1 Reply by untilzero

(26 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

herr_prof wrote:

Post pot kinda defeats the purpose., the whole point of the pro sound is to tap the signal prepot for better sound fidelity that is uncolored by the crappy headphone pot.

I am not a lawyer, but isn't the whole 'point' to bypass the headphone amp circuit and get closer to line level output?

FWIW my post-pot mod sounds badass/loud, and relatively noise free (not counting the display).  I'd be curious to hear if there was any noticeable difference vs. pre-pot though...  I'm not really married to it, it was a split second soldering decision, but the convenience of the volume pot on the DMG has come in handy while composing, and for relative consistency since most of my synths have physical master volume knobs.  Granted, leaving an extra gain-stage isn't the greatest idea, but it's been handy while writing since I don't have to move an extra 5 feet to experiment with levels a little, haha.  Lazy FTW.

herr_prof wrote:

http://www.herbertweixelbaum.com/comparison.htm

The pro-sound DMG in that comparison looks like it's modded post-pot as well ;-)

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2 Reply by untilzero

(81 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

I just scored one of these for $40, pretty psyched for some filthy FM sex bass.

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3 Reply by untilzero

(26 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

Mine is wired post-pot and doesn't do this at all (speaker is on when nothing is plugged in, off when something is).  Although I kept my mod internal (but used this: http://thursdaycustoms.bigcartel.com/product/dmg-audio) instead of wiring straight up to a raw 1/4" (or 1/8") jack.  If you did it externally, I think you just have to cut the speaker wire permanently and disable it?  Although I might be wrong.

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4 Reply by untilzero

(8 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

If you're sending three notes simultaneously (but monophonically) to three separate MIDI channels on mGB (except for channel 5), and you're not hearing all three notes play together, you're likely doing something wrong.  mGB/ArduinoBoy will play all 4 channels simultaneously (again, monophonically, one note at a time per channel) with no problems whatsoever when done properly.

[EDIT] (FYI - the pulse channels do have limitations on their note ranges...)

Honestly though, I would seriously just start thinking of your GameBoy as a multitimbral monophonic instrument.  The channel 5 polyphony thing is a neat feature I guess, but I immediately wanted to turn it off to get back a wasted MIDI channel in my setup.  Since you can't do that on the ArduinoBoy (you can only set them to different channels), I did it via MIDIPipe (since I am forced to use it for other reasons, sadly).  I can vouch for MIDIPipe though, it is pretty badass and runs very seamlessly (so far).

Lastly, most MIDI controllers worth using should be able to be split like that on their own (ie no extra software), but YMMV.

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5 Reply by untilzero

(12 replies, posted in General Discussion)

SketchMan3 wrote:

sorry about that untilzero. From what I can tell, it is called "NSFmania" after all, not NESmania.

No you're right dude, i'm just being a kitty baby whiner, haha.  Sorry I derailed this thread.

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6 Reply by untilzero

(12 replies, posted in General Discussion)

(I wonder how Hip Tanaka composed....)

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7 Reply by untilzero

(12 replies, posted in General Discussion)

TylerBarnes wrote:

well midi is a bit of a cheat, cause the 2A03 has certain timing limitations that something like MidiNES doesn't have.

Not to split hairs, but MIDI or not if the CPU itself can do it, the CPU can do it... right?  'Cheating' seems a lot more plausible on an emulator if you ask me.

I was admittedly just being difficult, it's a 2A03 tournament that I can't join cause i compose using knobs and keyboards recorded onto a sequencer playing into the NES itself instead of a note table/matrix/grid on a computer screen with an assembler .nsf export playing on an emulator.  Just kind of a bummer cause it sounds like fun!

Anyhow, should be some good listening regardless.

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8 Reply by untilzero

(12 replies, posted in General Discussion)

So people who use the physical 2A03 chip and a MIDI sequencer instead of an emulator and tracker are not eligible...? huh.

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9 Reply by untilzero

(64 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Super-MRC 2.00

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10 Reply by untilzero

(25 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)

I could do that, except I wouldn't know dick about what to make of the readings, nor really how to correct them if they were off somehow.... I guess I could compare / contrast the computer outs with the raw sequencer outs... but I'm pretty dumb with electronics, heh.

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11 Reply by untilzero

(25 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)

herr_prof wrote:

You can always compare the midi out of one setup to the midi out from another using a midi monitor, and see what the difference is.

