My VCO PCB is finished!

[gusjdt]

Hey guys, check this out. This is the first part of my project. Still needs the pots and a modification (attenuating the linear CV input). But man it looks cool!


http://www.progsounds.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=670&d=1154747576

http://www.progsounds.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=671&d=1154747590

[gusjdt]

Sorry, just noticed they are only viewable by PS members. For those who aren't, here are yousendit links.

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=B7B2CCDF69CF89D4

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=218C0C215E8BDAC6

[Piranha]

That looks hot! But I have no clue what it is, lol

You brains.

[Cary]

To what extent did you build the board? Did you have to etch the traces, or just solder the components in place?

[gusjdt]

Nope, I didn't do any etching. I bought this PCB from www.musicfromouterspace.com He sells PCBs, gives you the schematics and parts list, you buy the parts and solder them on.

Piranha: This is a Voltage Controlled Oscillator, the main sound source for analog synthesizers. This is where the sawtooth, pulse (square), sine and triangle waves come from.

[Piranha]

Cool. Thanks. Now I know ;)

[Cary]

Hmmmm. that looks like a lot of fun. Next on my to-build list in the music deparment is to rebuild my bass pedal setup to make it midi capatable. maybe I should add a diy synth to the list too.
Please keep us updated, I'm very interested.

[gusjdt]

You bet! I will be taking pictures as I go along. First I must finish the PCBs that are required for my design, then we'll see how everything goes from there.

I honestly think that this is a wonderful project and that everyone that loves synths should try something like this out. It can even be a very simple synth like Paia's cool (and cheaper than most modulars) Fatman, or Ray Wilson's Sound Lab.

A lot of my ideas come from Rutger's semi-modular design. I know it may look like I'm copying him, but that's really not my intention. His design is perfect for what I've been looking for. Simple for live use, and complex for studio use.

Anyways, like I said, I will keep you guys updated as I progess.

[gusjdt]

All right, I installed the pots and for the first time today I heard the waveforms. MAN! They sound great! Especially the square wave, it sounds freakin fat! I'm leaving for Puerto Rico tomorrow morning and arriving Sunday around 4pm so maybe I can record some sound clips for you guys if I get a powersupply to feed the VCO. The coarse and fine tune pots work great and I've never heard such a great sounding Pulse Width Modulation.

Till then, stay tuned!