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Teenage Engineering's PO-32 acoustic modem and synth implementation
- larme 6mo agoThat's amazing. I wonder how accurate is the synth engine?
- kmeisthax 6mo ago> The PO-32 is not receiving finished drum audio when you transfer a sound or a pattern. It receives structured data: Wait, isn't this what MIDI is for?
- Elidrake24 6mo agoSure, but being able to share the 'data dump' at the end of a Youtube Video is so much more fun/likely to be used. https://youtu.be/TLzAyouLQxw?si=mm6goX-cMyEZkwOI&t=102 https://youtu.be/TLzAyouLQxw?si=mm6goX-cMyEZkwOI&t=102
- iamjackg 6mo agoAll it means is that the PO-32 is not a sampler, it's a synthesizer, so it receives a "preset" for the synth rather than an audio sample.
- itishappy 6mo agoIt's sending sound parameter information (e.g. filter cutoff at 12khz, resonance at 1.6, Q of 0.89) along with note information (e.g. start playing note A4 with velocity 80). You could absolutely use a MIDI CC channel to convey this information. The OP-32 chooses a different route and encodes this into an audio signal so that it can transmit it over the air using the speaker/mic instead of a wireless stack. I bet it sounds like a dial-up tone!
- txbrown 6mo agoWould have been easier to say it receives patches - I think most people would get this.
- Intermernet 6mo agoThe word "patch" has a naming conflict between the disciplines of synthesizers and software.
- txbrown 6mo agowhat you mean? synthesisers are software... I think the context is clear here and we're talking about software made for music, so the usage of patch is accurate. If author wanted to use "patch" to mean patching a file they would likely be specific or context could be inferred. "A patch is data for modifying an existing software resource such as a program or a file" Which is what patching synths/drum machines (and files) does.
- Intermernet 6mo agoThe specific values of all of the settings on a synthesizer (including the inputs and outputs of any cables in a modular synth) have been referred to as a "patch" for a very long time. That's why the cables are known as "patch cables". If you, for example, download sysex files for a DX7, they will often be referred to as "patches".
- Lio 6mo ago> Wait, isn't this what MIDI is for? It is but I don’t think this Pocket Operator has MIDI without adding third party hardware.
- gxd 6mo agoThis reminded me of when people used to transfer games over the radio: https://www.racunalniski-muzej.si/en/40-years-later-a-game-for-the-zx-spectrum-will-be-once-again-broadcast-over-fm-radio/ https://www.racunalniski-muzej.si/en/40-years-later-a-game-f...
- socks 6mo agoHey ericlewis - this is cool! Can I ask how you figured it out?! Doing this for my PO-33 was on my bucket list. I thought I might have to resort to voltage glitching to get a firmware dump, which is currently beyond my skills.
- chr15m 6mo agoMe too, have been trying to crack this for so long!
- reerdna 6mo agoI was able to get part way some years ago by demodulating the bitstream with gnuradio and then making small changes (like replacing one note with the next higher one) and noting the differences. So that is one possible, but probably too inefficient way. I never got close to finishing or publishing anything. Awesome to see this released and I'll have to play with it!
- svantana 6mo agoUnfortunately I think only a few of the PO's support this transfer method, and I don't think the 33 is one of them. They were never meant to be updated at all, as I understand it.
- ericlewis 6mo agomuch simpler, just pull apart the MT VST :P I am working on PO-33, doing EMFI.
- chabes 6mo agoDigital modules from Mutable Instruments (and related clones + offshoots) use audio-based data transfer for firmware updates. Interesting way to give the consumer the ability to change the firmware without having to access the back of the module (there's a way to use a serial JTAG adapter as well). https://github.com/pichenettes/mutable-dev-environment?tab=readme-ov-file#usage https://github.com/pichenettes/mutable-dev-environment?tab=r...
- scarecrowbob 6mo agoAs I understand it, transferring data as audio goes back quite ways, right? I had a Commodore 64 that could use phillips tape. I'm drawing. blank, but IIRC there were musical instruments (maybe the roland juno 60?) in the 80s that were storing their data as audio, too.
- somat 6mo agoHere, this is a lot of fun. http://www.whence.com/minimodem/ http://www.whence.com/minimodem/
- scarecrowbob 6mo agoI mean, I'm thinking about upgrading from my tech license so I can start playing with digital modes on HF radio... damn, this thread is making me feel old...
- bobmcnamara 6mo agoKansas City Standard was delivered on cheap records through the mail
- Cthulhu_ 6mo agoYus, apparently some software was broadcast on the radio, people could record it on tape and use it on their Commodore and such.
- spogbiper 6mo ago
- PunchyHamster 6mo agoLooking at this I can only think one thing: "Just put USB-C in, the connector is ten cents and it's far more convenient than hipster shit like this, you pretentious fucks"
- Gigachad 6mo agoPretentious hipster shit is their whole brand.
- mobiledev2014 6mo agoThis was released in 2017 for one thing. Considering that enough people are still interested in it a decade later they probably did something right.
- nosrepa 6mo agoI didn't think I'd see something on the PD squad before I saw it on HN!
- c-c-c-c-c 6mo ago> A user you’ve blocked has previously contributed to this repository. I see that claude’s been in here as well.