Oh wow homemade? That is aweomse o__o
I wish I had a real synth of my own...

Yes. Many, many months :)

Looks 4U, with mini-jacks (1/8th inch. 3.35mm)?

Yep. 1/8" jacks, with most modules 2" x 8"

Full from scratch, or kits from somewhere? Curious, as I'm looking at building a row or two in 5U myself.

The majority are predrilled PCBs from Music From Outer Space.
A few are from Yusynth, but I had to make my own PCBs.
and a few of the simpler ones I made from schematics.

Ahhh, MFOS. From what I've read over on Muff's Wriggler (a modular synthesis forum) they've some pretty good products.

I'm still debating between minijacks and regular for my setup, and of course between the infamous DIY setups and just paying dotcom (http://www.synthesizers.com ) the money for a setup.

Minijacks will let you save some space, though regular 1/4" jacks are more robust.
Synthesizers.com are somewhat pricey, but those things look like they'll last *years*

*nods* Yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about DOTcom's systems. And damn, those PCBs are cheap from MFOS!

It's pretty fun to make your own :)
I'm going to try transitioning over from thru-hole components to "surface mount"
that's going to be a challenge.

I wouldn't doubt it! Years ago, back in high school I loved tinkering and building various circuits and all that. In fact, I've actually been eyeing that MFOS Ultimate as a project (and the Doepfer DIY-synth), or a full on modular synth (either from scratch-kit, or more like the PAiA 9700S where it just has to be put together).

And since I've never really looked into that transition, just what kind of changes are involved with sucH?

A much steadier hand, plus a good magnifier or stereo microscope.
I've already tried etching a test smd board, and came out great, with 0.5 millimeter lines.
I'll try going thinner next time.

If you ever need any advice or assistance with SMT stuff, feel free to drop me a line. I do SMT assembly of our products regularly on Ustream and have been thinking of putting up an informational archive at some point. SMT is not at all difficult to do or learn, but does require a few basic tools and techniques to ensure good, consistent, and results. :D

LOL!!! I saw your penny before I read this!!
Haven't looked at the rest of your gallery yet.
Can you take a picture of the penny LED lit?
Do you know how bright it is, in millicandela?

It would actually blow out the camera with over-exposure if I shot it in that same scenario, but you can see the result of all 16 of them lit here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVgQ3vt4UTA Need to get more still pics up. I'd have to check the datasheet for exact numbers, but it's a few hundred mcd or so per color if I remember correctly. And yeah, a stereo microscope and a quality iron are an absolute want for good SMT soldering - the other key item that is very inexpensive but most people miss first-go is a flux pen, such as a Kester #951 (DigiKey KE1804-ND) which will make a night and day difference in the quality of the joints, especially for drag-soldering. The additional flux helps the wetting/wicking of the solder and will result in a much better filleting on the joint. Using a quality iron tip, steady hand, and a flux pen it's relatively easy to put down a 208-pin QFP part by hand in around 90 seconds with absolutely perfect joints on 20-mil pin spacings. :D

Without necessarily crowding your gallery with technical comments, feel free to hit me up if you'd like to chat more about this stuff! I also have some other projects which may be of interest to you, including a real-time nodal based Moog'esc software synth used for creation of laser entertainment abstract graphics, and of which I've been considering doing an audio-only version of for the audiophile crowd. It will certainly give you the same weird sounds!

Finished my first SMD board tonight. Worked right from the get-go!
It is the LFO and Noise generator board for the Sound Lab mini-synth (from Music From Outer Space). I'm building it with SMD rather than thru-hole,
as practice. The whole thing will be a small 6x8 inch box!

Freaky sweet! :)

Very nice!!

Needs more wiener dog!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_YWc0RszxU

I'm just glad he didn't take a leaky!! :)

Wow! I need to learn to do that. All I've got is a 1982 Korg Symphonic Piano with two broken keys.

Dude, I would so love to mess around with one of those. The possibilities of sound from that thing are endless!!!

two thumbs up :D

That is way cool man. Makes my brain happy just seeing it. I bet it sounds awesome coming from that box. :)

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4799841/

Oh wow! I'd kill for one of those <3
(I would not really kill anyone, lol)

aah, Music From Outer Space....

such a fun site!


Also, that's a very nice modular! What kind of music do you make with it?

Just one post so far, since it's quite a bit of rigging to produce each patch. Haven't used it much the last couple of months, and the sequencer still hasn't got all the bugs out. I may just replace it with a few more modules.

yeah, iknowrite? If i get to making a big modular (or maybe my next synth-design) i'll be sure to design something that would make recalling 'patches' much easier <.=.<;;

I just had a listnen, sounds fun!

Building a very small handheld "Sound Lab Mini Synth".
Next one will be a custom "Sound Lab ULTIMATE" (I won't be following MFOSs layout exactly).
Plus I have plans for an analog vocoder. Have all the schematics and parts :)

ahhh vocoders: so much fun <3

I'm currently very busy with my MultiSynth, wich is an hybrid digital/analog synthesizer. Featuring three channels: an analog synth, an analog bass-synth and a digital FM synth.

Next to that im also working on a lil' synth called the WaveSynth, wich features custom waveform creation and such :D

Have you ever tackled a polyphonic synthesizer, requiring multiple voice boards? (a la Oberheim).

LOL, no, and i haven't tried either. Such a project is something for the future.

polyphonic synth's are quite a pain :/

:Q

MOTM modules?

I think you mean Music From Outer Space?

http://www.synthtech.com/motm.html arp2600 kit for the win :D

Ah, nice! Hadn't checked them out before.

well its not a qwhole kit., but they havbe a shopping list of modules to order to get a similar result.

Wait, so did you build the keyboard itself, or just another case to go with the synth?

Regardless, looks pretty nice.

Well, sort of. They keyboard assembly itself is just the keys, I took it off a cheap electronic keyboard, and I made a case for
it. I connected the keys to the circuit in the case.