#911

oops! had it proper in the description - just so used to typing mm for everything else. thanks for the heads up!!

#912

Wow, these are great news! Everything looks really beautiful and will be a great step forward for the monome environment. I am excited to see what the the new teensy is capable of. Thank you so much for your endeavors!

:heart_eyes:

I would love to upgrade my TXo (might have to build a second one too) and extend it with the filter and the panner - will there be a panel/pcb option for those too? I probably could get the PCB’s from OSHpark but It would be great to have the panels matching the other modules and they do look so very nice.

Also I did not fully understand if you are planning to release everything at once so that it would be possible to combine purchases for oversea shipping.

#913

@bpcmusic, what is the longest cable that is reliable to connect TXb’s? On your store page it seems to suggest 3.5mm for the length…

Connections should be kept as short as possible using high-quality cabling (less than 3.5mm).

1 Like
#914

It really depends on your bus, the number of devices, and the accumulated length of the cables used to connect them. I wish there was a formula that I could share. I’ve taken the conservative approach myself and planned around using the shortest cables possible.

Unfortunately, it is a trial and error kind of situation. I usually put a little patch together when I change configuration with a bunch of reads and writes and let it burn in to see if there are any stability issues.

@scanner_darkly just received a couple of beta TXo units for testing; it will be interesting to see what he learns in his environment. Perhaps he will share details after he has had a chance to experiment. :wink:

–

For cables, I’ve been using these striped ones - which helps to differentiate them from the cables that I use to patch:

TXb to TXb:

16n to TXb:

And, to be fun, I’ve matched my USB runs with this:

So far, they have all been very reliable.

3 Likes
#915

Good question. These 2HP builds are tricky in that the tolerances around part alignment and board connection become very important. I’ve had to 3D print and lasercut a whole bunch of little jigs in order to get them to assemble properly.

The SMD is small but manageable. (603 parts with no big ICs or nasty DACs.) It is the assembly that, frankly, kinda sucks. Jacks have to be perfectly straight. Angled headers have to be at 90 degrees. Jacks need a .2mm gap with the board. Headers have to be trimmed sub-surface. If you don’t, it won’t fit in 2HP or it will fault out.

So - it depends on what you are up for. I’m not planning to do any detailed build guides for them and I really wasn’t planning on releasing them in the store. Really, it was in order to spare people the pain. :wink:

However, if folks want to build them, I’d be happy to supply PCBs and Panels when they are on site. :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#916

My current plan:

  • TX Panels & PCBs - when the TXi stuff arrives
  • Assembled TXo and a small number of TXi - when I’m done building the TXo
  • TXo+ Upgrades - with and just after the TXo
  • TXb, TXn, and TXff - in batches after the TXo are complete

I sequence work on like things together to keep my process efficient. Depending on the interest level on things, I may be able to get some help and pull in the timeframes.

I would be happy to hold stuff back in order to combine shipments; but we can handle that on an individual case basis.

7 Likes
#917

Just expressed massive interest :heart: … Have a Teletype on the way, planning my rack with a TELEX bundle plus one more TELEXo expander… can’t wait till they are ready!

1 Like
#918

…and another wish comes true.

IMG_3763
IMG_3763.jpg4032×3024 2.53 MB

Spent the day building a pair of both the i and the o. Smooth build and both work flawlessly. Thanks again @bpcmusic for the hard work of bringing this to life.

Here are the .fpd files of the two super-minimal panels I had built at FPE. Again, amazing quality of materials. Really happy. Might be of use to someone else.


11 Likes
#919

It is super-fantastic to see the output of your hard work. They look wonderful!! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Glad it went so smoothly!!!

Interesting script you have going on there. :wink: :wink:

4 Likes
#922

Thanks for posting these fpd files, @burn !:slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
#923

MicroUpdate: Build

The build is going well. I’ve organized, counted, marked, and sorted all of the parts into the board and side that they go on. All of the headers have been cut and trimmed. All of the power cables cut, assembled, and tested. My next step is to start the SMD on the TXo.

Demand for the TXi is higher than expected. I have more parts and boards on the way to satisfy interest (for built and DIY). I will get to this after the TXo portion of the build-out.

MicroUpdate: TXo+ Firmware Update with TXff

I had time away from the workbench last week to finish up some of the final firmware work for the TXo+. I hinted at above exploring band limiting some of the primitive waveforms (saw and square using the PolyBlep technique) and optimizing the generation of some (saw and triangle) when the TXo firmware is running on the Teensy 3.6.

