PCB's FOR THE MOST POPULAR PROJECTS ON THIS WEBSITE. AVAILABLE HERE.
I have designed PCB's for the top visited projects on my website. The idea is to create some revenue to keep this website affordable for me because it has grown so much it's becoming a day job and it's not generating any income but I want it to remain freely accessible for all. So by purchasing a PCB you're not only guaranteed a successful build (PCB's are verified to work) but you're also helping keep this website afloat which will be very much appreciated.
I ship PCB's in aircushion envelopes which keeps shipping costs down. Shipping costs € 4,- world wide, If you order more than 3 boards shipping will be €6,-. There's no track and trace with this method but I never hear anyone not receiving their order and I shipped to locations over the whole world. If you insist on track and trace shipping you need to mention it and then shipping will be €10,- If your order weighs over 100 grams this will be the only option for shipping anyway but I'll inform you of that. (I only had one order so far that weighed more then 100 grams so it's rare.)
Latest news:
NEW RESONANT LOPASS GATE and Precision ADSR PCB's, and Digisound-80 new bi-polar version, just in!
ALSO THE STEINER-PARKER FILTER, KORG-MS20 and the STATE VARIABLE FILTER all in stock now.
The TRANSISTOR CURVE TRACER boards have also come in with the TRANSISTOR MATCHING circuits included. It works really well!! (See botom item)
HOW TO ORDER:
You can order your PCB's by using this PayPal link for payment --- CLICK HERE ---
Just look below for the PCB(s) you want and if it's more than one, add the prices up and then add €4 to the total for shipping for up to 3 PCB's. If you order more than three PCB's then add €6,- to the total for shipping.
Please do not forget to mention the PCB(s) you want, how many you want and the address you want it to ship to. I do not automatically get your address so please don't forget it. Your email address will also be handy to have so I can message you. It will be deleted once you received your order.
You can also contact me on Facebook Messenger and order that way if you prefer the safety of being in personal contact with me. Please don't forget I'm in the Central European Timezone, so if you contact me from the other side of the world it might take a few hours for me to respond at certain times of the day.
I ship from The Netherlands. I've had confirmation that parcels reached the United States, in good order. It usually takes about 14 days to get there. No extra custom duties. Shipping times can vary a lot. For instance: I've had packages arrive in the U.K. in two days and others that took 10 days. For shipment to Australia expect the parcel to be in transit for about a month. I have had no reports of anything going wrong with shipping.
FOR THE BILL OF MATERIALS FOR YOUR PCB's PLEASE VISIT THE ORIGINAL PROJECTS ON THIS WEBSITE. Each project has a bill of materials amongst the layouts.
I have PCB's available for the following projects:
(In chronological order just like the menu. Latest projects on top.)
PROJECT 67: The Kassutronics Precision ADSR.
Price: € 10,- per PCB (6 in Stock.) I also have eurorack sized panels for these at € 10,- per panel (3 in stock) Pre-assembled and fully tested ADSR Module € 80,- (+ €10,- shipping) 1 in stock.
You don't have to buy a panel with a PCB. It's purely optional.
A very small board of only 4,5 CM by 7,1 CM. It features the Rene Schmitz, gate input with manual trigger option and my attenuverter mod. I just built it up. It took me 45 minutes to solder the components in and an other hour to take the stripboard version out and solder this PCB back in behind the panel. It really works very well. It has a risetime of just 300µSec on the fastest Attack time. (250µSec faster than my stripboard version)
It has 2 LEDs. One to indicate the envelope is being generated and a second bi-colour LED connected to the attenuverter output, showing if there's a normal or inverted signal coming out of the attenuverted output. It's very useful and it looks cool too :).
The Precision ADSR with the VCA of project 10 mounted together in a Nifty Case. It looks great I think!
It took me 1 and ¾ hours to build it completely. So a great project for a rainy afternoon. The Envelope has an output voltage of 8 Volt. This is always the case with 7555 based ADSR's because that voltage is determined by pin 6. (see article 67 for more info)
I forgot to put a hole in the panel for the manual trigger button but I don't use that option much anyway. But if you want to include it, the PCB has a connection for a push switch and there's room between the sockets on the panel to put a momentary switch in. You'll just have to drill a hole for it yourself.
Wiring Diagram:
The PCB is only 45mm by 75mm. The panels are 12hp wide (6 CM).
The PCB is 47 by 92mm. Compact enough to go behind a Eurorack sized faceplate. You can build it up in one hour and I'm convinced the PCB sounds even better than the stripboard version. I am constantly surprised when I get new boards in and build them up, how good they really sound.
