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MORDAX : DATA
User Guide

SYS V. 01.00.00

BOOT V. 01.00.00

Updated: 161229

Like all measurement equipment, the voltage accuracy of the DATA’s inputs and outputs are reliant on many factors, such as 
the system’s calibration scheme, the initial accuracy of the performed calibration, and changes in the physical environment 
(e.i., temperature). To best mediate environmental effects, it is recommended to perform calibrations after the DATA has been 
powered on for a period of 30 minutes or longer. The DATA’s votlage calibration is composed of two interlinked routines, Manual 
Calibration and Automatic Calibration. Let’s take a look at each of these.

Manual Calibration is used to calibrate the DATA’s digital-to-analog converters (DACs); these are the DATA’s voltage outputs. 
Unlike the Automatic Calibration covered next, Manual Calibration is not intended to be performed often, as it requires the use 
of a Digital Multimeter (DMM) or other voltage measurement device with sub-millivolt precision. At the factory, each DATA is put 
through a “burn-in” period, where the unit is powered for ~1 hour, after which manual calibration is performed using a 5.5 digit 
DMM, in addition to other tests. Despite calibration at the factory, the Manual Calibration routine may need to be performed on 
your DATA from time to time. As long as you have access to a reliable DMM or similar device, the process is simple:

Automatic Calibration is used to calibrate the DATA’s analog to digital converters (ADCs); these are the DATA’s voltage input 
sensors. Automatic Calibration relies on the DATA’s internal signal routing matrix to send known voltage levels into the ADCs 
and record their values. This process should be done whenever using the DATA in a new environment, after the unit has warmed 
up, prefferably for > 30 minutes. 

To perform Automatic Calibration, enter the Settings program, navigate to the ‘Miscellaneous Systems Items’ page, then scroll 
with the rotary encoder knob to select ‘Auto Calibration Routine’ from the submenu and follow the on-screen instructions. 

Calibration

Manual Calibration

Automatic Calibration

1. Power on the DATA for at least 30 minutes. From the DATA’s main 
menu, hit button 1-4 to access the Settings program.

2. The Settings program opens in the ‘Memory’ page. Hit button 
2-2 to navigate to the ‘Miscellaneous Systems Items’ page (top box 
MISC), then scroll with the rotary encoder knob to select ‘Manual 
Calibration Routine’ from the submenu. With this item highlighted, 
push in on the encoder to access the Manual Calibration Routine. 
This takes you to the entry screen for the routine; press START to 
begin.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions, first measuring the OUT1 jack 
for a range of voltages, then the OUT2, OUT3, and OUT4 jacks. 

4. Once Manual Calibration is complete, the calibration information 
is stored in the DATA’s onboard non-volatile memory. Neither Manual 
Calibration information nor Automatic Calibration information are 
stored on the microSD Card, so if your card is ever replaced for 
any reason, you won’t need to perform a Manual Calibration again 
(unless you want to).

5. Immediately after the Manual Calibration finishes, the DATA will 
start the Automatic Calibration routine to calibrate the DATA’s analog 
to digital converters (ADCs), applying the new Manual Calibration 
values.  

Summary of Contents for DATA

Page 1: ...User Guide SYS V 01 00 00 BOOT V 01 00 00 Updated 161229 ...

Page 2: ...on 8 Saving Loading System State 9 Program Oscilloscope 10 Program Spectrum Analyzer Spectrograph 17 Program Tuner 18 Program Wave Output 19 Program Clock Output 20 Program Voltage Monitor 22 Change Logs 23 Contents Also be sure to go and subscribe to the Mordax YouTube channel for Video Tutorials https www youtube com c mordaxnet ...

Page 3: ... of the program running a signal present at an Input Jack is buffered and sent back out of its corresponding Through Jack for use elsewhere in your patch Input Jacks All inputs can accept 10V signals though depending on the program running the expected voltage range and hardware signal path may vary Similarly all none or a subset of the inputs may be utilized per program see program specific instr...

Page 4: ...e CV pop up menu 3 Push the encoder to act on this parameter Turn the encoder so the parameter is NONE Push the encoder again and scroll to move to a different parameter 4 When you re done with the CV assignments hit soft button 2 3 again to leave the pop up menu 2 Turn the encoder to select WAVE1 CV source for DVCA as indicated by the hollow green box Currently CV INPUT 2 is the active source Get...

Page 5: ... Card s primary functions are to transfer firmware update files to the DATA and for the storage and recall of user system state patch memory and calibration varaibles To remove the SD Card for firmware update or replacement first turn the DATA off The DATA s SD Card reader slot is located in the bottom left corner of the back PCB as indicated by the microSD guide image The SD Card reader is a push...

Page 6: ... Both the DATA s system and bootloader firmware update files can be found on the Mordax website as they become available major updates will also be annouced via the email newletter and social media channels Firmware Updating the System Firmware 1 Go to www mordax net and download the latest DATA system firmware file to your computer All DATA system firmware bin files start with DS followed by 6 nu...

Page 7: ...ded DATA firmware bin file and place it in the mircoSD card s root directory 4 Eject the card and put it back into the DATA 5 Power on the DATA From the DATA s main menu hit button 1 4 to access the Settings program 6 The Settings program opens in the Memory page Hit button 2 2 to navigate to the Miscellaneous Systems Items page Then scroll with the rotary encoder knob to select Bootloader Firmwar...

Page 8: ...n relies on the DATA s internal signal routing matrix to send known voltage levels into the ADCs and record their values This process should be done whenever using the DATA in a new environment after the unit has warmed up prefferably for 30 minutes To perform Automatic Calibration enter the Settings program navigate to the Miscellaneous Systems Items page then scroll with the rotary encoder knob ...

