Oakley Sound Systems FAQ
For technical support on all
Oakley projects please now refer to the knowledgeable and helpful
Oakley Sound Forum
which is hosted at Muffwiggler.com. Tony
Allgood and Paul Darlow do not provide building support for
Oakley projects, but both are usually available for help via the forum.
What is the difference
between Oakley Sound Systems and Krisp1?
Oakley Sound Systems is a
small company specialising in the design and modification of
analogue music synthesisers. Oakley Sound started selling
PCBs again in 2010 after a five year break.
Krisp1 is a separate
company selling products designed by Oakley Sound. They
specialise in pre-assembled Oakley modules but also sell PCBs
and parts for some of our older products.
If you would like to
purchase any products designed by Oakley Sound then you can
do so via our ordering
page.
Do you do ready made
units?
Yes. Official ready built
modules in MOTM and MU (Moog Unit) formats are available from
Paul Darlow. See here for contact
details or visit the ordering page.
Do you sell whole kits?
Neither Oakley Sound or
Krisp1 are planning to sell full DIY kits at the moment.
However, many component kits are now on offer at The
Sonic Workshop in the US and Elby Designs in
Australia. Also other more esoteric parts are available at Vintage Planet in
the Netherlands.
Do you supply ready
made cases?
Neither Oakley Sound nor
Krisp1 are able to provide ready made cases at the moment.
However, Flightcase Warehouse in the UK can supply 19" rack (ie. 10U
wide) flightcases for a very good price. We also recommend
their custom service if you need a shallower case or backless
case. For studio work you should also consider All
Metal Parts as they have a good
range of flat pack 5U and 6U metal cases with rack rails to
the front and rear of the case.
To mount Oakley modules
into a 19" rack you will need a pair of Bridechamber's MOTM rack rails
for every 5U of height.
A 6U high 250mm deep flightcase sleeve
made from lightweight astroboard with aluminium trims. Front
and rear rack strips are fitted to allow modules to be
mounted on the front and a power supply panel to the rear.
What modules do I need
to buy to make a modular synthesiser?
Everyone will have their
own preferences so its difficult to recommend specific
modules for a complete system. However, visit the Which Modules page for my quick 'getting you started' advice.
Where do you get your
front panels?
Either at Schaeffer in
Germany or Frontpanel Express
in the US. Alternatively, you can obtain excellent 5U MOTM
style panels from Bridechamber.
Can I buy the
Schaeffer front panels direct from Oakley Sound or Krisp1?
No. These need to be
ordered from Schaeffer in Germany or Front Panel Express in
the US. Both companies offer an excellent service. The sales
representative at Schaeffer speaks very good English if you
do need to contact them direct. The new version of the
excellent Frontplatten Designer software is a free download
and features secure online ordering too. See the Schaeffer or Frontpanel
Express websites for more
information.
Can I buy schematics/PCB
artwork for the modules?
No, we do not sell any
schematics for any of our currently sold modules or PCBs.
Relevant schematics are only provided for purchasers of the
project PCB. Purchasers of ready made modules can also
request the relevant schematics if they wish to have them.
Schematics for all legacy
Oakley projects are available from Oakley Sound as pdf files
for a small fee. The cost is 2GBP per modular project, and 5GBP
for any of the older rack projects.
PCB artwork is no longer
available for any of our products old or new.
Are your projects hard
to make?
This one is tricky to
answer. It all depends on your ability. If you can solder
reasonably well, and have the patience to read through all
the user documentation, you should be able to manage. However,
if you rush and find your project doesn't work, that's when
you are going to need more electronic knowledge. Being able
to read a circuit diagram is an obvious advantage. If you
want to get started, perhaps, a good way is to start on
something simple. The smaller modules like the Little-Lag and
MultiMix are very simple, and easy to test.
My Oakley DIY project
doesn't work, what then?
Join the Oakley Sound Forum
which is hosted at Muffwiggler.com.
Then after checking that your question hasn't been answered
you can post to the list for advice. Both Paul and Tony, and
many other builders of Oakley equipment, are present on the
forum and should be able to help.
Please do not contact
either Paul Darlow or Tony Allgood directly regarding
building problems or generalised parts enquiries. Neither of
us are able to help on an individual basis due to lack of
time. All enquiries for help should come through the Oakley Sound Forum.
If you still can't get the
completed and undamaged module going, you can
send it back to Oakley Sound to fix. You will have to pay for
postage both ways, any parts required and
Tony's time at 25GBP per hour. Please contact Tony Allgood to
organise your personalised 'Get you working' service.
Are all your boards
lead-free?
All boards are RoHS
compliant, which means they do not contain lead. All boards
can be soldered with either lead free solder or lead based
solder.
What sort of solder
should I use?
This is entirely up to you
on the newer boards. The newer boards can be soldered with
either lead free or old fashioned leaded solder.
The older Pb-HASL boards,
mostly pre 2007, must be soldered with lead solder, as mixing
the two types can supposedly cause long term reliability
problems.
Who are Oakley Sound
Systems?
This is a small company
set up by Tony Allgood and you can found out about me here.
Who are Krisp1?
