eh là bas ma
Well-known member
I thought i had already too much circuits, i thought i decided that i wouldn't build more anytime soon.
...Then i saw that musikding had recently started selling Byzantium kits. I always wanted to build this one.
I also realized that there is a few new delays available, i hesitated between Aion's DM-2 clone and Lectric Fx M-118 project. The decisive point was the 800ms delay modification on the Lectric fx project.
My octaver (OC-7 clone) has been broken for a while, and i can't find the issue. So i felt like it was time to try a new one that i noticed a long time ago on PPCB.
BF-2 1980 -2001.
The byzantium pcb was delivered with its pcb frame, i cut some pieces of it to help with the acrylic paint artwork. I used varnish for acrylic paint to make these pieces of pcb stick to the enclosure.
I spent a few hours calibrating and trying to eliminate some clock noise, until i figured out that it came from a bad interaction with an other circuit (Black Eye).
Musikding didn't sent the right female pin headers, they sent some transistors sockets which are too small... I experienced a brief moment of frustration and despair. I spent 10 minutes trying to make them fit in the sockets anyway, refusing to face the reality, and finally opted to use these transistor sockets and some 1N5817 legs (a bit bigger and stronger than our usual legs) to connect both boards. It worked.
Very surprised and impressed by this flanger. I have a BF-3, i feared they would sound almost the same, but they are very different from each other. More warmth in the BF-2 and the feedback isn't as "metalic" as in the digital BF-3.
OC-2 1982-2003
I used the piece of foam that comes with the ICs in musikding's kit, to form the letters on the enclosure. A few tiny ends of wires to add some color.
The ocelot does its job, i like the octave's sound, good tracking, but i will still build another OC-7 clone someday, because i just miss the additional octave up option.
MXR M-118 1975- ? 1976-1984
I had some doubts about my build at first.
Instructions says to use TM3 to dial 4kHz at test point 1, but on my build only TM8 can do that. TM3 sets the volume of the wet signal, and i set it to max value to get a good wet/dry ratio when the delay control is set on high values.
Not sure, but i guess there is a confusion betwen TM3 and TM8 in the build doc, for the frequency calibration.
The more we turn Delay control CCW, the cleaner are the repeats. Going CW, the delay increase, the repeats get darker and quieter.
I just checked an M_118 demo online and understood that it's how it's supposed to sound, so i'd say this project is very faithful to the original effect. We just have more delay available.
Auto oscilations are interesting, especially with the dark deteriorating aspect of the repeats on long delay settings. The darkside delay !
TM4 could be an external control, it sets the filter cut-off point, making the repeats darker or brighter. I might try that later.
I've been lucky with these 3 builds, took me 2 days to finish everything, all circuits worked the first time i tried them. Checking every part values with my DMM and taking my time to make sure i'm not making any mistake by rushing things up allowed me to avoid some debugging nightmares.
I never played with any of these effects before. They give a pleasant feeling of potent working tools, supporting and inspiring any music player who would use them.
...Then i saw that musikding had recently started selling Byzantium kits. I always wanted to build this one.
I also realized that there is a few new delays available, i hesitated between Aion's DM-2 clone and Lectric Fx M-118 project. The decisive point was the 800ms delay modification on the Lectric fx project.
My octaver (OC-7 clone) has been broken for a while, and i can't find the issue. So i felt like it was time to try a new one that i noticed a long time ago on PPCB.
BF-2 1980 -2001.
The byzantium pcb was delivered with its pcb frame, i cut some pieces of it to help with the acrylic paint artwork. I used varnish for acrylic paint to make these pieces of pcb stick to the enclosure.
I spent a few hours calibrating and trying to eliminate some clock noise, until i figured out that it came from a bad interaction with an other circuit (Black Eye).
Musikding didn't sent the right female pin headers, they sent some transistors sockets which are too small... I experienced a brief moment of frustration and despair. I spent 10 minutes trying to make them fit in the sockets anyway, refusing to face the reality, and finally opted to use these transistor sockets and some 1N5817 legs (a bit bigger and stronger than our usual legs) to connect both boards. It worked.
Very surprised and impressed by this flanger. I have a BF-3, i feared they would sound almost the same, but they are very different from each other. More warmth in the BF-2 and the feedback isn't as "metalic" as in the digital BF-3.
OC-2 1982-2003
I used the piece of foam that comes with the ICs in musikding's kit, to form the letters on the enclosure. A few tiny ends of wires to add some color.
The ocelot does its job, i like the octave's sound, good tracking, but i will still build another OC-7 clone someday, because i just miss the additional octave up option.
MXR M-118 1975- ? 1976-1984
I had some doubts about my build at first.
Instructions says to use TM3 to dial 4kHz at test point 1, but on my build only TM8 can do that. TM3 sets the volume of the wet signal, and i set it to max value to get a good wet/dry ratio when the delay control is set on high values.
Not sure, but i guess there is a confusion betwen TM3 and TM8 in the build doc, for the frequency calibration.
The more we turn Delay control CCW, the cleaner are the repeats. Going CW, the delay increase, the repeats get darker and quieter.
I just checked an M_118 demo online and understood that it's how it's supposed to sound, so i'd say this project is very faithful to the original effect. We just have more delay available.
Auto oscilations are interesting, especially with the dark deteriorating aspect of the repeats on long delay settings. The darkside delay !
TM4 could be an external control, it sets the filter cut-off point, making the repeats darker or brighter. I might try that later.
I've been lucky with these 3 builds, took me 2 days to finish everything, all circuits worked the first time i tried them. Checking every part values with my DMM and taking my time to make sure i'm not making any mistake by rushing things up allowed me to avoid some debugging nightmares.
I never played with any of these effects before. They give a pleasant feeling of potent working tools, supporting and inspiring any music player who would use them.
Last edited:
