Hing Hon EK-001

[ne7]

http://www.elenco.ws/manuals/ak-900.pdf

^ finally found the manual link for the kit... enjoy

[andy_wheels]

hmmmm, i'm looking at that schematic now...

thanks for the link. awesome stuff!

[Orangery]

Good link but it doesn't help me with my power connections.  I can see two contacts, one marked B+ and B-.  I'm assuming that's where the battery wires should go but it doesn't look right and more importantly it doesn't work!  Any ideas.

[bendboy]

Hey, I just found out I have both chip 'versions' of the EK-001,
Here is how my 2 differ-but these may be only rough guides, there are probably many production changes!

Newer(?) 'Blob chip' has large T-1 sized power light and tempo light, tempo light on dimly all the time.
Has VERY loud volume, too loud even on lowest setting.
'Microphone volume" label text smaller than 'power' text
'C-C#' text over lower keys is normal proportion/size.
DC in and headphone jacks 'closed' on bottom side.
DC jack in tip/center POSITIVE 6-9 volts
The BIG clue-this unit takes SIX AA batts.
Has 1 big main board inside.
Has bug-after messing with rhytms then starting the demo, sometimes only plays the beat (demo tune does not start)

2nd Older model(?):
It has 1/3 size board over the main one with a surface mount IC (quite large, pins can be soldered)
Volume is reasonable unmodded, has pot inside(pitch setting?), TINY power and tempo lights, squished C-C# letters over the low keys, the speaker under the grille has a silver center,DC in and Headphone in are open to the inside,DC in is center/tip NEGATIVE (honestly.....be careful with AC adaptors!!!!), and takes only 4 AA batts.
The power light does not light? (but power switch is screwed, so...)
This one a very light high pitch 'sing' from speaker when on.....

Both units have horrible switches.....

I also have 2 of a "CX-500 Electronic sound system" keyboard that is ALSO a EK-001 in disguise.
All functions are same/sounds same, keyboard notes DO seem to decay a bit faster, a small capacitor difference?
3 settings only for volume/microphone, volume acts as a tone control (higher=brighter)
"the music designer" under power switch, mic input right by the volume control.
Has dark gray case with light gray under controls, blue square "custom drummer" buttons on right, pink rhythm buttons, separate 1-8 list for rhythms and 'orchestra' (all buttons just numbered) everything is 'angled' toward the front center a bit!
Overall quaility seems quite better than the EK, good swiitches, looks nice, etc....
Has the 'blob' chip inside.

I was REALLY attracted to the "organ" sound on these....nothing else sounds like it, and I have a lot of keyboards pass through my hands!
BTW, a Playskool PS-635 toy KB ALSO has the exact same organ sound, and neat blippy rhythms. BUT it is only ONE note 'poly'-can it be modified for 2?

Is this a useful first post ? :*)

I just love this stuff.....

[ne7]

thanks for all that info

btw, good ol' tablehooters ->
http://users.informatik.haw-hamburg.de/~windle_c/TableHooters/HingHon_EK001.html
has some really useful info on this KB...

[Tyler1144]

All the schematics i have seen for this one have had those overdrive and warbly filters and distortions, EVEN WITH the blob circuit. No worries, capacitors and resistors are the components that have the bends, and they always make strange noise in any toy that isnt as simple as a blob circuit and a couple buttons. The more buttons and functions it has, the more circuitry it will have, so lots more bends in this case its a squarewave keyboard so of course it has loads of circuitry lol

[epicentre]

I'm so lucky today: I have been looking around for a HH, fell in love with the thing, the sound is just so cool even without any bending. Not much success though, couldn't find one anywhere. The trick really is to just stop looking: i saw an online auction with some pretty interesting looking old KB so i bought that (cost about 2eu), and my GF is going to give me some old KB that is collecting dust on her closet.

Well, the first one is MeiKe MK-320B, and tablehooters site says it's a Hing Hon Shame about those sheet metal keys though, those are quite annoying...

The one from my GF is a Satellite AJ-911, I couldn't find any info whatsoever about this thing, apart from a youtube video of circuit bent one:

Circuit Bent Satellite AJ-911

Just some mildly interesting noise, but I'm pretty sure I can hear Greensleves at the end of the video

Oh, and I'm new here, hi!

[edit] I wrote that post yesterday, but had some problems with registration. I've got the AJ-911 and it's a bit weird - I'm pretty sure it's a Hing Hon, but the demo song isn't Greensleves, and the sounds seem higher (I might be wrong though, I'll have to compare with the MeiKe one when i get it).



Has two speakers, no mic input, and seems quite well made.

[epicentre]

you can wire up push buttons to select more than one instrument at once as this distorts and modulates the sound... just try holding down 2 or 3 different sound select buttons and playing the KB... Crazy noises!

Woah, just tried that trick, you can get some really interesting instruments this way  

Will it work if i simply replace the selection buttons with on/off switches? That would be really cool, letting you pick those combinations on the spot with ease Sorry if that's a stupid question, I'm very new to bending

[edit]sorry for double posting

[Tyler1144]

love the way the keyboard says 'stereophonic' on it in big letters. erm,,,. heheheh



wonder if the kit has the big chip or the blob??

The PDF says its an IC, so not a blob

[epicentre]

Ok, here's my Satellite with two nice bends and a makeover:



My first proper bend 

[computer at sea]

Well that's very handsome.

[epicentre]

Thank you, I'll post a video on youtube, when I improve it a bit more

[epicentre]

I've been tinkering with this thing yesterday, and whatever I do it just becomes more and more like a drum machine than a keyboard

So far i have:

- pitch control pot that also makes everything slow down

- a body contact that does the same thing really

- voltage drop pot which is a lot of fun since it makes the rhythm choke at certain points (and sometimes completely new sounds appear), creating new and sometimes great patterns. Even more interesting is the fact that the "choke effects" change when i turn the pitch control pot which means a lot less control, but a lot more possible patterns.

- mega bass - a switch that really makes the rhythms sound very heavy and interesting, and also a pot that controls how heavy it is (doesn't make as much of a difference as I would've liked). Sadly with this turned on the key notes become very very quiet.

I need to try to replace those instrument buttons with on/off switches to get access to those weird sounds, and a few tweaks, and this will be a fine machine

[Circuitbenders]

I'd be carefull with that 'mega bass' mod you have there. Do you geta big thump when you turn it on, with a constant low bass drone or hum?

It sounds like you might be shorting out something in the amp or power supply section that might not last that long if used too often.

[epicentre]

Thanks for  your concern, but i think it's all good, there is no humming or anything.

I just checked it out and i wasn't right about the volume of the keyboard notes, it's the voltage drop that's making them semi-useless when the rhythm is turned on.

[edit] And I would really like to find that bend, that is used on this one:

pt 1: Circuit Bent Hing Hon EK-001 analogue synth keyboard

The pot he uses at 0:30, so cool