thawkins

Assuming you haven't already done that, I'd just wait until they arrive and try plugging them straight to your phone or whatever you're using to make sound. Some people on the internet said that my Beyerdynamics would need an extra amp as well, but it turns out that they play OK on my phone and laptop and audio interface. The higher impedance rating just means that you have to turn up the volume more, but as long as the resulting sound is loud enough for you, then you should be good without a headphone amp. Generally my belief is that if you need a headphone amp (especially if it needs to be portable) for your headphones, then you're strictly in audiophile territory. This seems a nice and cheap thing though, maybe it will help you: http://www.lucidlaboratories.com/headphone-amplifiers/

It's a knobby microkorg in a bigger form. I'll be honest, while the microkorg (presets mainly ha) has been raped by every young band over a good 10 year stretch, it's a really banging sounding synth engine. I loved my microkorg. Few modern digi synths feel organicbut I feel this engine has some rad raw power to it. You may not need it but you will have fun with it and really like it. I already have a Korg Micro-X, which is nicely portable and I guess it's got kind of the same sound engine. However it's mainly useful for me as a preset and a multitimbral box, because I will probably never bother with micromanaging and menu-diving to build my own sounds. To that end, a knobby thing like the MS2000R sounds exactly right, because then I can just turn the damn things instead. Vocoder and audio in sounds pretty sweet too because I can send whatever noise from the laptop through it. And it's also got a sequencer, which seems kind of nice to have in a live improv setting (and I've never owned a hardware seq). And I guess I can always sell it later... Edit: holy shit it can do this

There's a used Korg MS2000R available on my local craigslist: it's got audio in and a vocoder, lots of knobs and it's only like 200€, all of which matches my basic conditions for getting GAS. I've been looking at it a couple of days now and trying to tell myself that I don't need it.

Psssssst... Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, my man... The earpads are also easily detachable for washing and the bass response goes down to 16Hz....

I think that's basically because these people have never experienced any real strife or hardship in their lives. They talk about deportation, prisons, war and invading other countries like it's nothing, because never ever has any of this (or what Trump has done) had any negative effect on them. And for the small things that do have effect, like rising cost of living or stuck wages, Fox News or whatever else mindfuck media they watch can just tell them it's the fault of somebody else, either Democrats or the deep state or immigrants or whatever. In this way the US is like some virtual reality experiment where the slight discomfort or delusion of old white rich people is more important than the lives of brown poor people in a far away country. I think I heard it best on the Chapo Trap House podcast after Charlottesville events. They basically said that now with all the global issues there's essentially two camps: one is the leftist people who are saying that we should work together and fix the world and climate change and try to have everyone living as well as possible, and the other is the rightist people who are saying that it's a zero sum game, we can't save everybody so we are going to let a lot of poorer people die and shoot everybody who seems threatening. So right now it seems the Harvey and Asian floods show first signs of really fucked up weather, 1/3 of Bangladesh is flooded and global fish stocks are dying out. It's bleak that the richest people in the richest countries are spending the time basically arguing about fucking useless shit like who gets to use a toilet or get an abortion or threatening nuclear war.

I think while it is good that Trump is being officially investigated, the fact that all the other despicable and useless shit he does has triggered basically no response shows how terrible things are actually. Because even if Trump goes, all the other fucks - who gladly won't give a shit if all poor and black people die - will still be there, in the government and in the media, writing articles about how it's cool & good to nuke North Korea or Iraq or Iran or Syria or Venezuela. I mean, sure it's good if Trump has to resign, but if he does that because of Mueller's investigation about some collusion or tax evasion or whatever, then to me that's like if a murderer gets sent to jail because of an unpaid parking ticket. The core of the issue - how the fuck did a totally useless senile dumbass like Trump get through the checks & balances of supposedly the greatest democracy in the world - will still be unsolved. I mean, I was kind thinking that if Trump won, there'd be a serious response from the rest of the democratic system in government or even the people, but it hasn't happened and that's what is frightening me the most. I hope you in the US manage to fix this stuff before climate change starts hitting really hard or some other big thing happens.

