PICMIX - DIY midi DJ controller
PICMIX - DIY midi DJ controller Posted on: 26.10.2011 by Dannielle Glassey After years of mixing with vinyl and a DVS system for a while it is time to take a next step. A midi DJ controller. I looked at almost every possible controller there is on the market but I didn't really found what I was looking for. Too cramped or too much bells and whistles and so on. I mix mnml, deep and tech house and never use effects.I wanted a controller that has only the buttons and faders I want and what is there has to work great and accurate. As I don't like a sync button the pitch fader has to have a 10 bit resolution at least. The Vestax VCI-100 comes almost closest to what I wanted with the 1.4 firmware but since I do have electronic knowledge I decided to build it myself. I'm very familiar with PIC microcontrollers so I did't have to believe long. A lot of believeing and prototyping was done first to see if it was do-able to do it myself. Everything went great so I started gathering parts to measure. After that I've drawn a front panel and sent it to Schaeffer. The result is just stunning: You see it has a very basic and simple layout. Everything is panel mounted, I want it to feel solid. I'm used to quality feel, this has to be it too. The mainboard runs of a PIC16f887, I do program it with a C compiler. Jog wheels will be driven on an optical encoder. Playback buttons are arcade buttons. The panel is almost completely mounted but I don't have a pic of that yet. So, more details and updates will follow. Next will be wiring everything up and test every component. | |
| Lilliana Perris 04.02.2013 |
Originally Posted by JSM
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| Lilliana Perris 04.02.2013 |
Originally Posted by JSM
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| Dannielle Glassey 04.02.2013 | It has 10 bit resolution. Standard supported by the PIC and very stable to read with the right algorithm. 10 bit on 60mm faders is more than enough combined with 6% tempo range in Traktor. A video of the controllers would be cool indeed ! Need to make time for that. |
| Awilda Boggie 04.02.2013 | Amazing ! awe-inspiring btw you'd get a lot of views on YT if you made a video of the clone |
| Dannielle Glassey 16.08.2012 | Yeah, I'm satisfied with the size. Compared to other brands with simple controllers the PCB is a lot smaller with even better working. The modular design will be very usefull for future projects. There is no limit on how many controls it supports, it comes to extra I/O and custom firmware. LED feedback is no problem. |
| Kellie Myrum 14.08.2012 | I like it because it's small enough, can fit into current box (gamepad) and then I could use it as a brain with link to my bcd3000 and mod it with spare three knobs and eight more buttons for page selection mode. How many controls can I get from that and does it support LED feedback for every button as well? |
| Dannielle Glassey 14.08.2012 | Yes it is, all that is different is the program the microcontroller is running. |
| Kellie Myrum 14.08.2012 | That's cool Is it same board as from your midifighter? |
| Dannielle Glassey 14.08.2012 | Hmm I lost track of this topic and forgot to update it. Meanwhile the Picmix got a new midi brain board. It is a lot smaller than the proto as you see. I also redid the wiring of the panel completely. Quality imo is top notch. I'm very satisfied with the result. Hours and hours has it been used and it didn't let me down once. A colleague DJ likes likes it too. |
| Faustino Stringfellow 23.05.2012 | nice build. let me know how you get on with the VU meter, it's something i'm playing with myself. |
| Dannielle Glassey 23.05.2012 | Total cost is around 100$ I believe, I should calculate it exactly. After all this was an easy project. Now I'll continue working on the PICMIX cause that still has the proto board in it. I would like to add a VU meter to it if my board can handle the data fast enough, I'm pretty sure it can :-) |
| Chasidy Heckenbach 23.05.2012 | looking very very cool what's your estimated price for all the components etc? love the oak |
| Dannielle Glassey 23.05.2012 | Very little time to post on the community
but did find some time to assemble my MF clone and write 4 bank firmware for it. It is now completely compatible with the official MF mappings except for the supercombos. I had some issues with receiving midi data but all that is now completely fixed by using a ringbuffer so I don't miss data. The left PCB is the one I designed myself, the small one on the right is a mod I do to USB to midi converter boards so I can use them in my projects. It goes to a Neutrik connector on the back. Wood is oak, top plate is 2 mm anodized alu. |
| Dannielle Glassey 23.04.2012 | Still testing, it takes a lot of spare time. So far i'm at 50% of testing the PCB. Lots of other work makes it harder to work on this project. |
| Faustino Stringfellow 23.04.2012 | Any news on releasing the boards ? very keen to start building, thanks. |
| Dannielle Glassey 20.04.2012 | An lcd generates too much delay in my program. I can manipulate the data sure. I'll figure out a way to make it right. Next will be implementing the complete PCB in the picmix. |
| Arcelia Siebeneck 20.04.2012 | nice work! could you program the PIC to manipulate the midi data so that the LED's aren't always 'at the top'? and have you thought about using a 2x16 LCD instead? (see my sig below - ulimate VU meter) |
