Tindie

It’s all well and good having synths, samplers and drum modules in your racks to generate noises, but where would we be without utility modules – giving us the power to control, restrict, and re-flow the signals to and from our sound-emitting gear? Step up then to the Affine – Scale/Invert/Offset 4HP eurorack kit – a new module which performs scale, inversion, and offset of incoming values, with a stylish aesthetic and a nice little LED indicator.

It has the ability to scale a signal from 0-2x for attenuation, invert the signal at the flick of a switch for positive or negative values and a knob to control the offset of the signal. The LED display reflects the outputted data and gives you sweet visual feedback of what’s happening to your signal. The Affine is available as a board and panel, a kit without knobs, and a full kit with knobs. The product page shows a BOM for the brave souls who would prefer to source the parts themselves! See a demo of the unit in action here:

The Affine has a unique look, which is both stylish and bold. You’ll find it in the Terrabite3 Tindie store – the maker is based in the USA and has a couple of nifty devices for sale with more sure to come.

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Chipmusic started life as the backdrop to classic video games in the home and the arcade, but in the late 80s and early 90s producers started using the very same devices to create and explore electronic music alone. Fast forward to 2021 and devices like the  YM2149 Synth put the power of two classic FM audio chips at your fingertips – both with the possibility of being played by MIDI.

The YM2149 (or AY-3-8910) is a three-voice programmable sound generator, used in many seminal gaming consoles like the Vectrex, Intellivison, and ZX Spectrum. Here we have two such chips capable of six-note polyphony (a standard for many synths) combined into one unit. It can take incoming MIDI and USB commands to trigger those glorious square wave sounds.

The synth uses a programmable ATmega328 microcontroller which allows you to upload your own code to the unit. The source code for this project has been made available on the seller’s GitHub page. It’s being sold as a completed unit with either MIDI or USB functionality.

The YM2149 is the first product to be sold by DerSpanischInventions who are based in Switzerland. A demo video of the synth in action is above. All your bass are belong to us!

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Mecanum wheeled (or “Omni DIrectional”) robots are cool! The ability for a rover platform to be released from the limitation of a turning circle means that all kinds of robot ideas can be explored. However, Mecanum wheels, due to their inherent complexity and part count, have traditionally been quite expensive.

This budget robotics platform does away with all that, providing a sturdy aluminium platform to build on, 4 Mecanum wheels, and 4 motors to drive them. The right angle motors are available in a choice of gear ratio which is useful dependent on what you are aiming for in your robot build. Other options include a double platform version where the second chassis plate stacks above the first on standoffs, great for more complex builds where you might add other payloads and modules. Finally there is an option that includes an Arduino and a game controller and some wiring to enable you to make a complete driveable platform out of the box.

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In recent years, the Roland TR-606 has has something of a resurgence. With so many music makers publicizing their joy of this underrated drum machine, the second-hand prices have been ascending. Eurorack owners rejoice then, as the BD-606 Bass Drum Module has come along to bring you deep-down tweakable kicks to your rig!

This 2HP module comes with features unseen in the original machine. with Accent CV input, Tone control and internal gate to trigger conversion that helps set the bass drum to where you need it. It’s a subtle analogue kick, which underpins the groove really well.

The seller has provided full documentation for the unit, with a BOM, descriptions, designs and functionality all explained in detail. The unit comes in 3 kit options – fully assembled, SMD Assembled Kit, and full kit. The PCBs need to be constructed and populated with the electronic components listed in the documentation, then you’ll be ready for the comprehensive and beautifully designed build guide.

You’ll find a short audio demo of the unit in action here which details some of the features in action – they sound great!

The BD-606 Bass Drum is sold by Drachma MFG who are based in the USA, with a couple of other nice modular morsels for your system!

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The K40 laser cutter is an often discussed piece of kit that has been around for awhile. It’s of interest as it still represents one of the lowest cost entry points into laser cutters that have enough power to cut thin plywoods and plastics rather than just engrave surfaces. However it’s widely known that the K40 type lasers have a lot of shortcomings and need a fair bit of setting up and modification to make them work well.

This add-on PCB for the K40 laser delivers a few essential features quickly and easily. Many K40 lasers, as stock, have no interlocking switches. This means that if you open the lid during laser operations the laser doesn’t stop working. This is obviously dangerous for the operator. This PCB, with the addition of some switches, makes the machine inoperable until all three doors on the machine are closed.

K40 laser cutters cool the laser tube by running a coolant (water) through a sleeve which is cycled back into a tank with a pump. On longer cutting jobs this coolant can obviously rise in temperature and when the temperature is too high it may damage the laser. This board adds a thermally controlled relay which will cut the power to the laser if the temperature is exceeded, protecting the most expensive part of your machine.

A final feature of this board is it automates the switching on and off of the extraction system. This is a welcome addition as the usual workflow is to only realise you haven’t turned on the extraction when your work area fills with fumes!

