[sdiy] Newbie alert :-)

[Nicolai Czempin]

>
>Oh, you also asked about a keyboard. From what I've seen, building a
>resistor ladder (matrix? whatever...) keyboard -- that is, an "old
>style" CV keyboard -- is a lot of work. Once again, Ray Wilson has
>done this and you can find the plans on his website. Personally, I'd
>just as soon find a cheap synth with an analog output *or* use a cheap
>MIDI keyboard with a MIDI-to-CV converter (the one from Paia.com is
>probably the cheapest and it's not too bad).
>
>  
>
I think you've convinced me to start with a MIDI/CV interface rather 
than building the old-style keyboard for now.
In fact, just so I'd know I asked about one at the local music store 
"Sound 'n' Drumland".
All they could offer me was one from Doepfer:
http://www.doepfer.de/home_e.htm

Can someone in the know advise me as to the differences between this one 
and the one from paia.com?

Two very significant (for me) but non-functional differences are:
1) The Doepfer one I can just pick up at the store in Berlin, for 111 
Euros, whereas shipping, taxes, tolls, payment, etc. are a real nuisance 
when dealing with importing directly from the US.
2) Obviously, one is a kit while the other is a ready-to-use product. 
Since I'm into DIY, I may prefer the Kit, although I don't think I have 
to build *everything* myself.

What differences in function will be significant?

mfg Nicolai