10 thoughts on “SynthBoy+ GameBoy MIDI Dock (Sneak Preview)

  1. I wish someone would provide some chiptunes links that they find musical and interesting. As it is, every chiptune I have heard makes me almost immediately turn it right back OFF. And yes, at 43, I’m plenty old enough to have some nostalgia for 8-bit computing.

  2. Thank you for posting this video.
    We have worked very hard and are working hard on this.
    If you have any questions, please let me know.
    We really are trying to get more musicians to use this, so I apologize for my demonstration.
    I would love to hear what a truly talented musician could do with this. Please also realize I think these sounds are complimentary to other music and to other electronic instruments. I don’t think they should be the only sounds used in a mix. But that is the only sound I used in the demo as I wanted you to hear just the sounds from the Gameboy.
    Thank you Synthtopia for the support.

    1. Hello, Can you please elaborate more on the interface modification for the gameboy. In your other video I see you got a DB9 connector attached to the bottom.
      Personally I would mod a sync cable and use the sync port on the side of the gameboy. (sync cable to DB9).

      Great device you got there.

      1. Yes, you are right, if the audio was in the sync cable than yes, that would solve most problems, we just decided to port everything through the bottom DB9 connector. We are feeding power from the synthboy+ dock to the Gameboy, then using the regulated power from the Gameboy to power the synthboy+. I did this so that no power would be used when the Gameboy was not docked and that it would eliminate an extra power switch and would eliminate another possible ground loop . The switch on the Gameboy turns on both the Gameboy and the synthboy+. This also allows the power from the batteries to be used. By routing the sync cable through the bottom DB9, you now free up the sync port to connect to another Gameboy or to plug in a four port adapter, or use it in addition to what you are doing. Last but not least is the audio. Running the audio “pre” pot right from the Gameboy gives you perfect line level audio from the Gameboy. The speaker still works in the Gameboy and you can still use the volume control. That takes care of 8 pins, leaving us one pin free for other possible mods, such as a clock change using a ltc1799 or another mod. We went with a non metalized DB9 connector for two reasons. The first was durability. In our tests the metal connectors didn’t handle the rigors of daily use very well. The second is I didn’t want the metal to act as an antenna and draw more noise into the audio or data streams. We spent a considerable amount of time testing inductors and separating digital grounds from analog grounds for the lowest noise floor possible. We are proud of our work in this area especially.

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