This is a small company
set up by Paul Darlow in 2007 to supply ready made Oakley
modules.
What equipment do I
need?
The usual electronic
hobbyist stuff. The TM3030, S-VCO and VCO project, will be
the hardest to make, as they require precise setting up. A
scope or a chromatic tuner will be very useful, but they are not
essential.
Can I build these
modules to sell to friends?
Of course, you can.
How much will the
whole project cost me?
This depends on the case
you have chosen to house your project. The case, knobs, pots
and sockets are the most expensive items. Why do you think we
rarely see synths with knobs on these days? The quality of
these things will set the price of the project.
For Oakley modules, I
generally reckon around 40 to 140GBP per module including
the Schaeffer front panel. The 5U VCO is probably the most
expensive module and the Little-Lag being the cheapest.
What is a GBP?
It is the currency of the
United Kingdom.
GBP is a short hand way of
writing 'Great Britain Pound'. This is the accepted way of
writing our currency by the International Standards
Organisation when you can't use the ordinary 'curly L' pound
sign. Paypal and the webpages on this site use GBP. It should
be noted that UKP, although more correct in terms of the
countries that it represents, should not be used.
GBP is called 'pounds
sterling' on the money markets. It is not affiliated to the
Euro in any way.
100 pence make 1GBP. So 6-50GBP
is six pounds and fifty pence.
Where on Earth is the
United Kingdom?
Not quite a FAQ, but I
have had it asked a few times now. The UK is England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is just
England, Scotland and Wales. The UK lies north of France in
Europe, but is not connected to mainland Europe. The English
Channel separates us from France.
Tony Allgood lives in
rural Cumbria, England, 20 miles from the Scottish border,
and close to the Lake District. The Lake District was home to
many famous people such as Coleridge, Wordsworth, Beatrix
Potter and Ruskin.
Paul Darlow lives in
Yorkshire, England. Yorkshire is a huge county which covers
the original industrial heartland of England as well as the
rolling moors of the Bronte sisters and the James Herriot
stories.
What standards do you
use for controlling your modules?
VCOs are 1V/octave. Gates
are positive voltages above 2.5V. Audio and CV signals are
typically +/-5V although can rise to +/-12V.
What power supplies do
I need?
For more information about
buying or building a suitable power supply for a modular
system, please see the Powering Your Modular webpage on this site.
The TM3030 needs a 15V AC
or 24V DC wall wart. The Filtrex needs a 15V AC wall wart. Be
sure to check the user documentation before buying a power
supply.
Can I make my TM3030
or Filtrex internally mains powered?
If you have the skills to
do this you probably wouldn't be asking the question. Only
fit an internal mains supply if you know what you doing. We
cannot endorse this method of powering any Oakley product.
Where do I get all the
other parts for the project?
In the UK: Rapid
Electronics, CPC, RS-Components and Farnell. In the US:
Mouser, Newark and Digikey. Small Bear and Futurelec are also
useful.
Parts codes for most of
the common parts used in Oakley projects can be found in our
lengthy parts guide which is found here. This is a
PDF document which also contains Rapid and Farnell order
codes that you may find useful.
What's the Mouser /
Farnell / Maplin (etc) part code for ....
Due to limited time we are
not able to answer this question for every part you need to
buy. Our Builder's Guides and Parts Guide should
give you sufficient information for you to purchase all the
parts from your own suppliers without too much difficulty.
You will also find that the Oakley Sound Forum
will be very helpful too if you do get stuck.
For UK buyers, Rapid and
Farnell part codes for most of the common devices used in
Oakley projects can be found in the Parts Guide.
What is the form
factor of those Alpha or ALPS pots you use?
These are the very common
16mm format that is preferred by many modular and synthesiser
manufacturers. There is 0.2" between pins in one gang
and gangs are separated by 0.2". There are two gangs in
a stereo pot and one gang in a normal mono pot. Shaft length
varies with supplier but it may be cut down with a hacksaw or
Dremel. Shaft diameter is typically 6mm and you can buy them
in either slotted knurled shafts for push fit knobs, or
smooth round shafts for screw fit knobs. The picture shown
below shows a short knurled shaft.
What is the form
factor of those Spectrol or TT pots you use?
0.1" between pins in
one gang. Gangs are separated by 0.3". Shaft length is
about 12.5mm so does not need to be cut down to fit the MOTM
or Maplin knobs. Shaft diameter is 6.25mm (1/4") and is
round. Spectrol 248 pots were used on all the Oakley Modular
projects in the past but more recently we have been using BI
TT P260 pots as they offer better value for money.
Spectrol or Vishay 248 - high quality long
lasting plastic resistive element, body made from fibre
reinforced plastic. Now sadly very expensive.
TT P260 - high quality long lasting plastic
resistive element, body made from plastic but with a solidly made
metal bush and shaft.
Do I get a paper
receipt with my order?
No, all order
documentation is sent by plain text e-mail only. These
contain all the details of the order and you can print these
off for your own records. All customers are given their own
individual customer order number, and we keep a full record
of all transactions.
Copyright: Tony Allgood
Last revised: January 12, 2012.