Announcing 8m Eurorack 8 channel fader bank with I2C, Multifunction CV, and MIDI outs

ER-301
#1

I am pleased to announce the Michigan Synth Works 8m fader bank. This device has 8 60mm faders with the following outputs:

  1. CVs: Switchable between 0-5V, 0-10V, +/-5V. The CVs outputs can be inverted globally as well (10-0V instead of 0-10V)

  2. Midi output: Simple header on the back that can be connected point to point with other euro modules that support direct midi input. A 2HP expander will be available with a TRS midi out, 1x3 TRS Midi spliter and a 2x buffered I2C TRS breatkout

  3. I2C: Simple header on the back to connect directly to other euro modules that support I2C inputs.

The device is Ardunio based so it will be easily configurable for various midi setups/i2c/etc

Target price is $200

16HP

Available 2020

The hardware is done and software is currently being written so any suggestions would be greatly welcome.

IMG_0620
IMG_0620.JPG3000×4000 1.21 MB

24 Likes
#2

If the buffer is onboard the expander then it could form a good alternative to the TXb. Ditto for behind-the-panel MIDI applications (disting et al).

1 Like
#3

That was kinda of the idea. TXb is a bit sparse for what it does, there is lots of wasted room there. It will be almost identical to this except the midi out will be normaled to the midi in so without anything plugged in, it will just be 3 midi outputs from the faderbank and if you plug in a TRS input, you will just have one out plus the 1x3 midi mult.

midiplus_nat
midiplus_nat.jpg3000×4000 1.19 MB

3 Likes
#4

This looks wonderful!
What is the current draw?
Can you post a pic of the back of the unit?
I do have the 16 fade (that you built, actually! :grin:), but maybe this is a better fir for me?? Not sure yet.
p.

#5

Could you add another row of plugs? It would be great to have a CV in per fader. The input CV signal will then be added or attenuated by the fader.

#6

There is no room.

#7

Current draw is 50 mA on the +12, 30 mA on the -12

Here’s a pic of the back

IMG_0633
IMG_0633.JPG3000×4000 1.76 MB

3 Likes
#8

Absolute love. Can’t wait. Thanks!

#9

I know I’m not the first to say it, but I’d give up at least one testicle for the option of a flipped panel with the jacks on the top…

2 Likes
#10

is there any possibility of having ie: 2 of them chained together to send 16ch out over I2C it’s like a micro 16n?

1 Like
#11

just flip it? the interface is simple enough. the cv will be inversed no matter what.

#12

I’ll make reverse panels available. There is a hardware switch to reverse the polarity of the faders

5 Likes
#13

No, these are designed for 8 channels only but down the road there will be a 16 channel version available. I really shy away from huge devices for eurorack so we are focusing on a smaller one first. It will be easy to scale up later

4 Likes
#14

Neil, if you employ crow as I2C leader and have multiple 8m set to as followers it should be very easy to pass their values along to ER-301.

EDIT: Presuming there is some method of changing I2C address…

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#15

The code base will be hackable so changing the code to suit wont be an issue

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#16

question- can more than one i2c device be connected to the er301 at once? or only one at a time?

#17

ah crap I should read better.

great development this!

#18

ER-301 is an I2C follower which responds to the commands of a host device (i.e. I2C leader). A host device can have multiple follower devices on the same bus, but there should only be one host device.

Practically, yes, you can attach multiple devices to the ER-301. But it requires a programmable host like Teletype or crow.

#19

Meant to ask, will the range scaling be reflected in MIDI and I2C?

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#20

No. This is where this thing is very different from the 16n. All the scaling is done after the ADC so the fader is always Min-Max wrt to i2c and midi. Inverting the voltage DOES reflect the midi and i2c since that is done before the ADC

1 Like