#543

Michigan Synth Works will have a TXb alternative (with I2C and MIDI) on the market soon. I’m beta testing it. It uses a repeater chip for the I2C bus instead of pullups, which means it effectively isolates the capacitance of the in-case bus from the out-of-case bus. This should give more reliable comms for longer cable runs.

I like your homebrew solution though! Better than the cable snaking out from my 1U row :wink:

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#544

TBH the overlap of people who

  • Own a 16n and a Teletype
  • Own an Intellijel case
  • Don’t own a TXb
  • Wouldn’t have already figured this out

is probably vanishingly small. But, for those few people, maybe useful!

5 Likes
#545

Euro I2C has definitely been a case study of increasingly esoteric user groups

6 Likes
#546

is it possible to allow for midi thru functionality? i would like to use trs midi being sent from norns over usb

#547

(i don’t actually have/use a 16n btw.)

from looking at the firmware it seems like it would be very achievable.

but with all the preprocessor-defined behavior toggles, adding another one (with some additional state memory) would also be a good opportunity for a little exercise in refactoring

#548

Yes, that should be possible. Are you asking if it is possible, or if someone will code it for you?

The code is not so complex - in the callback that handles MIDI read for the TRS jack, just forward the identical message to the USB midi port.

Catch is: you’ll be merging that data with the 16n’s own data. And bear in mind each fader on a 16n can be on its own channel, so just saying “don’t forward channel X” won’t work. For every message, you’d need to look up if it clashed with 16n, and then ignore it.

Dumb forwarding - just letting it clash wherever - probably isn’t so hard. My recommended way of doing this would be a single #DEFINE to enable it (before doing any refactoring). It’s not so complex a config option to implement. There’s probably also some performance testing to do, to check this doesn’t have too big an impact.

1 Like
#549

I have a tip for anyone DIY’ing aluminium panels. I have been doing mine with a brushed finish (just with some light grit wet & dry sandpaper). I was struggling to get it to not show fingerprints until I experimented and rubbed a little lemon oil into the surface, which I use on my guitar so was reasonably confident it would be fine. Now the surface shows no fingerprints!

5 Likes
#550

Really love this thing and would like to build it myself but never attempted something similar before. Any suggestions?

#551

There is this thread:

I would recommend starting with some simple through hole kit first. Then a simple SMT kit.
If that works for you can build this too.

Get some good tools. It’s fun!

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#552

Does 16n have a fixed set of midi cc numbers or can they be customised?

Also can different faders output different midi channels?

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#553

Yes, basically. You alter the configuration in the Arduino source code, and then reflash the unit. To clarify what’s in the README:

  • defaults are channel 1, CCs 32-47
  • CCs can be altered per fader
  • Channels can be altered per fader
  • TRS MIDI and USB MIDI can have separate configurations.
#554

Ok cool, thanks for the info

#555

MSW has posted their MIDI/i2c-over-TRS interface, though it’s unclear if it works apart from their euro-format 16n derivative 8m: https://michigansynthworks.com/products/8m-output-expander?variant=31775125241942

Edit: removed my own unnecessary editorial comment

#556

I can confirm that the current design of the expander would not function standalone as it uses 3.3V provided by the 8m. But if you are handy enough to bring your own 3.3V then it would be simple to use it standalone.

If you have interest in a standalone I2C repeater please reach out to Raph at MSW.

#557

Is there an alternative fader that will match the footprint of the one in the BOM? I just got the PCB but Mouser is backordered for like 16 weeks on that part :frowning:

#562

FWIW, last time they were on backorder they showed up in stock much sooner than the actual lead time stated.

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#563

Apologies if this is documented somewhere but I’m having trouble finding much info.

What do Ansible and TXo do with the messages that the 16n sends them in leader mode? Is there any expected behavior or is this for future implementation?

#564

They set their CV outputs to the value sent by the fader. This is more useful for the early 16n prototypes that didn’t have the CV outputs on the 16n - like my little bamboo friend here:

For the ER-301, it is super helpful as it drives the first 16 virtual inputs that you can patch wherever you like. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#565

Question: I got a 16n from Michigan Synth Works a few months ago - Everytime i use it to control midi, there is a lag between fader movement and result on screen. CV works fine - haven’t tried i2C yet. Anyone else have this problem?

It is technically functional, but with it not being very responsive it makes it difficult to use the midi portion in a musical manner.

#566

“on screen” in what, specifically? do you have any other MIDI programs running in the background?

I would recommend speaking to your builder if you did not build it yourself. It should be very, very responsive.