Hack a Day http://www.hackaday.com Hack a Day http://www.hackaday.com/media/feedlogo.gif Hack a Day http://www.hackaday.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://podcasts.hackaday.com/rss.xmlPSPSeq 3.0, PSP sequencer release and interviewhttp://www.hackaday.com/2008/07/15/pspseq-3-0-psp-sequencer-release-and-interview/http://www.hackaday.com/2008/07/15/pspseq-3-0-psp-sequencer-release-and-interview/http://www.hackaday.com/2008/07/15/pspseq-3-0-psp-sequencer-release-and-interview/#commentsFiled under: , ,


DSPmusic.org has just released the latest version of its homebrew PSP music sequencer PSPSeq 3.0. With PSPSeq you can create songs with up to 16 independent audio tracks, use WAV audio clips of your own and then modify them with a number of settings, or even use some of the built in synthesizers to generate sounds. There are strong looping and recording features as well. If you are into homebrew music apps on the PSP, then this will give you a strong offering of features. We had a chance to catch up with the author, [Ethan Bordeaux], and ask a few questions. You can check out the short interview after the break.

Q: What inspired you to write a music sequencer for the PSP?

A: My inspiration started with my main music project I was working on before PSPSeq - myself and some friends designed custom DSP hardware to create autonomous generative music (the project was called Chiclet). I created the synthesis engine running on the DSP. I learned a lot from the project but wanted to make a tool that could contain some of my synthesis and sequencing ideas but in a more user friendly package. Around the same time a friend of mine from the Chiclet project (Noah Vawter) was working on a PSP music sequencer called PSPKick. He kept telling me what a great platform the PSP was for homebrew, and for my 30th birthday a bunch of my friends chipped in and bought me one.

I also considered using the GP2X however the PSP has a lot more horsepower and a larger installed base so I went with that. I like the GP2X quite a bit conceptually but wanted to pick the fastest system so I could make the best synthesizer and sequencer possible.

Q: How many people are involved in the project?

A: I'm the only developer for the project. I made everything from the synthesis engine to the GUI and the documentation. The one place that I have received help is with demo tunes. The PSPSeq community has been great for that. While I enjoy writing music I think I'm better at making things that make music rather than writing it myself, and really enjoy hearing the music created by users.

Q: What features do you hope to have in future releases?

A: For the moment I'm just enjoying having finished the latest release. I really feel like PSPSeq 3.00 is capable of making some great music and that the full potential has yet to be tapped. That said, the two big features I would like to add to PSPSeq are configurable LFOs and some sort of mixer stage with additional FX.
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]]>audiohomebrewinterviewpsppspseqsequencerJimmie Rodgers2008-07-15T22:50:00+00:00New Nintendo DS homebrew music appshttp://www.hackaday.com/2008/06/26/new-nintendo-ds-homebrew-music-apps/http://www.hackaday.com/2008/06/26/new-nintendo-ds-homebrew-music-apps/http://www.hackaday.com/2008/06/26/new-nintendo-ds-homebrew-music-apps/#commentsFiled under: ,


The Nintendo DS homebrew scene is heading into a heavily musical interlude with a few new apps. This is good news for anyone who liked Protein DScratch but wanted more options and functionality. More information after the break.

The first app is called GlitchDS. It's actually not new, but version 1.3 of GlitchDS was just released. It's an audio mixing program with various UI modes, per-sound volume control, and many other features. It can even mix samples and save snapshots of different compositions.


The second is a program called dsmcu; it doesn't make music itself, but is designed to control an external MIDI program or device via WiFi. As the name implies, it uses the mcu protocol to send and receive fader data, display live VU meters, control tracks and volume, and scrub. It is currently in beta and only works with Reaper and DSMI, but the developers are confident that they'll get Logic and Pro Tools working with it soon.

We don't expect you to use these as a substitute for Korg DS-10, the commercial Korg synth emulator for the DS. Rather, when used in along with it, these programs make the DS into a surprisingly potent tool for making and mixing music.
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]]>dsmcudsmusichomebrewkorgds-10midimusicnintendonintendodsproteindsproteindscratchreaperJuan Aguilar2008-06-26T22:15:00+00:00Making music with the Eee PChttp://www.hackaday.com/2008/06/13/making-music-with-the-eee-pc/http://www.hackaday.com/2008/06/13/making-music-with-the-eee-pc/http://www.hackaday.com/2008/06/13/making-music-with-the-eee-pc/#commentsFiled under:


