DJX-2B

[SineHacker]

It's basically a DJX without ANY of the good features. The beats are outdated at best, it did make for some good bending though, sounds like Aphex Twin style acid being randomized:

apologies for the appalling quality of my phone camera



18 Switches in total



I didn't plan the drilling too well, this left me with some holes that I couldn't fill, oh well...




video to follow

[nochtanseenspecht]

nice job !

[SineHacker]

here we go:

Circuit Bent DJX2B Funkoff

[Circuitbenders]

well thats annoying, i sold my one of these a while back because everything i tried just crashed it 

A lot of the loops on the DJX-IIB are exactly the same as the preset patterns on the Yamaha RM1X, which would suggest i need to open up my RM1X 

[SineHacker]

I really want a RM1x to play with

anyway, as i said somewhere else on the forum:

AMW = glitch bliss

and small signal diodes are the key, I used a diode on every switch this time, otherwise the machine would crash everytime you flicked more than one

[SineHacker]

I need to open it up again, I removed the thick metal shield covering the IC's and it picks up all kinds of electronic interference.

I was thinking about covering one side of tin foil with electrical tape (to prevent shorts on the component side) and connecting the tin to ground, that ought to do it right, or is there an easier way? there's no way the original shield is going back on!

[Circuitbenders]

seems reasonable, or you could get some of that conductive paint you get covering the inside of the case of the yamaha RX8 and couple of other things i've seen, and paint it on a piece of cardboard. I'm not sure where you'd buy it though.

[electoyd]

Hey Sinehacker

i'm impressed with what you've done to the djx, i could only get the thing to scream like a banshee! oh and crash alot.  If your up for helping me out a bit to tame this thing! i always thought it had potential. i could give you some tips on the qy10 i see from another topic that you've got one on the boil and its driving you crazy, i've completed one with a 32 way patchbay, tuning pot and 12way switch, also done a qy8, got a 37 way patch on that, quite cool machines, er sorry rambling off topic.  You can mail me or chat through forum if you want your call-ii could always send you a pic of what i've done-ian

(EDITED BY ADMIN - removed email address)

[Circuitbenders]

don't post your email address on this forum unless you want to be buried under a mountain of spam

[Psycho:Active]

Rarely have I come across such a good (and smooth?, not merely noise) example of circuit bent instrument performing.

How do those CDs interact with the device and is there no way to change the track that plays?

Nice work.

[electoyd]

thanks paul no worries-see you gave up on this beast of a machine too, i found it really frustrating....thanks for removing address didnt realise you could modify untill now, am new.

[SineHacker]

Sorry I forgot to reply to this - I've been pretty busy with MA work since September - I just managed to get the original DJX keyboard for a steal of £20 from a second hand store in Newport, (thankyou newport junky scene! I will feed your habits) I've seen some vids of bends on youtube for this keyboard which seem interesting but the quality is pretty gash.

To electrolyd: I'm guessing you got this far but once you have the DJX-2B open, you will see a square section covered by a screw-fastened chunky bit of steel, you need to remove this. You should now have exposed the interesting parts of the circuit board (outside of this are just amp circuits and variable resistors connected to multiplexors I think, I didn't find much there). The large rectangular chip on the left (with the machine face down) is the one that I hacked - there is only one large rectangular chip as far as I remember, it had a barcode and yamaha printed on it on mine that I removed for some reason. All of my switches are connected to one pin, that is then short-circuited to a number of the others - I did this using some vero-board to create a basic matrix. The secret if at all is that you need to use a small signal diode for every switch (these are directional and I can't remember which way round, you'll have to test). If you don't use any diodes, the machine will crash, and if you just use one diode on the main pin it will crash everytime you throw more than one switch (using my method anyway).

The main pin I am referring to on the chip is the 2nd on the bottom right hand side (if the keyboard is face down with the x-fader towards you) Or one of the ones either side, but I pretty sure it is that one. You will have to test which pins you can connect it to - it is quite a few but some do still cause crashing.

However the bends do not work with all the backing loops and things the unit has to offer - sometimes they will just cut the sound out and you will have to reset etc.

Also, try plugging a midi capable keyboard into the machine to discover a load of new sounds!!

Don't worry about the QY-10, i found plenty of bends but I can't hack soldering to surface mount chips, it was just painful!!

Psycho:Active: The unit only has inbuilt sounds, the CD is just connected to a weird rotary sensor thing which makes scratch sounds and plays beats - sorta cool in a gimicky way as is everything else on the machine.


I will find the photo's of the inside of the toy to elaborate on this!

[SineHacker]

I found another vid on my harddrive that I guess I never got round to editing, shows the cool sounds that you can get out of the DJX2b but also how unstable it can be  I love it though, it should be good for sampling, I'm getting really into making glitch hop / glitch dub at the moment 

DJX2B Dj Failure

[SineHacker]

i do wish the bends were more stable 

[SineHacker]

following some requests here are some pics that may or may not be of some help. i think i mentioned this above, you need to remove a steel plate inside the djx to reach this part of the board:





sorry i thought I had scaled them down a little more, but they do fit on my tiny 13" laptop screen