Easiest way to control the soundlab?

[raberaucht]

Hi board,

I'm completely new to synth diy - and, to be honest, to synths in general.
Did some guitar effect stompboxes though, so I'm not new when it comes to soldering, wiring, all the fun DIY stuff.
As I like tinkering and music, I thought building a synth would be a fun thing.
And the soundlab seems perfect as a beginner project!

One question I have is: What is the easiest (and cheapest) way to control the soundlab?
I know you can use a CV keybord - but I guess they are very expensive.
Or a Midi-to-CV converter - not cheap as well, around 100 € in Germany.
I was considering to build the sequencer from MFOS, but this is not recommended neither as beginner nor intermediate project.

Any suggestions?

Best,
raberaucht

[loydb]

There's no getting around the fact you need something to generate CV. MFOS has their mini-controller (I'm building one now), but it's more interesting as a toy than an actual controller IMO. The step sequencers are nice, but way more expensive a proposition than an inexpensive MIDI-to-CV.

I'm building an ultimate, and am including a Paia MIDI-to-CV converter in it. Not only was it inexpensive as those things go, but it is set up to run on +/- 12v already, so I can just use the same supply as the rest of the synth.

Anyway, there's no magic cheap way to do it. You need either a CV controller or a MIDI converter.

Good luck!

[RF]

A "Baby 10" sequencer - or something like it is fairly inexpensive - simple build and quite useful. I built one into the same case as my Soundlab.

I don't think there are any PC boards for it though, so you'll be building on perf or making your own PCB.

bruce

[marioguzzi]

a cheap option for midi2cv could be midimplant