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MOD: Gieskes DEP2b 8-bit effects processor

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  • MOD: Gieskes DEP2b 8-bit effects processor

    So.. BIG fan of Gieskes gear - he is a space-cadet with a fantastic design ethic, and his kits are amusing to play with. I try to buy them all when they come out, and started with his Arduino-based vision/pattern generators way back when.. Still use them in the Videomixes regularly..

    He did an 8-bit echo/grunge kit called the DEP2, look here: http://gieskes.nl/effects/?file=dep-2 and ofc i got one and built it.. It sat in it's box in the studio for a year, and i would see it and think i should really use it, but never did. a SHAME.

    I picked up a eurorack from a skip at work, and removed all the useless telco crap that was in it, and set about filling it with the modules i was not using in the racks i use every week, and the DEP2 was staring at me as i was doing this, all lonely and sad, so, i thought i'd cheer it up and mount it in the case so i could actually use the fuc*er on something.

    I designed a eurorack panel using the free software from https://www.schaeffer-ag.de/en/downl...anel_designer/ and in about a week it arrived - it was about 40euro all in.

    Next, the DEP2 had to be stripped. All the pots can be re-used, EXCEPT the volume pot, which is horrible, so a look on RS and i found a nice low-profile one, and while i was at it, got some minijack sockets and some toggle switches, and the most expensive and sexy buttons i could buy, one of them backlit with a blue LED, of coarse, to use as the level indicator. = Fu*k it. It's a one-off. In fact, the only thing more expensive then the buttons was the kit itself. A close 3rd was the knobs i bought - REALLY posh long ones.. mmmm...

    I went for minijacks for the AF/audio in & out on the panel, and took quite a while making sure the whole lot would fit behind the panel. It's tight, like very tight, but it works fine.

    The real bitch was making the whole thing self-explaining, as one issue with all Gieskes' kits is once you build it, you have no clue as to what everything does unless you put it in a case and label everything. SO. the 3 rocker switches that control MODE - really only 2 of them are in play, the first is about the loop sweep direction, so i mounted the 2 selectors horizontally, and made a truth table graphic using <> >< >> << as the 4 options and a word as a clue to each mode. BINGO. Now it makes sense, er, to me anyway.

    My eurorack case is a lab one, so the holes in the rails are for smaller screws then the typical (doepfer, etc.) and the rails themselves are largerand deeper, so, i DID have to file down a portion of the corner of the board - you may not have to - but there is nothing there anyway, so no big deal.

    The rest is simple really - just transplant the pots to the panel, wire them back to the main board, remove the jack sockets, wire the points to the minijack sockets on the panel, and power it up. Yeh, OK, it's not *that* simple, you will facepalm a little, but use your head.

    Mounting the board to the back of the panel is done by using the 2 holes i placed for brackets. I used machined 'L' hinges left over from the scrapping of the rack, and long screws, so it was easy for me - you will have to think about this if you try it, you need the board to sit perpendicular to the panel, so go ahead and use the 2 mounting holes as a starting point.

    To power it i used a super-cheapo 12v to 9v DC-DC convertor off fleabay http://www.ebay.com/itm/302065815955 and fed it with the 12v from the eurorack power rail. It probably would have been fine with the 12v , but i wanted to be sure, so went this way.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by playthatbeat; Tue 13-12-2016, 7:16 PM.
    jUst plAythAtbEAt

  • #2
    I planned the conversion by listing the parts i would need, and values for them, and making notes about the size on panel and clearance for my rack. The numbers in green are the numbers used on the plans for the Dep2b and manual.

    Panel - Anodized aluminium Euroorack Panel, Untereloxaldruck, dimensions: 91.00 x 128.00 x 2.00 mm

    Board mounts - 102mm apart on board - 8mm clearence each end - -8mm hinge per side to mount on europanel = 86mm apart

    21mm from top/bottom, 8mm from right edge.

    Original board minus pots and switches mounted perpendicuilar to Front plate on hinges

    9 pot holes - reuse all pots except *

    17 - audio buffer length - r27 - 10k [RS Stock No. 729-3527 - 7mm mounting - 9.5mm rear width]
    18 - input threshold - r28 - 10k
    19 - variable - r4 - 10k
    20 - audio input level - r21 - 20k - 7mm mounting - 9.5mm rear width [* stock pot cannot be panel mounted - use RS Stock no. 729-3467]
    21 - audio output level - r2 - 10k
    22 - sample rate - r6 - 10k
    27 - resonace - r7 - 2.2k - 9.6mm mounting - Rear width 16mm
    29 - DAC output level - r9 - 10k
    28 - Lowpass - r8 - 10k

    Knobs - 12.7mm - RS Stock No. 467-2435

    Holes 18mm apart

    (2 LEDs - embed in buttons below)

    5 momentary buttons - RS Stock No. 913-1721 - 12mm mount - 16mm width

    31 - sample rate divide
    32 - forced record
    33 - mute loopthru (with LED for level)
    34 - feedback on/off
    35 - freeze (with ALT LED - not working??)

    62mm from x origin (centre)


    5 single pole SW ON/ON - RS Stock No. 394-459 - 6.5mm mount - 7mm width - 12.7mm high

    23 - eff sel
    24 - eff sel
    25 - toggle fwd or fwd/rev
    30 - HPF
    J17 - Toggle IN 10 between 17/18 (now select with switch)

    5 minijack sockets - RS Stock No. 106-874 - 6mm mount hole - 9mm rear width

    10 - CV in Buffer Length/input threshold
    11 - CV in for 19/Variable
    12 - CV in Sample rate
    14 - Audio Out
    15 - Audio In
    Last edited by playthatbeat; Tue 13-12-2016, 7:03 PM.
    jUst plAythAtbEAt

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    • #3
      This is the file for the front panel designer - i chose a 2mm thick plain panel, i guess you can experiment with the design after loading it into the designer software..
      Attached Files
      jUst plAythAtbEAt

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      • #4
        Here it is in action:


        And plz enjoy the mp3 of the jam attached..
        Attached Files
        jUst plAythAtbEAt

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