Here's the wiring diagram with all the errors corrected so it doesn't show the labels as they are visible on the PCB, but it shows the potmeters true functions and the correct location and signal for all outputs. Don't forget to use 100K resistors for R27 and R28 !!
PROJECT 57: The Thomas Henry X4046 VCO with the famous Hard Sync sound. The best HS of all analog VCO's.
Price: € 10,- per PCB (OUT OF STOCK. I will re-stock these if I get a request for at least 2 boards.)
Wiring Diagram for this VCO:
This PCB is 58 by 113mm. It's fully verified and I found it easier to tune than the stripboard version.
PROJECT 56: The Thomas Henry State Variable Filter VCF1.
Price: € 10,- per PCB (4 in stock)
An awesome sounding filter with Lowpass, Bandpass and Highpass, each with their own outputs. The filter sounds like a Steiner Parker diode filter but I think it's a bit more musical in the resonance. I actually prefer this filter over the Steiner-Parker. It's the filter I use the most in my DIY synth. It's fully self-oscillating. Below you can see the mounted board. This is the old version. The new one is laid out a bit better with more sensible sized solderpads.
New version:
Here's the wiring diagram for the State Variable Filter PCB.
The value for C1 and C6 is not mentioned on the PCB but it's on the diagram below. C6 is 100nF and C1 is 10pF:
PROJECT 50: UTILITY LFO with extra DUAL VARIABLE WAVEFORM OUTPUT.
Price: € 10,- per PCB (9 in stock) Eurorack sized panel € 10,- (4 in stock)
FUNCTIONS:
- Dual LFO
- Goes smoothly between Ramp-, Triangle- and Sawtoothwave with one potmeter.
- Squarewave output (2x. one for each LFO section)
- Pulsewave output with variable duty cycle (pulse width) (2x. one for each LFO section)
- Each LFO section has a Variable Waveform output that goes between Squarewave and Saw/Triangle/Ramp-wave.
- I added a mixer section that goes between the two Variable Waveform outputs, making this LFO capable of outputting the weirdest waveform shapes.
My take on the Utility LFO by Ken Stone.
I built one up and everything works like a charm and it can output all the normal waveforms you'd expect in two-fold because it's a dual LFO. Each LFO has a variable waveform output going between squarewave and Triangle/Sawtooth wave. I included an extra mixer that mixes those two together with a potmeter that goes between the two vari-outputs. You get some amazingly weird waveforms with it.
Unfortunately I did make some mistakes with labeling the potmeters and the outputs.
Outputs that are numbered as 2 are in fact 1 and those numbered 1 are 2. The 'Speed-2' potmeter connection is the wrong way around so clockwise is faster and counterclockwise is slower. The potmeter labeled Vari-1 is in fact Vari-2 and vice versa.
But those are all just labeling errors and things you can take into account and correct when wiring it up, especially if you make your own panel for this module.
I've made a wiring diagram, posted below, that explains everything and shows what everything does and where it is located.
PROJECT 49: 8 STEP SEQUENCER.
Price: €15,- per PCB (4 in stock) Kosmo size panels: € 15,- per panel (4 in stock)
They are a bit more expensive than the other PCB's because they are quite a bit bigger and more expensive to have made but they work really well!.
A perfected version of the 8 Step Sequencer V2.0 in project 49. This sequencer has a comparator on the external clock input that changes any waveform into a useable clock signal. It works great!! It also has an Offset function for the CV output so you can transpose a sequence up or down. I also designed panels for this module in Kosmo size (20 CM high, 10 CM wide). I replaced my old stripboard sequencer with this module and it works so much better now. The old stripboard version was a mess of wires. Looking at it I was surprised it actually worked. This one however looks professional and feels like it too when you use it.
The potmeters can be soldered directly into the PCB, so that saves a lot of wiring. Make sure you put them all in first with the PCB and screw them down hand-tight into which ever panel you made for it. Then solder them in.
If you use my panel then the LEDs need to have the legs lengthened by soldering short pieces of wire to them, otherwise they don't quite reach but that's not a big deal. It all came together great and everything worked straightaway. The ON/OFF switch only switches off the CV output and stops the CD4017 chip. This is to prevent an Offset voltage from remaining present on the CV output. So you have the option to switch that off. Once you switch off the sequencer will keep outputing Gate signals, only one LED will remain on (sequencer stops running) and the voltage on the CV output is cut-off.
