[HN Gopher] Teenage Engineering's PO-32 acoustic modem and synth...
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       Teenage Engineering's PO-32 acoustic modem and synth implementation
        
       Author : ericlewis
       Score  : 63 points
       Date   : 2026-03-28 01:04 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | larme wrote:
       | That's amazing. I wonder how accurate is the synth engine?
        
         | smlacy wrote:
         | The synth engine is an implementation of
         | https://soniccharge.com/microtonic Not sure what "accurate"
         | means in your context though?
        
           | girvo wrote:
           | How closely it replicates microtonic's, would be my
           | assumption
        
       | kmeisthax wrote:
       | > The PO-32 is not receiving finished drum audio when you
       | transfer a sound or a pattern. It receives structured data:
       | 
       | Wait, isn't this what MIDI is for?
        
         | Elidrake24 wrote:
         | Sure, but being able to share the 'data dump' at the end of a
         | Youtube Video is so much more fun/likely to be used.
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/TLzAyouLQxw?si=mm6goX-cMyEZkwOI&t=102
        
         | iamjackg wrote:
         | All it means is that the PO-32 is not a sampler, it's a
         | synthesizer, so it receives a "preset" for the synth rather
         | than an audio sample.
        
         | itishappy wrote:
         | It's sending sound parameter information (e.g. filter cutoff at
         | 12khz, resonance at 1.6, Q of 0.89) along with note information
         | (e.g. start playing note A4 with velocity 80). You could
         | absolutely use a MIDI CC channel to convey this information.
         | The OP-32 chooses a different route and encodes this into an
         | audio signal so that it can transmit it over the air using the
         | speaker/mic instead of a wireless stack.
         | 
         | I bet it sounds like a dial-up tone!
        
       | gxd wrote:
       | This reminded me of when people used to transfer games over the
       | radio: https://www.racunalniski-muzej.si/en/40-years-later-a-
       | game-f...
        
       | socks wrote:
       | Hey ericlewis - this is cool! Can I ask how you figured it out?!
       | Doing this for my PO-33 was on my bucket list. I thought I might
       | have to resort to voltage glitching to get a firmware dump, which
       | is currently beyond my skills.
        
       | chabes wrote:
       | Digital modules from Mutable Instruments (and related clones +
       | offshoots) use audio-based data transfer for firmware updates.
       | 
       | Interesting way to give the consumer the ability to change the
       | firmware without having to access the back of the module (there's
       | a way to use a serial JTAG adapter as well).
       | 
       | https://github.com/pichenettes/mutable-dev-environment?tab=r...
        
         | scarecrowbob wrote:
         | As I understand it, transferring data as audio goes back quite
         | ways, right?
         | 
         | I had a Commodore 64 that could use phillips tape. I'm drawing.
         | blank, but IIRC there were musical instruments (maybe the
         | roland juno 60?) in the 80s that were storing their data as
         | audio, too.
        
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       (page generated 2026-03-31 23:00 UTC)