I did that as well.  MIDI-OX on my PC (through an old Audigy Soundblaster front panel) says my sequencer is sending nothing but note on/off and song start / stop (at the begining and end of the sequence).  This was expected because I explicitly turned off active sensing / clock data / aftertouch / CCs on my sequencer's MIDI OUT.  SNOIZE MIDI Monitor through a Mio USB MIDI interface cable says exactly the same thing... So I know that my sequencer is not sending any weird MIDI data anywhere, nor is either computer adding / removing MIDI data, it's sending exactly what it's telling me it's sending which is also exactly what I tell it to send.

That's precisely why it's so frustrating, it seems to be just as the wayfar site says it is: some kind of grounding / ac adapter issue... since I'm not doing anything weird at all MIDI-wise, yet piping it through a computer's MIDI IN/OUT fixes the problem entirely, in fact it makes it kick complete ass (we're talking 32nds/64ths at 250bpm on four channels, no sweat).

e.s.c. wrote:

if it really were just grounding issues, id think id have had more issues with it myself, since the power supply for a gp2x is def not grounded.. i used it both piggy->midi directly connected and with thrus, the only thru situation that caused me issue was passing it through my mopho, but that was probably because it was adding to the midi data (which was just clock, note and cc from piggy, though was sending note data to other hardware besides just midines)

Honestly, this is exactly my thinking too, but like I said above, I've monitored this every which way.. my sequencer isn't pushing anything but note on/offs and start/stop.

The setup works perfectly when I go MC-500 -> (laptop G4 / desktop PC) MIDI IN/OUT -> MIDINES.

MC-500 -> MIDINES chokes and hangs like crazy.  As in, completely unusable.

Go figure.  But that's why I wondered, WTF is the computer doing exactly?  It's not adding/removing MIDI data, so is it amplifying and/or grounding the signals?? If so, there has to be a less cumbersome way to clean/ground/amp the signals without using an entire computer for such a purpose.  Which I guess is my only real question at this point since everything is working great now with at least a somewhat portable laptop as a MIDI thru box (it's just kind of ridiculous to have to do that way is all).

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12 Reply by untilzero

(25 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)

Yea, that was the first thing I tried, my sequencer can filter all that stuff out, on THRU, OUT1, and/or OUT2.  I tried everything, even just straight up note on/offs and nothing else (not even CCs).  Same issue.

I can live with the laptop setup I guess, it's not like my G4 was doing anything useful anyhow.  I just kind of enjoyed having a laptop/desktop free rig, fwiw.  Now I'm using MIDIPipe to filter just about everything out, and it's working really really well now, which is all I wanted.

Just annoying / confusing as to why looping it through a computer is fixing this shizzz, I get it, grounding whatever, but there has to be a simpler way... hence my posting, there are a bunch of smrts around here.  Just figured someone would have more information on it, like a little thru box that can be put together that effectively implements whatever fix the computer is facilitating.

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13 Reply by untilzero

(25 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)

Well, a $30 MIDI -> USB cable and a repurposed G4 PowerBook have solved my problem.

It would still be nice to have a better idea of what is/was going on with the direct connection to my sequencer... 'grounding' and 'cheapo ac adapters' doesn't really explain much, and the suggested solution of subsuming an entire computer to solve a grounding issue seems a little over the top for the problem being solved.

Thanks for everyone's input tho.

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14 Reply by untilzero

(75 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

Kitsch is the shit.

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15 Reply by untilzero

(25 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)

Right, and because of this I'd have thought that at least one of my midi thru boxes (each with 3 prong plugs) would've worked, but nope.  I've got a spare PPC Mac and a Raspberry Pi I could sacrifice for the cause, but I doubt the Pi is grounded properly and the PPCs are pretty much dead in the water nowadays...

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16 Reply by untilzero

(25 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)

Then there is this:

wayfar.net wrote:

If there is a grounding (earthing) problem between the NES and your MIDI Sequencer then, MIDINES can miss data unfortunatley. This occurs usually when both the NES *and* the MIDI Sequencer are using cheapo AC Adaptors.

There is a workaround but it requires a PC with a well grounded (earthed) power supply (which most are). Just run your MIDI controller into your PC's MIDI in, and then back out the PC's MIDI out, echoing the MIDI in to the out in software and Midines will work fine that way.

Despite having the original NES adapter and original ac cord for my sequencer (hence, not 'cheapos') I guess I have to entertain the possibility since my sequencer does in fact only have a two-prong cable/inlet (like most old Roland stuff).

Is it really the sequencer's cord / 2-prong inlet at fault here? If so, is there a way to ground it so that this doesn't hassle the MIDINES?  I'm at a total loss here.

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