The PCB is 78mm by 122mm. This module is my pride and joy since I designed the circuitry (and the panel) myself.
PROJECT 37: The Thomas Henry 555VCO
Price: € 10,- per PCB (7 in stock)
One of the best analog VCO's now on a small PCB of 55mm by 103mm
I took me 2 and a half hours to build it up and replace the stripboard with the PCB. Everything worked rightaway. You only have to set the ramp wave and the sinewave and tune the VCO.
Tuning the VCO took me about 15 minutes. You go between the HF trimmer for the high octaves and the V/Oct trimmer for the low and use the freq fine control to tune inbetween.
Wiring Diagram:
This VCO has been optimized for use with +/-12V powersupplies. The changes made are as follows:
(The component numbering on the PCB is not the same as in the original TH Schematic)
Originally numbered R13 = R38 on the PCB was changed from 3K to 2K. Pulsewave output voltage divider.
Originally numbered R27 = R34 on the PCB was changed from 39K to 22K. This is the resistor in series with the Sine Roundness potmeter.
Originally numbered R33 = R24 on the PCB was changed from 100K to 130K (opamp feedback resistor determining gain)
PROJECT 35: The Resonant Lowpass Gate.
Price: € 10,- per PCB (8 in stock) Panels €10,- a piece (1 in stock)
My favourite module on the website. Just an amazing sounding VCF/VCA combination using Vactrols. This module really sounds awesome when built on PCB. These are newly designed PCB's designed to go straight behind a panel with only the switches and in- and outputs to be wired up. I also have panels for these PCB's. My first self designed front panels and they look amazing!
These Lopass Gates really react well to slow working Vactrols. Vactrols with slowly reacting LDR's in them. I've been experimenting and I built two of these now from the V3.0 PCB's and using the panels and different DIY Vactrols and they are just the snidy-est, synthy-est sounding things ever. I really love this one (can you tell?) If you pair it with a wavetable oscillator like the Klavis Twin waves for instance, oh man are you going to get a surprise. The sounds you'll get are just amazing! Out of this world.
The size of the PCB is 56mm by 97mm.
The latest version PCB's also have complete text on the backside in case components are soldered in on the backside to make mounting behind a faceplate easier.
This is the latest version (V3.3), I have the RLPG connected to the Klavis Twinwaves mkII digital oscillator. Arturia Keystep sequencer and a little bit of reverb from the TipTop Audio Z5000. The Klavis outputs a sawtooth wave with phase shifting effect. This sounds phenominal!
Wiring diagram for versions 1.0 and 1.1 of this PCB (the old versions):
Top 3 potmeters seen from the back. CV-1 level pot seen from the front.
Here's the wiring diagram for version 3.0 and upwards:
The actual working of the 3 pole switch is reversed from what is shown in the wiring diagram. Just keep in mind: The respective function of the LPG (VCF, BOTH or VCA) is active if their switch setting is open. I know that sounds counter intuitive but that's how it works,
The first two batches of these PCB's sold out very fast. I have new stock though. The newly designed version V3.3 circuitboards just came in. These are optimized for eurorack. I've already built two of these for my own use. The boards also have writing on the backside so you can have certain components on the back, like the trimmers and vactrols, for better access.
I now have front panels for sale for the Lowpass Gate. They are Eurorack size and 12hp wide (6CM). With the normal mounting method (PCB at 90° to the faceplate) the resulting module will be 5.8 CM deep.
As you can see a very clean build with just a few hook-up wires.
Here's an alternative PCB mounting method. This will make the depth about 4 CM and make it fit a Nifty Case for instance. In the picture below you can see I put the power connector, the trimpots and the vactrols on the backside of the PCB which allows for easy access and makes it easy to experiment with different Vactrols. Just leave some wire in the holes and you can solder Vactrols to them easily.
In the pictures above you can see how I mounted the board flat behind the panel. Solder 1 mm thick copperwires to the potmeter pins at a 90° angle to the potmeters so they stick up if the faceplate is flat on a table. After soldering all the components into the PCB, mount it by lowering the PCB over the potmeter copperwires sticking up, and solder them in. Make sure you mount the trimmers, Vactrols and the powerconnector on the backside of the PCB so you can get at them if you use this method.
On the other side from the potmeters I soldered a copper wire to the ground of the sockets. With sandpaper I made a clear copper patch on the PCB near the lower mounting hole and soldered the copper wire to it. Now the board is solid as a rock.
PROJECT 26: The STEINER-PARKER DIODE FILTER.
