AE Modular Waveshaper Design demo - "Kurts Dead Band"

I have to experiment a bit further, but it should def be useable for non audio signals! (Just some little tweaks from the first design)

It would certainly make for weird shapes. I made a pcb prototype with a dc switch for CV manipulation, it should be here in +- two weeks and I'll make a new demo then! (if it works at least, first time i designed a pcb myself)

It would not be really random I think: its more like it would 'snap' a certain part of the LFO/env/.. to a voltage of your choice. You could eg say that every voltage between 3.5V and 4.5V is fixed to 4V. This would make your LFO 'jump' sometimes, or place extra 'long' emphasis on certain voltages. Think it could be pretty cool but probably needs some careful tweaking to make it musical!

Today my first PCB prototypes (a run of five boards) arrived. Only had time to check if the components fit (they do!) and if the board is the right size for 1U AE (it is! Thanks again namke for the easyeda pcb template). But hopefully this weekend I'll have the time to solder it all together and do some more thorough testing & maybe already a demo video!

I would love to hear some more about this process, how , where, price etc... The reason I'm asking; My first iteration of the AEclidian is living on an crammed proto pcb of the diy kit, I guess a custom pcb would make my live much easier and the module much more stable.

Making the custom pcb was actually easier than expected. It helped a lot that Namke shared his pcb template here on the forum, so all dimensions and such where already in place. Learning the easyEDA software was also not very difficult, a few tutorials and you're ready to go. So this was the workflow once I had the working protoboard prototype:

- Pick the components of choice from the easyEDA pcb design tool (in-browser application worked really nice!)
- Draw the schematic 
- Lay out the schematic on a pcb (I found this actually a really fun part, its a jigsaw for adults!)
- Send to the manufacturer
- Order all components needed

So I chose jlcpcb as manufacturer, they are also the company that own EasyEDA (or they just work together?) They are ofcourse China-based, so its not super-ethic, but they manufacture great quality and are very cheap for low amounts too. I paid about 20$ all in for the five boards (2$ for manufacturing, 18$ for shipping haha).

I have most components from Tayda Electronics (the small pots, resistors, caps), but their MCP602 IC's seem to be permanently sold out. So I wanted to order the MCP's and some small switches from a local manufacturer. I ended up with TME electronics, as the classic websites (Mouser, RS, farnell) seem to have either gigantic delivery costs, or no option to sell to persons. I paid 0.70 for each MCP602, which is quite 'a lot' compared to other websites, so if I want to make a larger amount of these modules i'll search a different supplier.

Feel free to ask anything else ofc if you're interested!  

In risk of spamming this thread to death: I'm in quarantine right now (but not sick), so doing some further testing in between work 

Solved the issues I had with the first prototype (at least, I solved them in simulation software), hope to finish an updated schematic and pcb this weekend. Then again, some weeks waiting for the boards to arrive. Also took the time to visually simulate how the module works for CV manipulation, a great idea that was sparked by Lugia on this thread. This is how it looks in its most simple configuration on a triangle LFO:




Left is input LFO, right is output. Output is scaleable with a Gain knob. You can also scale the 'length' of the dead band, in this case that is the flat plateau in the middle of the LFO. You can also adjust the vertical position of the plateau, and this position is also controllable with CV input.

Yay, happy to hear that! 

I do think this will be in your weelhouse if I recall your nice noise explorations correctly! Lots of 'broken radio' crackles to be found twisting the knobs   hopefully the kit will be finished in the upcoming weeks/months (all depends on whether the next prototype pcb's get delivered in 1 week or 2 months, had both in the past already).

Aaaaand, we're off for round two 



Let's hope they are not in customs for a month this time!

Next updaaaate

http://instagram.com/p/CMPsPxJH_Qg

Good to see the PCBs! Seems like a very easy DIY build