TR-808 Shootout // Can they live up to the LEGEND??

video upload by Starsky Carr

"The legendary Roland TR80*8 up against the *Roland TR-8S and the Behringer RD-8 Looking only at the sounds - or listening to them! - do they come anywhere close?

The TR-8S uses Roland's ACB technology, which is the same as the TR-8, Roland Cloud plugins and the Boutique TR-08 - so this has you covered for all of those. I'm using the RD-8 Mk2 - you cna tell because its got the black buttons, Mk1 had white.

I've gone through all the sounds (forgot the maracas in the demo bit) and showed how they differ. Taking into consideration no 2 808s will be identical I think they both stand up very well to the orginal TR808.

But if you want the exact sounds...

Buy my 495 samples here - every position on every knob!
https://www.starskycarr.com/patches/p..."

Super Lofi Sampling - A Quest For Sonic Destruction - Akai S20 Tape & Koala Sampler

video upload by ChrisLody

"If you'd like to support the channel you can grab a 'Pay What You Want' album from my Bandcamp. https://chrislody.bandcamp.com"

"Just for a bit of fun I thought it would be fun to push lofi sampling to it's logical extremes using a Radio Shack cassette deck I found recently. Confusingly the tape deck is a "Radio Shack TRS-80" which I'm sure is also one of their old computer models so I guess this tape deck was originally designed to work with that computer, maybe even sold with it.

The Akai S20 from '97 has some decent features for reducing sample quality further so we can get into really extreme territory!

There's also a tip for making lo-fi samples on the Koala Sampler too."

"Echoes" ambient jam with Teenage Engineering OP-XY, Walrus Qi

video upload by Aurélien Vieira Lino

"First jam with the incredible OP-XY by Teenage Engineering!
This little device is packed with potential — powerful, ultra-portable, and full of creative possibilities. I’m excited to see how it evolves over time, and I hope the updates keep coming! If you’ve got any questions about it, feel free to reach out.

Enjoyed the jam? Follow me here for more music soon: @aurelienmvl 🎧
You also can check my SoundCloud: / aurelienmb"

LFO/LFO (Circuit Tracks Version)

video upload by Guinan

"This week’s track is a version of the classic 1988 Warp records release ‘LFO’ by the UK Leeds band, LFO. Seen at the time as part of a genre then known as ‘bleep techno’ it was characterised by hard, uncompromising electronic minimalist industrial techno tracks such as this.

I’m hoping I’m not the only one who remembers and loves this track! If you like this try and find 'Testone/Sweet Exorcist' in a similar style - possibly one for a future cover too.

More details for synth nerds

I already had some ‘Speak & Spell’ samples I’d downloaded years ago so this was a great starting point. I had separate samples for the “L”, “F’ and “O” and I thought it would be fun to throw in one of the starting noises the toy makes when switched on. The same toy is featured on Kraftwerk’s ‘Computer World’ album so the sound will be a familiar one.

The main chord sequence comes from a Kawai K1 preset patch. Luckily there is a free fantastic software synth emulation of this keyboard available online so I was able to create a sample for the repeating chords. The emulator can be downloaded from the following page,
https://www.nilsschneider.de/wp/categ...
I’d encourage you to leave a donation for the author if you find this emulator useful.

All of these samples are sequenced alternately on the Drum 4 track.
There is a single repeating rhythm pattern using 909 samples played on Drum 1-3.
Synth 1 plays an FM-sounding bass patch, and Synth 2 is a representation of the staccato bleep sound (a small amount of pitch envelope helps recreate the original sound). Add lots of reverb and voila!"

Oberheim OB-1 SN 0298 w/ Upgrades

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via eBay

"This Oberheim OB-1 is great condition for a rare Vintage Synth and has a really unique sound and a self oscillating VCF. It's had a MIDI and programmer PCB upgrade increasing presets to 64 in 8 banks of 8.

It's just been fully restored and serviced By Totally Technical in Brisbane Australia ( See restoration details below) - I'm happy to share a detailed report and video's on request. It's located in Brisbane Australia if you would like to inspect and have a listen."