| Dannielle Glassey 20.04.2012 | While testing the board for HW bugs (which I haven't found yet) I thought why not implementing VU meters from Traktor. In the past I failed to process to bunch of midi data but a simple but effective routine I succeeded. The video below doesn't follow the sound you hear. What you see is the stream of deck A on the left and deck B on the right. Perhaps a master VU meter would be possible, I'll give that a shot next week. If all of this still works great with all the inputs processed fast enough I might design another front panel. The VU meters have no delay, other youtube users seem to struggle with it. Only problem I encountered is that while traktor applies autogain the deck VU meters hit the top a lot so not that attractive when you send them to leds. I would be nicer if I could make the autogain a bit more silent. Hard to explain but I believe most of the users know what I mean. |
| Allene Manitta 13.04.2012 | this is sick! so much cleaner then my re-wired gamepad... |
| Dannielle Glassey 13.04.2012 | Hi, A pretty nice project update this time. The PCB's have arrived and they look very nice. It always gives me a good feeling seeing the naked PCB manufactured after hours of drawing it. The images are blurry I know, better ones will be posted but it gives you an idea. Testing everything will be something for next week. First the complete PCB will be mounted inside the PICMIX and later on in the midi fighter clone. Perhaps after that I'll do an EFX unit. |
| Dannielle Glassey 23.03.2012 | And to give an idea of the dimensions. The pcb is 100 * 65 mm, a lot smaller than my protoboard. |
| Kamala Temple 23.03.2012 |
Originally Posted by Skirmitt
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| Dannielle Glassey 23.03.2012 | We'll see about that when the PCB's arrive and the tests are done |
| Kamala Temple 23.03.2012 | Your work.... is incredible. Bravo sir. |
| Dannielle Glassey 22.03.2012 | PCB drawing is ready, need to check some things and tweak the tracks here and there but it's 90% done. Preview: midi_io.JPG |
| Chasidy Heckenbach 05.03.2012 |
Originally Posted by Skirmitt
some kind of generic combination of pads and buttons would be very cool, which is why i believe i'll pick up a K2, tho the F1 looks very interesting - as do all the behringer units. too much choice at the moment i guess cool tho if u can build exactly what you want. |
| Dannielle Glassey 05.03.2012 | Well to be honest I tought on that after I had send out the panel for machining. I'm not much of an effect DJ, this is just to get familiar with it. Plan is to have the first 2 banks for instant gratification mapping and the other 2 for samples and que points. If I'm not satisfied with this I might make something else like the Faderfox FX3: |
| Chasidy Heckenbach 05.03.2012 |
Originally Posted by Skirmitt
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| Dannielle Glassey 05.03.2012 | Guess what I'm building next: Yeah, a midifighter clone. This is 2mm black anodized lasercutted aluminum. Will open a new thread when I'm a bit further with this. The picmix is finished, only thing that will be changed is a new PCB with the midi brain I'm still drawing. |
| Kellie Myrum 04.03.2012 | looks awesome in that wooden case. great work man! |
| Dori Specht 02.03.2012 | This is fabulous, man! Keep up the good work! |
| Dannielle Glassey 29.02.2012 | Perhaps yes, I'll definately share the design. |
| Era Roka 29.02.2012 |
Originally Posted by Skirmitt
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| Dannielle Glassey 29.02.2012 | Since the proto board works flawless I decided to make a PCB out of it. I adjusted the schematics to make it modular. Updated version of the schematics here: http://mylantec.be/upload/PICMIX_final.pdf Features on the mainboard will be:
When finished this board will be in my midifighter clone too. To make the connection with the PC I'll use a modified USB to midi converter board as explained earlier. |
| Jesenia Schmeichel 24.02.2012 |
Originally Posted by Skirmitt
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| Dannielle Glassey 24.02.2012 | Here is the tutorial for the converter: http://mylantec.be/upload/midiconverter.PDF It is very small but for someone with little electronic knowledge no problem I guess. If you have questions don't hesitate. A video will be made, I need to do some little things to it but it is now 95% finished. |
| Jesenia Schmeichel 24.02.2012 |
I'll post a picture and schematics of how I modded the midi to usb converter.
Can you make a video of the controller in action? |
| Dannielle Glassey 21.02.2012 | Thank I upgraded Traktor to version 2.1.2 and wow the new function jog turn is nice ! It responds just the way I want it, I now find the jog too sensitive at 100% so no need to upgrade it. Thanks NI !! |
| Arcelia Siebeneck 20.02.2012 | loving the case! |
| Dannielle Glassey 19.02.2012 | The case is finished. Made from oak and varnished (correct word ?), every edge is rounded. The electronics are now bus powered so I don't need a power supply. I'll post a picture and schematics of how I modded the midi to usb converter. Still need to drill a hole for the Neutrik connector and mount some leds. |
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