The Oakley Sound Systems TM3030 TB clone Review

[Altitude]

The Synth

So I have been mulling over a 3030 for as long as I have been into the DIY synth thing and with the recent retirement of the original and the advent of the TM3030, I decided to get rid of my x0xb0x and replace it with a pair of these in a 1u rack. The boards themselves were 35 UKP ($67) which is pretty steep but given the sorry state of the green back these days, not much you can do. The boards are HASL plated (ROHS Compliant) so you realy want to get them stuffed within a couple months and take care not to touch any of the solder points. There are several options as far as which components you can use (vintage vs. modern), I opted to go with the vintage parts since I already had a fair amount of them on hand. Specifically, these were the 2sc1583 matched transistor pair, the 2sk30A-0 transistor, 2sk30-Y transistor, AN6582 Op amp. Of those, only the 2sk3A-Y and AN6582 are required, everything else can be replaced with a modern equivalent. Part costs were about $150 per board total. Assembly was about 3 hours for me. The digital side was designed by Colin Fraser of Sequentix fame and is brilliantly implemented. The smoothness of the slides and the accent works far exceeds the performance of the x0xb0x which was somewhat overbearing IMHO. Package wise, the PCB is quite small and I will be packaging two in a 1u rack.

The Sound


Based on my previous experience with 303 clones (x0xb0x, MAM MB33, Bass Station) I am easily the most pleased with the TM3030. Bass station was not really a clone and the MAM did do some things well but the direct comparison to the x0xb0x is the only one that really matters here. The VCO is identical on my scope with the flawed square being pretty much on point in both cases but sound wise, I would say the 3030 is more of an accurate "good" 303 square. VCF wise, I find the TM3030 to have a much more accurate resonance than both the original device and a stock x0xb0x, albeit it does have a greater range . Colin mentioned mods on the Oakley list to bring the resonance down to "stock" behavior but really having a little more "cowbell" is never a bad thing and it never really gets out of control musically like on the x0xb0x which I thought didn't do too well at hi resonance settings. Where the TM3030 really shines for me is the VCA and how it interfaces with the D/A. The designs here seem to depart a bit with the Oakley unit using a Intersil CA3080 OTA for the VCA vs. the BA6110 and the result is spectacular. Extremely clean, very low noise floor and most importantly an offset control which gets rid of the nasty click at the onset of a note which has been a issue with some x0xb0xes. Overall, I would say the TM3030 has a (dare I say?) warmer sound than the x0x. I dont have a BA662(the orginal R-Ohm Part) to try in the TM3030 but given the results with the 3080, I don't see any reason to. This is a rough clip showing the range of the controls with a square wave (everything dry with MFB502 for the drums). I'll get something more substantial up shortly

http://no-ho.com/tweak-01.mp3

Pictures

This is a mockup of the what the front panel will look like:


and the actual PCB

[syncretism]

Sussed review, mate, thanks.

I assume that the purported magic of the TB and XOX's sequencers doesn't contribute as much to your enjoyment of the Bass Line as it does for others. What will you use to sequence it? Cheers.

[Altitude]

Honestly, I am really starting to think that the D to A plays a bigger role in that sound than the sequencer. By all accounts, the x0x should be dead on going as far as using all the original parts but it is not, the x0xb0xen are as all over the place sound wise just as the original 303 was. I have heard all sorts of variations, my theory is the vintage parts have such a broad spec to them that it is almost impossible to accurately nail down a certain sound (10% resistors?). The two TM3030s are exact clones of each other (although i did match date codes on vintage parts though). Tightening the specs up on parts where you can get away with it is not a bad thing and leads to a tighter range of sound which IMHO, is the key to a good clone. I would much rather have a good sound out of the box than a happy accident.

