Xpantastic!

Might leave off the DAC for now, though since there is only one in it I may be better off just going for it... 

cheers for the screen tip, mine is showing no signs of age atm but I may well grab a spare when he does the next batch. In a roundabout way your tech guy pushed me over the edge for buying an Xpander- it was always the potential for screen failure that put me off in the past, once I found out they were avaliable again I was straight in!

So steve does mods as well then... maybe Ill hit him up with something- Ive an old akai wind synth (think its CEM3394 based) that I wanted to mod for CV inputs- theres a micropro involved though so it may be over my head. Maybe Ill give him a shout sometime. 

Cheers,

A

--- In xpantastic@yahoogroups.com, blchrr@... wrote:
>
> Hi there, just the one DAC in the Xpander- i dont think you have to have one 
> for spares, but they seem to be a hard to find part, so if you want to get 
> one as a precaution then it might be a good idea, i grabbed a couple when a 
> saw a few nos going fairly cheap a few years back.
> Yes- the vfd screens are great on the replacement display board, my unit was 
> the test machine for that, i have the first unit installed in mine and its 
> great, not had any problems at all, my old screens were dim and failing 
> otherwise i wouldnt have bothered either- but they are great and i think its 
> good value for money, steve (@ benden sound) has been repairing and 
> modifying my gear (when he has the spare time- not his main line of work) 
> for about 5 years or so- hes a really good guy.
> Regarding the cems, i cant see any more being made unfortunately, its 
> definately a good idea to have a few for spares, especially as they are 
> getting harder to find. I could do with a few 3340's and 3360's myself, just 
> a couple of each as spares for my JP6 and 101. 
> 
> > Hey, Thanks for that, Ive spoken to a couple of those people already funnily enough (benden and synthparts. You think the DAC is worth having a spare one of too then? Is there one of those inside or 6 do you know?
> > The guy who teched mine didnt think Id have a problem with the screens, think its been in storage for a long while- they are very bright and have no fading anywhere. I might grab one of the benden ones on the next run just in case, its great that he did that. :) Be nice if someone mass produced another run of CEMs just to future proof  us but I cant see that happening.  
> > 
> > --- In xpantastic@yahoogroups.com, blchrr@ wrote:
> >>
> >> Nice demos there Andy.
> >> The CEM chips labels are 3374 for the dual vco and 3372 for the vcf chip, i 
> >> think you will be able to find the 3372 filter chips quite easily on ebay, 
> >> but the dual vco chip is harder to find- i think they do pop up on ebay from 
> >> time to time, but i think thats going to be your best bet for those, also 
> >> check some of the vintage parts suppliers:
> >> www.synthparts.com
> >> http://www.vintageplanet.nl/
> >> I just checked and synthparts have them in stock, they also have the HS3140C 
> >> dac in stock which is another hard to find part..  
> >> 
> >> My tech buddy built some replacement display boards for the xpander, check 
> >> it out:
> >> http://www.lenham.clara.net/sound/xpander.html  
> >> 
> >> Hope that helps!  
> >> 
> >> 
> >> > Hello, finally got hold of an xpander last week, absolutely love it. Some of my first sounds out of it here: http://soundcloud.com/t1b/sets/xpander/ 
> >> > 
> >> > Im not really a vintage chap but I make exception for the XP, always amazes me that no-one has ever really topped it in the 25 years it has been out. I guess the andromeda came close but since its not a desktop synth and looks like a mid 90's car stereo Im ruling it out. 
> >> > 
> >> > Anyway, Ive a few questions: 
> >> > 
> >> > CEM's- anyone know of anywhere with a few spare VCO and filter chips. Is that all I should be stocking up on or is there anything else prone to faliure? 
> >> > 
> >> > OS- Im not on the most recent OS (think Im on 1.0 and 1.2), everything is running perfect so Im tempted to leave as is- is there anything Im missing out on by not upgrading? Was it just a bug fix upgrade? 
> >> > 
> >> > Manual: I have a PDF I can print though I was wondering if anywhere stocks printed & bound manuals? 
> >> > 
> >> > Cheers, 
> >> > 
> >> > Andy/tIB/sonofprent 
> >> > 
> >> > 
> >>
> >  
> >
>