Image: JoeLMutantE

Check out this very nice x0xb0x bassline synth, with TB303 Mods by JoeLMutantE:

A clone killer TB303 sound with a clone killer enclosure aspect TB303 alike.

via the Synthtopia Flickr Group

Matrix is getting his daughter Alexandra off to a good start – letting her rock the theremin at 15 months.

She also likes the knob-laden glory of the x0xb0x:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If that’s not enough cute for you, here’s Matrix’s Mexican Bag-Killing Cat:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a quick demo of the awesomely cute and powerful MFB 522 Drumcomputer.

You can love the MFB-522 because it’s a drumcomputer with a fully analog sound engine and plenty of editing options.

Or you can  love it just because it’s tiny and cute.

See this earlier MFB 522 drum machine post for more details.

via pac209

A little life freestyle acid for you, featuring Roland TR-606, TR-707, MC-202, SH-1, CSQ-100 and x0xb0x.

MP3 link below:

via synthdood

DIY Modular……House? – captures neandrewthal’s modular synth jam:

I was trying to make more drones, but things got groovin’ The polysix and x0x were an afterthought, so they aren’t in sync with anything.

Adafruit’s Limor Fried demos a project to create an inexpensive wireless MIDI system. This could be used to hook up something like Processing/PureData/Max to a MIDI device.

You can read the details on the project at the LadyAda site.

This is a little x0xbox+asm acid synth jam.

via lesingemonotone:

Jamming with my ASM-1 and selfsourced x0xb0x.

The drums are supplied by my modded TR-606.

 Can an inexpensive DIY x0xb0x synthesizer sound as good as a $1,000+ vintage Roland TB-303 Computer-Controlled Bassline Synthesizer?

Give this demo a listen and you make the call.

Here’s the details for the hardcore DIY’ers:

This is a side-comparisson between two selfsourced x0xb0xes and a TB-303. Both of x0xb0xes use the original Roland BA662-VCA, but the blue one has a SK30Y-type transistor in the oscillator where the other one uses SK30-AO.

This is how synth freaks start out the new year – with some x0xb0x Modular Acid!

Notes neandrewthal: 

Kicking off 2009 with one last jam using all the gear I built over the last year.  Aside from the droning bass, the modular is on full time drum duties. 

ripe909 does his Trance Trash thing live, with help from the Octopus, SE BassLine x0xb0x, Machinedrum, Revolution, JP-8080, oh and, yes, some Virus. 

Does this guy have the gear, or what?

Let me know what you think of Trance Trash in the comments.

A mellow acid track featuring the SE BassLine x0xb0x as 303. Sequenced on the genoQs Octopus, with 909 for drums and a little Machinedrum and virus TI.

Not sure if this is awesome or if I was just hypnotized by all the blinky lights…..

This is one of the sexiest TB303 clones I’ve seen – the SEBassLine. It’s a new custom 303 clone based on the x0xb0x.

The x0xb0x is a cool DIY project – but this makes it sextacular.

The SE BassLine can be purchased for $1500 USD. Shipping is included within the continental United States.

Here’s another demo:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sound designer Justin McGrath demos the classic Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, with a bit of accompaniment courtesy of a x0xb0x TB-303 bassline synth clone.

In this GearWire video, Justin McGrath demos his x0xb0x DIY Roland TB-303 clone.

repeatle created this bassline showdown – a comparison between the x0xb0x, TB-303 and ABL 2.10.

And guess what? They’re all good…..

Limor Fried, aka LadyAda, has introduced Wave Shield, a way to add audio output to Arduino projects:

Adding quality audio to an electronic project is surprisingly difficult. People tend to end up either using low-quality ISD chips (you might get 8Khz sampling rate for 30seconds out of these, if you’re lucky!) or mucking around with trying to control a CD or MP3 player. Although it’s possible to generate audio direct from a microcontroller using a PWM output, the quality is often low and its hard to fit a lot of music in an EEPROM chip. You can buy an embedded MP3 player board, but they’re either expensive or difficult to use!

Here is a shield for Arduino that solves many of these problems. It can play up to 22KHz, 12bit uncompressed audio files of any length. It’s low cost, available as an easy-to-make kit. It has an onboard DAC, filter and op-amp for high quality output. Audio files are read off of an SD/MMC card, which are available at nearly any store. Volume can be controlled with the onboard thumbwheel potentiometer.

The shield comes with an Arduino library for easy use; simply drag uncompressed wave files onto the SD card and plug it in. Then use the library to play audio when buttons are pressed, or when a sensor goes off, or when serial data is received, etc. Audio is played asynchronously as an interrupt, so the Arduino can perform tasks while the audio is playing.

Features:

• Can play any uncompressed 22KHz, 16bit, mono Wave (.wav) files of any size. While it isnt CD quality, it is certainly good enough to play music, have spoken word, or audio effects
• Output is mono, into L and R channels, standard 3.5mm headphone jack and a connection for a speaker that is switched on when the headphones are unplugged
• Files are read off of FAT16 formatted SD/MMC card
• Included library makes playing audio easy

Fried offers several suggested possible uses:

• Make a portable audio player
• Use the AT&T text-to-speech site to make snippets of speech that you string together for a talking project, like..
• Talking temperature sensor
• Talking clock
• Interfaces for sight-impared people
• Doorbell that plays a cool tune
• Jukebox/music-box that plays a song when its opened, or a coin is inserted
• Security system that warns the intruder
• Audio looper for musical effects and performances
• Synthesizer with different sounds
• Really freaky halloween props that scream
• Display (like a point-of-sale box) that you can plug into to hear the message

LadyAda, aka Limor Fried, has a new DIY kit, the Boarduino Arduino clone.

If you’ve ever struggled to use a solderless breadboard with an Arduino, you understand how frustrating it can be! I designed this Arduino clone to solve this problem in an inexpensive DIY fashion. Kits with all parts are available in the Adafruit webshop for $17.50

The Boarduino is an Arduino clone: when programmed with the Arduino bootloader, it can talk to the Arduino software and run sketches just like the original.

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform designed for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. 

Fried is also behind the excellent x0xb0x synth and several other cool DIY projects. 

x0xb0x demo

Soldering a x0xb0x

x0xb0x MODS jam

Dual x0xb0x Demo

303909×0x

x0xb0x is a very cool DIY project that recreates the classic Roland TB303.

emerography via AudioLemon

If you’re not familiar with the x0xb0x, it’s a circuit-accurate recreation of the electronics of the popular TB-303 bassline synth, with an updated sequencer and some goodies like MIDI and USB connectivity.

The blog takes you from starting with a box, through this:

All the way through the completion of x0xb0x #121.

Interesting for synth lovers and acid freaks alike. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of the x0xb0x electronics, check out acid sounds of SubAtomicGlues’s x0x jam session.