241 Topic by rumpelfilter

(7 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Hi everybody! haven't been really active here on chipmusic.org in a while, recent changes in my life make it hard for me to find time to do about anything... which is one of the reasons I'm selling a bit of equipment.

To be more precise, this is what you can get:

A commodore64 (the grey version), fully working (just tested it) with AC adapter and datasette recorder
the MSSIAH cart
Micromys V3 mouse adapter, so you can plug your ps to mouse in
A cable I've made to connect everything together (with a 1uF cap built into the DIN connector)

Plus you get a small TV which you can use as a monitor, it's very small... but usable for MonoSynth or Drummer, a bit messy if you want to run the sequencer. I'm adding this as a little extra for free!

I'm selling all of this together for 100€ + shipping

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242 Topic by rumpelfilter

(0 replies, posted in Software & Plug-ins)

Anybody knows this software? It's called Usine and a fully working, though limited version can be downloaded from the maker's website, and the full version comes at a pretty affordable price for what it promises to do.

I'm not into Gamboying, nor am I a tracker purist, I'm looking for something that will let me do live electronics and improvisation using controllers and a computer. So far Usine looks really great, it's a blank canvas where you can create your own set of live performance tools, including anything from a live sampler/looper (built in), vst fx and instrumets, and external midi instruments.
I think, in a certain way, it can be a great tool also for chiptunes as well, if you integrate chip devices with effects and iive electronics... or if you mix it with other instruments.
Check it out here:
http://www.sensomusic.com/

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243 Reply by rumpelfilter

(2 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Paddles have been sold.

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244 Reply by rumpelfilter

(2 replies, posted in Trading Post)

I finally found some time to shoot pictures!

Firebox

Roland JV-1080

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245 Reply by rumpelfilter

(23 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

tRasH cAn maN wrote:

Some interfaces run just fine on any FW400 chipset which leads me to believe that it's more a matter of flawed audio interfaces or drivers. Never the less, I keep seeing TI chipset being recommended in general.

Well I can only speak about the Presonus Firebox. It would not run on my laptop, no matter what I did, I even tried a FW express card but without any luck. In that case I can't say it's a bad interface (it's no m-audio) or bad drivers. It would run perfectly on any other computer I have tried it on, just not on my laptop!
A friend of mine had the same problems with his Motu, and I mean, Motu is the state of the art regarding mobile audio interfaces!

So I would still recommend the Presonus Firebox. It's a great device, and you can find used ones for about 200 bucks. Just be aware that in some circumstances it might not run smoothly, as might any other fw interface.

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246 Reply by rumpelfilter

(23 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

Just to clarify a bit here, chipsets of FW400 is rarely (I would say never, but just in case) a problem. And since most laptops are equipped with FW400 you shouldn't need to worry. FW800 however is a different story. There I strongly recommend the Texas Instruments chipset.

I would really disagree on this, just search for "Firewire problem audio interface" and you'll get hundreds of forum threads about that. Apparently there is a complex set of problems you can have with firewire, lousy FW chips like the dreaded Ricoh, and driver problems... I tried to get my Firebox to run on many different systems and I never succeeded. Theoretically Macbook pros should guarantee good compatibility with FW interfaces, but with most other manufacturers it's a matter of luck finding a laptop that will work (the only ones that might work fine are the ADK laptops).
USB on the other hand seems to have less compatibility problems.

You need to look at a minimum of 200 USD investment to get a good card

Second that. see it like that, it's better to spend 200 now, than to spend 100 now and then have to spend 200 more next year after months of frustration.

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247 Reply by rumpelfilter

(23 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

There's several things to consider:
Which OS are you on? some Interfaces work better on Win, others on Mac.
Generally speaking Firewire is better than USB (less load on the CPU) but also more expensive and most win laptops have bad firewire chipsets, so you'll just end up with a lot of problems.

Usually the price depends on the following qualities:
- how good the preamps and the converters are (read some reviews and user opinions to find out more about it)
- What resolutions and bitrares does it support (some go as far as 196K and 24bit) Depending on the work you will have to do with it you will need more or less...
- how many inputs and outpus it has (how many do you think you need/will need)
- if they have midi or not (do you need it?)
- if they have onboard DSP (most of them don't)

And there is some nice to have features depending on the use you will make of it:
- real Hi-Z inputs for e-guitars and basses
- zero latency monitor: input audio does get routed internally to the headphones without going through the computer, so you don't have any latency. This is useful if you plan on working with overdubs a lot.
- small and sturdy casing: some are made of cheap plastic and are quite big (like the E-mu 0404) some others have metal enclosures and are quite compact... again, depends on what you need to do with it.

This said there is few good usb 2.0 interfaces
E-mu 0404 (good preamps and converters for the class, has zero latency monitoring) costs about 200€ here in Europe (this is the one I own)
Tascam US144-MKII seems to be a nice interface, costs less than the E-mu but preamps are not as good

And there is several USB1.0 ones:
Focusrite Saffire 6 USB: is more for DJs than to make music has some average quality specs (not as good as the higher end Saffires)
Motu just released a new small usb1.0 interface called MicroBook. Motu makes some great audio hardware, but I don't know much about this one.
The newer Cakewalk/Roland interfaces seem to be quite good, albeit a bit pricey
just to name a few...

