Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Welcome to the Taurus, Minitaur and Sirin Forum
User avatar
Portamental
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am

Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Portamental » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:38 pm

The Minitaur seemed perfect specification wise, all the knobs you can wish for, genuine Moog sound engine, cv driven with the standard cv inputs. No midi mess. Nothing could go wrong I thought in a CV rig.

The connection between the Akai Max 49 is the simplest that can be : one patch cable for gate and one for pitch CV (the Max 49 has standard 1v/oct cv output). One possible issue is the root note, easily remedied if that happens.

Power On... there's music as I press the controller's keys. That's good. So let's get to the knobs part and make sounds... cutoff.. resonance.. looks good too.

So it works.. well no.... the mixer section goes wild or full on or full off. Same thing with the mod section, where the mod amount will freeze, most often at zero, but sometimes at full amount. Sometimes the glide section will freeze too.

There is a little something in the manual about the power on knob settings of the modulation section if the unit is to be used with cv's only. It's a bit vague.

After countless power on and off tests, with the knobs either zero, or full, or else, over the span of many days now, the symptoms still persists.

And the symptoms are : the Minitaur will power on good most of the time (but not always) with everything functioning as it should. But when you start turning knobs, the three things that happens most often are, in order :

- the mod section locks to zero (no amount) and is unusable

- Sustain amount of the VCA freezes full on, and Decay full off.

- the mixer jumps and locks in full amount for both OSC (knobs won't work anymore)

And these things will happen very shortly after starting operating the unit. But again, mixer can also freeze to zero , or mod section to max, or other values as well. Glide can go freeze too, and the VCA EG goes foul all the time, with sustain fully bad.

More power on and offs, testing, something wrong again, it's been a week, I give up.

The Minitaur is such a nice little machine. One thing I did not expect is I found very comfortable manipulating knobs in such a tiny space, maybe more so than moving an arm to change a setting on a large OS panel.

I so wished it would have worked but I am afraid it's a failing grade with CV's only. And I have no choice to shelve it until the next firmware revision. It just does not work.

Amos
Posts: 2438
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2003 3:11 pm

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Amos » Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:07 pm

you never emailed me! I have a firmware update for you to try. You should recalibrate those pots, too.
It's easy, I'll tell you how. Takes only a minute or two.

-Amos

User avatar
Portamental
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Portamental » Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:52 am

Hi Amos, thanks for your reply, Heavy work load, been working 16/24 for the last couple of weeks. Project now done, let's see what can be done with the Minitaur. The little guy is eager to join the others ones but now I don't bother turning it on anymore since it's unusable with CV's.

Actually, I just turned it on before writing this post. It's totally frozen, not a single knob respond to anything, both Oscs fully On, no modulation, no envelopes, full VCA volume even with the Volume knob at zero. The worse it's been.

Image

Amos
Posts: 2438
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2003 3:11 pm

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Amos » Mon Apr 01, 2013 11:44 am

OK, testing this now. A fix soon, I hope... thanks for your patience...

-Amos

User avatar
Portamental
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Portamental » Wed Apr 03, 2013 9:07 am

Thanks Amos....

After sysex factory restore, update to latest firmware and pot calibration, still no change. Sections (mixer, MOD, VCA EG, Glide) keep on freezing. Not once in while. Always. I can not power up the unit without a section being frozen. Never the same from one power up to the next. Sometimes the frozen sections migrate, sometimes they don't.

Amos
Posts: 2438
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2003 3:11 pm

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Amos » Wed Apr 03, 2013 9:59 am

Today in my testing I find that the frozen knobs instantly start working when I plug in USB from computer to Minitaur, or when I play a MIDI note or two. This explains why I never saw this issue during testing... I tested CV plenty of times, but always with a MIDI controller connected also; never with CV alone and no MIDI. Stay tuned for further updates.

User avatar
Portamental
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Portamental » Thu Apr 04, 2013 12:45 am

You betcha! Take your time, make it good. It's not as if I keep track of it (time). 8)

Image

nectarios
Posts: 131
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:54 pm

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by nectarios » Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:35 am

Right, my Minitaur behaves perfectly fine with CV/Gate connectivity only.

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.ph ... _processed

Tweaked the parameters that were said to cause problems but all is well...what more am I supposed to be looking out for?
Eurorack, 5U, x0xb0x, Moog Slim Phatty, MF-102, MF-103, MF-108, CP-251, Beatstep Pro, Nord Lead 1, NI Maschine, MXR-104, ProCo RAT2, Big Muff π Bass, Logic Pro 9.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts

User avatar
Portamental
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Portamental » Thu Apr 04, 2013 12:54 pm

Looks fine on your video. I think mine worked all right a few minutes right out of the box, but then, twisting knobs, when it went bad, it never came back. The problem (the symptoms actually) has now been acknowledged.

Keep on twisting knobs, I don't think it will stay like that for long. But hey, I crossing my fingers for you! :)

nectarios
Posts: 131
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:54 pm

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by nectarios » Thu Apr 04, 2013 12:57 pm

Nope, you're right. Switched it off and on... LFO VCF AMOUNT and VCA SUSTAIN had issues.
Well back to connecting the USB. Hope this gets sorted out for you mate.
Eurorack, 5U, x0xb0x, Moog Slim Phatty, MF-102, MF-103, MF-108, CP-251, Beatstep Pro, Nord Lead 1, NI Maschine, MXR-104, ProCo RAT2, Big Muff π Bass, Logic Pro 9.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts

User avatar
Portamental
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Portamental » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:01 pm

You are quick on the reply when we talk :lol: ;

nectarios
Posts: 131
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:54 pm

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by nectarios » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:09 pm

I am testing Minitaur firmwares and reporting back on e-mails and here :lol:
At least I am getting some ideas down in the process. :D
Eurorack, 5U, x0xb0x, Moog Slim Phatty, MF-102, MF-103, MF-108, CP-251, Beatstep Pro, Nord Lead 1, NI Maschine, MXR-104, ProCo RAT2, Big Muff π Bass, Logic Pro 9.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts

User avatar
Portamental
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Portamental » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:19 pm

Nice little box you got there.... does it play vintage style music too ? :lol:

nectarios
Posts: 131
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:54 pm

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by nectarios » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:27 pm

Acid goa basslines are vintage music by default 8)
...For a 35 year old like my self, anyway.
Eurorack, 5U, x0xb0x, Moog Slim Phatty, MF-102, MF-103, MF-108, CP-251, Beatstep Pro, Nord Lead 1, NI Maschine, MXR-104, ProCo RAT2, Big Muff π Bass, Logic Pro 9.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts

User avatar
Portamental
Posts: 888
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am

Re: Minitaur with CV's - close but no cigar

Post by Portamental » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:38 pm

Well all I can reply to that is :

E2 - G2 - A2 - G2 - D3 - C3 - D3 - E3 at 166 bmp

But don't try that on the Minitaur... you need a noise generator for the full effects 8)

Post Reply