Monthly Archives: July 2012

Getting it Going.

Posted on by

Without further ado the winner of the drawing for a SYNTHBOY+ with original Gray DMG-01 is:

Mana

Congratulations!

Please contact me directly to accept your new reward. chrisATblarskyDOTcom

Worked very hard this week on several things.

First, I worked on the DIY Mod Guide. Shot pictures and revised a few things to make it easier. We will include tri-blade screwdrivers in the DIY kits so you will not have to find them. Have 90% of the guide done, just need to polish up a few things.

Second, I CNC routed all of the high density foam inserts. Made a few adjustments to my original design.

Third, we worked on all of the wires. We stripped and tinned all of the wires. I also have all of the wires finished for MOD 1.

We expect to have funds cleared by mid week. In which case we will start ordering parts and components. We will expect to send out surveys at the beginning of next week. Working on more big news we hope to release in the next update.

Stay Tuned!

We are excited!!!

Posted on by

Thank you to everyone who backed the SYNTHBOY+! We have received emails and support from around the world and would like to thank everyone for the great response. We will be starting immediately on building user guides and the ‘how-to-mod’ guides. We have to wait for funds to clear which takes 15 days; then we can place orders for components. However we have plenty to work on between now and then.

One of our focuses is to work on building this community. We appreciate feedback from you and want to encourage you to make comments and ask questions. You can do this through Kickstarter, but we would rather you do this on http://www.ninstrument.com. We ask this because we are building our business and want you to be part of it. Your thoughts and questions will provide insight to OUR future customers and it makes sense for this information be listed on our site. We will consider a forum, but for right now we would like to focus on the product and the blog format provides plenty of direct involvement. We expect criticism and encourage you to help us find solutions to the problems as well as pointing them out We are normal people and have feelings. We are not a huge corporation. I only say this as I have backed other projects on Kickstarter and I have read comments that are really mean and negative. Honestly the golden rule is appreciated. Please treat us like you would want to be treated.

We have big plans and we are very excited that you are helping us accomplish them. Communication is key in building a new business. Expect an update on every Sunday sometime during the day. If you have any questions or need help directly, please don’t hesitate to email me directly at chrisATblarskyDOTcom or use our ‘contact’ page which also goes directly to me. We plan on drawing the winner from the 7 who backed the $35.00 reward next update.

Let’s make some great music and some cool noise!

7 Days Left!

Posted on by
A special thank you to Richard Devine for helping us out!

Down to the last few days.  We appreciate all of the help getting the word out.  We are excited that we have had the response we have had.  Just wanted to remind everyone that Kickstarters alone will enjoy 20% discounts on future upgrade kits and modding services, as well as special product releases, so if you have not signed up for at least a T-shirt, please do before the end.  This applies whether we are funded or not!

I have been working on adding other Gameboy models to the compatibility list.  We also are working on an easier solution to accomplishing cpu transplants.  We will start back up on the Prototype II build soon.

Thank you again for all of your support.

Oh, in case you missed Josh’s improv with the SYNTHBOY+ here it is.

 

Almost there!

Posted on by

We are past half way in both time left and in funding. Thank you for supporting the SYNTHBOY+! We had a question from a couple chiptune musicians about performing with the Gameboy in their hands. This is no problem and is easily accomplished with a standard DB9 serial extension cable. This cable can even be locked in place to prevent accidental unplugging. We will include one of these cables with all the colored SYNTHBOY+ rewards as well as the SEXBOYS. These are easy to find and can be found at your local computer stores.


We would like to entice more potential backers by offering ‘MOD 1’ free to all of our backers who back a SYNTHBOY+. From the DIY to the SEXBOYS! We will send out the survey upon successful funding and ask if you would like ‘MOD 1’ installed for you. This is a cool effect and expands the stereo separation of the GBLFO. You don’t have to have it installed, but we are offering to install it for free.

Josh is working on another vid showing how he uses the SYNTHBOY+. Look to see that in the next 7 days. Thank you again for all of the support.

Testing complete for the SYNTHBOY+.

Posted on by

We are excited to report we have finished the grueling tests we put the SYNTHBOY+ through and have had no problems or issues! We tested extended use with constant MIDI traffic. We tested performance with elevated temperatures. We tested performance of the adapter using 220V power. We measured noise during use of both 220V and 110V and are extremely happy with how quiet it is to use. There is no increase in noise by using the power adapter as opposed to batteries. We have been testing for months, long before the Kickstarter launch and confidently stand behind our product.
We are making final improvements to the board design, adding extra access pads for future possible mods. We are excited about the response from the latest product tour video.

A special thank you to synthtopia.com and matrixsynth.com for their help getting the word out. If you are not familiar with either of these sites, I would encourage you to check them out. We would also like to welcome the new backers this week and would like to let you know you can expect a weekly update from us on every Sunday.
I also am hard at work doing everything possible to make or exceed our December delivery schedule. All communication with component vendors is strong and supplies for our parts look solid. In anticipation of any trouble, I have already ordered bulk of the items that were in question, so I know we will have what we need. For example, there were unknown back order dates for a couple of the audio connectors, so I bought them in bulk and now have them on the shelf, no worries, no stress. I am also using a very specific power adaptor. One with almost no noise. It was hard to track down, but I now have plenty sitting on the shelf. Once we are 100% funded I can promise you work will start immediately. We will do almost all of the fabrication in house. For instance, we can start modifying Gameboys immediately; fabricating the high density foam inserts and also prepare wiring for installation.
As always we welcome any questions or ideas you have. Thank you so much for your support.