Another x0xb0x makeover

Another x0xb0x arrived on my workbench. The machine wasn't functioning and the client wanted it repaired and fitted into an aluminium enclosure. Here's what it looked like pre-op.



The CPU was shot and there was various small problems. The builder of this machine had neglected to put a socket in for the CPU. So it was time to cut out the old one and put the new one in with a socket. I also started to replace the flying leads since Substyler kindly enclosed a set with the case kit.



If you look closely at the bottom of the power PCB you'll notice a few of the component legs hadn't been trimmed flush. Since there's not much room in the alu case these had to be trimmed.



I fitted rest of the flying leads to the power PCB.



And fitted the sockets to the main board and connected it all up.



Then it was a matter of installing the case, here's the end result.



And here's a small video of the machine in action post-op, along with a little TR-909 on the side.

x0xb0x make over

Cast your mind back seven months and you may remember this post about some x0xb0x front panels by Substyler based on my "TB-x0x" custom x0xb0x.

Well now Substyler from x0xsh0p has made them into case kits which you can now purchase. The client for this job that arrived on my workbench bought one of these kits and asked that I fit it for him.

And so here we are with a couple of pictures of the unit before





Looking at the assembly instructions it was quite straight forward, some desoldering and drilling. Everything was going well until i noticed this,



The cable from the micro-controller to the I/O board was too short. The J7 cable was too short also so both had to be replaced, while not hard it does take quite a while to do.

After that was completed it was time to assemble the kit and drill out the selector knobs a little (these need to be done if the x0xb0x has the original greyhill encoders).

And so we have the finished unit.





Looks really nice don't you think? It's also nice to see that Substyler has taken my design to the next level. The kit was packaged together very nicely and the instructions were clear and concise.

Here's a video of the unit in action.

New TB-x0x panels based on my original design

I'm sure some of you have already seen my custom TB-x0x overlay for my x0xb0x. I made a couple of these with the help of Jeff at Custom Synth. Here's a picture for those that haven't seen them.


The old panel

As you can see the design is based on the TB-303. Now while it looks very nice there's a few problems with it. First its an overlay, which means you have to stick it on your existing panel. Also the overlays weren't 100% perfect when it came to alignment, if you look closely you can see some of the original panel around some of the holes. Finally since its printed onto vinyl the text isn't as sharp as I'd like it to be.

The overall effect is nice, but it could be better. However there is now a silkscreened version thanks to x0xsh0p. Recently Substyler who runs x0xsh0p approached me and asked permission to reproduce my design. In the spirit of the x0xb0x (open source) I of course agreed and I also helped him out with a few photos of my TB-303 to make the logo a little more accurate. Once they were complete he very kindly sent me one free (thanks man!!) and I've just installed it. Here's a picture of the new panel.


The new panel

At first glance of the pictures they look almost the same, but with close inspection you'll see the new panel is silver anodized with a nice black silkscreen. It fits perfect and the text is sharp and clear. And with the new more accurate logos it really takes the old design to a new level. Substyler did a really great job on these and I hear there will also be black versions in the future. So if you are interested in getting one of these or perhaps some other x0xb0x related items drop by Substylers webshop. He has all sorts of x0x stuff in stock including everything you need to build your very own x0xb0x.

Transistorize the World!

The Definitive Roland TB-303 vs Adafruit x0xb0x shootout

I hope you have your flame resistant suits on because here we have it, the definitive Roland TB-303 vs Adafruit x0xb0x shootout.

Is there a difference? yes.

Is it really noticable? no.

To be quite frank, if the x0xb0x is built well with the right components then the differences are subtle. In my ears it's something to do with the resonance, the 303 seems to be a little more squelchy and dare I say it a bit warmer, with a little more groove. The x0xb0x gets 99% of the way there and overall feels a little more stiff.

But don't take my word for it, check out the video, decide for yourself and leave a comment with your opinion. But don't forget, no two 303's sound exactly the same, so stands to reason my 303 will sound different to my x0xb0x.

Perhaps this will end the debate?

unlikely...

Let the flames begin.

TB-303 reference recordings for x0xb0x builders

When I built my first x0xb0x I didn't have the tb-303, and what I really missed was a set of recordings I could use to reference my build.

So now that I have a 303 I thought it might be a nice idea to record some knob positions so that any future builders or current x0xb0x owners could use these as reference when tweaking the internals in order to get a more faithful sound.

So here you have it, a large collection of knob positions so you can reference to your hearts content. Some of the recordings are a little quiet. This was done on purpose, since I didn't want to adjust levels between non accented and accented sounds. So you get the full dymanic range from soft to loud. You can always normalise the files if you need them louder.

DOWNLOAD 73mb

Here's a chart showing the knob positions for the sets.

Each position has 4 notes to it and the notes are all C, thats the low C on the keypad without any transpose shifts.

Each set has 16 notes recorded. So on the chart position 1 relates to notes 1-4, position 2 to notes 5-8, position 3 to notes 9-12 and position 4 to notes 13-16.