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The worlds of audio and visual performance are crossing over more than ever with many musicians and sound artists using visuals to accompany online sets. The Tymkrs GlitchCRT Eurorack Module is a crossover eurorack device capable of mixing 3 user-generated visual inputs to the beat of your modular drum – or synth or sequencer!

It’s a 6HP Eurorack module with a unique reversible faceplate (what a cool idea!) and comes as a fully completed unit to load up into the modular mothership! There are 3 inputs for video, one for audio and a composite video output of the combined visual signals. Each video input has an intensity knob to create anything from radical image merging to subtle flowing flickers.

Possible video sources could be retro video game consoles, VHS players, or vintage camcorders. Whatever you plug in, this unit will mix and mash them to the sound of your unbalanced audio input. Time to dust off the vintage gear for an algo-rave!

The Tymkrs GlitchCRT Eurorack Module is sold by Tymkrs (The Toymakers) who have a store jam-packed with audio/visual goodies, sold from the USA. They’re compiling a playlist of videos for the unit as we speak.

Please note: the video below featuring the unit in action contains flashing images.

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Whilst supercapacitors are now commonplace and reasonably affordable, the use of Lithium Ion capacitors is increasingly offering significant advantages in energy density and voltage supply range. This tiny board uses an AEM10941 IC from E-Peas to create a highly efficient solar harvesting system for Lithium Ion capacitor charging.

Combine this board with a small solar cell and a lithium ion capacitor and you can create an MPPT capable charge system that is efficient enough to charge the capacitor with indoor lighting. When the lithium ion capacitor has over 2.58 V the capacitor is charged up to 3.78 V and a regulated output supply is enabled with 2.2 V with up to 80mA available. The IC tracks the maximum power point every 5 seconds and so this should make a small but capable supply for small sensor projects, such as efficient LoRa nodes.

The board is supplied with all the SMD components soldered and comes with 2.54 mm header pins unsoldered so it can be mounted onto a project or used on a breadboard. On the product page there are some example power measurements and data around Lithium Ion capacitor efficiency and suggested reading if you wanted to convert the board to output 3.3V.

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Playing retro games has huge appeal in the modern era, with their nostalgic pixelated visuals, lof-fi sound effects and simple pick-up-and-play controls. Now, thanks to the NES64, one of the most iconic control pads (originally for the Nintendo Entertainment System) can now be used with Amigas, Ataris and Commodores! Press start to play!

The NES64 can be installed in a non-destructive way in an original NES control pad, or a modern reproduction – more details on the various designs are on the product page. Five product options are available, with PCB only, Kit with case, Kit without case, Fully assembled, and Fully assembled with an old plug. Not only is it compatible with the above, it offers an additional switch (mounted externally or internally) to control your character’s jumping action with the A button, rather than Up as was common in Commodore 64 games.

The seller has provided an extensive overview of how the modification works on their website, as well as hosting the design files publicly on gitlab. However you choose to put your pad together, this is a neat controller mod which will have you firing lasers, jumping baddies, and zooming spaceships long into the night!

The NES64 is sold by the superbly-named autumnhippo who are based in Denmark.

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Chances are if you have played with a few microcontrollers you will have used a CP2102 USB/UART chip on a little board to open up a serial port between your computer and your project. The Quadropus uses the CP2108 IC, the bigger sibling of the CP2102 and is capable of opening up 4 virtual serial ports instead of just one.

Each serial port has RX/TX/RTS/CTS/GND broken out to footprints for pin headers and it’s supplied with sets of different coloured header for you to solder in if required. The RX and TX on each port have activity LED’s and the Quadropus is supplied with a cable set, each terminated with a small probe hook.

There are some nice optional extra’s available for the Quadropus too, first up, you can request that all the pin headers are soldered in place for your convenience. There’s a great looking case to keep the device and cables all stashed neatly. Finally there’s a 3D-printed base which you can add as an extra, or the files are supplied for free if you want to print your own.

Compatible with all OS’s, with great driver support, we can imagine these Quadropus (Quadropi?) roaming the high seas of many electronics workbenches!

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It’s a great time for Eurorack modules; not only are people able to make expressive and impressive sounding modules – but independent sellers are making sleek devices which perform unique and useful functions! The mb’Lifter is a brand new module, which comes as a fully assembled unit which provides all of your gain and attenuation needs for smooth, level sounds when processing with effects.

The mb’Lifter takes incoming audio and CV signals and attenuates the signal for effects processing. It’s signal path can be routed in two ways depending on what you need:

Input > Amplify > Send/Return > Attenuate > Output

Input > Attenuate > Send/Return > Amplify > Output

It was designed to take a signal and prepare it for being processed, ensuring the output signal has a volume level which matches that of the input signal. At times, effects can add unwanted reduction or increase in volume which creates a balance in the mix.

The gain ranges from -18dB to +18dB giving you a good breadth to work with, plus an LED to indicate if the signal is clipping. The design files and schematic have been graciously shared by its designer – as well as a list of uses (and mis-uses) on the product page.

The mb’Lifter is created by Mario Becker who’s based in Germany

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