Eventide Reverb 2016.. Rom Chip?

[OsedEsahc]

I just got an Eventide / Princeton Digital Reverb 2016 and I cracked it open to see what these units were built like in the early aughts. To my surprise I saw a rom chip.. much like the rom chips I see in my OG SP2016. Is that what this is? If so what was the sonic benefit of using it .. even back then? Just curious.

 

[tsternfeld]

There’s not so much an issue of sound quality here.  Both products are digital processors, which means that most of their functionality comes from software running on a DSP chip.  That software has to be stored in the device in a way that the data doesn’t disappear when the device reboots; the best solution to do that was a chip called a “Read-Only memory” (or ROM).  Placing the ROM chip in a socket (like you see here) also allowed relatively easy updates to the software (just replace it with a new chip programmed with the updated software).

We still use persistent data chips to store software in newer products. You’ll more frequently see them referred to as “flash” or “EMMC” chips now, but that’s mostly a question of usage (the chip in your picture is also technically a flash memory): we don’t them as “read only” because we support the ability to easily update them in the field without changing any hardware (modern chips are much faster, have more storage space, and can be re-written more often than in the past).

[OsedEsahc]

Ahhh got it! Thanks so much for the reply!

[blueNan]

Hi, in case I want to use an external linear PSU with the 2016…
what voltages does the board use?

Is it +5v, +15v and -15v  ?

Thanks!

 

 

 

[tsternfeld]

Those are the correct voltages, but to be clear: we can’t support operation other than with the included power supply.  You do this at your own risk (and your 2016’s, and potentially the rest of your equipment).

[Author]

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