Hey!
I’m planning on making myself a SIDbox to get some tunes out. I have an old..ish electric organ that has a MIDI out
so i’m gonna use that to play it. Not sure yet if i’ll make a separate box or build everything in the organ. Depends
on what I find inside i guess.
EDIT: Since my lenghty starter post was answered i decided to transform this into a “status” post.
Project status
I have 4 SID chips. hooray!
I play notes on the organ and i get sid synth sounds out?
Yes.
There is minimal and complete. Can i do something in between?
There’s also “Step B”. Or whatever you come up with. This is DIY after all. You can always start with the full CS and remove what you don’t want.
Or are they all equally so?
They all affect the sound differently. Again, pick what you want. It would probably help a lot if you understood how the synthesis in the SID works.
And if i end up doing everything but the led matrix thingie, how many DIN and DOUT modules i need?
There’s a schematic linked to from the CS pages on ucapps that shows you exactly how many you need for what.
Banksticks: If i understood right, this allows me to save a “sound setting”?
Yes.
Is it possible and are there any “ready made” sets
Yes. (again, that’s all on ucapps.de) 
Engines: Lead engines, bassline engines, drum engines? Do these even concern me somehow?
If you want sound out of it - yes.
MIDIbox SID can be fully programmed using the most minimal control surface (LCD, a few buttons, 1 encoder). All the additional control surface controls make it faster to get to certain functions. Programming patches becomes faster and more intuitive, and the knobs can be fun if you want to tweak the sound as you play.
If you just want to play preset SID sounds (the included presets are pretty good), you don’t need any of it. I still recommend the minimal control surface (“step B”) though, so you can see patch names.
You can also create SID patches with your computer using editor software available around here (I don’t use it personally), which may negate the requirement for a lot of controls.
As far as the bassline, lead, drum engines … if you want to play monophonic 3-oscillator SID sounds, most of your time will be spent with the lead engine. The other engines are optimized for different things. Drum and bassline have built-in mini-sequencers and a few parameter optimizations for creating some pretty damn cool little grooves. But it is all available to you with the most basic MIDIbox SID.
Thanks for the nice reply.
I read (again) thru the ucapps.de and tried to understand more.
The great sound samples gave me a rough idea what i’d want from
my cs. Atleast a better idea than i had. (why had i not seen them before…)
Anyway. One new question popped up. Do I need a core for every engine or
can one core handle them? The drum engine part said that it would do with
2 SIDs so that means i’d need atleast a 1xcore+2xSID conf. But can that
core handle for example a lead and drum engine? Or to get both out i’d
need 2 cores?
Yeh alot of questions before even starting but i just want to get my bearings
before ordering stuff. 
In MIDIbox SID, there are two different uses of the word “engine”. The software uses “engine” to describe the programming modes, such as “drum” or “lead”. A single PIC supports all of these engines (or modes) - they are like resident programs.
“Engine” is also used on the MB-6582 (the 8-SID monster synth you’ve no doubt seen in pictures floating around here) to describe a Core+SID set. The MB-6582 has up to 4 SID pairs controlled by 4 PICs, which can be selected for control from the front panel using the “SID Engine” buttons.
Let’s put it another way: a SID Engine is simply the chosen parameter set for a given patch, all handled (albeit not simultaneously) by a single PIC. In a multi-SID setup, a SID Engine could also refer to one of its Core+SID modules, each of which has its own selectable software “engine”.
Is that sort of clear?
That did make it more clear yes. Thanks.
The way i understood that is if i want my midibox to play out lead sounds AND drums
at the same time (which i do) i need 2 cores. One set to lead mode and one to drum
mode. each controls its own sid(s).
With one core, i could only use lead OR drum mode.
Core=module with the PIC
mode=the software engine, as used in ucapps.de
starting to look like a 2xcore+3x sid (2for drum engine) setup for me.
the 8 SID monster is cool btw. as it is possible to get it as a kit, its starting
to sound like a tempting platform to do even my smaller setup.
Placed an order for pcbs and pics from mikes. Other components i’ll source thru my dad. He prolly has all the basic
ones on shelf. Ordered pcbs for 2 cores, 4 sids and full cs. also a bankstick pcb. SIDs i bought from ebay, someone
was running a 4 sid auction so i went for that. All were the same, older model.
Now its waiting for parts to get things going!
Right so got 4x 6581 sids from ebay. 2 seem to be basically indentical and 2 others not so.
Works fine for a stereo lead + bassline + drumline setup i was thinking of.
I placed an order to mikes-electronic for pcbs and PICs but after the order confirmation e-mail
i havent heard a peep from there. It said they would send me payment info and i’ve sent e-mails
asking for it but nothing. might have to consider ordering abroad. :S
They == MIke == A single person with [job, wife, kids, friends, life].
Patience is a virtue.
They == MIke == A single person with [job, wife, kids, friends, life].
Patience is a virtue.
Ahh. Well that explains. Gonna give it more time then. Not in a hurry anyway.