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[LM]

I scratched all around each pad on that tiny space between the pads and the ground plane, until I found the connections. Then I carefully cut them with a sharp pointed blade, testing for continuity to ground after each attempt.

[ShoNuff]

ok thanks.
and the middle pin can be used as the ground for this?

i'll have a little exploratory scratch later

[LM]

No, the middle pin won't work for ground in this case because it is not connected to the Volca's ground and MIDI doesn't actually need ground to work (it's usually not connected at the receiving end to prevent ground loops).

Note that the original MID Out mod linked earlier did not have a ground line.

But if you want to make a true MIDI Out with ground (for using bus powered MIDI accessories like a Quadra Thru, for example), then you can get it from the metal shield of the male DIN connector that plugs into the Volca (as I did), which gets connected to the Volca's ground.

[ShoNuff]

ah yes, i do have a quadra thru (want a quad merge!) as it happens,
so this is useful info.

of course: midi is opto-isolated.

so the volca ground is available on all pots, isn't it? where's the
best spot? - was wondering about this for the indiv outs.

any possible adverse effects from providing 'true' midi out?
i would prefer that.

----
also: other topic: i find the Bass and Keys quite noisy. (Beats is
not, strangely enough) so is Sample - anythoughts on how to
reduce that? it really seems to be the oscillators, or VCAs. can't
recall what i checked, when i switched off all the Bass oscillators.
i know it's fairly normal for analogues to have noise/hiss, but
some have less than others. (that Keys delay is just a noisefest)

[LM]

Ground is available in lots of places on the circuit board. Just pick the one that is most convenient, connect to one of the outputs and then bridge it from there to all the other ones.

There is nothing wrong with a true MIDI Out. As I mentioned, just connect the ground line to the metal shield of the male DIN on the external adapter cable. My adapters consist of two female DINs connected to a male DIN with short cables in a "V" or "Y" configuration.

I understand that most of the noise on the Keys come from the delay, while on the Bass it has never been an issue for me, when everything else is playing at the same time.