7 comments

  • chabes 1 hour ago
    Digital 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=r...

    • scarecrowbob 1 hour ago
      As 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.

  • socks 2 hours ago
    Hey 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.
  • nosrepa 13 minutes ago
    I didn't think I'd see something on the PD squad before I saw it on HN!
  • gxd 2 hours ago
    This reminded me of when people used to transfer games over the radio: https://www.racunalniski-muzej.si/en/40-years-later-a-game-f...
  • PunchyHamster 47 minutes ago
    Looking 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 39 minutes ago
      Pretentious hipster shit is their whole brand.
  • larme 4 hours ago
    That's amazing. I wonder how accurate is the synth engine?
  • kmeisthax 3 hours 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?

    • txbrown 23 minutes ago
      Would have been easier to say it receives patches - I think most people would get this.
    • itishappy 2 hours ago
      It'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!

    • Elidrake24 3 hours ago
      Sure, 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

    • iamjackg 3 hours ago
      All 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.