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Community => Project / Coder's Corner => Topic started by: Thimo on January 05, 2022, 09:59:26

Title: Hardware MOD-Player (PAULA [AMIGA] or A/D Converter)
Post by: Thimo on January 05, 2022, 09:59:26

Hey everyone  :)

I've already searched the web, but couldn't find, what I was searching for.

I want to build a Hardware-MOD Player.

Components I have:

MIDI-Keyboard
Potis, Analogsticks, Buttons, etc.
ARDUINO UNO + MEGA
Raspberry Pi Zero/4/400
Some STM32 Boards
Axoloti Core
Teensy 4

I also hava an old AMIGA Soundchip (8364 / PAULA)
The sound on an AMIGA was realized with A/D Converter, which should be easy to reconstruct with other IC/microcontroller.

Are there any projects like this, or could somebody help me to realise it?

Sorry for my bad english, or if I used the wrong thread for my topic.

lovely regards  :)

Thimo

Title: Re: Hardware MOD-Player (PAULA [AMIGA] or A/D Converter)
Post by: Saga Musix on January 05, 2022, 14:12:49

This is a very broad question. Low-spec hardware mod players with similar chips have indeed been realized in the past. Here are some examples:
https://www.madwizard.org/electronics/projects/modplayer
https://community.atmel.com/projects/mod-player-avr-8-bit-atmega
http://www.elektronika.kvalitne.cz/ATMEL/S3Mplayer/S3Mplayer_eng.html
https://sites.google.com/site/k9spudllc/traxmod (this one plays FLACs but I guess it should just be a matter of writing different software to support MODs as well).
etc.

None of them would be using a Paula chip though. I'm not sure how much sense that would make.

Title: Re: Hardware MOD-Player (PAULA [AMIGA] or A/D Converter)
Post by: Thimo on January 05, 2022, 15:10:06

WOW!  :o

Thanks for your reply!
That's what I searched for!

Yes! It doesn't make sense to use an old AMIGA chip, there are only A/D coverter inside, and it wouldn't be easy to handle cause it only works with several other chips in combine.

Title: Re: Hardware MOD-Player (PAULA [AMIGA] or A/D Converter)
Post by: s0lo on January 06, 2022, 20:31:59

If it helps, there is actually a fully blown hardware tracker from Polyend:

https://polyend.com/tracker/
https://youtu.be/MQufJBVvAtY

It's been gaining popularity among synth nerds and gear heads for the last year. Some new comers who have never used a tracker before are loving it.

Title: Re: Hardware MOD-Player (PAULA [AMIGA] or A/D Converter)
Post by: ProgrammerNerd on February 12, 2022, 07:27:04

Of the parts you have you'd by far be best off using a Raspberry Pi of some sort. I think any one of the ones you have will work.

The reason why is because your development time will be significantly shorter because you can use https://lib.openmpt.org/libopenmpt/ since it has a lot in common with OpenMPT it will do a great job playing your modules. You'll need to right little or no software.

Another advantage of the Raspberry PI is that it has a built in audio output plus an official upgrade if for some reason you find the built in output not good enough.