Introduction

I had been working on a sampling workstation for guitarists for some time, and at last settled on a Mini-ITX based system.

I decided to go with Mini-ITX for my setup because of it's small form factor, durability, low cost, and the availability of PCI expansion to add high quality audio hardware. I've been performing using a Mini-ITX system as a software sequencer/sampler for the last few months, but the amount of setup at the venue was getting fairly out of hand, and I needed a way to put all my gear in one tidy package. Once the RPx400 USB Modeling guitar processor arrived (awesome product Digitech!!!) it all started to fall into place.

The Floorboard

I purchased this floorboard built by Warwick as the framework for my setup. It features a 4 way 1/4 audio patch pad, industrial velcro surface for mounting components, and a 12/9 volt power supply for powering components. Unfortuntely, the power supply is only rated at 400mA, not even close to enough to power a Mini-ITX system, and not enough to power the RPx400. Still nice to know it's there.

That's my hair!!!

Velcro pad on the left of the unit is extra industrial velcro for mounting the Cubid power supply. (Things get tight soon)

The Cubid Mini-ITX case

Future plans are to build a custom case with all the hardware in it, but for the moment I've used the Cubid 2688, as it's easily available.

The front panel of the Cubid case (with power/reset buttons, power, HDD lights & front access USB) has been removed to save space on the floorboard. Without this modification the case would not have fit. A larger floorboard would probably have been a better option, but never mind.

Exposed open areas on the front of the Cubid case once the front panel has been removed have been sealed with ever handy gaffa tape. Has light side, has dark side - binds universe together.

Components

Everything is mounted with industrial velcro. This means the componets can easily be removed and rearranged with little effort. As I use the Mini-ITX system and the RPx400 guitar processor in other contexts by themselves, this is a good thing.

The components are

• Mini-ITX system
• Mini-ITX power supply
• Digitech RPx400 guitar processor
• 4 point powerstrip

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