"Full restoration completed over the last 18 months

Programmer PCB installed
New Battery
Many capacitors, IC’s, Diodes and resistors changed
Portamento fixed - IC
Keybed all fixed
Bend all fixed – IC
Crackly pots applied Faderlube and OK.
DC Voltage on output fixed
MCU BASED PROGRAMMER UPGRADE

In July 2025 a new MCU-based programmer pcb was installed giving it functionality and patch storage not available in the original. More details below and available here

64 programs in 8 banks of 8
Programs are stored in non-volatile EEPROM. No battery needed.
After a program is loaded, only controls that have moved are "live", so patch editing is now possible.
Manual mode forces all controls to be "live".
Optional (non-volatile setting) periodic flash of current bank selection
Optional (non-volatile setting) quantization of coarse freq for oscillator 1 to octaves
Comes with 24 pre-programmed patches, which can be over-written later if you chose
Smaller pcb mounts on four of the existing standoffs, providing better access to pcb underneath
Implemented connectors are the same as original programmer for easy installation
All IC's are socketed. All components are through-hole.
20-turn trimpot for easier one-time oscillator tuning adjustment
SYNHOUSE MIDIJACK UPGRADE

In 2009 a Synhouse Midijack was installed - More detail below and here

MIDI channel selection (to select MIDI reception channel 1-16)
MIDI panic button (to silence stuck MIDI notes)
MIDI Off mode (useful for keeping unused synthesizers silent onstage or for selecting built-in / local analog keyboard control and external control via control voltage gate interface jacks, also known as CV/gate control)
MIDI On mode (normal operation)
4-note buffer (for musical trill effects and for relaxed performance with automatic error correction)
Single note triggering (for legato performance)
Multiple note triggering (for articulated performance)
MIDI transpose select mode (for deeper bass)
Analog CV calibration mode
Receives MIDI Note On messages (full range, MIDI notes 0-127)
Receives MIDI Note Off messages (full range, MIDI notes 0-127)
Receives MIDI sustain pedal (controller number 64)"

A soundscape built around revised "Beeps" module

video upload by ParadisoModular

"This is a demo of one of my vintage modules that I just radically updated. First, a bit of history. Circa 1988, I was browsing the Hosfelt Electronics catalog, and saw a bunch of little circuit boards there that made different 'emergency' siren sounds. Of course, I couldn't resist buying all eight of them that they had, and designed a synth module around them that allowed me to switch (manually or via external signals) the audio output from any of them into the left or right channels on a common stereo mix. In addition to a linear mix, I also combined them via a chain of exclusive ORs (the VCOs on these units produced square waves), again selected by the same gates - this produced kind of a ring modulation sound (Exclusive OR's can be thought of as 1-bit multipliers). On the front panel, I also provided outputs from each oscillator independently, as well as the ability to inject independent voltage control into each oscillator.

Despite my attempts to leverage this module into different patches, it retained a distinct identity - e.g., the sound of a major urban emergency - that limited its usefulness. You can hear a short demo excerpt I recorded on it circa 26 years ago here- http://Paradiso.media.mit.edu/Outgoin... - I'm switching outputs from the alarm circuits randomly to left and right channels throughout - the first half features the linear mix and the latter half the XOR mix. You can clearly hear that this module makes a very strong statement -as such, it didn't appear much in my pieces over the years.

But I still saw big potential in it. 8 oscillators aren't much by today's digital standards, but as I can switch them into different paths dynamically, it's got promise. The main thing I had to do was to be able to turn off the LFO control of each oscillator that made the siren sounds and think about coordinated ways to control this bank.

So a month or two back, I embarked on this journey, enabling the LFOs to be switched out of the audio oscillator voltage control paths (but giving independent access to them all, providing LFO outputs on the front panel and in most cases voltage control of LFO frequencies), plus providing adjustable voltage control of each oscillator as well as different kinds of ensemble voltage control (e.g., controlling all 8, controlling the top vs bottom 4, controlling even vs odd channels), as well as being able to adjust the base frequency of the ensemble and the base for each independent oscillator. Witness the massive augmentation of the front panel, as well as the wild nest of wiring below to do this hack in the midst of this video.

