SoundGhost release Signa SoundGhost's latest instrument combines a| selection of analogue and digital waveforms with noise sources to create continually evolving soundscapes.

Here’s what happened in crypto todayNeed to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.

JPMorgan doesn’t want to pay Frank founder Charlie Javice’s legal billsA lawyer representing JPMorgan said Javice’s legal team billed for expenses including luxury hotel upgrades, 24 hours of work in a single day, and cellulite butter.

Using the Pyroelectric Effect to Identify Broken MLCC CapacitorsVintage computer hardware can fail in a variety of fascinating ways, with [Bits und Bolts] dealing with an interesting failure mode, in the form of degraded MLCC capacitors on Voodoo 2 graphics cards. These little marvels of miniaturized surface-mount technology enable the placement of ceramic capacitors with very little space required, but as they degrade over time or due to physical damage, they can cause big issues in a circuit.
In the case of the two Voodoo 2 GPUs that [Bits und Bolts] was trying to fix, the clue that something was wrong was graphical glitches, which seemed to be related to something dragging down the 5V rail. Using the standard ‘inject voltage and see what gets hot’ method, he discovered a couple of dead MLCCs and replaced them. But something was still dragging the rail down. Unfortunately, whatever it was wasn’t enough to heat up the part in question, and no sane person wants to desolder hundreds or even thousands of MLCCs on a PCB and see whether it makes a difference.
Ultimately, the pyroelectric effect was used to hunt down the culprit, saving countless hours of work. This is a property of certain naturally electrically polarized crystals, in which the material generates a voltage when heated or cooled. Materials like that used in MLCCs, for example.

With a hot air gun set to 200 °C and aimed at a specific MLCC, it was possible to measure changes not only in resistivity but also in voltage between the 5V rail and ground. The voltage spike was relatively minor for the smaller MLCCs, but the larger ones showed a significant voltage swing of around 2.5mV.
The culprit turned out to be a large MLCC, which showed only a weak pyroelectric effect and a resistivity that didn’t drop as quickly as that of similar MLCCs on the same board. After replacement, the faulty MLCC did indeed measure as faulty, and the card’s 5V rail now showed a healthy resistance level to ground.
In addition to knowing what kind of resistivity you should measure on a PCB’s voltage rails relative to ground, this method provides a fairly painless way to quickly find a dodgy MLCC. Just make sure not to try this method on electrolytic or tantalum. Heating those up won’t go well.
We often treat decoupling capacitors as more art than science, but of course, we shouldn’t. MLCCs can even exhibit the piezoelectric effect, too.

GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Dance/Electronic RecordingThe 2025 GRAMMY nominations are here and we're going to help you to untangle it all right up until the big event, continuing with the Best Dance/Electronic Recording category.

Take a listen to the nominated recordings below--who do you think will win?

See the full list of nominees in every category here.

No CapDisclosure & Anderson .PaakDisclosure, producer; Guy Lawrence, mixer

Victory LapFred again.., Skepta, & PlaqueBoyMaxBlake Cascoe, Berwyn Du Bois, Fred again.., Darcy Lewis, Dan Mayo & PlaqueBoyMax, producers; Tom Norris, mixer

SPACE INVADERKAYTRANADAKAYTRANADA, producer; KAYTRANADA, mixer

VOLTAGESkrillexJohn Feldmann & Skrillex, producers; Luca Pretolesi, Skrillex & Virtual Riot, mixers

End Of SummerTame ImpalaKevin Parker, producer; Kevin Parker, mixer

KAYTRANADA photo by Hannah SiderThe post GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Dance/Electronic Recording first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Sweetwater offers Arturia Analog Lab Intro for FREE, requires US address
Sweetwater offers the Analog Lab Intro virtual instrument plugin by Arturia for free for a limited time. The only caveat is that you’ll need to enter a US address to get the free download. Analog Lab Intro gives you access to 500 hand‑tuned presets drawn from their V Collection instrument emulations. You can grab it by filling out the [...]
View post: Sweetwater offers Arturia Analog Lab Intro for FREE, requires US address

Bjoern Bojahr 66 free sounds for JUNEThis archive contains 66 sounds for AudioThing's JUNE software synthesizer. With this sound set, I have recreated my favorite sounds from the past, as well as some sounds that are inspired by more modern songs. Read More

Vortex, Webcore & Dust from UJAM UJAM's latest Usynth offerings promise to “embody the energy and experimentation of the online music scene”, delivering everything from distorted nostalgia and glitched textures to hypercharged bass and expressive arpeggios.

