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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Check out </FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><A
href="http://blackfin.uclinux.org/">http://blackfin.uclinux.org/</A>. This is an
open source project for developing for the Blackfin DSP from Analog Devices.
Open source compiler, board design, etc. </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Generally speaking, the expensive part of
working with ADI parts will be the cost of the VisualDSP++ compiler. The EZ-KITs
come with a free version of the tool, but the free version of VisualDSP++ has
limited memory access (only 1/4 of the given EZ-KIT). So the open source option
above might be a good idea.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I work on the development team at ADI for
VisualAudio, which is a visual compiler (think MAX/MSP, although it stems from
projects that predate MSP) that generates code for SHARC and Blackfins, as well
as allowing users to add their own modules in C or assembler. It is a nice tool,
but it requires VisualDSP++ to compile the code, so it is unfortunately not a
cheap option. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Another option from Analog Devices: the
SigmaDSP development boards. I think that they are $500, but that comes with a
VERY nice visual compiler, similar to VisualAudio but with nicer graphics, so
once you have spent your $500, you have all the tools you need to work with that
platform. The newest SigmaDSPs are 48 pins, and have stereo ADCs and quad DACs
built into the chip. Much better for building your own boards than the BGA you
find on most Blackfins and SHARCs nowadays. The SigmaDSPs are a bit underpowered
compared to the current SHARCs and Blackfins, but they are very low cost DSPs,
so that is to be expected. </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As far as I know, none of these solutions have a
MIDI interface, or code for MIDI. This doesn't mean that it is in any way
impossible, just that you will need to create your own. I know that someone
created a MIDI interface for the 21161 EZ-KIT, that was a very small daughter
card. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you want to create a sampler, you need to make
sure that the memory access pins are there to move samples from off-chip RAM to
the DSP for processing as quickly as possible. Using DMAs will probably create
too much of a bottleneck.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sean Costello</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2> </DIV></FONT></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=johannes.oberg@gmail.com
href="mailto:johannes.oberg@gmail.com">Johannes Öberg</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=synth-diy@dropmix.xs4all.nl
href="mailto:synth-diy@dropmix.xs4all.nl">synth-diy@dropmix.xs4all.nl</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, October 21, 2005 9:19
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [sdiy] DSP kits (was: Re: has
anyone ever made their own Nord Modular?)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Hijacking your thread: what (cheap) DSP kits are there? I only
know of the EZ-SHARCs, and they don't seem that cheap anymore...<BR><BR>The
Soundart Chameleon would be great if only they would let you use the RS232 in
your synth engine... As it is now, you can't really make a sampler out of it,
can you? (And no; sample dumps over MIDI is not an option...)<BR><BR>Are there
any evaluation boards for DSP in ISA or PCI packages? Or any DIY projects for
building a simple DSP board? Or anything you could put togheter with
FPGAs?<BR><BR>(what I would want to build isn't a Nord Modular, but a
wavetable sound card in ISA form factor! I guess thats even more
insane...)<BR><BR>/J<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>