Roland TB-303
£26.40 to £160.00 ex VAT
£31.68 to £192.00 inc VAT
Description
PLEASE NOTE: Installing a socket upgrade kit is a skilled job which should be undertaken only by a competent synth service engineer or installed by us at our premises in Tadworth, just outside London.
This kit is also suitable for the RE-303.
3 Sockets
Kit to add CV / Gate / Filter sockets to the Roland TB-303
When used in conjunction with one of our MIDI to CV converters, such as the Pro-Solo mk3, these three additional sockets will enable the synth to be played from a MIDI keyboard or MIDI sequencer.
The inputs are on 3.5mm mono jack sockets which provide the following control:
CV – provides Volt per Octave control over the oscillator frequency
Gate – controls when notes play (0 volts = note off / >3 volts = note on)
Filter – controls the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter (from aux out of converter)
The kit contains all necessary components and diagrams for connecting the wires / components, and mounting the three 3.5mm mono jack sockets.
Used with a Pro-Solo mk3 this kit will give you the following control over the synth from a suitable MIDI keyboard or sequencer:
Notes – at least 5 octaves range – (this is not limited by the kit or converter, but by the synth itself)
Pitchbend – range can be set in the converter
Modulation – from converter’s inbuilt LFO. Speed and waveshape can be changed in real time.
Portamento (slide) – rate can be changed in real time.
Filter cutoff frequency – can be controlled using any continuous MIDI controller (cc) or other MIDI message such as Aftertouch or Velocity
Low / High / Recent note priority – can be set in the converter
Single / Multiple note trigger modes – can be set in the converter
See the specifications of the Pro-Solo mk3 for further features.
Please note that the five socket version of this kit works in a different way, and so this three Socket upgrade cannot be later be upgraded to the five socket version without replacing the entire kit.
5 Sockets
Kit to add CV / Gate / Filter / Accent / Slide sockets to the Roland TB-303
When used in conjunction with one of our MIDI to CV converters, such as the Pro-Solo mk3, these five additional sockets will enable the synth to be played from a MIDI keyboard or MIDI sequencer.
The inputs are on 3.5mm mono jack sockets which provide the following control:
CV – provides Volt per Octave control over the oscillator frequency
Gate – controls when notes play (0 volts = note off / >3 volts = note on)
Filter – controls the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter (from aux out of converter)
Accent – turns on or off the accent feature (0 volts = accent off / >3 volts = accent on)
Slide – turns on or off the slide feature (0 volts = slide off / >3 volts = slide on)
The kit contains all necessary components and diagrams for connecting the wires / components, and mounting the four 3.5mm mono jack sockets.
Used with a Pro-Solo mk3 this kit will give you the following control over the synth from a suitable MIDI keyboard or sequencer:
Notes – Around four and a half octaves range – (this is not limited by the kit or converter, but by the synth itself)
Pitchbend – range can be set in the converter
Modulation – from converter’s inbuilt LFO. Speed and waveshape can be changed in real time.
Portamento (slide) – rate can be changed in real time.
Filter cutoff frequency – can be controlled using any continuous MIDI controller (cc) or other MIDI message such as Aftertouch or Velocity
Low / High / Recent note priority – can be set in the converter
Single / Multiple note trigger modes – can be set in the converter
Accent – turn the TB-303s inbuilt accent feature on or off using MIDI control
Slide – turn the TB-303’s inbuilt slide feature on or off using MIDI control
See the specifications of the Pro-Solo mk3 for further features.
More Info
TB–303
(Also works on the RE-303)
Although the TB-303 has CV & Gate sockets already fitted, these are outputs and are of no use to you if you want to control your TB-303 using a CV converter. We can supply a 3 Socket upgrade to fit your TB-303 with CV Gate & filter input sockets or optionally we can supply a 5 Socket upgrade to fit CV, Gate, filter, Slide, and Accent input sockets. We can of course fit them for you if you send the unit to us.
Using the added CV & Gate sockets (see note #3 below ) & possibly also the Filter, Slide and Accent sockets in conjunction with the CV converter you will be able to play the sounds of the TB-303 from a mother keyboard or from a sequencer directly.
The TB-303 also has a 5 pin socket for sync input. This can be connected to the Sync 24 output on the converter (see note 2 below). This will enable you to run the TB-303 in synchronisation with your sequencer. In this mode, you will need to program the patterns you want to play, directly into the TB-303. You will need to program the TB-303 in the normal way, from its own front panel, you will not be able to use any added CV, Gate sockets for programming.
When you start your sequencer, the TB-303 will play the patterns in time with your sequence (see note #1 below ). You will always have to start the sequence from the top as the TB-303 will not recognise song position pointers. If you only want to run the TB-303 in sync you do not need to get any additional sockets fitted.
Notes
- You need to make sure that the clock output is enabled on your sequencer, this is very often on a setup page or on a pull-down menu. The sync 24 output of Kenton CV converters cannot be disabled, so if your TB-303 or MC-202 doesn’t start with your sequencer, you can be sure that the CV converter isn’t receiving MIDI sync (see note 4) or you have a faulty lead (see note #2) or even maybe a faulty sync input socket on the TB-303 or MC-202.
- The lead you need for connecting the sync 24 output of the CV converter to a TB-303 or an MC-202 may look like a MIDI lead, but it is not. MIDI leads need only 3 connections out of the possible 5 on the 5 pin DIN socket, the sync connection requires that all 5 wires are connected, which means that the majority of MIDI leads won’t work. You need to get a standard 5 pin DIN to 5 pin DIN lead which is readily available or Kenton can supply.
- You need both CV & Gate signals to control an analogue synthesizer. The CV signal tells it what note to play (CV means control voltage). The Gate signal tells it when to play the note.
- MIDI sync isn’t on any particular MIDI channel, it’s on a sort of global channel of its own.
- A MIDI to CV converter, converts an incoming MIDI data stream into control voltages of various kinds for connecting to synths with suitable inputs. A CV converter does not convert the analogue signals back into MIDI, you would need a CV to MIDI converter for that.
- References to filter control, mean control of the filter cutoff frequency, sometimes also called filter sweep or VCF frequency control (VCF means voltage controlled filter).
More Links
How to connect using our MIDI to CV Converters
