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Comment by kmeisthax | Hacker News Reader

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kmeisthax

> 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?

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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

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!

Would have been easier to say it receives patches - I think most people would get this.

The word "patch" has a naming conflict between the disciplines of synthesizers and software.

what you mean? synthesisers are software... I think the context is clear here and we're talking about software made for music, so the usage of patch is accurate. If author wanted to use "patch" to mean patching a file they would likely be specific or context could be inferred.

"A patch is data for modifying an existing software resource such as a program or a file"

Which is what patching synths/drum machines (and files) does.

The specific values of all of the settings on a synthesizer (including the inputs and outputs of any cables in a modular synth) have been referred to as a "patch" for a very long time. That's why the cables are known as "patch cables".

If you, for example, download sysex files for a DX7, they will often be referred to as "patches".

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.

> Wait, isn't this what MIDI is for?

It is but I don’t think this Pocket Operator has MIDI without adding third party hardware.

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