Create Digital Music has been watching the Asus Eee PC closely. The laptop's portable nature and low price-cheaper than a turntable-have made them desirable to both producers and performers. CDM has collected links to many people that are figuring out how to leverage the lightweight rig. [Dan Stowell] put together a tutorial for SuperCollider, the real time audio synthesis engine. The machine is good for simple text based tracker software too. On the Windows side, a lot of software, like Guitar Rig, can be enabled with just a little display driver hacking. This really makes us wonder when we'll see the first Eee PC keytar mod.
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]]>asusasuseeeasuseeepccdmcreatedigitalmusiceeeeeepcsupercolliderEliot Phillips2008-06-13T00:35:00+00:00AudioCubes by Percussahttp://www.hackaday.com/2008/05/23/audiocubes-by-percussa/http://www.hackaday.com/2008/05/23/audiocubes-by-percussa/http://www.hackaday.com/2008/05/23/audiocubes-by-percussa/#commentsFiled under:


[Peter Nyboer] has written an extensive post about his experience with AudioCubes from Percussa. Aside from their unique glowing exterior, these cubes are an innovative way to control and even produce audio tracks. Four faces of each cube are equipped with IR sensors to detect distance and communicate with other cubes. The cubes also have USB, a rechargeable battery, and audio in/out. Moving your hands around the sensors changes the MIDI output of the cube. Changing the cubes' orientation and distance from each other also changes the signal. Max/MSP and Live are both supported out of the box, but that doesn't mean it'll be easy to get started. [Peter] makes an important point: unlike traditional instruments, there's no obvious way to get started. At 400euro for 2 cubes and 650euro for 4 cubes, these devices aren't exactly being given away, but it's great to see new interfaces being imagined. A video of [Peter]'s first experiments with the cubes is embedded below; read his full post to see more footage of the cubes in action... and naturally we'd love to see any DIY versions of this you can come up with.
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]]>audiocubescdmcreatedigitalmusiccubedjmidipercussavideoSean Percival2008-05-23T03:30:00+00:00Upgrade your in-ear headphoneshttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/11/11/upgrade-your-in-ear-headphones/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/11/11/upgrade-your-in-ear-headphones/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/11/11/upgrade-your-in-ear-headphones/#commentsFiled under: ,


I'm a fan of my Etymotic er6i (which have mysteriously vanished...) headphones, so this simple hack caught my eye. [James C] sent in this simple method of upgrading the more affordable apple in ear headphones. The idea is simple, use a small hole punch to cut out the center of some cheap foam earplugs. Then replace the soft surrounds on the headphones with them. I'm guessing that this trick would work for quite a few in ear headphones that I've seen lately.
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]]>appleetymoticheadphonesipodWill O'Brien2007-11-11T20:43:00+00:00Tengu Clonehttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/22/tengu-clone/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/22/tengu-clone/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/22/tengu-clone/#commentsFiled under:


[Alex] sent in his clone of [Crispin Jones]' tengu. The tengu is essentially a funky visual sound meter that looks like it's lip syncing. [Alex]'s version is built around an ATMega48 microcontroller, an electric mic with a LM386 audio circuit and the required LED matrix display. There's an example tengu video here - but I'm not sure what to say about the song in the demo. It's not dependent on USB - it actually works better with the clean power provided by batteries anyway.
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]]>Will O'Brien2007-10-22T22:38:00+00:00Optical Headphone Amphttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/19/optical-headphone-amp/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/19/optical-headphone-amp/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/19/optical-headphone-amp/#commentsFiled under: ,


It looks like this one's been out there for a while, but it doesn't make it any less awesome. [Andrija] built this combination portable DAC/headphone amp. It takes optical audio input, feeds it through an analog devices AD1866 16bit/96khz decoder. After that, the audio is brought up to volume by an op-amp style headphone amp circuit.

Side note: I wrote up a few short notes on the Sidekick LX I got today, if you dig that sort of thing.
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]]>amplifieraudioWill O'Brien2007-10-19T13:41:00+00:00Back from Belize extrahttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/06/back-from-belize-extra/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/06/back-from-belize-extra/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/06/back-from-belize-extra/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


Yesterday, I was standing on a tropical island off the coast of Belize. Vacation rocked with lots of SCUBA diving, spearfishing and snorkeling. I'm back home, shaking off the jet lag and clearing up my inbox. Thanks to [fabienne] for filling in and letting me unplug for a while!

[Darkrom] has set a new standard for Hack-A-Day readers... I haven't seen it in person, but that looks like a legit Hack-A-Day tattoo.

[null] sent in a new use for a frequency generator, a spare car amp, a sub-woofer and a plastic coffee can - brass cartridge polishing.

[LoopyMind] sent in this Game Boy Advanced Movie Player IDE hack. It's pretty much a direct CF to laptop drive cable with an external battery supply.

