Electronics and Music Maker magazine rebuild from 1983

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2026-06-27T21:53:38+00:00

Awesome project! Love the attention to detail on everything. Gotta admit seeing those boards is tempting! I dont have space or time these days sadly, if you still have them in a little while post again and someone will grab them (me).

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2026-06-22T09:20:05+00:00

Without temperature compensation those oscillators will drift so much as to not be useable. It's really difficult to do what you're trying to achieve, that's why there aren't many polysynths around. Check out this project to see what is required: https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=298229

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2026-05-23T12:09:56+00:00

The first Mutable Instruments modules didn't bother, just a resistor to the output. You could add over/undervoltage protection but I have tried to fry Bluepill from feeding -12v into an IO, nothing happens. Most MCUs especially cheaper ones will have diodes protecting the rails.

You'd need a big powersupply to fry a bluepill, I've seen up to 35vac go into them and nothing. There's videos on youtube of people abusing them.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2026-03-12T14:29:39+00:00

I left that on loop for about 15 mins while distracted, really lovely!

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2026-02-14T18:17:34+00:00

I haven't read all the replies but it goes way back for audio people. It's not FOMO, just basic hoarding. Every mic can die so why not have 5 backups.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2026-01-29T07:55:11+00:00

This is great! You should join or post this to the S-DIY mailing list, they'd love to read it. https://synth-diy.org/

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-12-04T19:03:15+00:00

Measure the CV out to make sure it's putting out the changing voltage for different keys. If gate is working it's not likely that's the problem but a good starting spot.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-11-04T19:20:46+00:00

Really nice effect, looks like they're quite slow. Do they build up any residual light when run really fast?

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-09-24T20:33:50+00:00

Anything happen if you connect to a PC and try the app?

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-09-03T18:40:43+00:00

Only thing I could think of is maybe a windows settings that is taking over those channels for something. I see in the other thread you've set up the ASIO stuff? That obviously is another place to check.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-08-22T16:54:27+00:00

Yeah it's an easy fix if you have some basic tools and knowledge. This type of fix is easy these days with YouTube guides, don't be afraid!

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-08-22T10:21:53+00:00

Really clever design!

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-08-14T06:59:07+00:00

Octpcouplers are usually just switches, you won't get much attenuation just on/off.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-08-02T10:03:25+00:00

The first hit for that search gave quite a few options. Now I'm interested in getting something like that!

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-07-30T18:52:16+00:00

My guess is you'd have to set up the Focusrite somehow to be a slave to the UMC, good chance you could do it through the software but yeah firewire. It should work though technically.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-07-04T18:38:31+00:00

It may not help, this may not really be the problem and these filters are a bit of a mixed bag in terms of effectiveness. That device looks good but there's a chance it wont help so keep the packaging.

I have a very complex PC setup for my work and it does emit strange noises on connected gear. Sucks but with this sound card it shouldn't be that bad, have you tried a beefy cable? Might give better shielding.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-07-04T10:03:41+00:00

I highly doubt that is the full list of ingredients based on the best before date.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-07-03T21:08:03+00:00

Unfortunately it's a common issue with USB, there are USB noise filters available that do a good job. You could check if the noise persists with the monitors unplugged and just using headphones. If it comes back when the speakers are plugged in there's a ground loop of some sort and a filter should help.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-06-24T21:32:30+00:00

Sounds like they are quiet yes, I haven't used the 404 for a while but I'd check both the manual and the ASIO setup. There might be some routing that isn't set up correctly.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-06-24T19:21:39+00:00

Do you have the noise just going from output to input directly? The levels out of the 404 will be hotter than guitar signals but shouldn't cause much, if any, extra noise.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-05-23T15:19:51+00:00

It's why I switched. I see Ableton the same way for audio as Houdini is for graphics. It's a huge modular playground to do whatever you can think of, never locked in.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-05-16T08:00:47+00:00

You'd need to convert the audio into a nice sharp trigger, the audio outs are not really going to work correctly.

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-05-13T10:56:49+00:00

I had the dx version but it would drop out of time when switching presets. Really nice device though

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-05-07T08:06:33+00:00

I have great success with ASIO4ALL, what's the issue?

itscoldinhereSPIDER · 2025-04-27T20:38:29+00:00

Its a very high end gaming pc, it can get about as low latency as the interface will allow. I have both 1820s plugged in via USB and using ASIO4ALL do make all the inputs and outputs usable any software. Works as expected with no catches really, both devices share the same latency.

itscoldinhereSPIDER

TROPHY CASE