Chipsforbrain xoxbox build - not working!

[Shorne86]

Oh, in that case i'll check it out again! I hope i can get this thing to work.
Otherwise ill have to spend another month making another kit - from someone reputable.

[Shorne86]

Alright so I measured all the voltages using pin 20 of the IC3 as ground as discussed. note that there is no XTL1 in atm.
I have checked J4 and there is 5.36 and 11.85v

1:0.5V
2:0V
3:0V
4:2.02V
5:0V
6:0.48V
7:0.06V
8:0.52V
9:2.17V
10:2.17V
11:0
12:0
13:0
14:0.43
15:0.43
16:0.43
17:0.43
18:.66
19:0.83
20:ground
21:2.17
22:.35
23:.35
24:0
25:0
26:0
27:0.29
28:0.50
29:0.51
30:0.19
31:0.47
32:0
33:0.42
34:0.42
35:0
36:0
37:0
38:0
39:0
40:0

[guest]

it looks like the ribbon cable is bad
check for 5v on the ioboard side of the ribbon cable
and then for 5v on the mainboard side

there is no 5v anywhere on your microcontroller

[Shorne86]

Yeah, I noticed. If i use the 'analgoue ground' I get 4.87Volts on pin 9 and 2.4V for pin 40.
I'll check the IO board side of the ribbon connector. What ground do I use over there?

[guest]

you can use a multimeter
and measure the resistance
be sure to check both 5v and ground wires

[Shorne86]

Hey im back, i got abit side tracked with other projects.
I spent a bit of time on my xoxbox recently and managed to get sounds out of it. There is a loose connection somewhere down near the microcontroller. I sorta have to push and hold down on the pin 20 corner of the microcontroller to get it going. Otherwise it doesnt work, it could be the oscillator though I could be wrong( it was hard to desoldier the old one and replace it with a willyz one) I'll try soildering it all again, but im pretty sure everything has a good connection down there.
Also switches 20 and 21 in key board dont illuminate or make any noise.
I should be able to make that work, but any ideas of what to check?
Thanks guys

[guest]

sounds like the crystal
or the socket for ic20
ive seen bad sockets before
rehit the solder joints in that area

check the voltage on the broken switches
and see if they toggle between 5v and 0v when pressed

[Shorne86]

I found the reason of the loose contact. When i put the IC socket in one of the pins missed the holes in the pcb and i couldn't fix it, i thought i fixed the problem by soildering a wire through the pcb and to make contact with the bent over pin but it didnt, i totally forgot about that. I fixed the prblem though and now it all works!
I made a few patterns and tested the slide, pitch and accents and a few of the beginner things and they all seem to work. Is there a way or list of procedures to test all functions? The only issue is the tempo knob acts in reverse, so I might fix that tomorrow by swapping the pins around.

Should I bother tuning the VCO to spec?

Also the micro controller i bought from Willyx said its 1.05v should I bother upgrading the firmware it? I heard the tech transplant ones have boot loader issues? I wouldn't mind the tap tempo function.
Thanks for all your help guys! I couldn't have done it without ya'll.

[guest]

you should definitely tune the vco
check the forums for the best way to do that

you should be able to upgrade the firmware
if you have a willzyx micro in there

[Shorne86]

Alright so I tried syncing my Korg Electribe-r MK2 to my xoxbox last night via a MIDI cable. I used the out of the Electribe MIDI and the in on the xoxbox. The electribe has midi for in, thru and out.
When I put it on one of the MIDI functions on the xoxbox the sounds of the tracks programmed through the Electribe sound the same. They all have bass notes, even notes which I know are snares or high hats. Is there any way to trouble shoot this? Anything to check?
Thanks again guys.

[xlarge]

Alright so I tried syncing my Korg Electribe-r MK2 to my xoxbox last night via a MIDI cable. I used the out of the Electribe MIDI and the in on the xoxbox. The electribe has midi for in, thru and out.
When I put it on one of the MIDI functions on the xoxbox the sounds of the tracks programmed through the Electribe sound the same. They all have bass notes, even notes which I know are snares or high hats. Is there any way to trouble shoot this? Anything to check?
Thanks again guys.

I'm sorry, i think i'm a bit thick. I don't understand.
Are you using your electribe to sequence the x0x?
Are you surpriced that the x0xb0x does not output hight hats or snares?

[antto]

i think his (drum machine, right?) triggers his x0x
maybe set the x0x to a sepparate midi channel or something

[Shorne86]

Alright so I tried syncing my Korg Electribe-r MK2 to my xoxbox last night via a MIDI cable. I used the out of the Electribe MIDI and the in on the xoxbox. The electribe has midi for in, thru and out.
When I put it on one of the MIDI functions on the xoxbox the sounds of the tracks programmed through the Electribe sound the same. They all have bass notes, even notes which I know are snares or high hats. Is there any way to trouble shoot this? Anything to check?
Thanks again guys.

I'm sorry, i think i'm a bit thick. I don't understand.
Are you using your electribe to sequence the x0x?
Are you surpriced that the x0xb0x does not output hight hats or snares?

Im new to the whole xoxbox and sequencing scene. So yeah I am suprised that the xoxbox dosen't output high hats or snare, Is the normal? And yes when I did the test I was getting the drum machiine to trigger the xoxbox.

If you were me how would you do it? would you make the xoxbox trigger the drum machine? Would you use Dinsync out din out?

[Shorne86]

Wait ignore that last post. That was actually the same note on repeat when I was trying to tune the VCO.

So i've done a bit more testing.
When i use the midi cable to connect the 'out' of the drum machine and 'in' of the xoxbox I can press play on the drum machine and both start simultaneously.
When I use the midi cable to connect the 'out' of the xoxbox and 'in' of the drum machine I can press play on the xoxbox and both start simultaneously.
My questions is: Shouldn't I be able to hear both the drum machine and the xoxbox on the unit im connecting in to? E.g if the drum machine sequences the xoxbox shouldnt i be able to heard the xoxbox and drum machine through the head phone jack of the xoxbox?

[xlarge]

Well. No. And sort of.
Midi is not audio. So midi won't help you in mixing audio from two devices.
Midi will let you control, as you've discovered, two (or more) sequencers starting at the same time and keeping them in sync.
Midi will also let you control other aspects of the synth. You could set up your electribe, i guess, to send midi notes to the x0xb0x and it will play them happily.
But, the audio is not mixed. What ever _sound_ that is generated in your electribe will not appear in the x0xb0x...
That's what mixers are for, combining audio signals... The x0xb0x does have a mixer... Of sorts:
Connect the output of your drum machine to the mix in on the x0xb0x and both machine's sound will appear at the output of the x0xb0x.