Befaco / Rebel Technology new module: Lich

Equipment
#1

Hi there, good people of lines community!

Here we are spamming u a little bit with the new baby that just came out of Befaco+Rebel minds: Lich.

Lich-perfil_INSTA
Lich-perfil_INSTA3375Ă—3375 966 KB

This is a new hardware iteration of the great, great OWL platform. Knowing the kind of talented people in this forum, we found interesting to let you all know about this one.

For the ones that already know Owl platform there is no need for presentations, for the rest, just to let you know that OWL allows to use Pure data, Faust, C++ or MAX gen to create patches and load them into the module. all thanks to an online compiler and patch library.
In the hardware heart of this little fella you get:

48kHz 24-bit stereo audio
3500 operations per sample
STM32F427 180MHz, 256Kb RAM, 1Mb Flash
8Mb SDRAM
8Mb NOR Flash
Integrated DSP, FPU, DMA

Take a look to the Patch library for the community created patches (over 250 already!) or to Rebel tech tutorials if you wanna check how to get started!

Hope you people like it!

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#2

What processor is being used here? I’d love to see if I can port CircuitPython!

1 Like
#3

Is the platform they specify in the spec sufficiently specific?

#4

Looks like a super useful device. Community aspect aside, I think this would be killer for rapid-prototyping in eurorack. The platform has a surprising amount of control considering the size.

When I do Max Msp patches I try to think about what I’m building as an organism, but It’s not really fun to integrate Max within the broader context of my eurorack system since I have to go through my computer. But with Lich, I can imagine building little PD organisms that talk to my modular. And I could Interact with these patches on a more gestural level without having a big display between me and the program.

The interface looks great but I wonder what it feels like to switch between different patches. I think this module would probably always be accompanied by a piece of paper that has parameter descriptions on it… The only way around this would be having screens everywhere and I doubt that would be very DIY friendly.

#5

I literally read the post like 4 times and my eyes just… skipped right over it. Thank you. :woman_facepalming:

#6

I’ve been thinking of making something along these lines for a long time (sort of like the daisy patch). The main thing holding me back is the constant thinking “maybe just one more output” (or input, or knob). I also keep wanting to make it generic and somehow accommodate multiple types of microcontroller (Vs having something embedded).

My present thinking is to make it 3 boards, two boards would be the controls and the ICs that aren’t MCUs (e.g opamps, Schmitt triggers, etc). The second board would expose all of the generic input and output pins and power via headers to a third board (maybe i2c for a display too?). The third board would host an MCU and MCU specific requirements and other necessary circuitry. Ideally there would be a double sided usb A port on the front with space to run a usb cable from the rearmost board to the port exposing it for in rack programming (ideally also a power switch for the module as you often shouldn’t have USB and external power running at the same time).

#7

not specifically about it’s coding applications, but is the kit beginner friendly…?

I just finished my STMX with great hurdle and im looking for my next project!
As far as i can see there is no SMD required, and i’ve soldered all other components before (it even has wider spacing compared to the cramped layout of the STMX board). Only concern are the headers and the „smoke test“, since I don’t fully trust my voltmeter yet.

#8

I have recently built this and found it quite a tricky build, but it is definitely doable if you have done the STMIX. It is quite densely populated and with the components that came with my build the two boards were very hard to fit together perfectly as Befaco designed the boards so the components are facing inwards against each other and one of the capacitors was really too big, but tbh it might just be me being a bit anal! The other issue that I had was the heat coming from the ARM chip on the owl board, mine gets really hot although it seems to function fine, I actually used some stand offs to move it away from the other boards so that there was more airflow but again probably not necessary! I managed the smoke test fine but I haven’t calibrated it properly yet , my meter needs upgrading, i just couldn’t get an accurate reading. The delay and particularly the reverb I think are superb on this, if it is supported well then it will be a good investment I think, lots of potential

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