In that vein I remembered that some of my bandmates a couple years ago told me that there's a brand called Superlux which makes ridiculously good headphones for the price. I think the model in question is Superlux HD-669 or HD-681 Evo. If you google the Evo you get a lot of audiophiles talking about that stuff, so maybe they have a point? :) I've listened to them a couple of times - they sound fine to me, although I don't have enough experience to be sure. If I was on a budget I'd certainly get them.

This got me thinking about Android and MIDI now. I've noticed my phone at least advertises that it's got a "Send MIDI" mode when it's connected to the computer using an USB cable. Why is that there are no apps for actually using this feature? Seems like sending MIDI over USB might have less latency than relying on OSC over WiFi or whatever it seems to be the most popular way to do it. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I just don't know how to search the Play Store for apps that specifically have MIDI over USB.

I'm proud of myself - this weekend I went close to walking distance from a shop where used modular synths are legally being sold at good prices (including a 0-coast and Moog Mother), and while I did check out the prices online before going, I managed to resist the urge of buying anything. Instead I will spend time instead to add a couple of new features to my Live template. By the way, I also saw something called Roli Blocks. What's the deal with that? Seems like really overpriced control surfaces for a tablet or something? The shop had a demo setup, but it only made sound through the tablet's own speakers so I couldn't really understand what was going on because of all the ambient noise.

Seems it's more about the ladies.

Alex Jones probably hired an actor or two.. just like he claims everybody else is doing. I think it's called projecting?

Depends on whether you want closed, half open, or open headphones. I have the 770I'd like some open ones, leakage isn't really a problem. The 80 ohm ones don't require a separate amp - at least I have had no need for one so far and the headphone out knob on my interface is at 30% maybe.

I ordered a Behringer UCA222 to hook up to the Pi and yesterday hacked a looper to my pure data patch. Next up is to figure out the best control layout mapping for the Akai, because I'm already at 8 pages of 8 CCs and I need at least two more pages to accomodate for both audio and midi looper controls. ..and also I should actually spend more time playing the thing not making more and more mods.

Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro, the 80 ohms version. I am pleased with the sound, I don't know if it they are very neutral, but the bass response is good. When I compose/improvise stuff using only headphones, it translates well to my monitors (Yamaha HS80M) and small in-ears (Sennheiser CX1.00).

"No don't hurt me, I'm not a nazi, I just like to shout 'white power' and offend people"

Unless I am mistaken, the free speech thing applies specifically to government restricting speech. It doesn't mean that private companies such as Google, Facebook, et al. are obligated to give a platform for something they don't want to. Also, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequence - even though under freedom of speech a nazi can spout their bullshit as much as they want, nobody is obligated to stay and listen and be quiet. And that's before getting into the issue of good faith - I don't think people should be able to claim freedom of speech if a) they don't respect others' freedom of speech and b) have demonstrated that they're not acting in good faith and actually want to curb the freedoms of others.

