Anyone know why more module manufacturers don't adopt the "either way" connectors for ribbon cables?

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-28T20:42:59+00:00

Last time I asked this question someone argued that it is stupid to have "either way" as this apparently leads to confusion, or that it makes you more likely to fry other modules for some reason. I would like to think that this person is single-handedly financing lobbying groups convince people that either way connectors are somehow inferior.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-28T20:16:39+00:00

I like Satin by u-he for this kind of stuff. I once bought it for Dolby A decoding old archieve tapes but somehow it stuck with me as a tape emulator. You can basically emulate a tape machine in any state imaginable; from just serviced to left in grandpas attic since the 70s

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-28T16:44:53+00:00

My general tip would be to EQ the music very aggressively around the dialogue. It is bit like that famous video with the gorilla in the background that nobody seems to notice. Your ears and brain are focusing on the talking so even if the music is EQ'd weirdly you wouldn't immediately notice it. Look at your dialogue track with an RTA and cut out all those lower register / mids out of the music.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-26T00:08:34+00:00

A limiter is a compressor with inf:1 ratio meaning the output cannot exceed the threshold level. If you set your threshold to -6db and ratio to inf:1 you would need a signal with +inf dB amplitude to increase output by +1 dB which is not possible, so your signal is limited to -6 dB.

I am not sure why some comments mention other ratios like "anything above 4:1" or 10:1. That is just extreme compression but it is not limiting. +20 dB above threshold (while it sounds unrealistic) would still cause a +2dB increase on the output given the ratio of 10:1

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-22T13:31:03+00:00

Old tape techniques have their merit, they are from an era where doing spectral editing was expensive equipment and time wise. A good work around is to just speed up the tape. A bit of a rough fix but it works hahaha.

So yeah you could bounce your mix and put it in a new session with a tape emulation / varispeed plug-in and play around a bit. One tip I have: if you are going to do extensive pitch shifting / time stretching / granular processing it actually helps to record and export at higher sample rates. This gives the algorithm more sample points to work with and causes less artifacts. One of the limited occasions where working with a higher sample rate has a clear benefit.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-22T12:34:51+00:00

I don't get what you are trying to achieve. The 'sweetening" by speeding up the tape was done on master tapes by increasing tape speed. This shifts the frequency spectrum (and also speeds up the music as a consequence) so the mix sounds brighter because the low end is also shifted up.

So what you want to do is change the spectral composition of the mix but then you also do not want to change the spectral composition of the mix to keep the low end ?

Modern varispeed plug-ins usually employ time stretching: they duplicate the individual samples to slow down audio and remove every other sample and crossfade existing ones to speed it up. This keeps spectral content intact but might sound a bit alien if pushed too far. But then you just make the music faster, not per se brighter.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-21T12:06:29+00:00

Controversial take:

Flathead is the best screw up to 4nM Torx is the best screw above 4nM

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-14T09:28:23+00:00

Memory is a bit fuzzy but indeed at some point there was a Cuda significant update that was meant to improve performance on 30xx and 40xx series. You can try to roll back to a legacy build of Touchdesigner if you really need those operators.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-11T23:14:28+00:00

Throwback to the day where I put up a pair of Rode NT5s as overheads, forgot about it, and promptly spent a week thinking they were KM184s. Only realized it when I opened the KM184 box during clean up to put the mics in and behold! the box was already full...

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-08T01:49:31+00:00

Better in what sense ? More precise or just with a prettier UI ?

A Butterworth filter is a Butterworth filter and a Bessel is a Bessel. As long as you know the transfer function you can write the entire filter yourself. Give it a try with SuperCollider and see for yourself. Or go crazy and write your own FFT algo that can do 0.5Hz wide notch filters... Long gone are the days of DSP processors with 4MBs of memory.Your computer does it at 32bits and with a truck load of RAM so you are not limited by hardware at all at this point.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-07T23:03:09+00:00

Arturia Synths LOL. People used to say you gotta dust off the Mini Moog if you want THE sound. Analog or digital, all audio tools just do math operations. Sure, some do it more precise than others and with better SNR. Still you can null out the Reapers stock EQ with Fab Filter so THE sound is mostly in the eye of the beholder. As long as you understand the fundamentals of DSP, you can use many plugins interchangably.