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248 Reply by rumpelfilter

(34 replies, posted in Software & Plug-ins)

I agree that you don't need something like Renoise to do chiptunes the purist way. I would even go as far as to say that using Renoise makes your chiptunes less "chituneish". On the other hand, it really depends on the individual approach, some of you will certainly disagree, but to me, making chiptunes does not exclude the use of advanced DSP and it does not even exclude vst... so I think you can use Renoise to make chipmusic...
In the end it all boils down to how you define chiptunes, but personally I don't care a lot about definitions, as Duke Ellington once said, there's two types of music: the good one and the rest.

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249 Reply by rumpelfilter

(3 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

Well If you take an infinite number of cats and let them on an infinite number of pianos you would get...
but I'm allergic to cats...

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250 Reply by rumpelfilter

(54 replies, posted in Other Vintage Computers & Consoles)

From what I see software is not cross-compatible between the GP2X F100/200  the WIZ and the Caanoo. So far it appears that LittleGPtracker hasn't even been ported to the Wiz... so it may take ages for it to reach the Caanoo... but maybe I'm wrong...

Go to forum: Other Vintage Computers & Consoles

251 Reply by rumpelfilter

(28 replies, posted in General Discussion)

welcome! There's never enough people using the C64 for musical puroposes!
I can only second (third?) the suggestion of grabbing a MSSIAH cart, but be warned, you might have to invest some more to get it all going! I can also really recommend the SammichSID, but you'll need to provide your own SIDs.
If you're afraid of them dying unexpectedly, heatsinking them might help, at least so I've been told, I'm about to heatsink mine, as soon as I get the pieces.

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252 Topic by rumpelfilter

(3 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

It's stupid, but it's kind of fun. It's a video I made from footage of me testing the Beep-it optical theremin by Michael Una, check it out!

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253 Topic by rumpelfilter

(2 replies, posted in Trading Post)

SOLD: I'm selling a pair of C64 Paddles, they are supposed to be great for use with the MSSIAH Monosynth, but for me they didn't work well (too much pot jittering). Anyway, they might still be good for games, I don't think it's the paddles, I think it's just that Monosynth needs something more precise.
I have put them up on Ebay, and I could not find anything in the rules that says I can't tell you people about it here, so I'm just doing it. In case I'm wrong just tell me, and/or delete this post (and you have my most sincere apologies for breaking the rules).

The auction is here, starts from 1 €
http://cgi.ebay.it/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie … 500wt_1154

2) The second object I'm selling, is outside of Ebay and it's a Presonus Firebox firewire audio interface with 6 Ins and 10 outs + Midi. Audio specs are: 24-Bit / 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96K. Sturdy little interface great for gigging and dragging around.
It's in great shape, since I've actually never used it (didn't work on my laptop due to shitty firewire chipset on the computer). I'm selling with everything included (DVDs, manual, box), you even get a receipt for it since I'm selling it though the company for which I work. Price is: 200 € (cost me over 300 when I bought it).

3) Last object is a splendid Roland JV-1080 rackmount synth. To quote vintage synth explorer:

Incredible sound quality capable of emulating any instrument imaginable plus totally fat analog synth type sounds and loads of percussion! It has 64 voices of polyphony and 16 part multitimbral, it's no wonder this is part of almost every Film Score Composers set-up as well as many more artists and hobbyists!
It has 8MB of sounds and it also offers a lot of expandability with 4 expansion slots and 2 data card memory slots. You can get up to 42MB of sounds by adding any of the popular JV-80 expansion cards suited for Techno, World Instruments, Orchestral or Synthesizers. The 1080 has a large LCD screen, lots of effects and filters for creative flexibility, motion control and extensive MIDI implementation.

Mine comes without any expansion cards, but it's in really great shape, has been used very little (i find it a bit of a boring synth to be earnest) and never left my homestudio

Anybody interested?

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254 Reply by rumpelfilter

(34 replies, posted in Software & Plug-ins)

ant1 wrote:

Renoise is really worth it
but not for making chiptunes

how is that?

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255 Reply by rumpelfilter

(9 replies, posted in Circuit Bending)

in the one I have there's only one (it's the Getlofi kit). But now I'm about to build a new one... might try the pot thing! there never enough knobs!!!

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256 Reply by rumpelfilter

(9 replies, posted in Circuit Bending)

Well if you put it like that, it's pretty obvious indeed... Well I already succeeded in adding an additional 555 circuit which outputs a squarewave which, connected to pin 3 of the 556 can be either an lfo or at higher values create some FM...
atari punk console is a stupid name, but stepped tone generator is even worse imho... anyway, I'll read the book! Thanks for the tips!

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