Thanks Thierry..
The "Capsense Technology" is the reason for the 30cm range limit - It is the obsticle I hit.. And following the discussions here, where I learned that 30cm was not going to make many Theremin users happy, the (main) reason I abandoned CapSense (and scrapped my nearly completed TherAsynth) and started my re-design which is more focussed on what (from discussions here) I believe Theremin players really want and need.
The other issue was latency - CapSense can be accurate, but the accuracy is a function of how long the samples are integrated for.. With some tricks, I was able to get good-enough accuracy at between 250 to 300mm with an update speed of 10ms (100Hz) - This is probably good enough for MIDI, particularly when note on/off protocal is employed.. but it can cause some serious problems with continuous control signals.. Glitches can occur if the MSN/LSB messages change assynchronously.. and at 100Hz, this can be heard!
I still think that, for the price, this is probably an extremely good product - IF one doesnt expect too much from it..
For those interested, a PSoC Proximity kit can be bought from http://www.onfulfillment.com/cypressstore/Category.aspx?d=30&spd=&sid=205&pg=1 CY3235-ProxDet CapSense Proximity Detection Demonstration Kit .. but for $68 each (2 required to even start making a Theremin) buying the 2008 is probably the cheaper option!