Databricks co-founder argues US must go open source to beat China in AIVC Andy Konwinski argues that the U.S. is losing its AI research dominance to China.

GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Pop Vocal AlbumThe 2025 GRAMMY nominations are here and we're going to help you to untangle it all right up until the big event, continuing with the Best Pop Vocal Album category.

Take a listen to the nominated pop albums below--who do you think will win?

See the full list of nominees in every category here.

SWAGJustin Bieber

Man's Best FriendSabrina Carpenter

Something BeautifulMiley Cyrus

MAYHEMLady Gaga

I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2)Teddy SwimsThe post GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Pop Vocal Album first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

SOL drops to 5-month low despite Solana spot ETF success: Is $100 next?Solana ETFs recorded inflows for 13 consecutive days, but SOL price lost key technical support levels, sparking fears of a drop to $100.

Meet Me on My Rotary PhoneWe suspect kids today — and some adults — are confused about phone terminology. In today’s world, “hanging up” and “dialing,” for example, are abstract words without the physical reference that older people remember. But some people have a soft spot for the old rotary dial phones, including [Stavros], who wired a rotary phone to his computer for use on online meetings. Check out the video below.
He took an old rotary phone and wanted to program a Raspberry Pi Zero to act as a sound card and a keyboard. That way, he could connect to the meeting by picking up the handset and disconnect by hanging up. He also planned to read the dial and convert that into keyboard input.

If that sounds like a big project, it’s because it is. [Stavros] decided to use Claude Opus 4.1 to write the code for him, but was stymied by the $200/month price tag. So he wrote some code to send queries on a pay-as-you-go plan. After $50 was spent, the code was in worse shape than the first version. So much for vibe coding.
Plan B was — his words, not ours — shameful. He used a cheap USB sound card, an RP2040 to act like the keyboard, and a hub to make it simple to connect. Cases were removed, and boards were integrated into the phone to make a working project.
We do appreciate that [Stavros] tries not to irreversibly damage the old gear when he makes a mod like this. He uses a 3D printed connector to replace the old press-fit connections on the phone’s PCB, and it is all highly reversible.
While Claude didn’t help the development much, perhaps [Stavros] can use the phone to talk to Claude. We’ve seen a number of rotary phone hacks over the years.
https://www.stavros.io/posts/i-converted-a-rotary-phone-into-a-meeting-handset/meeting-phone-demo.mp4

‘I see an explosion of hybrid sounds coming from Africa. The next big global hits will come from these cultural crossovers.’MBW’s World Leaders series meets Nuno Rocha, Head of Business Development for MENA, Lusophone, and Francophone markets at ONErpm
Source

NatLife Sounds All About The House Vol.1 for DUNE 3NatLife Sounds proudly presents the newest DUNE 3 soundbank created by talented Tech House producer – VVOKAA. This is a powerful House soundset for DUNE 3, crafted to bring modern groove, energy and clarity to your music. All About The House Vol.1 delivers 46 high-quality presets for various House subgenres: Tech House, Progressive, Deep House, Organic House, Acid House and more. Inspired by the best grooves and club-ready hits, this collection lets you dive deep into the heart of modern house music. Each preset is designed to expand your creative possibilities and add fresh character to your tracks. Inside you'll find 46 presets for Synapse Audio DUNE 3: 11 Groovy Bass Presets. 8 Melodic Pluck Presets. 8 Signature Lead Presets. 6 Powerful Arp Presets. 5 Chord Presets. 5 Pad Presets. 3 Drum Presets. All presets include Mod Wheel assignments for intuitive and expressive sound shaping. Read More

Giuloz releases VirtualJV, a FREE Roland JV-880 emulation for macOS and Windows
Giulioz is an Italian developer building a solid reputation for emulating iconic digital hardware who has now released Giuloz VirtualJV, a free Roland JV-880 emulation for macOS and Windows. At the start of this year, we examined RdPiano by Giulioz, an emulation of classic digital pianos such as the Roland MKS-20, RD-1000, and the Rhodes [...]
View post: Giuloz releases VirtualJV, a FREE Roland JV-880 emulation for macOS and Windows