For example:

position 1:
1st note: C unaccented saw
2nd note: C accented saw
3rd note: C unaccented square
4th note: C accented sqaure

position2:
5tht note: C unaccented saw
6th note: C accented saw
7th note: C unaccented square
8thnote: C accented sqaure

position3:
9th note: C unaccented saw
10th note: C accented saw
11th note: C unaccented square
12th note: C accented sqaure

position4:
13th note: C unaccented saw
14th note: C accented saw
15th note: C unaccented square
16th note: C accented sqaure

so the 12th note (position 3) heard in SET-A1 would be an accented square with these knob positions,

CUTOFF: 75%
RESONANCE: 0%
ENV MOD: 0%
DECAY: 0%
ACCENT: 0%

All the knob positions are aproximate (hey these are analog knobs not digital after all).

SET-A1.wav

position 1 25% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 2 50% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 3 75% 0% 0% 0% 0%
position 4 100% 0% 0% 0% 0%


SET-A2.wav

position 1 0% 25% 0% 0% 0%
position 2 0% 50% 0% 0% 0%
position 3 0% 75% 0% 0% 0%
position 4 0% 100% 0% 0% 0%


SET-A3.wav

position 1 0% 0% 25% 0% 0%
position 2 0% 0% 50% 0% 0%
position 3 0% 0% 75% 0% 0%
position 4 0% 0% 100% 0% 0%


SET-A4.wav

position 1 0% 0% 0% 25% 0%
position 2 0% 0% 0% 50% 0%
position 3 0% 0% 0% 75% 0%
position 4 0% 0% 0% 100% 0%


SET-A5.wav

position 1 0% 0% 0% 0% 25%
position 2 0% 0% 0% 0% 50%
position 3 0% 0% 0% 0% 75%
position 4 0% 0% 0% 0% 100%


SET-B1.wav

position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 50% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 3 75% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 4 100% 25% 25% 25% 25%


SET-B2.wav

position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 50% 25% 25% 25%
position 3 25% 75% 25% 25% 25%
position 4 25% 100% 25% 25% 25%


SET-B3.wav

position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 50% 25% 25%
position 3 25% 25% 75% 25% 25%
position 4 25% 25% 100% 25% 25%


SET-B4.wav

position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 25% 50% 25%
position 3 25% 25% 25% 75% 25%
position 4 25% 25% 25% 100% 25%


SET-B5.wav

position 1 25% 25% 25% 25% 25%
position 2 25% 25% 25% 25% 50%
position 3 25% 25% 25% 25% 75%
position 4 25% 25% 25% 25% 100%


SET-C1.wav

position 1 25% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 75% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 4 100% 50% 50% 50% 50%


SET-C2.wav

position 1 50% 25% 50% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 75% 50% 50% 50%
position 4 50% 100% 50% 50% 50%


SET-C3.wav

position 1 50% 50% 25% 50% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 75% 50% 50%
position 4 50% 50% 100% 50% 50%


SET-C4.wav

position 1 50% 50% 50% 25% 50%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 50% 75% 50%
position 4 50% 50% 50% 100% 50%


SET-C5.wav

position 1 50% 50% 50% 50% 25%
position 2 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
position 3 50% 50% 50% 50% 75%
position 4 50% 50% 50% 50% 100%


SET-D1.wav

position 1 25% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 2 50% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 100% 75% 75% 75% 75%


SET-D2.wav

position 1 75% 25% 75% 75% 75%
position 2 75% 50% 75% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 100% 75% 75% 75%


SET-D3.wav

position 1 75% 75% 25% 75% 75%
position 2 75% 75% 50% 75% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 100% 75% 75%


SET-D4.wav

position 1 75% 75% 75% 25% 75%
position 2 75% 75% 75% 50% 75%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 75% 100% 75%


SET-D5.wav

position 1 75% 75% 75% 75% 25%
position 2 75% 75% 75% 75% 50%
position 3 75% 75% 75% 75% 75%
position 4 75% 75% 75% 75% 100%


SET-E1.wav

position 1 25% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 2 50% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 3 75% 100% 100% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%


SET-E2.wav

position 1 100% 25% 100% 100% 100%
position 2 100% 50% 100% 100% 100%
position 3 100% 75% 100% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%


SET-E3.wav

position 1 100% 100% 25% 100% 100%
position 2 100% 100% 50% 100% 100%
position 3 100% 100% 75% 100% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%


SET-E4.wav

position 1 100% 100% 100% 25% 100%
position 2 100% 100% 100% 50% 100%
position 3 100% 100% 100% 75% 100%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%


SET-E5.wav

position 1 100% 100% 100% 100% 25%
position 2 100% 100% 100% 100% 50%
position 3 100% 100% 100% 100% 75%
position 4 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Roland TB-303... no not really, Adafruit x0xb0x 733, power supply tweaked and custom TB-x0x overlay

A quick demo of one of my custom x0xb0x's. Distortion is a Paia Tubehead with Electro Harmonix 12Xa7 tubes.

2Cv - What is Art (one hand one loop mix)

Just a little acid jam with the boxes, sorry about the bad camera.

"No Way Back" in 5 mins

Quick cover of Addonis's classic chicago house tune "No Way Back". Done with a x0xb0x and a Roland TR-808. I pushed the tempo up a little bit.

Sorry about the video/sound quality, i used my mobile phone.

x0xb0x vs TR-606

A quick jam with the x0xb0x (a full kit form reproduction of the Roland TB-303) along with its cousin the Roland TR-606.
Visit http://www.myspace.com/2cvacid to hear more of them in action.