Help: M-Audio Oxygen Mod

[Krilikz]

So im planning on doing my first mod by tearing apart my old Oxygen controller. This is going to be a complete restructuring, more or less similar to Moldovers new controller. Now keep in mind im almost a complete NOOB when it comes to this stuff.


I have a limited understanding of electronics however i am not sure what i would be able to customize using the existing hardware that is provided. Here are some questions for the community.

Is it possible to wire a arcade button in replacement of one of the keys?
Is is possible to take multiple keys and rewire them as a cross fader?
Is there any way to implement LED on and off?


On another note im also looking for a program that i can use to design my layout. Any suggestions?

[djin50mnia]

Seems like a big project to tackle. Id start off with the rewiring of the keys->arcade buttons. you may end up having to solder lead wires from the sources but it shouldnt be too bad. I'd break those down in to 3 different proejcts and as you finish one off start on the other. It will cause less frustration and will also give you a boost of confidence once you finish one up. I started to do a mod similar to this with mashing to keyboards together but Uncle Sam called me up and im sitting in the Sandbox till next fall. Good luck to you in your project and POST PICS!!!

-- Combat DJ and avid DJTT reader

[pilmat]

Interesting idea...

I just picked up a Oxygen 49 v3. So I have my Oxy 25 that I was wonder if I should sell it. But I think I'm going to open it up and see what's inside. If it has all the hook ups on the pcb for the faders of the 49/61, I can see using it as the "brain" for a 4 channel midi mixer. Else, I might just pick up another 49 at $135 and start from there. Cheaper "brain" than the Livid and fully programmable via the onboard interface.

Cheers, Phil.

[pilmat]

Well, I had a look under the hood of the Oxy 25 last night. There are definetly some interesting ideas that come along with the architecture, but the first thing that dawned on me as I looked at it was that it does not have two-way USB capability (no feeback for lights). That fact alone had me screw it back together with thoughts on a "for sale" sign.

I'll just have to keep the design going with the Livid Build...

Phil.

[Krilikz]

Ok so at least i can get that light idea out of the way.

Also Pilmat, take a look at Woot.com i bought my 49 key for 40$. (some times they have deals where you can get the 49 key, 4 channel mixer and recording mic for 50$)

Now when i opened it up on each key it looked like they had two (resistors?) Why? Is one for measuring velocity?

[pilmat]

@ krilikz

After snooping under the hood and realizing the "no lights" thing, I just buttoned her back up. I didn't go into more details than that. I did see the rubber boot under the key (which j=houses the switch) but I didn't probe inside.

Phil.

[Krilikz]

I opened it up some more today. Taking a closer look at the keyboard section i found that under the rubber boot there's two "resistance" checkers (which im assuming is to measure the velocity). Seeing this i believe im stuck too soldering what i want directly on this board.
Now because my switch will be an arcade button im going to need something to keep the connection on the board since the rubber piece is normally what creates the connection when its pushed down. Im assuming just laying solder over that part would do the job. However i will need to find something that is less permanent for now since i was to make sure everything will work.


Theoretically id imagine you could have up to 64 buttons attached to this piece because there are two channels with 8 leads each that everything connects too. (However im not going to mess around with adding more since im assuming the other pieces that connect to the "motherboard" are linked to what those midi values could be)

Im gonna run to a hardware store tomorrow and pick up a switch to see if i can wire one of them properly and then ill go from there.