But low-and-behold it's done. This isn't a voiced device - the oscillators are linear, hence don't hold tune collectively as you shift frequencies. This, for me, justified the hack - I've got plenty of oscillators that I can already voice and track harmonically - this unit is now about nudging frequencies collectively and independently to go through different kinds of dissonances and occasionally sweet spots in a deep ensemble fashion. Plus, if I want to, I can switch channels back into siren mode, or use their LFOs in more flexible ways (each of the LFOs sports a different kind of waveform).

OK, IMO it grew into the monster that I hoped it would become, as you can hear in this live recording. Here I routed both the linear and XOR outputs through different complex reverb units, fading them up in different ways and at different times, and switching the oscillator outputs dynamically into different channels using digital gates coming from other modules in my system (occasionally I would hold some or all of the gates to just let the thing drone). I also injected different kinds of ensemble control (all, even/odd, top/bottom) at different times to bend the frequencies a bit, driven by triggered envelope generators. All sounds come from this revamped 'Beeps' unit - one voice was routed through an octave divider to bring it lower, and some effects were used, plus the reverbs nicely put this beast into a dense dreamy space. Despite the complexity, it's one of the simplest patches I've made - you can see it in the little bit of pan-around video I put into the middle of the clip.

My usual disclaimer - heck, only 8 oscillators with simple control paths could be done trivially in software now (one of my hero-pieces, Dave Wessel's 'Antony', an inspiration here, used hundreds on IRCAM's 4x (or 3x back then?) circa 30-40 years ago), and there are probably Eurorack modules around like this now too, including some that I may already have. But this connects to something I made in my relative youth, turning it into the sonic tool that it wanted to be. I hope you enjoy this demo!"

Why To Love The Prophet 5 / 10

video upload by Devin Belanger

"Get the Miles Away Custom Patches for Prophet 5 & 10: https://shop.milesawayofficial.com

Stream my new song 'F*** It, I'm Alright' with SABAI: https://links.milesawayofficial.com

Is the Sequential Prophet 5/10 the greatest synth ever made? The vintage Prophet 5 and the modern reissue Prophet 10 are famous synths that shaped synthesizers in music —but are they still worth it today? Review, deep dive, walkthrough, tips and tricks and more.

0:00 - intro, what makes the Prophet 5 special
1:06 - original demo song
2:40 - one huge caveat about the Prophet
3:45 - demo jam with reverb and chorus FX
4:52 - using the Prophet 10 on my original music
5:55 - vintage jam, dry with no FX
6:58 - the argument for why the Prophet is the GOAT
7:38 - ambient jam with Nightverb
9:21 - panel walkthrough, oscillators
11:50 - my favourite tip for the waveforms
12:57 - the famous polymod section
14:06 - analog fm sound design
15:43 - vintage knob & my biggest complaint
17:13 - why polymod is so versatile and great & LFO mode
19:04 - saving a happy accident patch we discovered
20:05 - what makes the LFO special
22:09 - the best tip for making lofi patches
25:01 - comparing the difference btween the filters
27:06 - resonance bass compensation feature
27:42 - the philosophy of no menu diving
29:16 - poly unison mode
30:37 - pros and cons, is it worth the price?"

IG00151 VCA Clone for YAMAHA CS Synthesizers (CS5,CS15,CS30,CS50,CS60,CS80)

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

You can find them on Reverb and Ebay.

"The clone is fully drop-in replaceable and is able to coexist with the original vintage chips in the same synthesizer. It can function as VCA and current source for envelope controller on M-cards, or control voltages for TRG boards (and on any other board that uses that chip). It has the same control voltage cutoff point and similar non-linear control curve as the original, so all the control sliders work the same."

Additional details follow:

"The iG00151AP is a replicant of the rare IG00151 Voltage Controlled Amplifier (VCA) chip, which was used by Yamaha in their CS-series analog synthesizers and organs from the 1970s and 80s. The iG00151AP was carefully engineered from the original chip, retaining all of its characteristics and properties, including the peculiar non-linear control curve and cutoff, input and output impedances, and identical power consumption at the same gain setting. This makes the iG00151AP the only "clone" available today that is fully drop-in replaceable and is able to coexist with the original vintage chips in the same synthesizer. While the originals are getting more expensive and harder to find, the availability of the iG00151AP ensures that the CS-series analog synthesizers remain serviceable. One CS-80 synthesizer contains 210 of these chips!

