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Author Topic: Cheetah MD-8 Manual - Help - ANYTHING!  (Read 11252 times)

Circuitbenders

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Cheetah MD-8 Manual - Help - ANYTHING!
« on: June 06, 2007, 04:56:48 PM »

If anyone out there has a manual for a Cheetah MD8 or knows anything about how to dump the voices over MIDI using Sysex then please let me know. This feckin machine is driving me mad!

Obviously it can't be circuit bent seeing as it has the most volatile non-volatile memory i've ever seen but all i want is to stop having to load the voices in off goddamn tape. Well, i say tape, what i mean is WAV files of the tape data but after you've tried to load in a snare sound 20 times and its just not working because the input volume needs to be minutely adjusted to get it to work it starts to feel like this technology is just to obsolete to work with.

And i never thought i'd say that about anything.  >:(
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SynTeknik

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Re: Cheetah MD-8 Manual - Help - ANYTHING!
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2009, 04:30:27 PM »

Hi.
Came across your thread while trying to find MD8-related info.
I have just bought a non-working MD8, which I'm trying to resurrect. Couldn't find an MD8 manual, but I DID find an MD16R manual, that's it's bigger brother. Same hardware(ish), so the basics should be similar.
I've already used the pcb photos here to help identify the correct location/orientation for the new battery on my MD8..

Cheetah MD16R manual

You said that you had the wav files for an MD8 memory restore? I'm going to need a copy of them, as the backup battery was *wrecked* on my MD8... Please?

Oh, and while I'm on, I don't have an original PSU for my MD8. Can you confirm the voltage and polarity of this?

Cheers!

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Gordonjcp

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Re: Cheetah MD-8 Manual - Help - ANYTHING!
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2009, 04:50:13 PM »

Can you replace the sample RAM with Flash memory?  That might be a neat hack.

If you feel like getting it open and having some nice clear shots of the PCB and chips, that would give me some idea if it's possible...
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Circuitbenders

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Re: Cheetah MD-8 Manual - Help - ANYTHING!
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2009, 04:58:25 PM »

Well, to be honest with you the MD8 is a piece of crap and even when its working to the best of its ability it still hardly works at all. I've spoken to one of the original cheetah designers of this machine and he was saying that most of it was designed on the back of cigarette packets in the pub and he was amazed anyone ever bought one let alone attempts to use one today!

The MD16 is a brilliant & completly different machine which is at least 2000 times more complex, and it actually works!  ;)

I think i still have copies of the cassette WAV files somewhere so i'll have a look next time i'm on the right PC.  The main problem you'll have with loading the sounds into it is the fact that it just doesn't work. Even if you somehow manage to make the minute adjustments to the input levels that actually get the thing to load the 5 or so sounds, it'll then wipe or corrupt the memory if you so much as hit the buttons too hard. It'll run on any 9V PSU but i'm not sure of polarity.

The battery location of any Cheetah is that furry lump of leaked battery acid surrounded by melted circuit traces.
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