[Dingolishious] sent in a POE UPS/remote power control solution. Could be handy if you're using many POE devices, or if you're having power issues. He added an inexpensive remote power monitor/switch solution behind his UPS. It senses power outages and kicks out an email - and allows remote power cycling of his POE devices. Of course, if you've got a linux box behind the UPS, it can monitor the output from the UPS and send notifications.

[William] added a preamp stage to his iKEY usb recorder. looks like an interesting toy - it'll record audio directly to a USB flash key. The pre-amp allows him to record in more challenging environments.

[Andrew] noted a simple mod to increase the deadly fire power of the ubiquitous airsoft pellet gun. It's just a matter of reducing some extra space in the spring compression area.

Last but not least, [VIPER] modded his projector to use a 12v halogen headlight bulb. Not a bad idea - at one point I was pondering a 550 watt source four halogen as a possible replacement.
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]]>audio recorderAudioRecordergameboyhackaday tatoohackaday tattooHackadayTatooHackadayTattoopreamptattoousb flashUsbFlashWill O'Brien2007-10-06T20:17:00+00:00Roasting Pan Audio Amplifierhttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/05/roasting-pan-audio-amplifier/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/05/roasting-pan-audio-amplifier/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/10/05/roasting-pan-audio-amplifier/#commentsFiled under: , ,



When you need a rigid, vibration-free chassis for your amplifier, look no further than a roasting pan. I've used cast cement for subwoofers, but using a cooking pan bolted to a heavy wooden chopping board is a cheap way to get a rigid surface on which to build audio gear. The amp circuitry used by [Mark] is not complex, but it gets the job done. The "oxygen free copper cable" and "pure silver wire" are not needed, just make sure you have a solid mechanical connection. In other words, just tin your wires, bend small "u" shapes at each end, hook them together, and apply solder to the heated ends. Alternatively, hold the ends of stranded wires parallel to each other and twist the ends together before tinning, then solder. Test everything with a multimeter while moving wire joints to make sure you have no weak connections. Now you won't waste your money on hyped-up cabling materials.

Thanks to [Gio] (who seems to have some personal audio projects as well) for the tip.
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]]>ampamplifieraudiocookingpanroastingFabienne Serriere2007-10-05T17:52:00+00:00Go international with your Zunehttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/09/09/go-international-with-your-zune/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/09/09/go-international-with-your-zune/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/09/09/go-international-with-your-zune/#commentsFiled under: , ,


In a fit of apparent oddity, the Zune doesn't support non-US characters. [Mike] sent in this how-to on modding the Zune software to speak other languages. We haven't seen much on the Zunes, so it's about time for something to come out.
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]]>Will O'Brien2007-09-09T22:54:00+00:00Tiny inline headphone amphttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/08/20/tiny-inline-headphone-amp/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/08/20/tiny-inline-headphone-amp/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/08/20/tiny-inline-headphone-amp/#commentsFiled under:


[Jesse] sent in this headphone amp. It's really just a board with a dedicated smd headphone amp chip(MAX9725) and a pair of smd caps recycled from an old hard drive, but it does job. I think the goal is to boost low signals rather than the usual audiophile quest for cleaner tunes.
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]]>headphone ampHeadphoneAmpWill O'Brien2007-08-20T23:53:00+00:00SIP for the SMC WSKP100http://www.hackaday.com/2007/07/31/sip-for-the-smc-wskp100/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/07/31/sip-for-the-smc-wskp100/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/07/31/sip-for-the-smc-wskp100/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


[sprite_tm] made my morning by sending in his latest work. After opening up his new SMC WSKP100 (Skype wifi phone) to identify the hardware differences, he managed to shrink a flash image from the SMCWSP100 to fit on his new toy. Then he spent some time hacking the kernel from the former to work on his phone. The result? A SIP operational phone that'll connect to his asterix server at half the price of SMC's official SIP phone.
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]]>Will O'Brien2007-07-31T13:01:00+00:00Mini V3 headphone amphttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/07/09/mini-v3-headphone-amp/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/07/09/mini-v3-headphone-amp/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/07/09/mini-v3-headphone-amp/#commentsFiled under:


Every so often, I like to check out the headphone amp scene at [headwize]. The headphone lovers there never seem to stop. This little amp is one of the latest creations. The latest is the mini v3 - it reflects a trend I've been seeing on homebrew hardware: SMD core chips and through hole components for support hardware. A 9 volt supplies power, and a pair of linear regulators. It's a nice simple, solid design - and you've gotta love the thumb screws. (I'm not sure how a more efficient PWM regulated power source would affect the audio output)
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]]>headphone ampHeadphoneAmpWill O'Brien2007-07-09T17:22:00+00:00DIY Beatboxhttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/21/diy-beatbox/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/21/diy-beatbox/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/21/diy-beatbox/#commentsFiled under:

