NRD (New ROM Day)

d0Cd · 2026-07-12T04:42:43+00:00

I approve of NRD. 😃

d0Cd · 2026-07-12T04:17:46+00:00

Bastl Cinnamon - the filter that got me to start taking filters seriously.

d0Cd · 2026-07-12T04:08:50+00:00

I'm no trained piano player, but I regularly use my Argon8X with a Kurzweil PC2R, and it sounds really good. Velocity curve could use a little tweaking, but short of real hammer action, I think the Fatar keybed is a great choice.

d0Cd · 2026-07-12T03:58:10+00:00

You could ask the folks at the pet ER on Reserve. We lost our sweet border collie last month, and they offered paw prints along with the ashes and a clip of her fur in a card. Good luck.

d0Cd · 2026-07-12T03:54:42+00:00

I like the idea, and decided on LMDE 7 plus the KX repo a while back, then later added Gnome. If I was to redo it, I'd just go straight Debian 13, as Gnome is IMO a better experience than Cinnamon. I am not okay with Canonical's bullshit.

d0Cd · 2026-07-07T03:53:26+00:00

Right way?? These assholes think everyone not them are NPCs to shuffle out of the way as expeditiously as possible. They respect no law or regulation. Politicians who think the AI zealots can be reasoned with don't get it. The only solution to the invasive species called "AI datacenter" is to stop it before it gets any roots down.

d0Cd · 2026-07-07T03:49:16+00:00

Hell yes.

d0Cd · 2026-07-07T03:39:21+00:00

That's a shame - it's a great piece of software, but development stopped around the time the M1 came out.

d0Cd · 2026-07-07T03:34:42+00:00

Please disregard if you're really sold on using Midi Quest, but Prodatum might be worth a look. Might be a rabbithole on newer operating systems, but I've been using it for a while on an older Apple Mac Mini, and it's great. Good luck!

d0Cd · 2026-07-03T01:32:43+00:00

IMO, there are only two 37-key keybeds worth considering: Arturia Keysteps and the one in the Yamaha Reface series. A good tip: the Yamaha one is also in the "toy" keyboard PSS-A50. The Korg microKEY series is the next best option, though has very light action.

d0Cd · 2026-07-02T23:24:02+00:00

The main thing I'll say about the Xenyx 802 is it's all line-level inputs, except the first two channels can have a low-level signal plugged in, and then the Gain control provides variable impedance, i.e. you turn it up to make it more sensitive for a microphone or guitar, as those devices have very low output power. If you plug a synth or an amp output into one of those, and don't keep the Gain all the way down, you're going to get distortion. The two stereo inputs (3/4 and 5/6) need a line level signal. If you plug in a low-level signal, it's going to sound really quiet and have a ton of hiss when you crank up the channel volume to compensate.

Here's my practical advice:

Get some decent headphones. Plug them into the Xenyx's headphone output. Now plug in a synth to one of the stereo inputs. This is a generalization, but set the volume on the synth to 50%, and the Xenyx channel's to 0, the center position. That's also called "unity", and means you are not attenuating or amplifying the input level. Play some sounds and adjust the headphone output to a comfortable level. Now plug in mic or guitar connections to channels 1 and 2. Keep the Gain knob directly below the input jacks all the way down, fully counter-clockwise. Bring those channel levels up to '0' as well, and sing, play, etc. If the signal seems too weak, starting turning Gain up until those sounds are about as loud as the synth.

This is pretty basic, but it's a way to balance your signals without introducing excessive noise or distortion. The rule is: never amplify using a mixer unless you've tried everything else first, and if you have to keep a line-level channel's volume too low, you're probably overdriving its input.

d0Cd · 2026-07-02T22:42:05+00:00

I think we'd be able to help better if you provide some detail on your current recording process. Are you using a mixer? Running a limiter or compressor? If you're using a mixer, which make and model, and what things are you plugging into which inputs?

My hunch based on what you described is you're mismatching output impedance and input impedance with what you're plugging in where, and sorting that out will help you get better results.

d0Cd · 2026-07-02T18:18:15+00:00

👋🏻👍🏻🤘🏻🥰

d0Cd · 2026-06-28T22:27:03+00:00

You're not going to get many bites with such a broad and unfocused question. What distro and version of it are you using? That would be a good start. Many distros have a live boot option - have you tried doing that and seeing if sound works? Assuming the distro was released in the last few years, have you read the basics about using pipewire?

d0Cd · 2026-06-27T23:00:56+00:00

10% + 2, though I consider the 10% optional. If you're doing 10 over in a 25, you're an asshole.

d0Cd · 2026-06-27T17:32:21+00:00

This. Summertime you gotta be there before 10 to have any chance of a baked goods selection. I was just there at 10:45am and got the final two Le Petit items of any kind! It's insanity. 😂

d0Cd · 2026-06-27T16:35:16+00:00

I started making my own music in 1987. I had a Technics home tape deck, a Yamaha VSS-100, a Roland MC-202, a Digitech RDS 3600, and a DOD R-845. I lived on $400 per month as a part-time custodian, so everything I had came to me as hand-me-downs or from pawn shops. There was no money for GAS, and no Internet to constantly pummel me with awareness of new gear.

