it though.

Thanks.

Did you build the modular soundlab or was it someone else? I personally think the sound quality is excellent...hey you are still hearing the sound of electricity from those oscillators!

Well, I didn't exactly time myself to the dot but it took maybe 2 hours to populate the pcb, the casing and wiring was the challenge. I guess when you work at kinko's for 7 years you find efficient ways to perform repetitive routines. I had to do the whole thing over a month though, because the biggest effort was to track down all the parts.

[adhmzaiusz]

wicked. the bitrate isnt kind to the sound, but im loving the squelchy goodness. how accurate are the oscillators? ie can you accurately and repeatedly get to any note with the freq knob?

Yea the bitrate ain't so nice, but at least i was one of those guys who didnt just use the damn camera mic!

Are you also refering to how well the oscillators track? Well, they track good over about 3 octaves. when turning the knob i guess it depends on which pots you've selected for detailed resolution. But with a tuned ear its easy to just turn the knob until you hear the oscillators match in pitch. Its kinda like tuning a guitar. I personally have no problem repeatedly getting the same notes. The resolution of the parts i selected are good.

yea i was also happy when i heard this thing could squelch acid style!

[scott nathaniel]

adhmzaiusz:
Looks like a lot of work soldering and organizing that spaghetti. Nice to see people tinning the ol' soldering iron. I just bought one and am gearing to make my project a simple pickup replacement, gotta start somewhere, right. Thanks for posting your project pics.

[Tone Deft]

congrats, must feel good! do yourself a favor next time and buy a buncha different colored wires.

[adhmzaiusz]

digging the music.

I bought a modular soundlab synth some time back and ended up selling it less than a week later as I realized I really wanted a quality modular. I currently have a pretty decent doepfer system that is just amazing to play with. I'm surprised it only took you 8 hours to build it though.

what didnt you like about the soundlab? ive looked at them before, id love another analog mod/semi mod box.

well nothing against the soundlabs, they are pretty cool, but you can get a soundlab synth with modular patch bays modded onto them for around $600-$700, now compare a proper doepfer rig that has the same exact features, it'll cost a hell of a lot more for sure but it's gonna sound wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better. I had the soundlab for only 3 or 4 days and I could tell that the vco's and filter weren't 'cream of the crop'. if your budget is only $600-700 then by all means get a soundlab but I held the bar a little higher and decided to let my credit card drown me absolutely no regrets about it here.

basically soundlabs sound pretty cool, very noisey and can give you a wide range of blips and bleeps and buzzes but you're never gonna listen to it and think "damn that filter sounds so awesome"

Yea, definetly not cream of the crop but, it sounds great. I mean, I regularly get to mess with arp 2600s to oscars to synthi A's and I mean it definetly sounds related to these machines, not the same but to me sounds how i'd explain as 'unrefined aggressive electricity' sound which these machines have. Thats how i'd explain it anyway, I know many may not share my perspective but right now I'm liking this better than my other monos, they have a more 'polished' analog sound. The thing is very quirky and hooked up to midi to cv control is an entirely different beast. And haha, I did listen and say damn that filter sounds cool John! Sorry! Mine distorts and its messy and nice! but I see the advantage of modular variety though

Nice - I've got a few SID chips here myself, now waiting on PCB's from the UK to show up so I can start on my own SIDbox...maybe I'll have enough time to finish it by the end of the summer - if so, pics and samples up then.

Would definetly like to see this complete! stay on top of this dont let it sit on the old shelf collecting dust!

adhmzaiusz:
Looks like a lot of work soldering and organizing that spaghetti. Nice to see people tinning the ol' soldering iron. I just bought one and am gearing to make my project a simple pickup replacement, gotta start somewhere, right. Thanks for posting your project pics.

Yea it was quite the italian dish to prepare, with the right tools like a solder pump/sucker it makes life easier when fixing the 3 legged components like transisters. Good luck to you, it seems many people i've seen on the net dont actually get around to completing theirs, but this just reminds me of lego for adults, and just let your drive be the end goal of a cool noise box to tweak. Avoid solid core wire at all costs!!

congrats, must feel good! do yourself a favor next time and buy a buncha different colored wires.

Hah! yea, I have 3 more on order and the sequencer and this was one of my to do list things to improve. But problem is wire costs are too much when you want visual variety. But for troubleshooting, definetly helps.

