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Roland MC-202 Rack (Midi-fied)
MODS 8 - MIDI

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| MC-202 Mods6 | MC-202 Rack | MC-202 Midi | MC-202 Soundz |
| Midi2CV |  Mounting | Routing | Config |

MIDI-fying the MC-202 Rack

MIDI-to-CV Converter
CHOICE
I needed some basic MIDI-to-CV Convertor. Constantly buying Doepfer MCV-4 and mounting them inside is not ideal as they are not cheap.

I found that recently Papareil Synth Labs starts selling PCBs for his modules, and there are 2 PIC based Midi-to-CV convertors, the MCV876 and MCV628.
This seems ideal, as it is a more economic solution to my midi-fying these synths...so i ordered a couple of these PCBs from them.

Took about 2 weeks for the boards to arrive after my PayPal payment. Marc (the developer) has been real nice and emails are very prompt.
The boards arrived nicely packed, complete with printed construction manuals. This is quite good, normally you don't get printed papers from these web orderings (most others are online PDFs).

Just around the time I started modifying this MC-202, Marc, the developer of Papareil emailed me and said he's releasing a version 2 firmware and software. So i thought I'd give it a try on the MC-202.

The MCV876 has basic Pitch CV and Note On/Off Gate, plus 2 Aux CVs and 2 Aux Gates. (Could be more, but it's up to Marc to update the firmware/software).

The PIC is firmware upgradable, and there's a config software that you can assign different Midi CC's to the Aux CV's and Gates (also does Midi Clock -> Gate in version 2!). This is a neat converter!

Mounting
I have the MCV876 mounted on the side, next to PSU board.

Routing
+15V/0V/-15V In From PSU +15V/0V/-15V Out
MIDI 4/5 In From Midi In Socket Pins 4/5
MIDI GATE LED MIDI LED on Front Panel
MIDI LEARN MIDI LEARN BUTTON on Front Panel
Pitch CV -> CV IN Socket RING CV In Socket Tip -> MC-202 Modded CV In
Gate CV -> GATE IN Socket RING GATE In Socket Tip -> MC-202 Modded GATE In
Aux CV1 -> VCF CV IN Socket RING VCF CV IN Socket Tip -> SPST Switch on Front Panel which is linked to Filter CV In

Aux CV2 -> PWM CV Socket RING

 PWM CV Socket Tip -> SPST Switch on Front Panel which is linked to PWM CV In

Aux Gate 1 -> Accent IN Socket RING

 Accent IN Socket -> Accent CV Switch In

Aux Gate 2 -> Portamento IN Socket RING

 Portamento IN Socket Tip -> Portamento CV Switch In

 

CONFIG SOFTWARE

I set the Midi CC's in the following way:
Aux CV1 (VCF Cutoff) Midi CC#01 (Modulation)
Aux CV2 (PWM) Midi CC#93 (Chorus Level)
Aux Gate1 (Accent Switch) Midi CC#64 (Sustain Pedal) [>64 = Accent ON]
Aux Gate2 (Portamento Switch) Midi CC#65 (Portamento Sw) [>64 = Porta OFF]

 

OVERALL MIDI COMMENTS
bulletBasically, the MCV876 is pretty kool and nifty. Only thing it doesn't do is pitchbend :(
bulletI did find some minor bugs and emailed Marc, and he's very helpful and is currently (as of 1st July 2004) updating the firmware & software - Now, that's what I call SUPPORT!
bulletAll the AUX CV's and Gate Switches work really well. With Filter Cutoff, and PWM, Portamento On/Off and Accent all under MIDI, this makes the 202 quite powerful in the midi sequencing area.
bulletNow I wish Marc can open up the other 2 Gates as well, then I can finally add the VCF Accent On/Off !

 

 
So... basically that's it, this MC-202 is now rackmounted in 1u and has MIDI. I am quite satisfied. I still need to check up on some wirings, as I was writing up these pages, I realized there might be a few things that I did wire wrongly on the 202....

Would I do it again with my other 202? I might, even tho it's a pain, but i think it's well worth it!

2nd July 2004, London, UK.

 

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