I’ll let you all know when it gets here. I’ve been wanting a new KRONOS ($$$$$$), but my TRITON is still working. I like playing around with hardware and software. Back in the '70s, I built a Heathkit oscilloscope (tubes, no transistors), and used it to look at synth waveforms.
6 Likes
Welcome aboard! Tube scope synth waveforms look better!
Welcome!
Enjoy exploring your Zynth - when you get it!
Heathkit - wow that takes me back to my teenage years…
1 Like
Mickey, welcome and all good wishes for your build. Enjoy.
The first time I connected my newly built Zynthian to an Ethernet cable and let it update itself, I was amazed by how the process ran itself in great detail, while the screen told me everything that was going on. Windows updates are way more fuss than Zynthian updates.
Be sure to connect the Zynthian to your computer and explore the configuration options. There are a huge number of sound generators and FX that you can make available on the device (or not). And Pianoteq!
You can build whole pedalboards on your computer screen and then install them on the Zynthian, but you can also build and edit FX chains directly on the device, which I find to be a lot less hassle and more fun, if you don’t need to do complex routing between your FX.
You can also record audio directly to a USB drive.
I’m just mentioning a few things that are covered in the documentation, but when I was getting started, it took a while for them to dawn on me.
Have fun! Upload samples of what you did! Let us know how it goes.
Christian
1 Like
Just got the tracking email! Got to pull an all-nighter to download the os. Yes, it’s that primitive here in semi-rural Texas. I pay $65/ month for 10 Gb, $10 /Gb extra, but free in the hour of the wolf. Is anyone selling pre-loaded SDs?
?Pensaran vuestras mercedes ahora que es poco trabajo hinchar un perro?
2 Likes
Funny quote! 
Sea usted muy bienvenido a nuestra pequeña ínsula, Maese @mickey!!
No contaba tropezar una cita del “loco sevillano” por estos andurriales, pero no debiera sorprenderme tanto conociendo la ilustranza de vuestras zynthianicas mercedes.
Good luck with the build session, and enjoy the noize!! 
1 Like
The kit came early! DHS said Tuesday, April 27, but it came this morning, Sunday, April 25.
I uploaded the software between 2:00 & 4:00 AM, when I get free internet. ‘La hora del lobo.’ It took a whole hour! Vivo en un lugar andurrial, pues.
The build went very smoothly, all the parts were there and they fit together very easily. My first attempt at booting failed, so I double checked the wiring and reburned the SD with the RP imager. The new SD image worked perfectly. It was software, not hardware.
How many coders does it take to change a lightbulb?
That’s a hardware problem!
It was a good idea to have the first boot expand the ext4 partition. I think that was the problem with the first image; I had already expanded it with Debian disk utility, which was unnecessary, as well as introducing an error. When I remade the SD, the Zynth booted and expanded the partition perfectly. (I checked it again in Debian; still worked fine.)
I hooked the Zynth to my old TRITON and tried out some sounds, with MIDI in and out, and audio out. What a plethora of patches! And there’s so much more to be explored…
My wife was talking to a friend who could hear the strange sounds I was making with the new Zynth. Now this friend is a singer/songwriter, and her husband plays a mean guitar, and is also technically adept with recording hardware and software. So I absolutely had to call him and brag about my new machine. We have a gig next Friday, but I’ll just use an old Yamaha, because all it calls for is acoustic piano, electric piano, and generic organ. I’ll bring the Zynth just to watch him drool. Jaja!
Note on the build: I found it easier to install the Pi board before attaching the HiFi board, because it was easier to make a better mechanical seal between the processor heat sink (passive cooling) and the case. I also added CanaKit heat sinks to the RAM and USB chips. I like to run cool, no overclocking.
One problem: the touch screen isn’t working. I’ll try reburning the SD again, but I really don’t like touch screens anyway.
Estoy un estudiante de el manchego. Puedo leer, pero no hablar buen. Un amigo de ecuador me daba un libro de Allende, una cuenta ‘El Sapo.’ Yo dijo, ‘This is in Spanish!’ El dijo, ‘Read it!’
It was a funny story.
Interruption: I had to catch a scorpion (alacran). They glow under UV. This is a rural part of Texas. Lots of bugs.
?Pensara vuestra merced ahora que es poco trabajo hacer un libro?Raganomicon.zip (1.9 MB)
The problems of converting math to code are fascinating. Music theory evolved along with the instruments and the styles of music, and like biological evolution, it cannot be derived logically.
