MIDI Goblin

Bad news - shipping delay. But also some good news
2 months ago – Thu, Sep 26, 2024 at 03:08:36 PM

Dear Kickstarter backers - I have some bad news. The expected MIDI Goblin shipping date will (likely) be pushed back until late November/early December - but - this update isn't just going to be bad news. 

First - the bad news: Despite my best efforts, there have been a couple significant setbacks this week which seem like they're going to impact the shipping date of MIDI Goblin.

1. Out of stock component: The manufacturer of the MIDI Goblin's PCB (printed circuit board) is out of a vital, surface mount component....rather than waiting multiple months for them to have the part back in stock, ill be attempting to source the part from a different supplier and installing each one by hand. 

This will likely distract me from being able to perform other important tasks such creating thorough documentation the the device itself, overhauling and preparing the Midi Goblin firmware for its release, updating the website and creating high-quality demonstration/instructional videos of midi goblin's various apps..I do intend to continue to work on these things - in fact, I have more things I intend to add - but this missing-component issue is a pretty big setback. 

2. Unexpected fees - this was a bit of a team effort as I did not predict the correct amount of the enclosure import fees, and a representative at the enclosure manufacturer was under the impression there would be no import fee at all - We were both wrong! 

There were also many unexpected fees associated with prototyping the MIDI Goblin PCB and enclosure. Ordering new screens, modifying the enclosure, redesigning the PCB and basically rewriting all of the code to work with the new hardware ate up a lot of resources but the result is a better device so it was worth it. I will likely have to personally take on some contract work to offset these unexpected costs which will also cut into MIDI Goblin production time.  


Typically electronic devices like MIDI Goblin take a long time to develop. Many electronics projects on Kickstarter give themselves generous timelines for their expected release date. Its not uncommon for it to take up to a year before backers receive the thing they backed. 

Had I priced MIDI Goblin higher, made no improvements and set the expected shipping date for next July - there would be no missing component issue, the screen would be smaller, I'd probably have made a hefty profit and I think everyone would be kind of disappointed in MIDI Goblin. I do greatly apologize for setting expectations incorrectly with the shipping date but it was exactly that - an expected shipping date. I will try to have midi goblins ship as close to it as possible but - more time is needed to ensure you receive a finished product. 



Now for some good news - Sysex commands. I've added the ability to send individual sysex commands. Ill have to go into more detail on this in the future but, this is a pretty major update. Having the ability to send a sysex command to certain synths allows you to do things you can't normally do with standard midi messages...it could potentially allow vintage analog synths like the juno 106 to use the midi goblin's arpeggiator...I will experiment with this more as I wait for the missing components to arrive. In theory this could lead to sysex patch storage capabilities and remapping sysex parameter value messages to cc or vice versa - quite useful...but for now, you can send individual sysex messages - cool!

You can now also save settings for each individual synth you have added to midi goblin. A separate settings file is created for each device you add to your Goblin now, so if you have one synth that uses certain channels, you don't have to worry about manually setting them when you restart your Goblin. App parameters like the arpeggiators tempo, arp notes length, the default sequence length are also saved in this settings file too so if you like the way you have things set up for your synth - you can save it now without effecting other devices added to MIDI Goblin. 

Also a small arpeggiator improvement: you can now control the velocity of notes that are being arpeggiated - sweet! 

 

A more in-depth look at the new Morph feature.
2 months ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2024 at 02:31:20 PM

Huge update! New features added, pre-orders now available through Backerkit
3 months ago – Fri, Sep 13, 2024 at 08:36:52 AM

Good news everyone! I've added a bunch of new features to MIDI Goblin and it is now available for pre-order through Backerkit (backerkit orders expected to ship in late November)
Now I should mention - the Kickstarter backers are getting the new screen and as a free upgrade and if you missed the Kickstarter campaign the new price for MIDI Goblin is $125 Canadian - still affordable but a bit higher than the kickstarter prices (this will help me cover taxes, import fees and whatnot)
 

Upgraded hardware, potential pre-order store.
5 months ago – Fri, Jul 12, 2024 at 09:21:38 AM

Hi everyone, good news! Since the day the campaign was funded I've been hard at work exploring options for potential upgrades to the MIDI Goblin's hardware. There's been a lot of experimentation over the last month, using various components and pin layouts for the esp32. 