Page 9: ... access the Settings program 2 The Settings program opens in the Memory page Scroll with the rotary encoder knob to select one of the eight available memory slots to save or load 3 To save the current system state to the highligted slot press button 1 1 under the display text SAVE Saving to the memory slot will automatically overwrite any previously saved state in that slot The display will show a...

Page 10: ...erly learn how the DSO works Just like positioning and focusing a telescope you have to adjust the settings of an oscilloscope to get the clear and accurate image you re after We ll be covering the operation of the DATA s scope in the following pages and we ll visit a few specific oscilloscope gotchas like triggering and aliasing If you re brand new to using scopes I highly recommend checking out ...

Page 11: ...requency oscillators LFOS Also useful for viewing non repeating higher frequency signals like your main audio outputs mix of many oscillators and FX The oscilloscope time scale would typically be set at 10ms or more Always use trigger mode AUTO when your time scale is set to large values e g 100 s of miliseconds or seconds Trigger Example AUTO vs NORM The images 1 2 and 3 show an audio rate sinewa...

Page 12: ...or from above high to low FALL Images 3 and 4 to the right show the trigger EDGE changing from RISE to FALL With RISE the signal display is centered around the left slope of the saw wave while with FALL the signal is centered at the right edge of the saw wave Similar to changing the LEVEL previously the wave appears to have shifted this time to the left 1 3 2 4 Pro tip if your oscillator s wavefor...

Page 13: ...t s look at an example of viewing a LFO waveform The incoming LFO signal is a sawtooth wave with a frequency of 0 1Hz which is equal to a period of 10 seconds 1Hz frequency 1 second period it s a fairly slow LFO But let s say we didn t know the LFO s frequency or period we can use the scope s horizontal scale to measure it or alternately the scope s cursor covered in the following pages The TIME p...

Page 14: ...ing signal is too fast to be properly sampled at the current sample rate Below is an example of this aliasing distortion on the DATA s scope display The saw wave signal s frequency is a little less than 350Hz F4 note with TIME 1MS the signal is displayed appropriately but as the TIME value is increased there is more time between samples and similarly each pixel on the screen spans more time At TIM...

Page 15: ...ly for each channel accessed via the channel s pop up menu at the bottom of the display For example in image 1 right the SCALE parameter for channel 1 is set to 5 0V per division That means each square on the grid is now 5 0V tall and with 8 vertical divisions on the grid the entire display is showing a range of 40V You can see that the incoming saw wave is 2 boxes high so 2 X 5 0V gives 10V at a ...

Page 16: ...nel s voltage scale or position is changed as the cursor s scale and relative position change along with it on the fly Similarly the cursor s X axis scale is automatically updated to reference the display s current TIME setting There are two cursors available per axis with cursors AY and AX displayed as a solid white lines and cursors BY and BX displayed as dotted white lines Difference delta betw...

Page 17: ...requency components taking a time domain signal and displaying it in frequency domain showing it s harmonic content the various sinewaves that make up the signal This is accomplished by Fourier analysis specifically fast Fourier transform FFT Both the DATA s Spectrum Analyzer and Spectrograph display the incoming signal s frequency spectrum with the Spectrum Analyzer showing the output of one FFT ...

Page 18: ...n incoming signal s frequency and automatically displays the nearest note in the chromatic scale as well as calculates the difference in hertz from the nearest note Any of the four input channels can be selected for measurement allowing for quick tuning of multiple signals e g tuning four oscillators to make a chord Typical accuracy 0 01 Hz Frequency range 27 50 Hz 4 068 Hz spans notes A0 to B7 Tu...

Page 19: ...ination with the AMP control to clip and shape the waveform TYPE The initial waveform shape which can be SINE SQR SAW or TRI PHASE The starting point of the waveform s cycle FREQ NOTE The waveform generator s base frequency frequency before CV pitch control is displayed as either decimal Hz or note name Final Frequency The waveform generator s current output frequency which is a combination of the...

Page 20: ...e signal to toggle RUN STOP of the clock generator same as pushing soft button 1 4 RUN STOP Push soft button 1 4 to toggle RUN STOP of the clock generator INPUT2 RESET Indicates the function of INPUT2 Send a gate signal to reset the clock generator s measure position applies to longer division settings This has the same effect as pushing soft button 1 3 RESET RESET Push soft button 1 3 to reset th...

Page 21: ...e the same as INTERAL MASTER MODE referenced previously only those unique to EXTERNAL SYNC MODE are highlighted below INPUT1 EXT CLK Indicates the function of INPUT1 This is the input for incoming external clock signal INPUT2 RESET Indicates the function of INPUT2 Send a gate signal to reset the clock generator s measure position applies to longer division settings Some sequencers have a RESET out...

Page 22: ...two fine dotted lines 5V The display is designed to monitor constant or slowly changing signals LFOs sequencers manual CV or gate controls etc Repeating signals at a frequency greater than 2 Hz will experience display aliasing as described in the DATA s Oscilloscope Program section on aliasing distortion Output channels are configured via the OUTPUT pop up menu in the top right corner TYPE CV conf...

Page 23: ...AX DATA User Guide SYS V 01 00 00 BOOT V 01 00 00 Updated 161229 Change Logs BOOT V 01 00 00 Initial Release 161229 Initial Release SYS V 01 00 00 Initial Release SYSTEM FIRMWARE BOOTLOADER FIRMWARE USER GUIDE ...

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