Cheetah MS 800

[Richie Royale]

Does anyone have any experiences of this quirky little module? The links below indicate that it is horrible to programme but has some potential for weird wavetable sounds.

I may be purchasing one later... not looking to pay much for it though.

Thankfully the last link has the manual scanned in, so it'll only be half the headache!

Any views or comments then ?

http://www.sonicstate.com/synth_reviews/cheetah_ms800.cfm
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Keyboard+And+MIDI/brand/Cheetah
http://cheetahms800.1go.dk/

[Richie Royale]

So I picked up this synth, for free! Because it doesn't have a PSU!!!! The image below shows the connection, its a DIN plug (far right). I'm still waiting for the seller to see if they have the PSU around somewhere, but in the likely event that he cannot locate it, does anyone know how I can get around this? The only info on the unit is 9V, no other info and the manual doesn't have any schematics or information.

[doctor doctor]

So I picked up this synth, for free! Because it doesn't have a PSU!!!! The image below shows the connection, its a DIN plug (far right). I'm still waiting for the seller to see if they have the PSU around somewhere, but in the likely event that he cannot locate it, does anyone know how I can get around this? The only info on the unit is 9V, no other info and the manual doesn't have any schematics or information.

Free !!!! Thats a deal and half !!!
If you can get a psu for this it'll make some of the most wonderous & bizarre broken washing machine noises. I used to have one, long long ago in a galaxy far far away.

[Richie Royale]

Yes you can't complain at something for free! I did get it bundled with a S950. Just need to work out a way of powering it. I'm making some investigations, but it may come down to being a custom made device.

[GooGoo]

I used to have one of their 5 octave keyboards and that used a similar (if not the same) psu from what I can remember........I haven't got it now.....just working from memory. Anyway this may give you more options when trying to get some more info.......maybe their product line used the same psu at one point.
There is a 5 octave keyboard on ebay at the mo' (only 24 minutes left) but there doesn't seem to be any takers so if you contact the seller you could grab just the psu.
The ebay auction number is 280317431048.
Hope this helps.

[Richie Royale]

I used to have one of their 5 octave keyboards and that used a similar (if not the same) psu from what I can remember........I haven't got it now.....just working from memory. Anyway this may give you more options when trying to get some more info.......maybe their product line used the same psu at one point.
There is a 5 octave keyboard on ebay at the mo' (only 24 minutes left) but there doesn't seem to be any takers so if you contact the seller you could grab just the psu.
The ebay auction number is 280317431048.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for that, but I got here too late! It went for a tenner!

Anyway I also have a Cheetah SX16, which uses an unusual 5 pin plug, but its not a DIN. So there is no way of telling if the keyboard would have had the same PSU. I've seen a generic PSU on the net which has a 5 pin DIN connector, but it's a bit pricey (£35, but considering the synth was free, it's not that bad.

[A4 Footprint]

Hi Richie,

I'm afraid that I can't help you with the power supply issue.

But you asked for experiences with the MS800 - I can safely say that the best thing about my MS800 was that I managed to sell it for the same price I bought it. I found it completely impractical to program from the front panel.

Not sure what your expectations are, but I feel you may end up finding that sourcing a power supply was a complete waste of time.

Now a Cheetah MS6: that was a neat synth...

Peter

[Richie Royale]

Thanks A4. I have a number of other synths, so this is just an addition to my pallette. I'm not looking to spend much getting it going, but I'm interested in the unusual noises it might make.

It was free at the end of the day, so if I spend a few quid on the PSU, then I've not lost out (too much!)

[wul01]

Hi did you get the info on the ms800 psu?
i have one with a psu , i could tell you the pin/voltage and rating info,
I notice you have a sx16 with a psu, i on the other hand have a sx16 without a psu, i don't know what voltages are on what pins
perhaps we could trade info

steve

[Richie Royale]

Hi did you get the info on the ms800 psu?
i have one with a psu , i could tell you the pin/voltage and rating info,
I notice you have a sx16 with a psu, i on the other hand have a sx16 without a psu, i don't know what voltages are on what pins
perhaps we could trade info

steve

Hi Steve, thanks for ressurecting this! I've not got much further with my PSU problem, but I shall have a look at my SX16 and see what info I can find for you. I can tell you that the PSU is like a brick off the top of my head, but I'll need to have a look at it properly and get back to you. It'll probably be Tuesday next week.

[mal7921]

Oooh, I had one of these, there were some excellent pad sounds and some truely pointless sounds as well. If it does ot have a manual programming will be a nightmare (Was hard enough WITH a manual).

As for the PSU, I adapted a universal PSU as a spare, it's the 2 outermost pins that are used in the 5 pin DIN, however with the SX16, it was a bigger PSU and used 4 if the pins on a DIN plug (I think there were +24V lines on there).

If you want to hear what it's like, have a look over at http://mal7921.spaces.live.com and find the track MIST (Instrumental) on the right hand side, it has MS 800 scattered throughout the track.

Have to admit though, much as this module drove me mad, I'd have another to sit alongside my MS6.

[wul01]

my MS800 doesn't appear to have a proper cheetah PSU but i tested the plug and found its a 9vdc supply -ve is the middle pin, the +ve pin is the right hand pin looking towards the back of the unit

these are the only pins used in the plug, my plug is only a 3 pin din
as for the sx16 i think its +12v, -12v, and 2seperate 5v supplies 1 for the floppy and the other goes to the main board with the +12v and -12v but i'm not sure.

steve

[Richie Royale]

I'm resurrecting this only to say that I found a multi voltage DC adaptor the other day and last night I tried it with the Cheetah. I can now finally use the synth properly!

It's full of pads and pseudo electric piano and marimba style sounds. I've got it running through a DJ mixer at the moment so I can have some filter control (provided by the "kill" EQ on the mixer), but unless I make some ambient soundscapes, I can't seeit getting used that much. I don't even want to think about programming it, it seems like a total nightmare.

I can see that they were trying to make a cheap Wavestation, but it is clearly nothing like one, other than it fades through the sounds in a similar manner. Playing low notes does get some interesting digital break up and some patches are nice an rich, but lots of them sound the same as each other (I'm presuming no one has re-programmed it in it's life).

Finally - Any tips on soldering a MIDI style DIN cable for the power to be properly attched?

[G Mann]

Hey Richie

What type of adaptor works? I got a Cheetah SX16 sampler without the PSU

[Richie Royale]

Hi G Mann,

with my MS 800 I used an Argos multi adaptor, which seems fine, I'll provide you some details when I can check the actual model number. My SX16 however has it's own brick of a power supply. There is a post two or three up in this thread that has some details about the power output, but I shall have a look at my one to see if there is anything further that I can provide. The PSU doesn't have any details on it IIRC.