i don't know how the word 'liberal' got attached to neo in this case but whatever.. i thin neo liberalism is 10 differen things depending on who you talk to. but your idea about prioritizing rich people's incomes is not a new or particularly liberal idea. it's just an elitist idea. it's both republican and democratic at times depending on the politician but isn't by any means a uniting philosophy or agenda in either party.. well.. maybe that's not accurate.. but what i mean is other than 'tax cuts' for the rich in the republican party.. well.. the dems find other ways to give those breaks.. they just aren't as honest about it often.. but they do it i think. blah. i don't think i've seen a 'good' meaning accurate definition of what it is or might be. if i was to try to define what i thought it means it'd be something completely different. american politics is esentially a power struggle with the aim being to help those people who get you there.. and along the way bring some of the basic ideas of the party to the forefront. but it's just a power struggle.. different narratives with differet goals. some will stoop lower, be more dispicable towards the poor, middle class.. anyone not 'elite' when moving forward with their agenda.. but i still don't know what neoliberal means. neocon was easy.. it was warhawks.. regime change etc.. under GWB. and then i'd have said neoliberal was a different big money concern, a different type of fascism.. but now i don't know.. and i don't think anyone else does either. we'll see what the next 5 years shapes up to be. edit: if you want a read a good well written but kind of dry book about it.. though dated.. read "America What went wrong?" it's a bit dated but ever so true and lays out how things are done in congress and washington.. to ebnefit the wealthy and the people who make the rules. https://www.amazon.com/America-Wrong-Donald-L-Barlett/dp/0836270010 I'm basically basing my definition of neoliberalism on what Wikipedia says. I only checked it out now, so if we assume the WP definition reflects some widely accepted standard, I should be good. I'm not saying that prioritizing rich people's incomes is a neoliberal idea, rather it is an outcome of the current application of neoliberal ideas. In other words, the rich have benefitted from the free market to the point where they actually control the market in many cases (i.e. monopolies). I think what's happening now is that the people on top have optimized their business - by way of low wages and raising prices - to the point where the people who have no capital at all are just reduced to a desperate mass of job-seekers who have no choice but to work 2-3 jobs for shit pay. And when the lower classes start to complain, the response seems to be either ignore the problem ("America is already great", "Strong and stable government", etc.) or basically tell people that immigrants or some other minority are to be blamed, which is a divide & conquer type of strategy that's never worked out anywhere ever. Thanks for the book suggestion.

This isn't a good analysis at all, completely fails to mention the role socialism had in the growth of nazism for a start (until the night of the long knives), continues spreading the myth of neoliberalism, totally mischaracterizes the state of the world economy today wrt to levels of poverty, general well being etc. all in all not a lot positive to say about it at all really. It seeme pretty dead-on for me, but I guess I have been reading a lot of this stuff recently. I don't know enough of German history to argue about the role of socialism before WW2, but the parts about neoliberalism resonate with me a lot. I don't know what you mean by the "myth of neoliberalism", but my impression (and also it seems Adam Curtis' in Hypernormalisation) in short is that it's the philosophy of delegating state power to private enterprises because it is believed that the state will not run things as efficiently as the free market. In theory, the state was supposed to regulate things to ensure that there are no huge monopolies and poorer people aren't shut off from essential services. What's happened instead is that there's huge companies like Wal-Mart or Amazon who have achieved market dominance and can essentially destroy local businesses so they don't have to compete on equal ground. Because they're often the only business in town, people have no choice but to work for them for shit pay, and because their owners are some of the richest people in the world, they can buy off the government who is supposed to regulate things. Basically, neoliberalism to me is the prioritisation of rich people's incomes and money over the wellbeing of the people who actually work for them. It's the idea that things like health insurance and education should only go to those who can afford it, because "the free market has decided the poor aren't worth helping". I can agree that the philosophy behind the term isn't so bad, but the actual outcome is pretty shit. Why it all ties up to Trump and the Nazis and the article I linked.. https://twitter.com/audrawilliams/status/896717616600895488

Found a good analysis comparing neoliberalism and Nazi Germany today: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-supermanagerial-reich Wish you luck in the US, I hope you get your shit together rather sooner than later. Frankly, even though I believe in free speech, I don't think it should apply to the neo-nazis anymore as they have shown that they will not act in good faith and have no respect for others' speech . As someone on twitter put it very well: the nazis and their ideas had their chance 80 years ago, no point in going through the discussion once again. :)

Yeah, the Axoloti sounds like it is much better suited for that, because while it has less internal resources, it's not running a full OS and it's already got good ACD and DAC (and MIDI) soldered to the board, plus it's got an USB port where you can just attach some cheapo MIDI controller which you can control the thing with. So right off the bat you can do pretty much anything with it and no need to solder stuff. I did some experimenting over the weekend with the Pi and it's onboard audio is pretty bad and noisy, I ended up using a Zoom bass pedal with an integrated USB interface to get an acceptable sound. I think I'd want at least 4in and 4out to play nice with any future stereo effects. Here's that GAS again...

