ALESIS MICROVERB 1&2 DUAL OPERATING
SYSTEM KIT : £38

These are also available on our ETSY shop.
We cannot currently ship to the EU.
Read more about buying from the EU HERE.

This is a DIY kit for our MVB dual operating system modification for the Alesis Microverb 1 & 2. It is a no solder kit, so all you're going to need is a drill to mount a switch.

The Alesis Microverb I and II are pretty much the same unit. Purely in terms of the hardware the two units are absolutely identical other than some minor resistor differences that restrict the bandwidth very slightly on the Microverb I, and the Microverb I system runs slightly slower with a 6mHz ceramic resonator for the system clock. The Microverb II runs at 8mHz.

In any respect that matters, the operating system is also identical apart from the preset effects parameters. This means that its entirely possible to copy the data on the operating system EPROM of each unit and burn both of them to one higher capacity EPROM, with a switch to select which operating system is in use. The fact that the OS files are so similar also appears to mean that you can make the switch live without the unit crashing, which is unusual for this kind of mod.

This mod essentially gives you the 16 preset reverb effects from both the Microverb I and the Microverb II in one unit. It doesn’t matter which one you start with, the mod works the same on both units, but if you have a Microverb I you may want to make some optional resistor changes to upgrade the circuit to that of a Microverb II, as the Microverb II does have a very slightly brighter sound. Maybe you lose a little of the Microverb I's muffled 'character' when you upgrade it, and the effects will run slightly faster at 8mHz so reverbs are a little shorter, but the difference is very small, and if you were reclocking the thing anyway then the clock difference is irrelevant.

Basically on any standard dual OS unit with Microverb I resistors and clock, the Microverb I effects will run as normal, but the Microverb II effects will run slightly darker than they would on an actual Microverb II, with marginally longer reverb tails. On a dual OS unit with a Microverb II resistors and clock, the Microverb II effects will run as normal, but the Microverb I effects will run slightly brighter than on an actual Microverb I, with shorter reverb tails. We’ve made it sound unnecessarily complicated there, but in the real world it probably doesn’t really make much difference either way. We normally upgrade a Microverb I to the Microverb II setup purely for the sake of it, but its entirely up to you.

The dual operating system MVB kit consists of a preprogrammed EPROM and a custom PCB with a switch wired to the end of a plug in cable.

We also sell a version of the kit with a pack of new resistors and a 8MHz ceramic resonator included, intended for if you want to upgrade your Microverb I to Microverb II specs, but this is just a convenience as these are easy to source yourself if you wanted.

The install guide for the MVB operating system switcher and the MVI to MVII resistors upgrade can be found HERE.

Switching operating systems in realtime on a modded Microverb I.

 

If you want to buy a kit and / or a component upgrade pack click on the Buy Now buttons below. Payments are processed via Paypal, but you can pay using a credit or debit card without having a Paypal account. If you want to pay using some other method, please get in touch via the CONTACT page.

MVB - no solder DUAL SWITCHABLE OPERATING SYSTEM KIT: £38

MVB with Microverb I to Microverb II component upgrade pack included: £44

RECLOCKING:

While you're in there you might as well add a system reclocking mod as well.

The LTC1799 based system reclocking mod disconnects the standard system clock and adds a knob that controls the processing speed of the DSP in real time, allowing you to adjust reverbs from short twangs to huge walls of gloriously lo-fi gritty glacial noise. At its lowest clock settings its like an ice sheet slowly cracking on a frozen lake! If you thought you knew anything about lo-fi reverb, then think again...


We don't sell this mod as a kit as such, but you will need a LTC1799 clock module from our SHOP.

We also have a reclocking installation guide HERE. The mod works exactly the same on both models.

Listen to the demo below to hear the kind of ridiculous reverb effects that are available with the reclocking mod.