DIY Vocoder projects?

goodrevdoc · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:34 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the kind words everyone, here's a pic of the just finished, smaller I/O board. Beware, there seem to be some labelling errors on the component layout for this one. I'll post P&P layouts and porject notes if and when I get it operational.
-justin

goodrevdoc · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:14 pm Post subject:

SUCCESS!!! wave

After frying a couple of op-amps, and one slightly more expensive compander, this thing is now vocoding like the dickens! Very Happy

I'll try to post some samples later, and will definately fix my layout errors and post some PDF's of the project info. I just can't beleive it, this is by far my new favorite toy, and I didn't even have to learn Japanese to make it.(which I briefly considered doing, deep in the throes of debugging) Out the door now, but like I said, I'll try to get some sounds up later...
-justin

Wild Zebra · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:32 pm Post subject:

Congrats, looking forward to some samples and documentation.

psylux · Joined: May 15, 2007 Posts: 44 Location: Dallas, TX

very interested, can't wait for the details!

crashlander42 · Joined: Oct 21, 2006 Posts: 292 Location: Orlando, FL (US)

Very nice. Hope to hear samples soon. I'd also love to get my greedy little hands on those PDF's! Very Happy

goodrevdoc · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:11 pm Post subject:

OK, as promised, here's a quick & dirty sample. It was recorded on my cellphone. Believe it or not, that's the easiest & best way for me to record right now, other than reel-to-reel. Embarassed

It was done with my trusty Moog MG-1 as the instrument source with a sawtooth and not much filtering. Microphone is an SM57. Amp was a crappy little practice amp I keep under my bench for just such occasions. It sounds much better than this, but this sample does it pretty adequate justice. As for the project file, It should be finalized in the next week or so, but right now one of the op-amps is still running pretty hot, so I want to get that nailed down before I do anything else. Also, thanks for the kind words everyone, its nice to have some support when attempting the largely futile. OK, enough blabbering, to the sample already!
-justin

Vocoder.wav

Description:

Hello electro-music.com... This is my new Okita vocoder...

Download (listen)

Filename:

Vocoder.wav

Filesize:

15.74 KB

Downloaded:

3162 Time(s)

crashlander42 · Joined: Oct 21, 2006 Posts: 292 Location: Orlando, FL (US)

Sounds good. Especially considering the recording conditions. I'm sold. Great. Another project. Very Happy

Should I etch off the CAG PDF's or are you going to post touched up pdf's?

goodrevdoc · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:55 pm Post subject:

The CAG pdf file is not to scale, nor is the one over at colin's site. Also they are bottom views. (not oriented for P&P) I took the CAG files, imported them into Osmond Quartz, and painstakingly re-did them many moons ago. The smaller boards also had a few small errors in them, so they were fixed along the way. In addition, once assembled, I found a few additional errors that I had made, so I would like to incorporate them into the file before I release them. Then too, there is the hot Op-Amp. But if you want to start getting ready, the board sizes are a whopping 8"x6" and 5"x4", the former being the biggest thing I've ever P&P'd or etched, easily.
-justin

crashlander42 · Joined: Oct 21, 2006 Posts: 292 Location: Orlando, FL (US)

excellent. I have copperboard to accomidate that. Very Happy

Just not a tub big enough for it.

goodrevdoc · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:11 pm Post subject:

I had the same problem... Smile

-justin

goodrevdoc · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:30 pm Post subject:

So I just noticed that the last post I made in this thread was in mid July- a sad testament to the fact that life keeps getting in the way of SDIY. A few days ago, i got a PM from a kind gent asking the status of this project. I replied, "It's almost done I just have to type out a parts list and a few build notes." As I read this, I realized I was but an hour away from posting this for the few months. Embarassed

So tonight I took about an hour and finished it up. So here you go, the Okita Vocoder:

Okita Vocoder.zip

Description:

Okita Vocoder PnP and Project files.

Download (listen)

Filename:

Okita Vocoder.zip

Filesize:

9.11 MB

Downloaded:

2476 Time(s)

crashlander42 · Joined: Oct 21, 2006 Posts: 292 Location: Orlando, FL (US)

Awesome work.