Wow, that Axoloti looks really really nice! You can even program your own modules (in C I suppose) if I'm not mistaken. DC coupled outputs.. and it's pretty cheap. It's even better than that - there's a Max/MSP style patching environment.

What about the Yamaha Motif series? I think the higher end stuff can sample audio, I don't know that much about fucking around with the samples though.

No sweat! Yeah, it's kind of weird, isn't it? I guess it makes sense that they'd go that way to make it cheaper and better meet the goals of the project. But it's definitely a gotcha when you see all these educational robotics projects and whatnot for it but they're working with this crappy clock. Like, doesn't robotics often require precise timing? Oh well, I could be talking out my ass here. From what I've read, it seems that real-time stuff isn't that important unless you're really trying to run systems that depend on it, like industrial automation maybe? The hobby robot stuff probably has less tolerances for latency and programming is easier if there's no requirement that your code is will always finish execution in X seconds and doesn't hold up any critical resources - if this happens on a factory assembly line, you'd probably have a huge accident. So I'm not actually sure if adding real-time capability to the Pi will have any significant result, because even if you run it without a graphical user interface, there's shitloads of things that go on inside the operating system that will slow things down and make response times longer. So it makes more sense to me to first disable all that unnecessary stuff and then think about real-time.

[pedantry]You mean that the reference implementation is written in C - there are others.[/pedantry]. Perhaps relevant to this thread, there's PyPy, which reportedly runs a lot of code significantly faster than CPython. I haven't had much luck getting it working myself because last time I tried it didn't play nicely with tkinter, but it's probably worth a shot if you want to write non-GUI real-time audio code in Python. Yeah I did abstract away all the other Python implementations, sorry. It seems though that there is significantly less software available for the Raspberry Pi (because of the CPU architecture differences), so right now my gut feeling says to stick to the 'known good' stuff (like Python and Pure Data), even though they might not perform as well. By the way, does anyone know what's the ideal Linux distribution to use for audio-oriented Raspberry Pi stuff? I know there's Satellite CCRMA, but that seems to be oriented towards the "smaller" Pis (I think I also read the maintainer saying that he won't support the bigger ones). There's also PdPi, which is recommended by the l2ork people and specifically oriented towards the Pi, but it seems to be 4 years old and doesn't actually fit on a 8GB SD card. Not sure it'll work with the model B model 3 that I have either.

Pure Data is also written in C, so it should be possible to get good performance out of that. Python can actually be good, because it's written in C. I think the jitters on the Pi might easily be caused by the OS itself if it's not running on a realtime kernel. I wouldn't attempt writing low level code like that myself, it's better to use stuff already made by people who know what they're doing. PD is optimized for real time performance though. I think the bottleneck with Python isn't the bits where it calls the optimized C DSP code but the plumbing between. I got relatively crappy performance in Python even with an RTC. I like node because you can leverage the performance of v8 and you also get access to a very rich package ecosystem and a great package manager. Plus I just find Javascript comfortable but you may not. That said, there's a hardware add-on for the Pi that gives you an RTC and you can patch the kernel to use that instead of the jittery network clock. Might be a lot of trouble to get it to work though and it might not make much difference. Wow, thanks for the tip! I had no idea that the Pi did not have an internal clock source. I figured it would be enough to install a real-time capable kernel or just follow the wiki here. I decided not to start with any soldering and instead experiment with an USB interface bass multieffects pedal I have laying around. If that works well, I can get a 4in4out USB interface and use that for any mangling effects I have in mind.