[sdiy] Circuit Boards / kits

[Scott Gravenhorst]

David Betz <dbetz at xlisper.com> wrote:
>On Sep 24, 2008, at 1:26 PM, Antti Huovilainen wrote:
>
>> Minimalist circuits that favor low cost and good performance. IOW,  
>> reduce complexity where the effect on stability etc is minimal. IOW,  
>> don't do it the PAIA way :)
>
>Why are people on this list so down on the PAiA stuff? Is it really  
>*that* bad? 

I don't think so.  The "complaints" have pretty much been that it uses linear pitch
CV, it's not patchable and the VCOs soft synch.  Patchable can be done by modifying.
 The soft synch is drastically reduced by one of two simple modifications.  I never
had a problem with linear pitch CV and I found a way to modulate pitch with an LFO
using the 555 timer's "FM" input (though this will NOT work for audio rate
modulation).  All of this is documented on my web site URL (below).

>I'm very tempted to order a FatMan kit partly because it's  
>pretty inexpensive and comes with everything I need to assemble it. I  
>don't have to source the parts myself which seems to be necessary for  
>many of the other DIY synth projects. 

And you can go here: http://home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/ for some simple mods that
extend it's function.  

>Are there better everything- included kits than the PAiA ones?

Probably, but I think the operative phrase in PAiA's favor is "bang for the buck".



-- ScottG
______________________________________________________________
-- Scott Gravenhorst
-- GateManPoly - FPGA-based Polyphonic MIDI LA/FM Synthesizer
-- GateMan-III - FPGA-based Monophonic MIDI LA/FM Synthesizer
-- PolyDaWG/8 - FPGA-based 8 Voice Polyphonic MIDI Synthesizer
-- FatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/
-- NonFatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/electronics/
-- When the going gets tough, the tough use the command line.