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Registered Member #286
Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 04:52AM
Location:
Posts: 399
Is it possible to build one?
I have never seen one before and it would be possible with today's technology to build one using some static ram to store the MIDI files. Since MIDI files do not need a lot of CPU power to execute, a PIC or some other microcontroller can do the task of driving a sound synthesis IC. Any thoughts?
Registered Member #27
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058
That would not be terribly difficult. You can get microcontrollers with at least 256kB of Flash memory that are powerful enough to do sound synthesis in software, then you can do it on a single chip. It is also simple to interface to cheap flash cards, then you can access a gigabyte worth of MIDI files if you can find that many.
Registered Member #33
Joined: Sat Feb 04 2006, 01:31PM
Location: Norway
Posts: 971
Check out the VS1033. This chip can play MP3, WMA, MIDI and some other stuff. It is also relatively cheap (around 10 bucks), quite easy to use, and availabe from sparkfun.
I'm still dreaming about a SID walkman. It would be possible to get the whole HVSC (33000 songs) on a single 512MB memory card.
Registered Member #30
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706
Wow, that VS1033 chip is pretty impressive. I can't believe they managed (or bothered!) to cram a General MIDI synth onto it. Maybe it's meant for some kind of smartphone, so you can have MIDI ringtones and listen to MP3s.
Also, Mikkel, I agree you need to build a SID walkman If you put a VS1033 in there, you could play every other file format under the sun too! Probably the hardest part of this project would be writing the FAT32 filesystem driver so that your uC could read a PC formatted memory card.
I found a neat device a while back that might help with this: the Vinculum from FTDI You plug a USB flash drive into it and it decodes the file system for you using DOS-like commands that you send over SPI. I bought an eval board for it but couldn't think of anything leet to do with it.
Registered Member #286
Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 04:52AM
Location:
Posts: 399
I have found a YMF262M synth chip on a PC sound card. It also uses a DAC chip. Judgeing from it's register interface, it should not be to difficult to interface it with a microcontroller. Only an eight bit data bus.
"I know it's more fun to build one from scratch..." I know it would be. Also don't need anything too complex or the project would never be completed.
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MIDI player walkman?
If you put a VS1033 in there, you could play every other file format under the sun too! Probably the hardest part of this project would be writing the FAT32 filesystem driver so that your uC could read a PC formatted memory card. 
