FM-1 Workbench - Hacker News

Posted by simonebrunozzi 5 hours ago

172 points | 95 commentspage 3

varispeed 4 hours ago|

I find it fascinating. Basically people get ability to run AI made crap vst plugins in a calculator sized box and yet they go crazy about it.

I wonder how long this will last.

This also got companies like Behringer an idea that they can just release the hardware and people will create firmware for free. Genius.

edit: that reminds me I actually bought one too, but forgot about it. Still unopened.

Blackthorn 1 hour ago||

> yet they go crazy about it.

Well, of course. They're able to get the stuff they want to run off of the computer, and onto the device. Not everyone hates working in the box, but a lot of people do.

> This also got companies like Behringer an idea that they can just release the hardware and people will create firmware for free. Genius.

Honestly, this is great. Getting viable hardware with annoying shit like buttons and knobs is beyond the reach of a lot of developers, but writing software is not.

EmX_3000 3 hours ago||

I'm surprised there isn't a sturdy generic VST-runner box with an interface to configure the MIDI in / out and which VSTs will run. A sort of headless generic synth. My Roland VariOS synth from ages ago which I got for like $50 works like this, you use a WIN32 or Classic Mac computer to load and configure the various synths (it has a couple emulators or workalikes for older synths, plus a crazy synth that chops up and munges incoming audio under MIDI control) and then you only need to power the 1U rack mounted module unless you're designing patches, in which case you have to attach a computer.

Something like this but for VSTs would be killer.

Blackthorn 1 hour ago|||

This exists for CLAP: https://cdm.link/sndstation-linux-distro-for-game-handhelds/; you can watch a preview of what one of the authors created for it here: https://youtu.be/0cHvzRsJg-A.

A couple of these exist in guitar pedal form for lv2 (which is a dead format): Mod Audio Dwarf, and pistomp.

Nothing for VST3 that I'm aware of. Maybe the new Akai stuff?

anigbrowl 1 hour ago||||

There have been a whole bunch of them, and most of them fail because they spend so much effort on getting the box and the screen running with low-no latency that the actual control surface is usually an afterthought. Touchscreens are absolute ass for performance but most engineers don't appreciate that you need some sort of note input, at least 16 buttons to function as a sequencer, and at least rotary encoders, and they have to be good encoders because musicians get carried away when they're jamming.

diskzero 3 hours ago|||

There is/was; the Muse Research Receptor. It might be overly complex for what you are thinking of, but it existed.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/muse-research-receptor

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/muse-research-receptor-...

You can pick them up, often fully loaded with plugins, for a few hundred dollars. I wrote parts of the system. They were running Linux and fun to hack on.

I currently work in the professional audio industry and know of a few modern efforts underway to produce modern version of this, but I am not convinced there is market for such a device anymore.

EmX_3000 3 hours ago||

That's a really cool. It doesn't look overly-complicated, just perfect actually. I might keep my eyes peeled for one of these things, I love scrounging around for old MIDI gear. Used to be a lot cheaper than it is these days, ironically. Build quality on most everything was top notch too.

I'm sure a lot of professional musicians would probably prefer to use something less fragile than a laptop, something you can rack up, with no pesky desktop OS niggles to worry about during a show. As you know many instruments today are simply dedicated VST runners with a handy physical interface, see Roland's Boutique and Aira synths. I have an MPC One which I love, it can run proprietary VSTs. Maybe such convergences have killed the need for a dedicated box.

diskzero 3 hours ago||

They are super cool! Look on Reverb. As I said, you sometimes end up with some fully licensed, expensive plugins as well. A lot of us can probably survive being a couple of versions behind.

I know for a fact new devices like this are on the horizon, but it just might not be the form factor that you are looking for.

EmX_3000 2 hours ago||

For me the main issue is the VST-as-a-service model which is already taking over. I don't sub or micro-transact. The Roland VariOS thing I have had very expensive instruments too, luckily mine came with the CF card with all the ones which exist. I've never hooked my MPC up to the Internet to get VSTs either, I'm quite happy with what I have actually. I have been fiddling with electronic music for a long long time, and I remember when VSTs hit the scene, I got VST-itis and must have pirated everything under the sun but that leads to choice paralysis (same as getting all the MAME ROMs back in the day). Now I'm happier getting more out of what I have by using my brain a bit. Having generic USB MIDI on the MPC has been amazing though, everything is so much tighter without having to daisy-chain and even Roger Linn is impressed by how tight the timing is. 9 ins and outs is incredible, if I need more I just attach another generic USB MIDI interface.

It's actually a golden age for the MIDI fan but there's a lot of complaining to be done too about aspects of it. Cheapness and hooking you to a store being two big ones.

viklove 3 hours ago||

Is this an ad?

th0ma5 3 hours ago|

[dead]