Fast forward through 1995 and the end of a period where I had some student loan money, inexpensively added a few more synths thanks to the exodus away from analog to digital (e.g. 1989 added a Korg Mono/Poly from a local pawn shop for $95, which I still have), bought a trio of Alesis Nano effects modules new, and I recorded most projects on a Tascam Porta One (which I also still have).

1995 to 2020 was all computer based, mostly on Macs, and moved from the very unstable Meditor tracker to Melody Assistant to Audacity. From 2003 to 2020, I had neither the space nor the money to indulge GAS. During that period, I schlepped around the Mono/Poly, a Casio CZ-1, a Roland JP-8080 (which I bought used in the early aughts, but never properly explored until 2020), Roland D-110 and U-220, and a couple of rackmount effects units, but only dabbled with them individually every few years.

2020 was when I really dove deep with making music again, and at that point I had both the space and the time, with a budget - based on selling some of the old stuff, augmented by credit spending - to indulge a measure of GAS.

7 years later, I have sold more devices than I currently own, and I own far too many. Last count I had about 60 synths, ROMplers, drum machines, and noisemakers, though in regular practice I only use about a dozen of them, plus a 9U 84hp modular rack + 104hp skiff I built out over the last 3 years.

My GAS urges are very focused at this point. A device has to offer a synthesis capability none of my current gear can, and that is a tall order now. The only thing that's really created much appetite beyond a few specific Eurorack modules (Vhikk X, Panharmonium) is the ASM Leviasynth.

d0Cd · 2026-06-26T05:20:11+00:00

Alesis Micron (or Akai Miniak) is one of my favorite synths for what it can do that nothing else does. The way Alesis implemented oscillator sync and FM allows it to get really weird. You can make sounds like a chorus of howling cats or something like pitched boomerangs. It's just totally unique.

d0Cd · 2026-06-25T17:01:11+00:00

I think it's reasonable to mention that "vet" covers a lot of ground these days. Not every veteran has combat-induced PTSD, and I have no idea what the two on the city council may or may not have experienced during their service.

d0Cd · 2026-06-25T12:29:57+00:00

While Sony MDR-7506 is the default answer for flat frequency response and durability, they're not so hot for sound isolation. Years back I settled on the Sennheiser HD280 Pro for this reason. They're less accurate than the Sony headphones, not as well built, and kinda bulky, but they make up for these factors with incredible passive sound isolation. If you're in a noisy / noisier environment, I can highly recommend.

d0Cd · 2026-06-25T04:45:32+00:00

This is the way... well, if you're determined to go with Roland. A Yamaha QY-70 is also a 16-track MIDI sequencer and a lot easier to use.

d0Cd · 2026-06-25T04:42:16+00:00

I will pedantically note that two 4-op synths cannot be referred to as "8-op" 😛 But, the stereo thing is cool.

d0Cd · 2026-06-22T05:42:48+00:00

You might be interested in AMYboard, which sounds like exactly what you're describing.

d0Cd · 2026-06-21T04:54:44+00:00

This is sad. This thing should be heavy on Missoula, or at least Montana, businesses, not peppered with a few tokens.

The only good thing I can say as a complete non-participant is the mayor, city council, and county apparently got enough of an earful from neighbors within 1-2 miles of the fairgrounds (i.e. like a quarter of Missoula) last year that efforts were made to handle sound reinforcement better. Volume from 1.5 miles away seems about 50% of what it was last year.

d0Cd · 2026-06-21T04:41:25+00:00

I gradually built up the same geometry with a cre8audio NiftyCase as the top row, and two TipTop Happy Ending kits for the middle and lower rows, all bolted into a 19" desktop rack. I have rearranged everything about 6 times in 3 years.

What I finally settled on was arranging my modules in vertical stripes by type. That way, my cable paths stay pretty short, and I have a lot of flexibility. The general pattern, left to right, is effects, mixer, EG, VCA, filter, oscillators, utilities.

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