INSTALLATION

To install the iG00151AP, ensure that the marked PIN 1 location on the part matches PIN 1 location on the circuit board. With the pins pointing down, PIN 1 on the original chip is on the left when facing the part number, while the iG00151AP has PIN 1 on the left when facing the component side (not the part number). Carefully orient the part properly and solder it to the circuit board. Clip excess leads as necessary.

WARNING: As with the original chip, a reverse installation will damage the part when power is applied!

CALIBRATION

After installing the part, allow the instrument to warm up and stabilize for at least 30 minutes, then recalibrate the circuit following the procedures of the original manufacturer. Similar to the original chip, the gain may vary from unit to unit. Proper calibration will ensure that the new part performs the same as the original.

As with the original chip, the iG00151AP may have a similar input offset that varies from unit to unit. This manifests itself as a control voltage (CV) feedthrough to the output. Depending on the application, it may be necessary to trim the offset, but this is usually provided in the vintage circuit, if required. No additional offset trim circuitry is necessary if it is installed in the original circuit.

The iG00151AP is compatible with Yamaha CS-80, CS-70m, CS-60, CS-50, CS-40m, CS-30, CS-20m, CS-15D, CS-15, CS-10, CS-5, and other synthesizers and organs that use the IG00151 VCA chip."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Polyend Pedals // MESS Step and Press

video upload by Starsky Carr

"Some things ooze quality ... welcome to the Polyend MESS, Step and Press guitar pedals. But just like my MoogerFoogers I'm not going to be stomping on them any time soon!

The MESS is a Multi Effect Step Sequencer with 4 tracks containing one of 74 on-board FX and sequenced in 16 steps.

The Step is a beats machine. Filled with 50 kits and 2000 samples and room for 1000 songs. With per step parameter setting and onboard FX, limiter and saturation it's much more than a simple drum machine.

Press is an ANALOG stereo VCA compressor (everything else I've used from Polyend has been digital), with a sidechain input, LP and HP for the sidechain plus a dry/wet mix knob and a tilt EQ. A super little desktop/stompbox compressor."

0:00 What's all this then?
1:10 Demo - under PRESSure
1:27 Press... it's a comPRESSor
6:14 Step .. it's a beats machine
8:38 Demo - Musical Interlude
9:18 Back to the Step
15:06 Demo - time for a miniCHILL
15:58 Per STEP parameters
19:51 MESS Demo - Getting Glitchy
20:55 MESS.. it's a Multi Effects Step Sequencer
24:49 Demo - Huge and Spacey
25:34 MESSing it up from scratch
30:08 Demo - More Glitches
30:21 In a Nutshell...

TOMITA, CASIO & THE COSMO SYSTEM

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Drew Schlesinger (@drewschlesinger)

This one was spotted and sent in via deejayiwan.

Click the arrow in the right of the image to go through the set.

Don't miss the links further below.

"TOMITA, CASIO & THE COSMO SYSTEM: Casio collaborated with Casio way back in the early 1980’s to create the COSMO synthesizer which was a huge rack of custom devices and computer system that ultimately became the CZ-101 Synthesizer and FZ-1 Sampler…the first 16bit sampler. From what understand the CZ-101 has in its code something like 64 different waveforms of which only 8 were selected for the CZ. I’ve seen someone post about this and was trying to make them accessible. Phase Distortion synthesis is the “real” FM (again as I’ve read somewhere) and Yamaha’s FM is different though I’m not sure what those differences are. The CZ started my career as a sound designer and remains one of my Top 3 instruments though I use the Virtual CZ soft synth by Oli Larkin. I have my entire collection of sounds from all the way back to 1986 and all the ones used on my “Lost Childhood” albums that were done with just two CZ-1’s run from a Roland MC-500 MIDI sequencer in real time through a Roland R880 digital reverb direct to DAT. A fantastic and classic synth! 🎛️ 👽"

Also see:

CASIO COSMO SYNTHESIZER

Casio ZZ Sampler System From 1986

The TOMITA Memorial Museum : Isao Tomita tribute exhibition at Gakki Fair 2016

OXI ONE MkII CV & Gate Basics

video upload by Alec Sea

"In this video, I'm showing the basics of the CV & Gate functions in the Oxi One MkII."