Here's a small list of changes and upgrades...

1 - screen upgrade! 
Previously MIDI Goblin was using a .98", i2c, oled display - this has been changed to a 1.3 inch SPI oled display. Although .98", i2c displays are great because they occupy few esp32 pins and are very cheap - they are quite slow and teeny tiny. 

The new 1.3", SPI, display is quite large and much, much, much faster. Although the new displays are more expensive and modifying the case will also cost a chunk of change - it's easier to read makes projects that require faster refresh rates viable, so its well worth the investment in my eyes. Although the new screen occupies more pins on the esp32, I've evened that out with the next upgrade 

2 - multiplexer! 
The buttons are all now being read through a multiplexer. This little component has 16 channels and frees up a lot of i/o pins on the esp32 previously occupied by individual buttons. And since it has 16 channels and MIDI Goblin only had 15 buttons... 

3 - everyone's getting an extra button! 
The encoder (knob) of the MIDI Goblin has been upgraded to an encoder with a built-in button. It turns out they're pretty affordable and widely available components. Having an extra channel available on the multiplexer worked out perfectly. 

4 - arp button replaced with user defined button
Although I liked the idea of being able to turn off and on the arpeggiator using the ARP button, MIDI Goblin does waaay more than just arpeggiate, so this button will now be labelled as "user 2"...the old "user 2" button will be changed to user 3. So now there are 3 user defined buttons. It just makes more sense and you can always defined it as the on/off button for the arpeggiator if you like.  

5 - new encoder - easier makes life easier
The new encoder can be turned in either direction endlessly and has a button as well so I'm currently modifying the navigation and value editing logic to take advantage of this. You can use the encoder to scroll through menus and press its button to select options but you'll still be able to use the up/down/left/right and yes buttons to achieve the same results..its really satisfyingly to scroll through menus with. 

6 - new PCB(circuit board) and available i/o
Of course making all of these hardware changes has required creating a new PCB for the MIDI Goblin itself. There are a lot of things to take into consideration when choosing the pin layout of an esp32 project. Each pin does different things. If you're familiar with an arduino pinout diagram then you'll understand what I mean. A full diagram of the MIDI Goblins esp32 pin assignments will be made available on https://www.midigoblin.com in the future. 

To be clear - MIDI Goblin will only have 5 pin midi in and out connections, an encoder, 16 buttons, a nice 1.3inch oled display and the usb c connection of the esp32 itself.....but if users want to modify their case and add things like....audio in and out jacks, touch sensors, buttons, devices that require analog input/output - ill be making all of the un-used pins from the esp32 available on the PCB(along with extra grounds and 3v pads) clearly labelled so users can modify their midi goblins...hopefully people take advantage of this and create their own devices...esp32's are quite powerful so I wouldn't be surprised if someone manages to turn a midi goblin into a full blown synth. 

7 - pre-orders
Quite a few people who missed the kickstarter have messaged me asking if they could pre-order a MIDI Goblin - I'm considering this. I might actually make this possible soon through a service like backerkit. 

Right now my focus is on ensuring the Kickstarter backers receive their units on time (shipping in October) and that the MIDI Goblins that ship are above all expectations . Once I'm confident the kickstarter backers will be getting the best possible product without any delays - I'll open a pre-order store...this will be sooner rather than later.

-Andrew

Surveys have been sent
6 months ago – Tue, Jun 04, 2024 at 06:52:18 AM

Hi everyone! The backer surveys have been sent for all reward tiers as of today (I was under the impression that they would be automatically sent but it turns out it needed to be done manually)

The surveys are straight forward, you just need to enter your address information and if you've chosen a tier that includes a t-shirt - you'll need to specify a shirt size. 

Although rewards are expected to ship in October, please make sure to fill out the survey asap. If you move and need to change your address - no worries - I have included the option to do so and will do everything possible to make sure you receive your reward.

I'll be posting updates regarding the production of MIDI Goblin over the coming months here and on social media so feel free to follow or subscribe to the @MIDIGOBLIN youtube or instagram  

If you've missed the kickstarter campaign and want to pre-order a MIDI Goblin please do make sure to follow @MIDIGOBLIN on social media as I'll be making an announcement regarding pre-orders in the near future.