Looks like it's time for me to make a big parts order.

etaoin · Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 761 Location: Utrecht, NL

Great stuff. I was actually looking into building the Elektor vocoder, but this is a lot less work Wink

bubblechamber · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:23 pm Post subject:

really nice work. looks like I'll be building a vocoder or 2 this winter. great job.

23isgood · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:51 pm Post subject:

Very nice job! I absolutely love vocoder's. My favorite is the Roland VP330. Could you post a sample please? I could not find the previous sample you put up. Also where could I find the schematics.

thanks,
pete

etaoin · Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 761 Location: Utrecht, NL

http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Schematics/OOP%20Japanese%20Electronics%20Book/voc-freq-res-layout.gif

http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Schematics/OOP%20Japanese%20Electronics%20Book/voc-freq-res-pcb.gif

http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Schematics/OOP%20Japanese%20Electronics%20Book/voc-headphone-amp.gif

http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Schematics/OOP%20Japanese%20Electronics%20Book/voc-main-layout-pcb.gif

http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Schematics/OOP%20Japanese%20Electronics%20Book/voc-power-amp%20pcb.gif

http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Schematics/OOP%20Japanese%20Electronics%20Book/vocoder--main-board.gif

http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/Schematics/OOP%20Japanese%20Electronics%20Book/vocoder-freq-response-board.gif

goodrevdoc · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:42 am Post subject:

Thanks for putting up those links, Etaoin. Also, the link to the original scanned article is at the beginning of this thread. I just put the sample back up as well. I may try the Elektor next, but I believe there are some weird parts to be had with that one...
-justin

etaoin · Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 761 Location: Utrecht, NL

I'll have a quick check for the Elektor one, but I think the weirdest part in there is the 3080 (which isn't that weird). Only problem I had were the terrible PCB scans.

etaoin · Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 761 Location: Utrecht, NL

Okay, also TDA1034. One could probably use the NE5534 there.

goodrevdoc · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:04 am Post subject:

I was thinking about those 21 pin Siemens connectors. I searched for some awhile ago with no luck, but not very hard. The 3080 is no problem and the TDA1034 should only be a minor bump...
-justin

23isgood · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 4:02 pm Post subject:

Sounds cool! I can imagen all the different type of sounds you could get by patching in different synths. I would love to hear some more samples. I really want to build this, but with the Klee I will be pretty busy for a minute. A future project for sure.

thanks
pete

etaoin · Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 761 Location: Utrecht, NL

TheAncientOne · Joined: Dec 26, 2006 Posts: 144 Location: United Kingdom

I still have the original elektor articles, I think. I did wonder about a batch of boards, being as there are several of the main filter boards. I think revising the layouts might be a good idea, in order to have options for different capacitors, as Jurgen did on his excellently thought out Tau pipe boards, (I really hate it when you have to faff around finding the caps in the right pin spacing as well as value, and it is more difficult to experiment).

I built two of these, for friends, back in the day, using Elektor's own boards. They worked well, though I have heard better. The ability to patch out the filter is a definite plus.

The other one I built was the ETI design, done by Tim Orr, of EMS. That was a good design, but needed a huge main board, about 16x6 or something, which id definitely not practical unless your name is Jim Patchell, (that guy's boards are awesome!). This sounded a bit nicer than the elektor, but wasn't patchable, it might also be that by then I was into using a sweep gen and display, had a capacitance bridge, and hand tuned the filters, the Elektors were just done 'straight out of the box', and in a hurry, for an experimental vocal group, (they thought their grant would cover a couple of EMS's, and when it didn't, were under time pressure for a performance). I wonder what happened to them -

I did think of doing a re-work of the ETI, beginning with stripboard in a rackframe like the Elektor, and allowing patching.

This thread has reminded me to take a look.

I may be some time.......

goodrevdoc · Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:34 pm Post subject:

etaoin · Joined: Jun 30, 2005 Posts: 761 Location: Utrecht, NL