Synth-DIY Yahoo! Groups Archives

Thread

strange VCA envelope behaviour

2013-02-16 by james meagher

Last night while programming away blissfully I suddenly noticed that the Decay and Release on my VCA were acting oddly. Instead of diminishing amplitude gradually they would simply go from "on" to "off". How long it took for them to create complete silence was still programmable with the sliders . . . but even a very long release would garner no gradual loss of amplitude, only a very long delay at full amplitude before sudden, complete silence.

Turning the Polaris off and on again rectified the issue, but I'm just wondering if there's anything (any part) I should be concerned about and perhaps making a preventative order?

Cheers,

James

RE: [chromapolaris] strange VCA envelope behaviour

2013-02-16 by Paul D. DeRocco

> From: james meagher
>
> Last night while programming away blissfully I suddenly
> noticed that the Decay and Release on my VCA were acting
> oddly. Instead of diminishing amplitude gradually they would
> simply go from "on" to "off". How long it took for them to
> create complete silence was still programmable with the
> sliders . . . but even a very long release would garner no
> gradual loss of amplitude, only a very long delay at full
> amplitude before sudden, complete silence.
>
> Turning the Polaris off and on again rectified the issue, but
> I'm just wondering if there's anything (any part) I should be
> concerned about and perhaps making a preventative order?

That sounds like software rather than hardware--something corrupting a
variable in RAM, which gets reset when you reboot. If things like that
recur, it could be that there's a marginal bit in an EPROM, which could be
fixed by reprogramming them.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

Re: [chromapolaris] strange VCA envelope behaviour

2013-02-16 by james meagher

Thanks a lot Paul. That's kinda what I figured . . . but I'm so often wrong it's nice to have suspicions confirmed.

I'll get googling on how to reprogram of EPROMs and if I can't figure it out myself I'll be back here for some more advice.

Cheers,

James

On Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 9:17 PM, Paul D. DeRocco <pderocco@...> wrote:

> From: james meagher

>
> Last night while programming away blissfully I suddenly
> noticed that the Decay and Release on my VCA were acting
> oddly. Instead of diminishing amplitude gradually they would
> simply go from "on" to "off". How long it took for them to
> create complete silence was still programmable with the
> sliders . . . but even a very long release would garner no
> gradual loss of amplitude, only a very long delay at full
> amplitude before sudden, complete silence.
>
> Turning the Polaris off and on again rectified the issue, but
> I'm just wondering if there's anything (any part) I should be
> concerned about and perhaps making a preventative order?

That sounds like software rather than hardware--something corrupting a
variable in RAM, which gets reset when you reboot. If things like that
recur, it could be that there's a marginal bit in an EPROM, which could be
fixed by reprogramming them.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

--
C'est La Guerre Moving Pictures Inc.
364 Home Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3G 1X4
(204) 918 9317

Re: [chromapolaris] strange VCA envelope behaviour

2013-02-20 by james meagher

From Paul:

That sounds like software rather than hardware--something corrupting a
variable in RAM, which gets reset when you reboot. If things like that
recur, it could be that there's a marginal bit in an EPROM, which could be
fixed by reprogramming them.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

The aforementioned problem is recurring, and now happens very shortly after a reboot. Do you have a suspicion which EPROM could be the culprit given the parameters affected, or is it not so easy to isolate the issue?

Normally I'd poke around myself blindly until I started to figure it out (and do so happily), but I'm so busy with other things right now I'd just love to get it fixed as quickly as possible so I can actually spend my 20 mins of daily free time playing the Chroma Polaris instead of trouble-shooting it.

If it's possible to purchase these EPROMs already programmed properly I'd happily shell out some dough to get my baby fixed!

As always your advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
James

Re: [chromapolaris] strange VCA envelope behaviour

2013-02-21 by Rob Currier

There are a few guys who are willing to burn the EPROM chips for you. Here's one:

http://www.sounddoctorin.com

I believe he has the Polaris EPROMs ready to burn over there. You just need to send him the chips you want programmed, and he will do it for a reasonable price. Doug at synthparts.com might have them too.

-Rob Currier

From: james meagher <w.james.meagher@...>
To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 2:16 PM
Subject: Re: [chromapolaris] strange VCA envelope behaviour

From Paul:

That sounds like software rather than hardware--something corrupting a
variable in RAM, which gets reset when you reboot. If things like that
recur, it could be that there's a marginal bit in an EPROM, which could be
fixed by reprogramming them.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

The aforementioned problem is recurring, and now happens very shortly after a reboot. Do you have a suspicion which EPROM could be the culprit given the parameters affected, or is it not so easy to isolate the issue?

Normally I'd poke around myself blindly until I started to figure it out (and do so happily), but I'm so busy with other things right now I'd just love to get it fixed as quickly as possible so I can actually spend my 20 mins of daily free time playing the Chroma Polaris instead of trouble-shooting it.

If it's possible to purchase these EPROMs already programmed properly I'd happily shell out some dough to get my baby fixed!

As always your advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
James

Re: [chromapolaris] strange VCA envelope behaviour

2013-02-21 by james meagher

Thanks Rob - I've talked to Doug off list and plans are in the works.

Cheers,

James

On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 6:11 PM, Rob Currier <robiecurrier@...> wrote:

There are a few guys who are willing to burn the EPROM chips for you. Here's one:
http://www.sounddoctorin.com
I believe he has the Polaris EPROMs ready to burn over there. You just need to send him the chips you want programmed, and he will do it for a reasonable price. Doug at synthparts.com might have them too.

-Rob Currier

From: james meagher <w.james.meagher@...>
To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 2:16 PM
Subject: Re: [chromapolaris] strange VCA envelope behaviour

From Paul:

That sounds like software rather than hardware--something corrupting a
variable in RAM, which gets reset when you reboot. If things like that
recur, it could be that there's a marginal bit in an EPROM, which could be
fixed by reprogramming them.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

The aforementioned problem is recurring, and now happens very shortly after a reboot. Do you have a suspicion which EPROM could be the culprit given the parameters affected, or is it not so easy to isolate the issue?

Normally I'd poke around myself blindly until I started to figure it out (and do so happily), but I'm so busy with other things right now I'd just love to get it fixed as quickly as possible so I can actually spend my 20 mins of daily free time playing the Chroma Polaris instead of trouble-shooting it.

If it's possible to purchase these EPROMs already programmed properly I'd happily shell out some dough to get my baby fixed!

As always your advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
James

--
C'est La Guerre Moving Pictures Inc.
364 Home Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3G 1X4
(204) 918 9317