2 Likes
Interesting book and amazing “table”!!
Un servidor no sabe mucho de faceduras literarias, pero hará lo posible por leerlo, digerirlo y meditarlo, lo que a juicio mio será trabajo mas que suficiente para las maltratadas neuronas que habitan mi pobre testa de “coder”
Cheers!
Oy!! Parley La Englisey !!!
Foreginers eh ?
2 Likes
Back in your cage @wyleu. You come from a place where English is barely recognisable with your dour, northern accents.
1 Like
We have refined the art of speaking in grunts with inflection, One can say so much with the raising of a eyebrow and an accompanying low guttural growl from the wippit we all have.
Just remember Gemma Collins is what most people think of when they think of Essex. . . .
Maltreated neurons?
…mal remojado y peor cocido…
Cervantes had no concept of neurons, but he knew about bad codfish.
This Zynthian thing isn’t just a synthesizer, it’s a whole musical OS. And the hardware fits together, even a venerable flatulence like my humble self can put one together in a day. By the way the nuts on the Audio and MIDI jacks are American, not Metric.
Updated online. Excellent, shows the Linux. Touch screen still nonfunctional? Everything else seems to be right. I need a manual for every synth. Read the manual for PureData, again. Changed the password to random. etc.
I’ve got a way better Procol Harum on the Old T. Split with mono pedal and high lonesome spooky chords in the left, and just plain scary right. But then again, used to play a Rhodes88. I bought it for $500, played it for 10-12 years, sold it to a friend for $500, and then it was stolen. Karma?
You guys are great. Your machine works great. I gotta show it off to my tech buds.
2 Likes
I think you will find those nuts are Imperial, not American .
There is the wiki where you will find a lot of info. The gorgeous https://zynthian.org site has a catalogue of the engines with links to the upstream projects’ websites. (@jofemodo - setBfree link is broken). You should / may find documentation for the engines there.
Regarding touchscreen - I take it that the screen works but touch does not? Is there no response to touch at all? You can enable onscreen cursor in webconf and see whether that moves at all when touching. You may find you are not missing much as the touch interface is still suboptimal (we are working on it) but it is good to have a fully working device from day one.
That certainly warrents a 
.
1 Like
I thought the Brits went Metric a long time ago, and we Yanks were the only holdouts. I still need to have both sets of wrenches (spanners). 
Thanks, Boss, I downloaded and PDFed most of the wiki.
Touchscreen: Using my ‘old’ RP hooked up the configuration and found that the touchscreen switch was set to -notouch. I guess it’s opt in, instead of opt out. No problem.
There are many holding out for a return to imperial measurements. I think they believe we are still part of an empire! Poor misguided fools. I tend to think in feet and inches but measure in millimeters. Very confusing for my kids!
I don’t understand what has happened with your touchscreen. In theory, if you flash a uSD card with the current Zynthian image and insert it into a RPi in an official Zynthian kit then the touchscreen should work.
Is it not working? If it’s a hardware problem, i would send you a replacement, of course!
Regards,
I had started a reply last night but a storm knocked out the satellite signal.
I doubt that it’s a hardware problem, because it’s turned off in config. I’ll get on my other RP terminal and change it when I get a chance. Got a gig Friday, and we’re staying over. I’ll get to show off my new toy to my musical and technical buddy, while the wives gossip.
Everything else is working fine. Auditioned many of the synths, tried out some audio effects using harp through a Green Bullet, played around with PureData, etc.
2 Likes
Touch MUST work out-the-box with a fresh-burned SD card with the latest image. If it don’t, it’s some kind of hardware problem for sure.
Regards,
Ok, Boss. I’ll recheck the build from the ground up. Should I send the install files? I guess yes.
Downloaded the zip. Burned a bad SD using a Debian live. Zynth was assembled , but no boot. Reburned SD with WIN10 RP imager. Booted and ran. WiFi to PC and Ethernet to old Pi worked fine. Also updated. Haven’t saved anything, so rechecking my build and reburning the SD are no problem.
So, if it’s a hardware problem, it’s probably something I did in assembly.
It works fine. Touch is not a problem for me.
Played a Friday gig and stayed over the weekend. The girls had their nails done and the boys played with the new toy. Put a thermostat on the wife’s Toyota today. We’ve got a bird that likes to fight our car windows. Life goes on.