RM1x Update

The way I cleaned the RM1x was with compressed air to get the loose stuff off, then Radio Shack's Precision Circuit Board Cleaner (this is great stuff for cleaning flux residue off of freshly soldered circuitboards, by the way) then after that was dry, squirting each individual switch with Deoxit Gold, and working the uh, nipple of each switch to try to get the Deoxit inside to clean the contacts. Last night, after allowing a generous amount of time for the circuitboard to dry the past couple of days, I checked the switches with my multimeter, then reassembled the RM1x. All of the keyboard buttons now work, though some are not quite as responsive as they should be, but at least they all work! While I had the thing all apart, I took the opportunity to replace the memory battery too just to be on the safe side. I'll most likely be using the RM1x with my Photon X25 controller for entering notes anyway, so hopefully the button issue won't be too problematic.

I'm pretty psyched to use a couple of my synths with a "real" sequencer now (especially my AN200 and the Drumstation). After fooling around with it a little bit last night, it definitely seems like the big brother to the QY70, which I know my way around very well, so I should be able to more or less dive right into using the RM1x. I'm sure I'll be posting more about the RM1x once I have more experience using it.

x0xb0xes!

Pictured above are the two x0xb0xes I have built, photographed on my usual background of the comforter on my bed. For the uninitiated, a x0xb0x is a diy Roland TB-303 clone, which is available as a kit from Adafruit industries. If you don't know what a TB-303 is, perhaps you should Google it? ;-)

Anyway, TB-117 is my own personal x0xb0x and TB-329 is one I built for a customer. They are functionally and cosmetically identical, with the exception of a different serial number, and #329 has a later firmware installed on it.

Although they're not terribly difficult to build if you have a strong background in working on electronics, it is very labor-intensive and will require several hours to build at minimum, if you're very fast and don't do any modifications to the kit. I, being one who can never leave anything well enough alone, modified the kit, as you can see. Cosmetically, the case gets a nice spray of matte aluminum paint, custom aluminum knobs, and a custom control panel and labels that I designed myself. I think it spruces up the kit nicely. Eventually, I would like to re-case it into a metal case with wooden sides. Functional modifications include resonance boost, bass boost, hi-beta transistors, and a modification to the envelope to allow a wider range.

So, how's it work? In a word, great! It has lots of extra features and improvements that weren't present in the original, like an easier-to-use sequencer, midi, random mode, and a USB port for firmware upgrades and such. Most importantly, it sounds fantastic. It would be difficult to tell it apart from a 303 in a blind test. Below, you can see me fiddling with the two x0xes before I had to send #329 to its rightful owner:



You can also hear a couple more demos on my music page here. (All my gear demos are down near the bottom of the music page.)

How a nerd spends her Saturday night

This is my first blog post! Woohoo. Tonight, in true synth nerd fashion, I disassembled and cleaned the controller board for a Yamaha RM1x that I just got from ebay. In the description of the RM1x, it stated that it was missing two knobs, which isn't a big deal (I have tons of spare knobs). But, after I cleaned the thing (something I always do when I get a used piece of equipment) and turned it on to test it, a couple of the keyboard buttons were not very responsive, and one was completely unresponsive. Obviously, this isn't a good thing. I had a similar issue with my QY70, which I also disassembled, cleaned, and put back together. It worked great after that, so I'm hoping this will do the trick with the RM1x too.

Disassembling the RM1x is not exactly for the faint of heart, but it's not terribly difficult either if you take notes of where everything goes. I opted to mark each hole according to screw size and taped the screws to each section. Yes, I told you I was a nerd. While I was at it, I decided to pop off all of the switch caps and right now they're soaking in a bowl of soapy water so I can clean the grunge off of them. Looks like whoever owned this thing before me got a lot of use out of it, and also seemed to like to eat while using it (!).

Anyway, if the cleaning doesn't take care of the problem, then I'll replace the switches. They're sealed momentary switches with rubber contacts. I've seen these on the big electronic suppliers' websites, so sourcing them shouldn't be an issue. Surprisingly, they're also soldered through the board and not surface mount, which is great if I do actually have to replace them. But I hope I won't have to do that. This thing is already turning out to be more trouble than what I paid for it.