iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 09/04/2026

Project Hail Mary was amazing! It was one of my favorite theater experiences in forever! 🛰️😎☄️🚀

Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 04/04/2026

"Sample rates above 48kHz are just marketing." Not true in DSP land! Many digital filtering and interp techniques produce more refined results with over sampling! Not to mention processing signals that interact with supersonic spectral content.

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 31/03/2026

Experiments with Just intonation and microtonal harmony continue! My latest finding is that Just intervals play very nice with FM synthesis 🤯 Currently surfing the DPO waves and inhabiting a far away and harmonically lush region of space 🛰️🏄‍♂️ #synthsky #modular #makenoise

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 25/03/2026

Find the thing that makes you feel this way and cherish it! #music #gratitude

A hand written note reading, "The feeling of remembering why something is your favorite thing over and over again." I wrote this in a quiet moment at a Dead & Company show

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 24/03/2026

Indian musical traditions and ragas are new (rapidly exploding) interests of mine. I'm honestly surprised there isn't more noise about them in the modular world! Subharmonicon explored Just Intonation and harmonics, but I feel like Lyra ragas solves the 'polyphony problem' in a really elegant way.

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 20/03/2026

Remember when VS Code was the alternative to IDE bloat? Sound Byte Labs 'members. I've been using Zed for about a month. I'm a converted user now I think. It's very good and fast and has a clean UX. Excels at ... editing text.

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 19/03/2026

It was confusing people at the event that my portable DSP stack was running on Daisy hardware, so naturally I built it for ARM Linux hosts as well 😂 Audio was captured directly from the application, no added FX. The full Sound Byte Labs audio stack will be open source when it hits beta. #dsp #oss

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 13/03/2026

After doing a DSP deep dive over the last year I now get why reverb is one of the discipline's holy grails. Ain't easy to do it right. #embedded #dsp #synthdiy

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 06/03/2026

If you're in Chicago come see what I've been up to next Sunday! I'll have half a table and some fun prototype gear to play with! Tons of other boutique and not-so-boutique vendors will be there too 🎸🎹🕺 #chicago #synthsky #marz #fleamarket

Poster for Chicago Synth flea market at Marz Community Brewing in Bridgeport. Sunday March 15, 2026 1-6PM

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 02/03/2026

My cross-vendor ARM audio library is starting to do very synth-y things! Stay tuned for lots more on this front 👀 #synthsky #synthdiy #arm #embedded #dsp

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 02/03/2026

I honestly can't wait for Steam Machines because I'm so ready to ditch Windows permanently 🤢

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 01/03/2026

One time I came to in medias res and found myself arguing with Finn, Anthropic's customer service chatbot about whether Claude was being wasteful with tokens. It was at that time I knew that the 5 hour token limit was a good thing. 🤖

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 26/02/2026

Ask me if the cable is good one more time, Claude. #agentic #fafo #embedded

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 18/02/2026

I'm not afraid to admit it, I love C++! Fight me 🤺 #embedded #synthdiy

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 13/02/2026

A half hour of video games in the morning is such a nice way to wake up 🤗

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 09/02/2026

Where has feedback been my entire synth life?? I guess I was a bit scared of damaging my system or my hearing, but when used carefully I've really been enjoying the spectrum of feedback from adding some tasty saturation to high pitched howling and back! #modular #synthsky

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 04/02/2026

I wasn't super excited about the Make Noise Multiwave because I usually don't gel with wave tables but then I played one at the music store! Absolutely killer sounds coming out of that thing. Pretty sure Tony & crew did it again 🤩 #synthsky #modular

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 02/02/2026

And on the Doepfer topic, I also appreciate the build quality and component selection. Dedicated to keeping their modules repairable by keeping everything thru-hole and shipping boards with DIP sockets for easy chip swapping. I like that. #synthsky #modular

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 02/02/2026

I've never drooled over them like Make Noise or Mutable, but all 3 of my Doepfer modules have quietly made their way into the 'indispensable' tier that never leaves the case. Maths, Pam's, @intellijel.com Quad VCA and Dixie II+. It's not crowded up there! #synthsky #modular

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 01/02/2026

If you're working on a 'for serious' music project, don't forget to take time to play just for fun!

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 31/01/2026

One trend among many that I'm grumpy about is the sustained attack by tech & media companies and prolonged apathy from consumers on the value of creative work. I'm definitely that guy wringing my hands about what endless content feeds are doing to us. We're in a very 'the medium is the message'...

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 31/01/2026

It sucks that modular synths are an expensive hobby, but I absolutely love the community and their willingness to support boutique and experimental instrument makers. For me it's a bright spot in the otherwise soul-sucking race to the bottom in consumer products & expectations! #modular #synthsky

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 31/01/2026

If you're a software engineer or adjacent and you're concerned about AI automation, you might consider that understanding software at the code level is likely to be an increasingly rare skill. Lots of companies will choose the short term profit gains of automation, but I'm skeptical that ...