The size of the PCB is 53mm by 91mm
Price: € 10,- per PCB. (8 in stock).
I finally got some good working, verified PCB's for this very popular filter. It's certainly one of my all time favourites. This is from the original Yusynth schematic. I built it up in just under an hour. It sounds amazing. In the stripboard version I could never really hear how the All-Pass mode worked but with this PCB version you can hear it clearly.
There are three trimmers on this board. The lowest one (blue multiturn trimmer) is for calibrating the throw of the Cutoff potmeter. I set it to it's middle position before soldering it in and frankly I didn't have to adjust it afterwards. The second one, just above the Cutoff potmeter connection, is the one that balances the the two sides of the diode ladder. Adjust simply by ear. Set it to what sounds best but don't put it all the way clock- or counterclockwise and check on a scope for offset voltages. If you get an offset voltage use this trimmer to correct it.
The third one is one I put in myself, as a replacement for R18. This is to help calibrate the Resonance potmeter. Set it in such a way that you get the best reaction from the resonance potmeter. That's usually just a few hundred Ohms.
The Resonance potmeter should be a 50K reverse logarithmic potmeter but I think few people have those so check the original article for the Steiner Parker to see how you can make your own reverse logarithmic potmeter if you don't have one. (It's simply a matter of soldering a 100K resistor between pins 2 and 3 of the 100K linear potmeter.)
Here's the wiring diagram for this filter. Be accurate in copying the wiring of the rotary switch! Especially the connections between the pins on the switch itself. The way I wired it is the easy way, and saves a lot of soldering but you can connect every point on the switch with is corresponding point on the PCB. Then you wouldn't have to make the connections between pins on the switch itself. That's the hard way to do it, and it's not necessary.
As you can see you only need to connect 4 wires to the switch solderpads on the board. One for the switch wiper and one each for LP, BP and HP. The Allpass mode is done with the wire on the switch itself going from pin B4 to pin A1. It connects Lopass and Highpass together creating Allpass.
Again, copy the wiring of the rotary switch accurately like you see it here.
Put the diodes in with the black band upwards, folding the leg on that side over. The anode goes in the round hole with the circle printed around it. The cathode side (with the black band) goes in the hole with the square solderpad with the K printed next to it. (K for Kathode). The diodes don't have to be matched really. Just make sure they all come from the same batch of diodes. You can buy a 100 diodes for a few dollars. The two BC547 transistors do need to be matched. I simply matched them by comparing their Hfe factor with my multimeter. You should really use the Ian Fritz method for matching. It can influence the sound significantly if they are not well matched.
I have actually ordered PCB's for the transistor matching circuit. So keep an eye out for those.
Short demo of the Steiner-Parker filter:
PROJECT 18: The Digisound 80 VCO with the AS3340 chip.
Price: € 10,- per PCB (3 in stock of the original VCO design with 0-10V outputs and 8 in stock of the new bi-polar version that has +/-5V outputs. Please mention which type you want: Original or Bi-polar)
This PCB is suitable for Eurorack modules. It's 54 by 104mm and it has been optimised for use with a dual 12V powersupply. (The original design is for dual 15V).
I now also have a bi-polar version for sale with +/-5V outputs.
Above you see the PCB compared to the stripboard version.
The classic version of the PCB:
Below is the new bi-polar version board. For this version you can use the original bill of materials from the stripboard article and add one extra multiturn trimmer of 100K and two 470nF capacitors. I just built this new version and everything works beautifully. Tuning is a breeze.
Here's the wiring diagram for the classic version (potmeters seen from the front, shaft facing you):
You can use the above wiring diagram for the new version too, only the new version has normal potmeter connections for the Fine and Coarse potmeters.
This PCB also includes the Pulse Width Modulation mixer which enables you to have an external Pulse Width Modulation signal come in and still change the Pulse Width with the panel control too.
I made quite a few improvements on this new version. As I mentioned, it's bi-polar now. I also changed the Frequency and Coarse connections straight potmeter connections. I just finished building this latest version and everything worked straightaway. Tuning was very straight forward, following the procedure in the original article for project 18. On a dual 12V powersupply I had it tuned over 5 octaves within 10 minutes with only a few cents between the octaves. It's the best tuning experience of any VCO I ever built.
BTW, you can easily change the bi-polar VCO back to 0-10V operation by putting 1K resistors in the place of the 470nF capacitors and setting the offset voltage for the squarewave to +5V with the trimmer.