I sequence in Cubase and generally get the best results just keying in notes and slide via my midi controller. I am not sure why, but I just cant stand grid sequencers whether it be for drums or mono synths which is why I ditched my x0xb0x despite all the work I put into it. It looked good, it had a mess of mods, but it really didnt sound like what I wanted it to where the TM3030 is dead on, not to mention I can built six of them for what my x0x sold for

[mok]

This is a great read. I have Tony's prototype TM3030 that he put together himself (uses a BA662 amp) and it sounds very close to what you've got. The extended range for the resonance and cutoff are very useful to me and go just beyond what a "normal" 303's expected behavior should be. I never get tired of using this, both for sequencing and even just playing basslines with it. You are right about the slide mechanism, and you can very easily learn to play the legato to get it very consistently. It just sounds good - I don't really try to compare it to anything at this point, it's just a damn good sounding synth.

[nathanscribe]

Interesting. Might have to take a closer look at that... like I don't have enough on my plate. Oh well - one more can't hurt, can it?

[Altitude]

Interesting. Might have to take a closer look at that... like I don't have enough on my plate. Oh well - one more can't hurt, can it?

It's a really quick build.

[premieklovn]

Wow sounds nice!

Can't wait to finish mine. I'll post pics and words when I get there.

It's a really quick build.

3 hours? I've soon spent 20 hrs hah.

[nathanscribe]

It's a really quick build.

Quicker than the 9090, I bet!

It's more a case of trying to get obscure components. I've skim-read the PDF component list, and there looks to be a few old transistors and a couple of ICs on there... I've got bags of 3080s and 3046s, and some old NPN/PNPs, but no old FETs.

Looks like a good project though.

[Altitude]

It's a really quick build.

Quicker than the 9090, I bet!

Oh yeah

It's more a case of trying to get obscure components. I've skim-read the PDF component list, and there looks to be a few old transistors and a couple of ICs on there... I've got bags of 3080s and 3046s, and some old NPN/PNPs, but no old FETs.

Looks like a good project though.

You can go vintage or not, I got everything from Farnell and Nikko's. There are only like 4 "harder" to find parts, everything is off the shelf and current

[clusterchord]

since Colin has also made the midi kit for the 303, i wonder if a midi track recorded from such midied 303 woudl play back accurately on this module, as far as accent/glides are concerned..?? im guessing theres a good chance he used the same standard as far as midi control setup. im thinkin of putting colins midi kit into my 303.


this sounds very good, i always thought having another 303 or something of that type to it would be really nice.

fwiw, imo compared to the real thing, i think filter sounds very very close, if a bit cleaner. overall, got the feeling lower notes have more accurate trademark character than the higher (accented i presume ?) ones. but as u said yourself, a very nice sounding synth indeed, regardless of the comparison angle.


how much did it cost all together , pcb plus the parts ? im thinking id wanna do this as well.

thanks for posting the demo and such detailed review. good work

[Altitude]

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how much did it cost all together , pcb plus the parts ? im thinking id wanna do this as well.

for me it was about ~$150 using pretty much all the vintage options except the BA662

[clusterchord]

that's awesome. 303 for peanuts.

btw couldnt find info on midi cc's - can cutoff, reso and env int "listen" to midi continous controllers ?

that would allow for full automation of sweeps..

[th0mas]

that's awesome. 303 for peanuts.

btw couldnt find info on midi cc's - can cutoff, reso and env int "listen" to midi continous controllers ?

that would allow for full automation of sweeps..

but don't forget it would also only allow for a 7-bit resolution of those sweeps (128 distinct values)

[Altitude]

that's awesome. 303 for peanuts.

btw couldnt find info on midi cc's - can cutoff, reso and env int "listen" to midi continous controllers ?

that would allow for full automation of sweeps..

No sorry, this has old school controls

[crystalmsc]

about $150 per board total. Assembly was about 3 hours..Overall, I would say the TM3030 has a (dare I say?) warmer sound than the x0x.
http://no-ho.com/tweak-01.mp3

that's awesome! thank you for the review and demo.