sammichSID Midi Setup Question

MIDIbox SID
1

Hey Guys,

Question 1: i just got my sammichSID and there are some questions which i couldnt solve by looking at the manual.

I want to send a midi clock from the sammichSID over the midi out port to sync my gameboy (arduinoboy/lsdj).

The Arduinoboy doesnt respont if i start the sequencer by pressing F1 on the sammichSID.

The Arduinoboy responds perfectly when i send a midiclock through my PC DAW, so it must be something wrong with the sammich.

I think it should be Possible in Bassline mode, but i tried different things that didnt work out.

What am i doing wrong ?

Question 2: I opened the sammichSID and saw that there are 2x 8550 R5 MOS Chips in it. I never heard of 8550, are those replicas ?

Question 3: My case broke, is there a place where i can buy sammichSID Cases or does anyone have the File for use with Ponoko ?

Thanks guys for your help :flowers:

2

Actually I haven’t tried using MBSID as a MIDI master. I didn’t think it sent out a clock signal - I thought it just let you set the BPM for all the clock-based parameters? If you get it working, though, let me know! I too have an ArduinoBoy (actually just finished my rackmount design of it) and need to sync LSDJ to a clock. I was planning on using MBSEQ for that (as soon as I build one).

As far as the 8550’s - are you sure it’s not 8580? 8580 is just one of the revisions of the 9V SID family (6582/8580). Compared to the 6581, it’s less buggy, more punchy, but lacks some warmth and grit.

3

No it is 8550 R5, thats why i am asking!

I read in the V1 Manual that sending clock was possible, but i didnt read it in the V2 ?! i dont get the point, maybe someone knows how to use the sammichSID as master clock (midi out).

Thanks

4

No, MBSID V2 doesn’t send a MIDI clock, but I will add this to the next release.

How/When should MIDI clock start & stop be sent?

Best Regards, Thorsten.

5

Thanks thorsten.

I think it should just start/stop so that it is in sync with the bassline or drums whenever i start them (with F1).

would be great to have that feature, thanks.

Anyone know anything about the 8550 R5 Sids that i have ?! Are those fake ? Do they sound different ?

Should i record a patch (tell me which one) so that we can compare ?

Thanks

6

If start/stop could be linked to a button as well, that would be amazing, or even just a menu option I can select and toggle would work.

I assume RyuX was referring to the F1 button on the sammichSID, but that won’t work for us because it will play the patch. It would be really helpful for us if start/stop could be an independent event.

7

No, MBSID V2 doesn’t send a MIDI clock, but I will add this to the next release.

How/When should MIDI clock start & stop be sent?

Best Regards, Thorsten.

Great! I was looking for a MIDI through for passing through the clock of my sequencer. But this would basically be the same, right?

8

Great! I was looking for a MIDI through for passing through the clock of my sequencer. But this would basically be the same, right?

Stop: is this your intention?

Then I would propose to build a MIDI Thru port instead of passing the MIDI clock events via software, because this would add a latency of ca. 300..500 uS

Best Regards, Thorsten.

9

Stop: is this your intention?

Then I would propose to build a MIDI Thru port instead of passing the MIDI clock events via software, because this would add a latency of ca. 300..500 uS

Best Regards, Thorsten.

Alright good to know, I would like to do this, but dunno if that is possible with a sammichSID.

If I would be able to switch the port between THRU and OUT mode in software that would be a better solution for me. Is that a possibility or is it something routed in the hardware?

10

Question 2: I opened the sammichSID and saw that there are 2x 8550 R5 MOS Chips in it. I never heard of 8550, are those replicas ?

Hmmm where have I seen this before? :wink:

http://discourse.midibox.org/t/topic/12708

They are definitely remarked. You should check out if all the oscillators work, and if the filters work correctly.

11

Wow that thread ended badly…ouch.

12

No, MBSID V2 doesn’t send a MIDI clock, but I will add this to the next release.

How/When should MIDI clock start & stop be sent?

Woohoo :slight_smile: I think the F1 or Play Button on MB6582 would be fine, as this would only be used in bassline or drum mode I guess…

13

Alright good to know, I would like to do this, but dunno if that is possible with a sammichSID.

If I would be able to switch the port between THRU and OUT mode in software that would be a better solution for me. Is that a possibility or is it something routed in the hardware?

I would also like to use my sammichSID MIDI OUT port as a MIDI THRU port instead . . . Did MissingSense’s question above ever get answered?

 

I’ve dug about the menus to see if I can do this myself, but so far without any luck. 

14

Such an option isn’t available, therefore you haven’t found it.

 

You could enable it in the firmware: open main.inc, search for:

;; initialize the integrated MIDI merger
        movlw MIOS_MIDI_MERGER_DISABLED ; should be disabled for a synthesizer
        call MIOS_MIDI_MergerSet

 

and replace it by:

;; initialize the integrated MIDI merger
        movlw MIOS_MIDI_MERGER_ENABLED
        call MIOS_MIDI_MergerSet

 

 

Thereafter build a new .hex file

 

Best Regards, Thorsten.

15

Such an option isn’t available, therefore you haven’t found it.

 

You could enable it in the firmware: open main.inc, search for:

;; initialize the integrated MIDI merger
movlw MIOS_MIDI_MERGER_DISABLED ; should be disabled for a synthesizer
call MIOS_MIDI_MergerSet

 

and replace it by:

;; initialize the integrated MIDI merger
movlw MIOS_MIDI_MERGER_ENABLED
call MIOS_MIDI_MergerSet

 

 

Thereafter build a new .hex file

 

Best Regards, Thorsten.

Thanks Thorsten . . . Beer!!!

16

I attempted this little MIDI Thru tweak. Got the new sammichSID .hex file compiled alright and uploaded the new firmware to my sammich without apparent problem. The sammich works fine and passes MIDI as I had hoped.

 

There is one thing I wanted to check. After installing the new firmware, MIOS Studio gives the following error message:

 

Detected MIOS8 and MIOS32 response - selection not supported yet!

Check MIDI IN/OUT connections

and Device ID!

 

I’m guessing it’s because when MIOS Studio sends out a query, it doesn’t expect to receive that query back (seeing as how it’s actually hooked up to a MIDI Thru). If so, I suspect the error message is the expected behavior here, no? If so, is it going to cause me problems if I ever try to upload another .hex file; could I simply unplug the MIDI Thru cable?

17

Right!

I improved the feedback detection in one of the last MIOS Studio versions; could you please check if this still happens with MIOS Studio 2.4.6?

 

Best Regards, Thorsten.

18

Updating from 2.4.5 to 2.4.6 fixed the issue; everything is working splendidly! Thanks TK.