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Show HN: I built a synth for my daughter

bitsnpieces.dev

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Re: Show HN: I built a synth for my daughter

#21

Post by bluGill »

Waterluvian wrote: post #14

If I have zero experience designing PCBs but wanted to do a similarly (non)-complex one, how much of a tall order would that be? In my completely made-up mental model, I'm guessing I just take the parts I've already breadboarded, look them up in some sidebar, and drag and drop them around, snapping to nice clean spacing, and then connect all the various pins together and have it automatically organize things? We're n…

Depends on complexity. The article gives a price, for 5 PCBs which isn't unreasonable. However this was a simple PCB that used a lot more physical space than it would need to (for this application most of the space was needed because of the physical space the buttons/sliders needed so it was needed so this isn't a criticism). If you want to make a small PCB much more work is needed. This was a few analog sliders and buttons - no high speed digital data, if you are designing a computer (even Apple II level complexity) it is a lot harder. If you are designing a radio there are a lot of complexity. If you want to get this FCC (whatever your local government is) certified there is a lot more complexity.

This project is something that should be easy for someone with basic CAD experience. However many projects require a lot more complexity, so don't think that because most people could figure this PCB out in a day make you think anyone can do more complex PCBs, things get complex fast.

Re: Show HN: I built a synth for my daughter

#23

Post by bluGill »

tanepiper wrote: post #11

I'm a 44 year old man and I would love this - for years I've tried to dabble with music with much lack of success - but this looks really fun to play with. Great job.

The problem with music is you can't dabble. You need to dedicate half an hour per day for a few weeks before you reach the point where you are not terrible. You need years of dedicated practice before you can call yourself good. Finding that time is hard. Still making your own music is run and so I encourage you to press through.

Re: Show HN: I built a synth for my daughter

#27

Post by TheJoeMan »

Waterluvian wrote: post #14

If I have zero experience designing PCBs but wanted to do a similarly (non)-complex one, how much of a tall order would that be? In my completely made-up mental model, I'm guessing I just take the parts I've already breadboarded, look them up in some sidebar, and drag and drop them around, snapping to nice clean spacing, and then connect all the various pins together and have it automatically organize things? We're n…

As a hobbyist, I have had a good experience using EasyEDA [0]. It's free to use, with the caveat that you are pretty locked in to their PCB ordering service from China. However, pricing is crazy good, like Regarding your mental model, it's more like a 2-step process. First, you draw the netlist, which is the electrical circuit diagram. It's this stage you ensure there are no short-circuits, etc. Then in the second stage, you drag-drop the components to the physical layout you want. The software then has an auto-router that references the netlist and automatically generates the first pass of PCB traces. You can tweak them if you wish. The EDA software also has a rules engine that checks for correct trace spacing, vias, etc.

For a "baby's first PCB", I bet you have more skills than you realize and I would encourage you to just give it a shot. Also, if you make a small mistake, you can manually "bodge" the board by cutting wrong traces with an exacto knife and/or soldering wires to the pads.

Everything else just comes from experience! If you're staying in the sub-kHz (audio) range, you probably won't need the crazy high-frequency tricks/trace capacitance/trace-length-matching concerns.

[0] https://easyeda.com/

Re: Show HN: I built a synth for my daughter

#28

Post by bluGill »

Thorrez wrote: post #12
fiatpandas wrote: post #9

Regarding case material for productizing, you could consider a combination of plywood and bent sheet metal, eg like a Moog. Also check out dato.mu for a few examples of kid proof synth enclosures.

Would bent sheet metal have any sharp corners or edges? For kids it's probably best to avoid those.

That depends on how much effort your spend on finish work. Files and sandpaper works wonders, but that take time. Or you can fold the edges over so that the sharp edges are on the inside (cars do this). The plywood is likely to cover all those sharp edges - plywood is easier to shape than sheet metal so this is a common cheat that can look good if done right.

Re: Show HN: I built a synth for my daughter

#30

Post by gwbas1c »

solfox wrote: post #17

Looks amazing! Reminds me of a funny reddit thread about a man who built a fiber optic star ceiling for his daughter. The top comment was "First child?". :) https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/8g8pce/fiberoptic_star...

Don't assume: Could be an only child, or the spouse is stay-at-home, or the author has family wealth and doesn't need a full time job.
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