The official Head Case broadcast thread

[Knuckledragger]

Final Test Tone from W.Mass airs tonight(!)

[Knuckledragger]

Test Tone @ Home is live on the internets right now! https://testtone.mixlr.com/

[Knuckledragger]

Making strides to getting back on the air.  First mater of consideration is where I'm going to set up a DJ rig.  The second is the time.  I think I'm going to still be on Fridays, but start an hour earlier.  That means 9PM-11PM Eastern, then of course nearly an hour of yammering on the mic afterward.

[Knuckledragger]

Oof.  So I've spent ...entirely too long today working on getting a temporary (or "temporary" if one prefers) setup going.  It has been an uphill battle.  Long time listeners will remember I made use of a Native Instruments Traktor Audio 6 USB audio interface for years. 

It served as both the dual stereo outputs for my DJ software as well as the analogue inputs for Mixlr.  It died a slow and awkward death.  I have been trying to diagnose its issues today.  What I've learned so far:  The device is called an "Audio 6" because it has 6 stereo pairs: 3 in and 3 out.  They are grouped into "Main" "A" and "B.  The "Main" pair is completely shot.  I have not tested the Main inputs today, but given that they were the point of failure when I stopped using this unit, I suspect they have not magically un-fucked themselves.  In addition to that knowledge, I have also figured out that the Main ouputs are just as dead.  Both the Main RCA outs and the headphone jack (which is permanently routed to Main out) produce nothing but horrid, headphone destroying static. 

The good news is that output A and output B appear to be working.  This is a plus as I need a good 4channel USB DAC for this "temporary" setup, preferably one with RCA outs.  I haven't done a proper test with a DJ mixer yet, but so far the Audio 6 looks promising.  Unfortunately, that is the only good news.  I still have to find a space in a tiny room to set up my large-ish 19" DJ mixer, laptop and necessary USB audio widgets.  I also need at least one USB audio device with a working stereo pair of inputs.  In the past I have used an Onkyo MSE-U33HB which dates from the turn of the millennium and was primarily sold outside of the US:

Right before I moved, and again recently I confirmed that the output stage of my unit is dead.  It's probably something as simple as bad capacitors, but it's beyond my ability to fix them.  I need to rest the input stage and see if it's similarly dead.  If it isn't, I'm going to once again press the Onkyo into service as my Mixlr Box.  If it fails that test, I'm going to have to get creative.

[Knuckledragger]

*blows copious amounts of dust off this thread*

Native Instruments is circling the drain.  Due to some bad financial decisions by them in the previous decade + the vampire squid that is private capital, they may never release a new version of Traktor.  I am now testing out DJay Pro.  It's "free" on the app store, but requires a $50/year subscription I hate SaaS just let me buy the fucking thing I swear every MBA needs to die UH I MEAN the base version appears to be functional.  The UI is alien to me, but that's what 16 years of Traktor does to a MFer.  I'm not saying there's going to be a one-off test broadcast tonight, but there is now some possibility.

[Knuckledragger]

Got one of my two Thunderbolt docks, my DJ mixer, my MOTU M4 and all the appropriate wires out.  I've got nearly everything set up and my Thunderbolt cable has gone missing.  I cannot find it anywhere.  I had it at the start of the evening and it's now touring outer Waziristan.  No show tonight.  Maybe one tomorrow.