Sid or FM?

Okay I need to pick to build a Midibox Sid or a Midibox FM.  I am pretty young and so I want to start with an easier one and I think the FM is a bit easier/simpler but the Sid I was going to make was a C step with 1 sid.  But I think I might like the sid sound a bit more but I’ve been getting more and more interested in the FM sound after hearing NILS rendition of Grabbag.  So which should be my project over the summer? ::slight_smile:

what does being young have to do with it?  are you an experience solderer?  the MBFM calls for a little SMD soldering which can be quite intimidating and has been known to fry a few IC’s…  you may want to stick with the MBSID if it’s your first project.

Err you might have missed the point though… I’d try a SID emulator VSTi and an FM VSTi (Like NI’s FM7) and see which one you like the sound of - they’re VERY different animals!

From a module (core, fm/sid, din, dout) it doesn’t make much of a difference - they’re all equally easy/hard. Those few SMD pins really aren’t as much a problem as it is often believed. Go for the one you like the sound of more. Start with the basic version (no CS). If that works out for you and you enjoyed building it - build a CS afterwards.

Allright I think I’m gonna go FM.  I like the sound and smd soldering doesn’t matter to me much so meh.  Also being young means i’m dumb and not as learned as you.

…but I’ve been getting more and more interested in the FM sound after hearing NILS rendition of Grabbag.

BTW, this demo doesn’t do the FM justice. It’s only using the default not-all-that-awesome gm-bank.

do what I’m young and stupid enough to plan…do them symultaneously! I couldn’t choose either… And whilst I have the QuadraSID plug-in, and a more-or-less functioning FM synth i wrote in max/msp…the sexy appeal of actual hardware is relentless :slight_smile:

Changed my mind lol.  I’m going with SID because I’m way more into chiptunes and obsolete hardware and stuff but I’m making FM after it too!  This is fun!