[sdiy] Taking a Step towards - - --((FUTURE-PREDICTIONS))-- - -

[Magnus Danielson]

From: James Patchell <patchell at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Taking a Step towards - - --((FUTURE-PREDICTIONS))-- - -
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2004 18:27:32 -0800
Message-ID: <5.2.1.1.2.20040108182329.00b12308 at pop.west.cox.net>

> At 12:05 PM 1/8/2004 -0500, RevTor at aol.com wrote:
> 
> >so guys, all this talk of programable logic and "brute force" stuff 
> >getting so cheap...
> >
> >how can it (or anything new) be applied to make new analog 
> >toys???  besides 5.1 surround (which would be a cool module....)
> >Paul, you once dreamed of a programmable modular with a bus style 
> >backplane or something TITAN you were going to call (?) it but it was $$ 
> >back before MOTM (??97-98?)  would this be more feasible today?
> >what about today?    the state of the art in opamps and IC's and 
> >microprocessors fueled the programmable polysynths of the 80's, now the 
> >computing power per dollar and DSP is fueling all the VA's and softsynths, 
> >I guess today all the $$ is in tiny chips for celphones and flat tv's and 
> >market driven make me vomit me too technology..  booring stuff....   how 
> >can we apply whats new and hot to analog synths?? is there just too much 
> >of a gap?
> >I really have no clue as to whats out there today on the periphery, Im 
> >still trying to catch up with 70's tech.....
> >anyone care to comment?
> >are us through-hole dinosaurs destined for extinction? Say it aint so!!!!
> >Anyone?
> >FPGA's programmable as CEM style synths on a chip?
> >just a fun topic Id like to hear more about....
> 
>          Well, I can easily see the XC3S400 being able to "emulate" at 
> least 256 oscillators and 256 multi mode filters and 512 envelope 
> generators (VCAs too), all at one time...in fact, if anything, I am 
> probably underestimating.  The part seems to be capable of clocking at 
> 200MHz,  the part should be able to do all that in about 1.3 micro 
> seconds....kinda gives you an idea of the power we are talking about.

Naturally it also has MIDI, key-assigner, CPU etc. all embedded.

I've been toying witht he idea to answer this thread with a
MIDI-keyassigner-DCO design for an FPGA. I guess I am just being a bit lazy,
since it isn't very difficult to do. The DCOs are trivial really. I think I
would spend more time on the MIDI and key-assigner side. Maybe things like
pitch-bend would be something to spend time on how to solve neatly. Oh well.
I guess the project would die from creeping featurism.

Cheers,
Magnus