I basically built this because it looked difficult. It’s a fucking amazing module as well, but my main motivation was challenging myself. I’ve done the SMR and this is a similar UI, but with a lot more going on and a lot more circuitry!
I started gathering the parts. I wasn’t really in a hurry, so this took a while. First I got my hands on the PCB/panel. I accidentally ended up with two PCBs which I thought might be handy in case I made a mistake. If I end up not needing it, I’ll pass it on to someone else to build.
The PCB is pretty dense and there are some really tight bits, like the LED ring which includes about 100 resistors.
I started by soldering the 2 analogue-digital converters, which are QFN chips, so I used the hot air station. Then I drag soldered the STM32, DAC and LED drivers, then all the op amps, voltage regulators, etc. I managed to bend one of the pins on the STM32, but thankfully it was connected to the pin next to it, so I just bridged them, rather than trying to bend it back and risk breaking it off.
I finished off the rest of the SMD parts, then flipped the board over to tackle that LED ring! It was really tight and I could only just get the iron in there.
On first power up, the LEDs were working, but three of them were lighting in the wrong colour. For two of them, this was down to tiny bridges on the LEDs themselves, the other was a dry joint on one of the LED drivers
I flashed the firmware, added the buttons/sliders and powered it up with the encoders push fitted, it all seemed to be working OK.
I added the rest of the hardware and soldered it all into place with the panel holding it all in position.
I popped the light pipes through the panel and fitted it securely after a quick test to make sure it was all working.
Then I gave it a more thorough road test. It sounds absolutely amazing. Straight away I was getting crazy sounds out of it!
Overall I’m really pleased with the soldering. Other than the mistake on the STM32, it looks really neat.
Here’s a quick video of my first play with it, just making noises…