00:00 - Start
00:30 - OXI Pipe
01:06 - Basic CV & Gate sequencing
02:37 - CV: Pitch settings
03:27 - Gate: Trigger settings
04:08 - Clock: Clocking a delay
05:59 - CV: Velocity
07:09 - CV: Velocity Gated On/Off
08:21 - CV: LFO
10:41 - CV: Mod Lanes
11:50 - CV: Track Envelope
13:36 - Gate: Accent
14:44 - Gate: Threshold
15:47 - MIDI-to-CV converter

M-Audio Venom synth demo

video upload by SynthAddict

Some useful info from a previous post:

Note for extensive editing you need an external editor that came with the synth or this one from Patch Base. There was one for TB MIDI Stuff and Touch OSC as well. The physical synth only gives you access to a small number of parameters. You can find a review, interview, and tips and tricks posted back in 2011 here.

PlayFader PlayMates - Elektron Syntakt ⚡️ fragments and moments of firmware testing

video upload by Play All Day

"I was using the @elektron Syntakt to test some firmware updates and it was too much fun not to share. This isn't a whole performance, just some selected clips from a longer 30 minute exploration.

Connected with just one MIDI TRS to 5-pin cable, I’m controlling tracks 2 & 5 with Channels A & B of PlayFader. Syntakt is only sequencing the drums, the rest is PlayFader… including the master clock, Syntakt is the slave 😏

I don’t think I’ve had as much fun with an Electron box before!

It’s endlessly creative and inspiring to actually play the Syntakt rather than just program a sequence and press start…

I’m not a Syntakt expert by any means though, and I’m not really that good at making techno either, but it when in Rome… had to be done.

One other cool aspect of this setup is that you can also record everything you’re doing on PlayFader into the Elecktron sequencer!!! 👊💥I don’t show it here but it is very simple, just press record and you’re capturing grooves on the fly, ready for editing, playing and even storing them into new patterns!

Love and Patches
Play All Day"

First look at the redesigned MIDIKalimba

video upload by MIDI IN

"Over the last few weeks I've been prototyping a redesigned MIDIKalimba - a touch-pad Kalimba-like MIDI controller. I'm now very happy with this and it's a joy to play.

MIDIKalimba's home page:
https://peacockmedia.software/kalimba"

"MIDIKalimba is a MIDI controller played like a kalimba with fingers or thumbs on touch-sensitive pads and can output:

- MIDI over USB
- MIDI over TRS (a TRS-5-pin DIN lead gives MIDI over 5-pin DIN)

You can set any scale/mode, octave and root note, for example C6 Mixolydian or G4 Minor Pentatonic, and then you'll be able to effortlessly play the notes in that scale and key.

It features velocity-sensitivity for expressive playing."

See https://peacockmedia.software.. for additional details including the user manual.

RIP Ozzy Osbourne 🖤

video upload by RetroSound

"(c)2007-25 by RetroSound
supported by UVI: http://bit.ly/retrosound-uvi

❤️ Support #RetroSound​ channel: https://retrosound.creator-spring.com

Rest in Peace Ozzy
One of my favorite tracks.
Mr. Crowley by Ozzy Osbourne from the album Blizzard of Ozz (1980)

Featured the Moog Minimoog, the Logan String Melody II and the Roland VP-330

This cover song series contains my own recreations of my favourite songs from the last 50 years. The original music from which I take inspiration belong to their respective owners. I recreate tracks only for personal passion and to pay homage to these tracks.

My intention is not to create covers that sound exactly like the original (if you want to hear identical sounds, please listen the original). It's more of an inspiration with my sounds from the old synthesizers from the past and of course the great appreciation for the original performers and producers."

