Spatialist: no sound from VF1

[Nico-L]

Hello, I have some issues with a spatialist kit from Musik Ding. The build went well. But I have no sound from the FV1 :

• the pedal OFF, everything is OK
• ON pedal, the mix 100% dry, the sound is OK
• mix 100 % wet, no sound, for all positions of the rotary switch (I have some noise when the switch is turned).

I checked some of the voltage (pin 23, 22, 21, 20, 6, 8) and it seems OK.

I am joining two pictures of my build. What could I check to verify my build?

Thanks,
Nicolas

 

[PJS]

It is a bit hard to tell but it looks as if pins 10 to 14 of the FV-1 are not really well soldered. Some of the pine connecting to the EEPROM are in that lot, so with them not well soldered the EEPROM isn't connecting and there is no program for the chip to run

 

[Nico-L]

Hello PJS,

You're right, this may be the most probable issue. I tried to re solder pins but ended with shortcuts It will take a bit of time to fix this. I'll report the status.

Thanks

 

[Nico-L]

OK, so I got rid of the shortcuts and resolder every pin carefully but still no sound :/

With an audio probe I tested that the signal is correctly arriving to the FV-1 pin 1 et that nothing is going out from pin 28. So I have an issue with either the FV-1 or the eeprom. Since it is the numerical part, I have no clue of what to do to further check. Is there any way to verify whether the eeprom is correctly programmed (if a faulty eeprom is even possible!)?

Thanks,
Nicolas

 

[PJS]

R5 has one end that connects to pin 13 of the fv-1. The other end connects to 3.3v. Find the 3.3v end and lift it. Connect to ground instead. That will enable the fv1 internal programs and disable the eeprom. If you get sound now the problem is in the eeprom, it's soldering, or the connections between. If you still get no sound then the fv1 is the problem. These have a reputation of being pretty robust, so most likely would be soldering of it or the components around it.

 

[phi1]

Nice troubleshooting by the OP so far.

Yes to what PJS said, that is the proper next step.

Even easier, find the leg of R5 that connects to fv-1 pin13, loop a wire around that leg and connect the wire to ground. That will ground the pin13 to get the internal fv-1 patches, and R5 will limit the current from 3.3v to ground to a small (no problem) amount

 

[Nico-L]

Thanks phi1, I saw your message too late and cut R5 leg. But I made progress! Once pin 13 to ground I have sound! So it seems the problem is on the eeprom side.

I checked the connections at the socket: +3.3V is OK, the grounds are OK and the connections to pin 14 and 15 are OK. So it seems to be the eeprom itself?

I have ordered both the spatialist and the hydra kits, would it be possible that the eeproms have been swaped? Is there any risk to try the other eeproms?

Thanks

 

[phi1]

No risk to try other eeproms, the hydra eeprom should give you some delay in the arachnid, though it won't work exactly the same

 

[Nico-L]

The hydra eeprom is working. So the spatialist eeprom seems faulty.

Is there anything I can do by myself? Or should I ask Musikding for a replacement?

Anyway, thank you PJS and phi1 for your quick and kind help.

 

[Robert]

If you can get another EEPROM from Musikding that would be easiest.

I can send you one directly but it'll most likely come with all sorts of customs fees.

 

[Nico-L]

I'll ask to MusikDing, this may takes some times as the Spatialist kit is not currently available. Moreover, they are on vacation up to the 12th of June.

I'll reach the support as soon as possible and will keep posted here if needed.