Korg Volca Bass MIDI OUT Mod
There's a fantastic how to guide on how to add a MIDI out connector to the Korg Volca Keys over on Marcus Hamblett's website;
To get the MIDI connector to safely fit without touching the PCB behind it I had to add another pair of bolts to raise it up slightly, as shown here;
...But it's not really noticeable, and I'd rather the connector go on the front than the side so it can still be used while in the stand. If you attempt this mod, you must make sure your MIDI connector isn't touching the other PCB otherwise you'll probably short it out.
Overall it was a pretty easy and speedy mod, although I did have my heart in my mouth thinking I was going to write off the Volca. That's probably because I'm pretty cheap. There was no need to worry though as it thankfully worked without problem. Just remember to work with the batteries taken out as I'd read about another guy on a forum doing this mod and had blown a SMD fuse (aka very hard to solder in a replacement). Good Luck!
um that's a KEYS, btw.
ReplyDeleteyou know you can have a plastic spacer there, if you cut a
piece to shape..i was thinking of doing it on stereo minijack
at the back, with a modified midi cable.less hassle, i don't
have a stand.
re: Bass, reckon the VCOs can be got at? some way to have osc
sync? osc1 audio out to osc2 phase..?
Haha! You're right - it's a keys not a bass :-) I like having the midi-din though, it feels pretty sturdy and somebody else won't come along & be able to plug an audio jack into it.
Deletere: Bass, did you see you can mod the individual VCO's volume levels;
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2015/02/20/korg-volca-bass-osc-volume-mod-hack-how-to-full-instructions/
I've not really looked into it, but perhaps you could have these run into a break-out box (I doubt there's much room left inside the Volca) and then further modulate them, then maybe feed it back into itself again. I'll hopefully look into this when I've got a little more time