DIY synths - anyone experienced in this?

[whyterabbyt]

With this book, you'll learn:
The differences between analog and digital synthesizers

oh feck.

[CrystalWizard]

with diligence probably take you about 6 months to get comfortable with soldering and fabricating. then another 40 years to become an expert. a simpler kit would be a good start just to get used to soldering and become familiar with parts and such.





my very obviously homebuilt synths:
http://gardenofsensualdelight.com/analogsynthsDIY.html

[blakecasimir]

I learned soldering by watching a youtube video.

For those that want to learn soldering, and also want to check Youtube videos, there are many poor quality videos out there, that purportedly cover soldering.

Head straight for PACE's guides, and don't bother with anything else:

(Part one of many videos, be sure to check the others!)

It's an oldie, but still quite relevant.

[afreshcupofjoe]

In my experience, all of the components of analog synths are pretty easy and straightforward to build and test with the exception of oscillators. Most decent tuned analog oscillators are going to require an oscilloscope to get calibrated and working properly. I would assume this kit is no exception.

As others have mentioned, the difficulty with building DIY electronics is not the soldering and wiring work itself. The hard part is trying to troubleshoot problems when you make a mistake. This takes knowledge and experience. The larger the kit, the more of a chance you will make a mistake and the harder it will be to diagnose the problem. For that reason, I would suggest starting with something smaller as your first project.

EDIT: I poked around the design a bit and it looks like the oscillators on this synth are not very precise, so you won't need a scope to calibrate them. You will, however, need a stable voltage source such as an adjustable regulated power supply. I don't think this kit is good for beginners.

[thegreyspark]

I would strongly advise getting hold of some test equipment and learning how to use it before spending a lot of money.
The chances are you will spend a lot of time soldering, turn it on, and not much happens... this takes only 1 tiny mistake, diode the wrong way round, wrong value used, sloppy soldering, whatever, and it can be damn hard to track down.

I really want to do it though

[Agathodaimon]

Am at the same position as OP, i want to start building my stuff. To be precise i always wanted to but never had that kick/push happening if you get what i mean. So i started learning everything from very basic, even tho i was doing all this in school, i remember making alarms, voice coders, and etc it was all a part of school lesson, but that was goddamn long time ago