I’ve posted about my miniDexed project a couple of times before (Here and Here). I finally got my real miniDexed Project Box for it completed. It turned out well. I did have to buy a coping saw so I could cut the LCD panel hole. I also needed to drill out holes for the Encoder/Button knob, and for the LCD Contrast knob. And then a bunch more holes for the Zip Ties to hold the box together.
I put together a little logo from the one used on the MiniDexed Facebook group and fixed that to the side of the project box. I really wanted black ink on the label, but I didn’t have any Black-On-Clear label tape. It’s actually two labels, the MINI on a short strip and then the DEXED in a larger “font” (not really a font, it isn’t even actual text, just a PNG of the text). On the top is the Encoder/Button knob. On the right side in the picture is the LCD Contrast Control knob. Around the side to the left are the Raspberry Pi I/O ports, 4 Type A USB (two USB3 and two USB2) and the Ethernet port. On the back side are the two Micro-HDMI video ports, a 3.5mm audio jack (with composite video), and the USB Type C for power.
I chose the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB model because the audio on the combined Audio/Composite video jack is supposed to be better than it was on the previous Raspberry Pi models. It is better, but an actual DAC sound module would be better still. But the DX7 wasn’t the cleanest sound, so there is that, too. The pisound that I have uses a Raspberry Pi Model 3 model with a special Audio board to avoid the sound issues, and a MIDI board. I didn’t try to add MIDI to my miniDexed, though I think others do. I will depend on USB MIDI. I did test that with my Yamaha Reface DX (Yamaha’s modern mini FM Synth). I’ll need to get a shot of the Yamaha Reface DX and the miniDexed together.
I’ll take some shots of the miniDexed and the pisound side by side for a comparison in a future post. The pi sound is a cool idea. I haven’t really taken advantage of it yet, and I’ve had it a long time – at least by October 2018.
One thing about the miniDexed is that it is really eight DX7 engines running together. Like a TX816