Hi, really sorry to start yet another SSO thread on here, but I couldn’t find anything regarding my problem using the search function.
Basically I have two problems:
The pitch slowly rises
I get a loud signal when I first connect to my interface, which then becomes almost inaudible.
The latter does not apply when I simply hold the cables up to the TRS plug, which makes me think it has to do with the jack I’m using? Tried different configurations, none solved the issue.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Here are some photos of the circuit:
Problems getting the super simple oscillator to work have been discussed extensively in the forum.
A few examples:
I might be wrong, but my impression is that most people in this forum agree that, the circuit is only deceptively simple. It is actually quite difficult to get it to work and, therefore, not advisable for beginners.
I would recommend the tried and tested “Atari Punk Console” instead (using a 566 or two 555 timers), or oscillators based on CMOS ICs (such as 40106 or 4093). You will find a few good examples in the Logic Noise series of articles by Elliot Williams.
Also, please be careful connecting such crude circuits directly to interfaces as the latter are typically unable to handle the larger voltage outputs of these oscillators!
And for some, the fact that it’s a bit of a challenge to get working and the novelty surrounding WHY it works in the first place is what makes it fun.
The fact that it’s called “super simple” on this particular forum seems to derail discussion about it almost as much as it derails the people who want to try it as their first project.
I haven’t compiled statistics but the impression I’ve had is that most of the time when people ask about trouble they have with the SSO, they don’t end up reporting that they’ve fixed it. That is, mostly it either works right away or it never does. The problem is that the transistor is being used in a backwards, nonstandard way, which means if it’s not doing what you expect it to do, it’s very hard to know how to fix it. I don’t have the faintest idea what’s wrong in the present case, nor any idea how to diagnose it.
This one looks complicated but it really teaches a lot about synthesis and circuits, at least it did so for me. As well as for the triangle drone circuit. I found them both very insightful and still consider myself very much a beginner. (I amended the image)
Here is another one, based on a single CD4093. In the link you can find the schematic as well as gerber files which you can use to fabricate PCBs for very little money.
I tried building it with the description on your blog btw. I’d recommend rewriting the part starting with “Let’s talk through this…”, because you start several sentence with “It”, which gets a bit confusing