[adventurepants_]

Yea, definetly not cream of the crop but, it sounds great. I mean, I regularly get to mess with arp 2600s to oscars to synthi A's and I mean it definetly sounds related to these machines, not the same but to me sounds how i'd explain as 'unrefined aggressive electricity' sound which these machines have. Thats how i'd explain it anyway, I know many may not share my perspective but right now I'm liking this better than my other monos, they have a more 'polished' analog sound. The thing is very quirky and hooked up to midi to cv control is an entirely different beast. And haha, I did listen and say damn that filter sounds cool John! Sorry! Mine distorts and its messy and nice! but I see the advantage of modular variety though

Ive got a Synthi AKS, which started my analog bug, and your description of "unrefined aggressive electricity" is perfect for that. Im starting to lean closer and closer to some sort of modular like a doepfer, but your video got me GASSING bad. I love the AKS for bleeps and bloops, and mono lines, but its not the most melodic machine. i remember someone on here saying they had a Wretch Machine, i would dearly love to play with one of those, the clips ive heard were completely filthy. Analog FTW!

[adhmzaiusz]

Ive got a Synthi AKS, which started my analog bug, and your description of "unrefined aggressive electricity" is perfect for that. Im starting to lean closer and closer to some sort of modular like a doepfer, but your video got me GASSING bad. I love the AKS for bleeps and bloops, and mono lines, but its not the most melodic machine. i remember someone on here saying they had a Wretch Machine, i would dearly love to play with one of those, the clips ive heard were completely filthy. Analog FTW!

Wow luck you! I certainly wish I could have a synthi aks. I'm surprised that your "gassing" (lol) hasn't been put to rest just after owning that machine alone. Do you have midi>cv control on the synthi? Maybe thats all you'll need is proper control over that thing and you could be bangin' all night long. The soundlab is soooo limited to any synthi in comparison, i think its just how its put to use rather than what you use. Although I wish I could have a synthi, my synth owning desires are extinguished since I realized why spend mass money on machines that I could just build instead for a fraction of the cost?

I'm personally a fan of detaching the gate from the cv and controlling them separately to get groovin results that you can tweak pitch while the gate is workin its own business. You cant properly do this with modern midi. Encore! Hail Analog FTW!!

p.s. I think its Machinesworking that has the wretch machine

[adventurepants_]

Ive got a Synthi AKS, which started my analog bug, and your description of "unrefined aggressive electricity" is perfect for that. Im starting to lean closer and closer to some sort of modular like a doepfer, but your video got me GASSING bad. I love the AKS for bleeps and bloops, and mono lines, but its not the most melodic machine. i remember someone on here saying they had a Wretch Machine, i would dearly love to play with one of those, the clips ive heard were completely filthy. Analog FTW!

Wow luck you! I certainly wish I could have a synthi aks. I'm surprised that your "gassing" (lol) hasn't been put to rest just after owning that machine alone. Do you have midi>cv control on the synthi? Maybe thats all you'll need is proper control over that thing and you could be bangin' all night long. The soundlab is soooo limited to any synthi in comparison, i think its just how its put to use rather than what you use. Although I wish I could have a synthi, my synth owning desires are extinguished since I realized why spend mass money on machines that I could just build instead for a fraction of the cost?

I'm personally a fan of detaching the gate from the cv and controlling them separately to get groovin results that you can tweak pitch while the gate is workin its own business. You cant properly do this with modern midi. Encore! Hail Analog FTW!!

p.s. I think its Machinesworking that has the wretch machine

I absolutely love the AKS, and I know im incredibly lucky! Ive actually got to send it off to the UK to get restored its only %75 working (ring mod dead, reverb very noisy, intermittent power problem, pinpad is occassionaly sketchy, metal keyboard doesnt track properly), I got mine after it was sitting in storage for many years. It is a wonderfully intuitive machine, but i lose hours and hours just making soundscapes when i went to it for a bassline! I will get the CV-midi converter, but you cannot use the standard ones due to the weird voltages and the only ones Ive found so far are several hundred pounds made just for Synthis. So its going to be a while before i get this %100 into my workflow with a DAW. but as an instrument it speaks to me as much as my guitars, it seems simple and yet endlessly deep. So im still looking for something analog, that can be fitted into a modern workflow a bit easier while this long term project matures!

[rtopia]

adhmzaiusz > good for you man!

soundlab was my first build - it was my gateway drug to euro rack

[r]