Sunday, 23 June 2024

EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine

 Chris "SPIN Doctor" Stelloh did it again! Amazing work with this box of fairy dust and chaos. The layout is verified and good to go!

 
...and here is a layout with "Stelloh mods". 




17 comments:

  1. Anders, I must thank you for challenging me to draw this. It was the push I needed. Also - I most likely would not have been able to complete this were it not for the clear and concise schematic that Madbean put up for their "Rainbow Puker" project. The 'dry kill' switch addition was Brian's idea and, should any of you want to fit this circuit into a 125b-sized box, head over to Madbean's shop and buy a PCB!!!

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  2. I bought a rainbow machine during covid and just can't connect with the thing. Fun I guess but useless. Maybe I'll mod it with the dry kill.

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    1. From a design standpoint, I am blown away by it. So much cool stuff that EQD got out of the FV-1 without needing an additional algorithm chip to tell the processor what to do. But as far as the actual sounds that come out of this pedal? I admire what Nick Reinhart is able to do with it, but I doubt that my build of it will have a home on my board... if you do attempt to mod yours (I've never looked inside one of these so I don't know if they are SMD or not) check out Madbean"s schematic first - you will see where the dry kill switch is placed between the output of the 1st TL072 op amp channel and the input of the other one.

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    2. Pitch shifters don’t have a rich history in music for a that reason?

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    3. Sure. I mean, who's ever heard of ANY important, innovative, or influential guitarists using a digitech whammy? ;)

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    4. Thanks for the good ideas here. I modded my RM with a 100k tracking pot and and a blend/kill pot. Now I love it.
      Check it out

      https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9N84hDSgm8/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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    5. I'm so happy to have been the catalyst for this!

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  3. Just me commenting on my own layout... again. For anyone out there besides me that is foolish enough to attempt this one - the EXP jack mod works. And also, I'd recommend increasing the value of the tracking pot to at least 50k in order to get a longer delay at fully CCW. The tracking is tied to an external clock IC function that is provided by the CD4069. Normally this is done with a digital watch crystal and 15pF capacitor but this way allows you to control the clock function with a potentiometer. Bigger value = longer delays, but at a point (probably above 100k or so) the FV-1 starts to get really glitchy and staticky. Which can sound cool... or not?

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    1. since Anders published the slightly modded layout I sent him, I must now explain a few things on it.
      1) the 1uF coupling caps - I originally built this with film box. Which, as there are A LOT of them in this, it gets pricey and crowded on the board pretty quickly. I since have subbed for MLCC 1uF caps and I feel like I notice a slight difference in clarity but I could honestly just be imagining it...
      2) the modified pot values: in addition to upping the resistance of the magic/feedback pot from 25 to 50, you may also want to try a C/rev log taper. And for the Pitch, it is REALLY convenient to use a center detent potentiometer since that allows you to find the "chorus" setting really quickly.

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    2. Arg! Now I gotta crack mine open again...

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  4. does the FV-1 need to be programmed?

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    1. Most FV-1 circuits utilize an additional 8 pin IC with an effect algorithm to tell the processor what to do. However, every FV-1 chip comes preprogrammed with 7 different effects in the 8 available slots: 3 different modulation+ short reverbs (chrorus, flange, tremolo) 2 pitch effects (one with a short delay) a blank or "test" slot, and then two rather long, spacious reverb patches. You access these by simply grounding pin 13 of the FV-1 - and this is what the Rainbow Machine does. The wackiness it creates is actually just the built in effects being manipulated and fed back into each other.

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  5. Thanks Chris for the thorough explanation.

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  6. I built this one with Stelloh mods. When I activate the pedal only dry signal comes out with some extra humming (maybe referring that wet signal goes to ground). When magic footswitch is activated it starts to do its trick and all the pots are reacting like they should.

    Is there something I should inspect when magic is not engaged? Any help is appreciated.

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  7. Hey there - I've built about a half dozen of these from this layout and I've definitely encountered some bugs but none like the one you are describing. There is a lot going on with this circuit so, at the very least I would suggest checking all your connections for solder bridges and such around the both the output section of IC2 (which is the right side of the TL072) and the output section of the FV-1 (which is the upper right corner of that chip). I salute you for even attempting this one, as I am one of the only folks I know that enjoys stuff that is this complicated.

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  8. Thanks for reply! This is by far most complex stripboard project I have attempt and I'm frustrating close to have it working! I've checked for soldering bridges but can't find any (it's always relieving to find one).

    After my initial message I noticed that my jacks were not grounded and thus dry signal was floating somehow through the circuit. After I grounded my jacks the output signal through the circuit got really quiet but it is there (with dry signal blended in)!

    I narrowed the issue down to the voltage source VB which is in my case only 3.8 volts. By VB I refer to the Madbeanpedals Rainbow Puker schematic. It should be somewhere near 4.5 volts as it is listed on that same Madbeans document. VB is feeding power to IC1_A (which is at the input of the circuit) and IC1_B (output of the circuit (on a stripboard it's actually IC2_B)). My VR (which is feeding power to IC2 on a schematic) is 4.45 volts as it should.

    In addition my voltages on IC1_A are following: pin1 1.38V, pin2 3.24V (VB is fed through a 4k7 resistor) and pin3 1.72V (VB is fed through 1m resistor. If I take my IC1 out, my VB rises to 4.43V and that same voltage is present on a pin1 and pin2 (pin3 remains at same level, 1.74V) of IC1 adapter. I've tried to swap 3 different TL072's to IC1 but the issue remains. Both my TL072's have 9V on a pin8 and 0V on a pin4.

    Maybe I have some hidden voltage divider somewhere but I can't figure out where.


    Link to the Madbeans document:

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://madbeanpedals.com/projects/_folders/FV1/pdf/RainbowPuker.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwijjo6kwc2JAxXfPhAIHcIRKLEQFnoECBwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1L3UZdXAl_ojdo0WmjiRMe

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  9. I think that the voltage divider anomaly sounds plausible. Also - I used the Madbean schematic to draw this so hopefully you can get it lined up and working. Best of luck to you!

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