Instructions on using the VCS3 Poly Midi-CV Interface
This is a
Poly Midi-CV
unit designed to be used with a Synthi VCS3 mk2 with or without a
DK1/2 keyboard attached.
It is based around Marc Bareille’s fantastic 3-channel microcontroller based Midi-CV
converter called the ‘MCV876’ (which Marc has kindly allowed me to incorporate in the
modules)
See details of Marc’s unit at his website:-
http://m.bareille.free.fr/mcv876/mcv876.html
The latest units I ship have the most recent firmware (
v3.06
) for the
PIC18F2320
microcontroller which has faster better performance than the older models (based on a
PIC16F876 ).
Before Power On
With the VCS3 powered OFF plug in the male 8-pin cable into the rear ‘keyboard’ socket and
the 8-pin female plug into a DK1/2 keyboard if present. Note the unit will work with just the
main VCS3 console without the keyboard but then make sure the lower toggle switches are
set to CV1, CV2 and CV3. Now power on the VCS3. The Poly Midi unit is powered up when
the VCS3 is switched on.
You will see the green midi activity led flash and then go out, which indicates all is well.
The Midi Activity Led
(
green
)
This is a multi-purpose led! The led blinks a few times at power on. Then the led will
monitor all incoming recognised MIDI status bytes. The led also blinks 3 long blinks if the
interface receives the "Write To Flash" sysex message. When this message is received, all
MCV876 parameters are written into the flash RAM. So the MCV876 can recall a setup even
after a power off. When the interface is in MIDI Learn mode, the led stays on, until a MIDI
message has been received and learned by the interface. In ‘
mono
’ play mode (see play
modes description below) the mid activity led flashes when midi notes are received. In other
play modes it remains off when midi notes are sent, this is simply to speed up the midi-> cv
conversion in
polyphonic
and
multi
play modes where every bit of processing speed is
‘squeezed’ out of the micro-controller.
"MIDI Learn" switch
To place the unit in midi learn mode toggle the midi learn switch on then off (down and back
up). The midi activity led stays on until a MIDI message has been received and learned by the
interface. The led will blink 3 long blinks if the interface receives the "Write To Flash" sysex
message and will then automatically go out of midi learn mode to midi play mode.
If you wish to come out of midi learn mode without sending any new configuration data, just
toggle the midi learn switch down and up once more. Then the led will switch off and the
unit is in the standard play mode.
NB: the normal operating position for the midi learn toggle switch is in the ‘up’ position
.
