K-rnivoro wrote on 2023-02-18, 13:18:

Hope you like mine for internal 5.25 bay. Either in black or "beige" for older cases. Oh, you do not need the MIDI cable. It´s connected directly to Waveblaster pins of the soundcard. I´m planning to publish .stl and .ai files in case someone wanted to build it. Just le me know.

Those look fantastic! Sharing the sources is much appreciated.

Shreddoc wrote on 2023-03-24, 21:51:

Hello DesktopDynamite :) […]
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DesktopDynamite wrote on 2023-03-24, 20:13:

Hello, I like most of the ideas here. I am new to this, so please excuse my noob questions. […]
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Hello,
I like most of the ideas here. I am new to this, so please excuse my noob questions.

I have been in contact with serda.com and would like to install the MP32L for my build [since both of my sound cards don't have the Wave blaster header], but if possible to fit it internally inside a 5.25 as seen in many builds here. Is the only option to use the clumsymidi along with MP32L, or can I just use the MIDI cable from one of my sound card's MIDI/Game port and reroute it internally ?

As for the MT32L, would it be possible to buy it with seperate dupont wires for the OLED screen and buttons to be placed inside a 5.25 drive bay fascia? Similar to @K-rnivoro black fascia build ?

Thanks in advance!

Hello DesktopDynamite 😀

We appreciate and are interested in your questions. However, this thread is specifically for the purpose of showing or commenting upon finished builds. If you could please go to the "Sound" sub-forum, at this link, and press the "+" button...

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...to make a New Topic, and post your questions there instead.

Thanks a lot, and look forward to helping out in your thread if I can.

Thanks for the redirection, posted there the new topic. 😀

I'm going for a slightly different custom approach, driven by two main factors:

1. The only Raspberry Pi I could lay hands on easily when I started the project was the Model 3 A+ (right now I can't even get that 🙁).
2. I wanted the install to be fully internal, and configured in software via SYSEX (using Andreas Zdziarstek's excellent mt32-pi-control).

Here's my current work-in-progress PCB; a couple of oopsies to fix for the next revision, but it works great as-is (with a minor bodge 😜):

It sits on top of a Pi DAC+, powers the whole stack by standard molex 4-pin, and connects to the WaveBlaster header on the sound card (for MIDI out and audio return).

Here it is hooked up for testing:

I'm thinking of 3D printing a mount to have it sit somewhere securely inside the PC case (e.g. in a HDD bay).

Hezus wrote on 2023-03-24, 21:53:

K-rnivoro wrote on 2023-02-18, 13:18:

Hope you like mine for internal 5.25 bay. Either in black or "beige" for older cases. Oh, you do not need the MIDI cable. It´s connected directly to Waveblaster pins of the soundcard. I´m planning to publish .stl and .ai files in case someone wanted to build it. Just le me know.

Those look fantastic! Sharing the sources is much appreciated.

I twill once I polished the stl's. Stay tuned!!!

I just wanted to update the schematics for my project, showing you can actually connect it to the waveblaster directly:

Thanks to Dwhinham and Chris-JH for creating the MT32-PI and MT32-PI-MIDI-Hat projects.

It costs about $85 in total to build it.

Poor handwork, ignore those lots of hot melt adhesive...

I installed two DIN5 inputs and used a toggle switch to switch input sources, which can connect my K6-2 old PC and new computer at the same time.

For the power supply part, I used a Type-C to 5.5*2.5mm converter.

I took my build in a slightly different direction than others I've seen. Rather than having standard MIDI ports, my custom PCB connects directly to the DB15 Joystick/MIDI connector on most old PC sound cards. I included a joystick passthrough so I can continue to use my joystick by connecting it to the box. I went with the traditional enclosure shape. I wish I had a good way to transfer tiny text for the button labels onto the front panel as I'm not entirely happy with the stickers. In retrospect I wish I had included a power LED somewhere and a MIDI message LED on the front. I don't think I'll regret limiting myself to DB15 Joystick/MIDI only; retro games are the only use case I am concerned with.

The mt32pi project is incredible! Thanks to everyone involved with that project, and thanks to you all for posting your builds.