Cirklon news
2009-11-20 by colinfraser_com
Hi people, Just thought I'd let those patient types still waiting for Cirklon to see the light of day know, the first test batch of production PCBs have been ordered. All going well, that should mean pre-production, OS beta units will be available in December. My plan is to assemble a fairly low number of units by myself, until I can see how demand is going, then get a production run done in a factory. Cirklon retains all the functionality of P3, in fact most of the source code from P3 is in there in some form, but will add a native pattern type that allows more typical real-time polyphonic pattern recording, and dedicated percussion pattern editing with drum maps. Hardware wise, it has more tri-colour LEDs than I want to think about soldering, centre-push rotary encoders for step values and row and bar selection, the usual 16 step keys with internal LEDs, and a load more extra control buttons than P3 had. There are also two pots for sculpting and absolute data entry. The central 240 x 64 LCD display is a big improvement on the P3 16x2 text display. There is some possible variation in the memory that can be fitted to the production board design, but the minimum configuration will be 1 MB of RAM, and 256MB of internal flash, backed up by unlimited SD-card storage or USB transfer. In P3 terms, that amounts to just under 2 million bars of internal pattern storage. On the rear, you'll find five sets of independent MIDI ins and outs, a DIN sync output, USB port and SD-card socket. Internally there is a header for providing CV outputs, final details of which are still to be decided, but there will be at least two sets of CV/gate outputs, possibly as a cost option. I know a lot of people have expressed an interest in native CV. Adding it does mean some extra supply voltages are needed, which pushes the cost up more than you might think. More news once I've built the first one. That should be in about two weeks.. Best regards, Colin Fraser Sequentix Music Systems Ltd http://www.sequentix.com