The results are a dramatic improvement and significantly reduce the aliasing the unit produces with these waveforms (especially when filtered through the TXff). I’ve put together a video torture test where you can listen to the various waveforms hand-cycled up and down in pitch; this exposes the aliasing as it moves in a direction counter to the pitch movement.

Here are some shots of the difference in the spectrograms between the unmodified and the filtered + optimized + band limited. The O’Tool+ was set to 8x magnification to accentuate the aliasing. Left is the TXo+ running without any waveform optimization or band limiting; the right is the TXo+ passed through the TXff and with band limiting and waveform optimizations enabled.

sine_comparison

triangle_comparison

(Shot the right image in the morning after some final optimization of the triangle wave; with daylight the blue background seems to have disappeared. Strange.)

sawtooth_comparison

square_comparison

Now, the TXo+ is never going to compete with a dedicated analog or digital oscillator. It was never designed to do this. It is cool, however, that with the improved horsepower of the Teensy 3.6 and some additional filtering provided by the TXff we can see such improvements in quality. It has certainly been a fun exploration.

14 Likes
#924

Thank you for sharing the process - it is fun to follow and there is a lot to learn!

:slightly_smiling_face::+1:

1 Like
#925

One of each, please, no tomatoes and extra onions–to go. :heart_eyes:

Edit: just kidding, I want three of the Teensy 3.6 thingies :smiley:

1 Like
#926

Hope I’m not too late to this party! (TXo+)

Question about the bus modules, am I understanding correctly that these can be used to send i2c between boats in for example a folding case?

1 Like
#927

Where/When can I get the TXo+? :slight_smile:

1 Like
#928

I’m afraid you’ll have to watch this thread :smiley:

1 Like
#929

Excellent advice. You can also put yourself on the notification list up at my store (https://store.bpcmusic.com/products/telexo?variant=5637993299999) - you will get an email when I add inventory for sale. No ETA yet; progress update is below.

Quick Progress Update

I’m deep in the build - which is going well. I’ve finished all of the TXo front boards and panels. Here are a bunch all lined up:

I know it seems like this is taking forever - but I’m super-ultra-careful when I build. So far, 100% of the TXo that I’ve built were successful - which is amazing considering how complex the build is. I’ve even added a step to this round where I’m lifting the jacks a hair off the board to further robustify the process. Take a look:

Next up are the back boards. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

On the TXi

The number of TXi that I’ve needed to build this round has gone way, way up. I’ve ordered another round of panels - should be here in a few weeks. I’m struggling to source enough of the proper potentiometers, but should have that resolved in a few weeks when some upstream suppliers restock.

On the TXb

You are referring to the TXb and, yes, you can theoretically span boats with them. I’ve done it successfully in a number of configurations. Just make sure to only power one at a time on a bus.

Keep in mind that i2c is rather finicky. You need to be very, very mindful of cable length all around the bus. And you will need to ensure that you use high-quality, stereo cables. Finally, you only want to plug and unplug these cables when your rows and all connected modules are powered down.

12 Likes
Mutable Instruments Plaits
#930

Looking really good! Can’t wait to expand my TT.

1 Like
#931

@bpcmusic I think I’ve discovered a TXo bug. TO.M.ACT appears to only respond when the first arg is 1 and it effects all trigger outs. That is, TO.M.ACT 1 1 will turn on all the metros while TO.M.ACT 3 1 won’t do anything.

I’m not sure which firmware I was using, but I just updated it to .021 from the repo and the problem persists!

#932

The way it is behaving seems proper to me. Let me explain a few things.

To address individual independent trigger metronomes, note that the operators are “underneath” the triggers (TO.TR.M). Their parameters allow you to address each individual metronome that is paired with the trigger uniquely. For example: TO.TR.M.ACT 1 1 activates the first metronome, TO.TR.M.ACT 2 1 activates the second one, and so on.

If you want to address the entire device and all four of its independent metronomes as one, you use the TO.M syntax. This operator takes the TXo’s device number to set and synchronize all four of the metronomes as if they are a single metronome. They are locked together with maximum precision, which would not be the case if you were to loop through them independently.

These can work together to do interesting things. Say you want to do some phasing and have it synchronized together at the start. This script will set the four metronomes independently at the following M rates: 150, 151, 152, and 153. It then starts them together at the same moment.

L 1 4: TO.TR.M I + I 149
TO.M.ACT 1 1

Make sense?

4 Likes