OZZY OSBOURNE - "Mr. Crowley" 1981 (Live Video)

video upload by Ozzy Osbourne

"Ozzy performed "Mr. Crowley" live on TV in Rochester, NY in 1981."

With what appears to be a Roland RS-09 mkI. And the brilliant Randy Rhoads on lead guitar. I hope they are together again.

--

I'm going to miss him. Thanks to RetroSound for the post.

Erica Synths Echolocator Demo (no talking) with TWISTfm and SH-01a

video upload by Limbic Bits

"In this video, I'm exploring the Erica Synths Echolocator — a hands-on stereo delay unit packed with character and performance-focused features. From tape-style echo and BBD-inspired grit to dual shimmer modes and real-time control, it’s built for deep, creative sound shaping. With MIDI and USB integration plus a rugged design, the Echolocator is perfect for both studio and live setups."

0:00 Dub Chord 1 (TWISTfm)
1:11 Cape Lead (TWISTfm)
2:16 Cold Pad (TWISTfm / Shimmer)
4:16 Dub Chord 2 (TWISTfm / Preset morph)
7:36 Mist (TWISTfm)
9:07 Irie plucked Lead (TWISTfm / Slapback)
11:29 Boarder Pad (SH-01a / Reverb)
13:24 IDM Lead (SH-01a / Classic Delay into Reverb)

"Healing" - A Liven Evoke Jam 7/21/2025 #synth #432hz #sonicware #meditationmusic

video upload by I Love Cats and Synths

"My first original jam with the Sonicware Liven Evoke synth. Since I'm going through an emotional and spiritual healing process myself, I decided to call this 'Healing'."

jumble coded

video upload by justin3am

"I was looking for some patch inspiration and decided to use a scanning mixer (Make Noise' Jumbler module) to re-route vocoder channels so the envelop of each band can be routed to the control inputs of other bands. I'm using the Peterlin as the carrier and an old drum loop as the program signal. The rungler out from the Peterlin rotates the channels on the Jumbler, warping the frequency response of the vocoder. I'm using an AnalogFX VXC-2220 for the vocoder here. The Disting mk4 is set to it's frequency shifter algoritm and Beads is doing random repeates."

MIDIMesh

video upload by Asep Bagja

A 2025 MIDI INNOVATION AWARD entry

"The prototype of MIDIMesh. It shows how the sequencer in Ableton Live can control Eurorack modular synth by using MIDIMesh over UDP network. I'm implementing the new specification of Network MIDI 2.0 (UDP).

You can notice when the sequence is changing, then the oscillator changes the pattern too without noticeable latency."

Make Noise Modular Jam - Fracture #01 Live Performance

video upload by Anton Anru

"🎆 Fractures is the result of a series of experiments with the Make Noise modular trio: 0-Coast, Strega, and 0-Ctrl. This combination of instruments is perfectly suited for generative ambient music, where hypnotic repetition merges with expression and dynamic movement.

💽 I recorded a 10-track album using only three Make Noise devices and VST effects. All tracks were recorded live in a single take, with no additional editing. Each piece is built around a sequenced pattern and a complex patch that evolves continuously, shaped manually in real time.

The album is available on all streaming platforms.
➕ SoundCloud: / fractures
➕ Bandcamp: https://anru.bandcamp.com/album/fract...

The album explores a wide emotional range — from brighter, more uplifting moments to darker, more noise-driven textures — offering a diverse sonic journey shaped by the raw, living nature of modular synthesis.

📒 I also have patches for Make Noise and other synthesizers: https://antonanru.sellfy.store/

🎛 Lately, I’ve been more interested in working with simpler forms rather than complex arrangements in DAW. Semi-modular synths are perfect for this approach. In this case, the arrangement is the patch itself. If it’s well thought out, you can easily play a full track in a specific genre—like ambient or techno—using just that one patch.

📝 I’m curious to hear your thoughts—does this kind of format immerse you in a certain mood or evoke a specific emotion? Or does the sound feel too experimental and harder to connect with? I’d really appreciate any feedback. Enjoy listening!"