It's alive!

[stimresp]

I had never picked-up a soldering iron before 9pm last night, but by lunchtime today I was listening to the dulcet tones of a newborn PreenFM. Hands-on it took about 8 hours.

Truth be told, I never thought I would get it to work, but it did, after some minor troubleshooting. I am absolutely thrilled that I managed it 

And the bonus is this wonderful little synth. Sounds much better than I expected. I am looking forward to spending some serious time with my new baby.

Thank you Xaviar for developing this and providing the clear instructions (inc the resistor sheet - lifesaver!).  I think you have just set me on a new lifelong path - I am already looking at new thing's to try next. 

 

Kind regards,
stim

[istran]

A new one built here, too. For some reason I had some trouble with spacers, they never seemed to be right: too short or too long. Well, with some fiddling and washers, now it is ok. Sound programming is going to take some time I guess...

Flashed in 1.61, severe note-off problems with 1.60. Hopefully they are gone now.

Anyway: a very nicely made kit, thank you very much, Xavier. Merci!

[stimresp]

Hey - congratulations

Yeah, the spacers don't seem quite right. I think the description has them the wrong way round. The 5mm ones seem to go at the front.

Oh yes - must flash up...

Cheers

[Xavier]

First congratulation for the 2 new PreenFM. It's always a pleasure to read that 
Stimresp, specialy if it was the first time you hold an iron...

Isran, note-off problems ? I think 1.61 don't fix any note-OFF problem.
What is you configuration ? keyboard directly plugged to the preenFM ? What kayboard model ?

The 5mm ones seem to go at the front.

Aouch.... no....
You should have 2*5mm and 4*10mm...
5mm are supposed to be under the LCD, the 2 LCD screws should go through the two 5mm spacers.
The 10mm are  the ones to separate the PCB from the blue surface control.

Let me know if it's clearer,

Xavier

[stimresp]

Yes - my mistake - I worked it out in the end. 

I was just a little worried about the CD pins being bent, but now that everything is together it seem better.

While I'm here, Xavier are there any reference materials for fidding with the source code?

Thanks

[istran]

Isran, note-off problems ? I think 1.61 don't fix any note-OFF problem.
What is you configuration ? keyboard directly plugged to the preenFM ? What kayboard model ?

Well, I mean, when trying to play a chord, some note always got stuck - isn't it a note-off-problem, when thay are left ringing? I used my old Roland JV-80, it has always worked according to MIDI specs before...

Aouch.... no....
You should have 2*5mm and 4*10mm...
5mm are supposed to be under the LCD, the 2 LCD screws should go through the two 5mm spacers.
The 10mm are  the ones to separate the PCB from the blue surface control.

If I tried that, LCD pins would bend VERY much. The short screws were too short and the long ones seemed quite long. A few washers helped.

Well, it is okay now, and works. I have to try, are the notes still left ringing with 1.61. Will tell you later.

[stimresp]

Here's how mine looks. At first I thought that the recessed LCD portion was mis-aligned, and the natural candidate for suspicion was the 5mm spacers. But now that everything is together I like it - it looks good.





My noobish rush to complete meant that there were a few loose solder joins - noticeable by noise when turning the knobs.
So I stripped it down and went over it again, paying special attention to the LCD pins. I digress to say I think I may have a natural knack for soldering 

Anyway there was still some noise burst when touching the right side, so I started gently tapping each component in turn to see where the loose solder joint was. It turned out (after much tapping) that one of the chips wasn't fully seated. It must have come loose when manhandling the unit.
With that in place I now feel it will last.

I also flashed to 1.61 without problems, benefiting again from the clear instructions. This solved the stuck notes for me, and I've been playing for about 30 minutes now without any problems.

Very pleased with the result. 

[Xavier]

Thanks for the pictures....   
This is exactly how the LCD should be, the goal is to have a more confortable angle of vision when the PreenFM is on your desk.

I'm glad most of the problem seems to be fixed.

Istran, let me know if you still have stuck notes...


Xavier

[istran]

Istran, let me know if you still have stuck notes...
Xavier

Actually no, 1.61 seemed to work that out just nicely - or then the fact that I now use a Motif 7 as a keyboard

My LCD is in a bit different angle because of the washers, but it works well. Might send a pic one day.

[Xavier]

Actually no, 1.61 seemed to work that out just nicely - or then the fact that I now use a Motif 7 as a keyboard

Great 

[6581punk]

Finished my Preen earlier. Worked first time. I've built quite a lot of stuff recently and it was a nice easy build compared to the filter boards for the Shruthi-1 I've been doing.

Sounds even better than I had hoped for, so simple to program too.

The only thing I would change is the pots, encoders and tactile switch holes. They don't really snap in place like they should. But that's just nit picking.

[Xavier]

Congrats... but i agree it's much more easy than the shruthi-1 filter board (that i've still haven't finished....  )
I'm glad you like the sound and you enjoy its programming simplicity 

You would change the holes ? You mean the encoders and buttons are not in the middle of the holes ?
If that's the case, you can adjust a little the PCB position and the top blue surface before tightening the 4 screws.

Xavier

[6581punk]

The positioning is fine. What I mean is the switches and encoders usually clip into the PCB and are held in place with the springy legs. You can then just solder them without them moving.

With the encoders I just bent the side tabs until they gripped, with the switches I bent the tabs over to stop them moving.

It's not a big deal really

I've got a SSM2044 Shruthi-1 and a Polivoks one. The SMR4 board is connected to the Sidekick board for weird and wonderful noises. I built up a MIDIPal tonight.Surface mount is a pain

Do you have any plans for any future devices? physical modelling is rather neglected

I also thing the LA synthesis of the D50 is due for some sort of revival. Having sampled note starts with synthesis sustain or a mixture.

[Xavier]

Do you have any plans for any future devices? physical modelling is rather neglected

No real plans for the moment.

Physical modelling would be very interesting. But it requires lots of processing...
More than a cortex-M3 could provide.

Xavier

[6581punk]

Okay well I'm more than happy with the FM sounds.

I guess you would need some DSP grunt to do more complex things.