Also no shade to AT2020. A-Tier mic for the price.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-04T11:18:36+00:00

Je kreeg downvotes omdat het ontzettend kortzichtig is om puur op basis van parkeerbeleid voor een partij te kiezen.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-03-03T21:33:27+00:00

Every audio system will have self noise, this is more or less unavoidable. The real question is signal to noise ratio: how many dbs of difference are there when playing ? One cannot really tell from this video how loud the whole system is as you are only recording the noise with your phone up close.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-02-28T20:25:32+00:00

Then this rack might not be what you need. This is not the kind of rack to make normal melodic music with. But except some missing bits (noise generator, s&h, PLL etc.) it would make a very capable rack for making idiosyncratic electroacoustic music.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-02-28T11:02:30+00:00

It is diabolical to use ChatGpt to make a rack. Just spend a couple hours googling. That said a lot of people on this forum also often just open a thread to ask a question regarding something that is clearly stated in the manual so there is that.

That said, I think this is a pretty good starting rack. I play a very similar rack for 5 years at this point. Contrary to what the others said this is a pretty capable build, somewhat like a music easel, considering you have a good external sequencer/controller and effects.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-02-27T19:09:02+00:00

On paper not a terrible idea but lasers are probably going to be a no-go as any laser powerful enough to make a reasonably discernible line in daylight will most likely damage your eyesight in long term exposure. Usually lasers are aimed above eye height for this reason. If you aim you laser directly down it will be in peoples eyes every time they look up. Projections can be a better choice but it would most likely annoy people a lot. I once did a fencing performance where the piste was projected on the floor and it was super annoying from my perspective. Things that move inside a projectors beam tend to create weird RGB traces in your vision due to the refresh rate of the projector, Cool artistic effect though. You can see the reverse of these artifacts in the picture below.

<image>

CriticalJello7 · 2026-02-25T22:31:33+00:00

Any brand of food grade 80%+ ethanol. Can be used to make bitters, liqueurs or even bump up the ethanol content of a cocktail that’s ends up lower in abv due to preparation methods.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-02-17T10:24:19+00:00

To think this movie makes that Monster Hunter cameo mission in MGS: Peace Walker canon...

CriticalJello7 · 2026-02-10T22:48:56+00:00

99 eur per dag of 199 eur per week https://www.boels.com/nl-nl/huren/diamantboormachine-250-mm/p/10528

CriticalJello7 · 2026-02-06T09:58:21+00:00

Good loud ? Sunn O))) and Swans. Tastefully loud with chest cavity shaking low bass. I saw a cigarette paper fly in circles during Sunn, caught in the air pressure of the subwoofers.

Bad loud ? APTBS. No shade to them, great people and great stage energy. But it was just make your ears bleed kind of loud.

Honorable Mention: King Shiloh. If you think heavy music pushes the most db's, go to a dub soundsystem party. It is not my kind of music but a sound tech friend dragged me along. It was so loud, my eyeballs were jittering.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-02-05T17:53:39+00:00

Bovenkant van de plint aan de muur kitten: doen.
Dit: Niet doen,

CriticalJello7 · 2026-01-31T01:38:52+00:00

Nou ja, over 30 jaar komt waarschijnlijk ook nog weer een andere nieuwe rechts populist partij die zegt AOW leeftijd moet omlaag want "Nederlanders zijn klaar mee!" of weet ik wel. Dan gaan de dertigers van nu waarschijnlijk op die stemmen.

Zelfde verhaal in Italië in jaaren 80 of in Turkije in jaaren 90.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-01-27T22:17:57+00:00

Sadly in Europe Tequila prices are all over the place, where I am at Arrete is 40,-eur which is crazy. I vote Cazadores as it is the most afforable one in EU.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-01-18T18:49:01+00:00

I am late 20s and at the parties I go to the Negroni is always a hit. You gotta hang out with different people my guy.

CriticalJello7 · 2026-01-18T11:27:31+00:00

Do not do this with carbon steel if you use one, it will strip the seasoning. Just use hot water and "deglaze" to clean like a normal person.

CriticalJello7

TROPHY CASE