PROJECT 12: The KORG MS20 FILTER with HIGHPASS and LOWPASS mode.
Price: € 10,- per PCB (6 in stock.)
Finally a PCB for this filter. This is the number one visited filter article on my website.
I built one up myself and it sounds great, see video below.
The PCB is very very small. Only 39mm by 93mm so ideal for eurorack. It only took me half an hour to solder all the components in. You can solder one potmeter straight into the board and use that to mount the board at 90° behind a panel. Then you can connect the rest of the controls and sockets with hook-up wire..
Wiring diagram for this PCB. (potmeters seen from the backside):
Here's a short demo video of the filter in action. The audio for this filter needs to be attenuated. This filter can not handle high audio levels straight from the oscillator. So if you build this project make sure you include a level potmeter for the audio input and put a level potmeter on at least one of the CV inputs aswell, so you can regulate the ADSR input to the filter. (I'd would recommend level pots for all but the V/Oct input)
PROJECT 10: The Yusynth VCA
Price: € 8,- per PCB (6 in stock). € 8,- per Panel (8 in stock). Order both together for €15,- Ready made, pre-assembled and tested VCA module € 60,- + € 10,- shipping (1 in stock)
I call this project 'The Best Little VCA' because that's what it is. Of all the VCA projects on my website I still like this one the best because it works so well and is so easy to calibrate.
The original VCA inverted the output signal but I put in an extra Dual Opamp that turns the signal back to normal and I use the other opamp to drive a bi-colour LED to give an indication of the signal the VCA receives. I did this with other VCA's and it turned out to be a very useful feature.
The PCB is 36mm by 93mm
IF YOU BUY ONE OF THESE PCB's WITH A PANEL, THEN I WILL INCLUDE A POWERCONNECTOR WITH A 90° ANGLE AS SHOWN IN THE PICTURE BELOW, FREE OF CHARGE!
Wiring diagram will follow shortly but really, it's so simple you don't actually need one. You only need to wire up 3 sockets and a LED. The potmeters solder straight into the PCB.
The TRANSISTOR CURVE TRACER and MATCHING CIRCUIT.
- PCB with Curve Tracers Only Price: € 5,- per PCB (9 in stock)
- PCB with Curve Tracers plus Transistor Matching circuits for NPN and PNP. So you get 4 functions on one PCB. Price: € 10,- per PCB (9 in stock)
The picture below shows the first version, a small board made from the schematics in the article on my website. This one board contains 2 curve tracer circuits. One for NPN transistors and one for PNP transistors. The new ones for sale now are set up a bit roomy-er. The PCB's are verified.
The connections for the transistor under test and the scope probes are just solderpads so you need to come up with your own way to mount the transistors. I used very small copper tubes as you can see in the pictures below. It would be ideal to use a ZIF IC socket (google them) on a piece of stripboard wired up to this PCB or simply use a breadboard to put the transistor under test in and connect it to this circuitboard. In fact I made and ordered a version with ZIF connectors that will replace these when they come in.
You can build it up using any type of NPN and PNP transistors you want. The circuit is very forgiving. The PCB board is designed to work with BC type transistors with the C-B-E pinout. (I mean the transistors for the actual circuit. Of course you can test any type of BJT transistor with this board). You do need a good oscilloscope with an X-Y display option.
(Note: there are three components with no value next to them: C8 and C9 are 100nF and C12 is 10nF)
The new PCB's:
Here's how I match transistors with this PCB. I soldered some pinheaders, with wire, to the Emitter, Base and Collector pads on the PCB for transistors A and B. I stick those in a small breadboard and use the breadboard as socket for the transistors under test. Leave one transistor in and keep changing the second one until the volt meter reads 000.0mV in both switch settings. Then you have matched transistors. The switch swaps the 100K resistors connected to the emitters of the transistors, that's why those resistors must have the same value. I found that measuring the 100K resistors with one digit behind the comma was enough for good functioning of the matchers. (Mine were both 97.3 KOhm)
The new PCB's are 55.5mm by 132.7mm
The new full length boards use the original Curve Tracer circuits and they have the Ian Fritz method transistor matching circuits on them too.
I have ordered new PCB's that will also contain the improved version of the Curve Tracer circuit as designed by YouTuber @indepth_electronics. They will have room for ZIF sockets for the transistors under test. They will be very useful in the electronics lab. I expect them about end of week 32.
MORE PCB'S FOR OTHER PROJECTS WILL BE ADDED AS THEY COME IN SO CHECK BACK IN REGULARLY!.