[adamus]

that is certainly more functional than the code in my unit. no idea on 4bit/8bit. I'll drop you a line if fancy a play with your driver. i'm impressed!

I'll have to have a bash at this programming, did it take you long to pick it up?

 

[linuxworks]

it took me something like 2-3 days to pick this up. what made it go FAST was working examples!

I started from this project. I still plan to build it, too (tom is a friend of mine from photo forums):

AI-1 ("All-in-one") Remote

that got me mostly going with lcd i/o, button i/o and general startup.

then I found this for the IR bits:

Arduino Forum - Arduino infrared problems

I mostly pieced them together and got a baselevel going.

the development is free and all you need is a computer (pc, mac, linux - they all work) and an arduino board. the atmel chip is $5 or so, the firmware for arduino is free and once you have the bootloader (arduino) code loaded, from then on you simply use the free development tools to edit and test your code!

Arduino - Windows

even if you don't have any programming experience, ANYONE can certainly find the strings like 'toslink' and replace it with 'bedroom/dac' or whatever you want! press the download button on the arduino gui, it sends the code to the board via standard usb, the leds blink a bit for 10 seconds or so and after that the code auto-runs and you should see a hello message (if you wrote one) on the lcd.

I'm hoping that people will be able to re-own their control UI's with this kind of project. I've always wanted to customize my lcd outputs and NOW its really easy and cheap to do that!

also to add, later: I plan to have this toggle on/off my bass-boost from my pimeta 'preamp board' and also a crossfeed on/off from tangent's board. I'm thinking of some single character icons that would be turned on/off for those 2 features. crossfeed is an on/off things the way I have it wired but bass-boost has 3 levels in my config, so I might have 3 levels of BB icon to show the status. again, if you own your own GUI you can change all this anytime you want (talk about upgrade-itis, lol!)

 

[rhys h]

Are there any schematics available for the input selection, connection to PGA etc?

 

[linuxworks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhys h /img/forum/go_quote.gif Linuxworks, what microcontroller are you using? Im intrested in re rigging your setup to have maybe 2 balanced inputs, 2 single ended inputs and a balanced output, all with invidividual volume controls like the above. How are you controlling the volume for the coax?

I am using the atmel mega328 but the older 168 should work too.

the toslink and coax are a little misleading. what I intend to do is have an analog bus and a digital bus and all the toslink/coax stuff is just to spdif switch which digital input goes to a dac (a front-end to any off-the-shelf dac). then the dac sends its analog out and THAT's what I grab (in my box) to switch between (this and the single analog-in).

think of it as 2 relays: one selects the analog-in from the rear panel, one select the DAC analog-out (also on the rear panel). the 2nd relay simply selects which digital input the DAC gets (could be pure relays if you convert toslink to coax, first, then switch either of those 2 coaxes) or it could be a more proper spdif switch.

so, no, I'm not doing digital atten or anything like that! all volume control will be analog via relays (one plugin) or PGA style chip (alternate plugin). the 2 digital inputs are mostly a convenience for the user but no real magic is done, if you see what I'm saying.

 

[linuxworks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhys h /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are there any schematics available for the input selection, connection to PGA etc?

right now, I'm only doing the pure software/firmware testing and devel.

initially, I think I'll do the bank of relays since its simple, it means ordering no parts (I have them all onhand) and its the 'highest end' way to do vol control (from general concensus).

however, once I get some PGA samples in the mail, I'll give that a try, too.

once the firmware is done and I have examples on both types of controls, I'll post schematics and if there's a board (maybe) I'll post that too. I'm lousy at board design, though and my first proto will be handwired...

when things are done, I would envision the user could go into the source, change 1 value (I'll document what to do) and they'll be able to use either of the 2 volume atten methods.

I'm planning on using a simple rotary encoder (click up, click down style) for 'local' front panel control. most of the rest will be via some IR remote (currently using sony style since it was easy to program).

also, a tickler: another software feature I'm planning on adding is 'volume memories'. set your volume to some level then press 'memory' button and then 1 of 3 or 4 'assignable buttons' and the current volume level will be memorized and saved in that 'slot'. then to quickly get back to that 'bookmarked' volume setting, simply press the assigned button you picked.

maybe I'm having more fun on the GUI than the actual circuit (lol). but I -am- a software person, first and foremost

 

[rhys h]

Meet XAR. My simple volume control with no display. Its a volume control, not a preamp or anything else

 

[linuxworks]

rhys, it looks like you have the chocolate and I have the peanut butter (old old tv commercial reference, sorry if its obscure)

we should design (or use an existing) serial protocol so that my display can control your board!

do you have wires and code-space left for tx/rx or something?

 

[rhys h]

I didnt write the firmware, i stole it from someone else, so to modify the design the firmware would need to be re-written. The other I/O pins are shorted as jumpers for various reasons.

The microcontroller im using is also full, but im happy to adapt your design into mine, im just controlling the PGA the standard 4/5 wire route. I dont mind changing microcontroller and adding a header for an LCD.

We could be on to somthing here, if you can pull out some firmware that can control the PGA with remote AND rotary encoder whilst displaying on a VFD then im happy

 

[linuxworks]

I have some sample code (error401 has written one of these) for the PGA but I don't have the PGA to test with, yet.

I have TONS of code space left (I'm using only 4k out of 30k or so, right now) and so it could be easier to add the extra PGA logic to my source and have it talk to your board via a header.

if you're using standard wiring to the PGA, it should 'just plain work' when we go to integrate.

maybe its time to start a new topic of its own for it, though

 

[rhys h]

The source code i am using also belongs to error401. I am using standard wiring to the PGA so its nothing special, take a look at error401's minivol, my project is related.

 

[MrSlim]

I used the larger 160X hammond case, with aluminum end panels to be able to fit in the RCA's, 1/4 inch Jack and RK27 I wanted to use.

 

[oneplustwo]

A number of days ago, I posted my CMoy/Beta 22. Well, I was getting some transformer hum problems despite my best efforts to keep the signal wires on the opposite end of the enclosure, so I ended up moving the toroid into it's own enclosure but still keeping all the wiring, IEC, and on/off switch in the original tin.

As luck would have it, I had a round cookie tin lying around so I put it to good use! As such, I present to you the cookie tin/beta 22 hybrid:

I just need to trim and mount everything to that board (scrap piece of shelf from IKEA) and then it should be completely finished.

 

[smeggy]

That is the coolest concept evar, by far the most awesomest beta 22!

My SS build

 

[kansei]

That's really cool, Smeggy.

 

[chews89]

Wow Smeggy, talk about unique!