[formathirn] sent in his latest project, his Beatbox 2.0. He was kind enough to write up an instructable (Don't whine about it, they're giving away a friggin $6k laser etching machine.)
It features a 600 watt amp, four internal mid/fullrange speakers and it'll run external subs, if you don't mind carting them around. He used some p3 heat sinks to reduce the space needed by the amp and fit everything into an old 'Grundig Bandmaschine' case. For extra bling, he put used fiber optics in the side.
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]]>Will O'Brien2007-06-21T17:30:00+00:00DIY Digital Voice Transceiverhttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/14/diy-digital-voice-transceiver/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/14/diy-digital-voice-transceiver/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/14/diy-digital-voice-transceiver/#commentsFiled under: , ,


[dk] sent in the DVX project. It's a complete D-STAR implementation that's built around a digital transceiver chip, an ATMEL mcu and a digital voice compression chip. Compared to most digital radio's I've seen, this one is pretty simple. The really complex action lives in the main chips with a bunch of caps and resistors to support them. Watch out for Digikey's pricing - it looks like a major gouge after looking at the tx/rx chips on Analog Device's site. If you get them at a decent price, they could make great rf links for your projects. The link to the paper seems a bit broken, but here's the correct one.
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]]>Will O'Brien2007-06-14T16:38:00+00:00iPod Laptop AKA iTop (take two)http://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/03/i/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/03/i/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/03/i/#commentsFiled under:


It wasn't [Ben Heck] this time. [Owen] sent in his modded iPod. Once the warranty was voided by some breakage, he decided to make sure it was *really* void. The fold is limited by the length of the wires - but I can't tell from the description or pictures if he actually hinged it.

Update: I'm re-posting this thanks to some funky cms bug...
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]]>Will O'Brien2007-06-03T23:04:00+00:00Preamp recyclinghttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/03/17/preamp-recyceing/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/03/17/preamp-recyceing/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/03/17/preamp-recyceing/#commentsFiled under:


[lgbsneak] found a good source of pre-amps to fill his needs. Some older receivers, like his old Kenwood KA-305 have modular pre-amps. So it's just a matter of ripping out, powering it up and tossing it into an enclosure. Now he's got a handy 9v battery powered pre-amp for field work.
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]]>diy preampDiyPreampmicrophone amplifierMicrophoneAmplifierWill O'Brien2007-03-17T23:54:00+00:00Zune antenna extensionhttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/02/08/zune-antenna-extension/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/02/08/zune-antenna-extension/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/02/08/zune-antenna-extension/#commentsFiled under:


[Dyer13] sent in his Zune antenna mod. It's a simple one, but we haven't seen too many Zune mods yet. It's really just a matter of adding more surface area to the transmitter. I'd suggest adding a wire that's actually tuned to an appropriate wavelength. If you want something with a bit more power, check out this Belkin Tunecase power upgrade.
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]]>Zune antennaZune fm transmitterZuneAntennaZuneFmTransmitterWill O'Brien2007-02-08T11:40:00+00:00Ben Heck's Wii laptop on Engadgethttp://www.hackaday.com/2007/01/19/ben-hecks-wii-laptop-on-engadget/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/01/19/ben-hecks-wii-laptop-on-engadget/http://www.hackaday.com/2007/01/19/ben-hecks-wii-laptop-on-engadget/#commentsFiled under: , ,


[Ben Heckendorn] put together this little beauty on engadget. It's not quite as over the top as the XBox 360 laptop, but there's a reason for that. He'll be putting up a How-To series covering the construction. If you've been pondering building a portable yourself, it'll be a nice jump start for your hardware hacking skill-base.
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]]>ben heckBenHeckhow-tonintendo wiiNintendoWiiwii laptopWiiLaptopWill O'Brien2007-01-19T11:27:00+00:00OpenTom - roll your own TomTom distrohttp://www.hackaday.com/2006/12/29/opentom-roll-your-own-tomtom-distro/http://www.hackaday.com/2006/12/29/opentom-roll-your-own-tomtom-distro/http://www.hackaday.com/2006/12/29/opentom-roll-your-own-tomtom-distro/#commentsFiled under: , ,


TomTom already runs Linux. The OpenTom project has documented the TomTom hardware and software to allow custom software builds to run. The Wiki covers everything from build tools to hardware connections. So far, a mp3 player has been released using the build tools. Hmm, I might have to pick one up to develop on myself. Thanks to [kniVes788] for the tip.

http://www.opentom.org/Main_Page
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]]>linux distroLinuxDistrotomtomWill O'Brien2006-12-29T10:14:00+00:00