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Subject: Re: Update from Nathan at Basic Micro

From: "djbrow54" <davebr@...>
Date: 2006-03-16

--- In ComputerVoltageSources@yahoogroups.com, "Grant Richter"

Nice update on the AtomPro24.

> The Speakjet is cute, no doubt about it. A voice synthesizer is a
> bunch of fun, even if the highest frequency out is 8 KHz.

I have a SpeakJet on my PSIM and I have failed to ever find a real use
for it. It's fun but a pain to program. Also, interfacing to it via
software serial is a pain because interrupts have to be disabled. The
programming would be easier if we were to include a TTS256 along with
it. Perhaps this is an opportunity to make the SpeakJet an optional
PCB. It also requires filtering and gain which takes up real estate.
One possibility is to continue to extend the MIDI sysex. We could
pick a different ID and use this to wrap the text for the TTS256.
This would be much easier to program since you can send nice string
text to it. A microcontroller to interface to the TTS256 would be a
bit more difficult since we'd be dealing with different baud rates.
Perhaps this would be the time to use the larger AVR controllers with
increase ram size. Just a thought. I personally don't think the
Speakjet is worth the real estate on the main PCB.


> I wish that new MOOG in a chip was further along. I really like
> the idea of having some kind of synth right on the PCB for the
> circuit bending. build it into a manakins head crowd, They make
> me smile.

The AVR synth is a possibility. It's a single chip + external DAC
that would interface directly to the MIDI. I have one. The filter is
a bit lame. One would have to rewrite portions of the code to encode
all of the potentiometer values and switches (I assume we don't want 8
more pots and 15 switches) into a sysex message. Maybe it's time we
buy our own MIDI ID :)

Dave