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 29/01/2026

First power of the Gatekeeper prototype did not result in any obvious shorts or heating! Additional testing and first firmware dump later today! Excuse my awful hand soldering 💀 #synthdiy

Shot of the bottom of the Gatekeeper PCB

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 28/01/2026

My favorite Bruxa patch so far was cranking the resonance on QPAS till it was self-oscillating at a pleasant pitch, then feeding that into Bruxa and playing with the cutoff frequency and radiate controls on QPAS. Really nice gliding effect through the harmonics generated by the self-oscillation!

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 27/01/2026

I'm really glad Neural DSP introduced the Quad Cortex mini because now it can be out of my price range by half as much 🙏

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 27/01/2026

Said goodbye to the Squid Salmple and welcomed a few more members to the Church of Make Noise 🤩 They are beautiful 🚀🎸 #modular #synthsky #makenoise

Make Noise Bruxa Eurorack module, a time/filter experiment

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 22/01/2026

I knew it! Buying the PO-24 Office was totally not impulsive and completionist consumerism! I knew it would come in handy one day. And she looks right at home 🤩 #modular #pocketoperators #teenageengineering #synthsky

PO-24 Office pocket operator hooked into a modular synthesizer. The input has a sync signal and the output is stereo audio

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 21/01/2026

I feel like the Gatekeeper module needs one more output, which is just a normally open direct connection to the CV input, controlled by the gate button. This seems obvious in retrospect 🤔 #synthdiy #modular

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 21/01/2026

I still randomly pat myself on the back for the time I successfully convinced my entire friend group chat and immediate family members to switch from WhatsApp to Signal 😂 It is possible!

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 20/01/2026

I'm not one to long for the past but I do think it would be cool if sticking a feather in your cap was a good reason to puff your chest out and strut a bit 🤷‍♂️

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 19/01/2026

If you find out it's someone's birthday, put it in your calendar and wish them a happy birthday next year! People really appreciate being thought of like that and it makes that day even more special 💕

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 17/01/2026

Making an EP at home is great until you start wanting to sample your own acoustic instruments and perc 😭 I love my wife for not batting an eye at me locking myself in the bedroom closet with a box of shakers and tone woods 😍🤣 #synthsky #modular

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 15/01/2026

For all my griping about MIDI, 2.0 actually looks workable and I look forward to its wide adoption. For now, experimenting with MPE!

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 15/01/2026

I know they're different things, but I can't decide whether to save for an Ableton Push 3 or a Linnstrument! My DAW mixing and control needs are real, but so is my love of strange and expressive instruments 😱 That continuous pitch slide on the Linnstrument tho... 🤤 #synthsky

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 13/01/2026

Sampling acoustic instruments into Morphagene feels like cheating! #modular #synthsky

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 12/01/2026

Great. Now I know about Chase Bliss pedals. My wallet is cooked 😱💀🪦

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 12/01/2026

You know what would be a cool euro module? A Hi-Z instrument input with a good pre-amp, maybe an FX send/return! Turn your #modular into a guitar amp 🎸🤘

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 11/01/2026

The Music Never Stops 🎸🎶🥁 RIP Bobby Weir 😔 I feel so blessed to have been able to attend Grateful Dead 60 last year for his final performance with D&C. Today is a tough one for a lot of people 🥺

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 08/01/2026

So weird to me Flying Lotus has been putting out music for 20 years! 🤯 Can we mention him next to Dilla and RZA in the 🐐 conversation yet?? #flylo #idm #goodmusic

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 08/01/2026

I second guessed acquiring a QPAS for exactly 3.4 seconds, then I started turning the knobs 🤩 This thing sounds insane! I'm kind of obsessed rn with creating vocal formant sounds by patching envelopes into the "radiate" inputs 🤯 #modular #makenoise

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 07/01/2026

If there's one piece of gear I would actually love to hate, it's the Korg SQ-1 but I can't quit it 🤣😤 Sync is broken out of the box but if you're willing to repeatedly scour the internet for a solution, you'll eventually find out about the hidden sync mode setting that unbreaks it 🤷‍♂️

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 06/01/2026

Excited as always to get to the prototype manufacturing stage & wait impatiently for my purple PCBs from @oshpark.bsky.social ! Gatekeeper is coming alive in 4HP! #modular #synthsky #eurorack

A close up of the bottom lower section of the Gatekeeper PCB. The text reads: Sound Bite Labs. Gatekeeper Logic Board v0.9. Copyright 2026 Michael Skiles.

A picture of a purple PCB. The bottom of the gatekeeper module is shown.

The top view of the Gatekeeper logic board. All surface mount components are on bottom.

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 04/01/2026

One method for getting unstuck when you can't decide what to work on is to get distracted and start practicing Flight of the Bumblebee on electric guitar 🐝🎸 At least it feels productive 🤷‍♂️

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 29/12/2025

Buffered mults are deeeeecent. But what you really want is your output to passively drive multiple inputs. That's the good stuff right there 🤗 #synthdiy #modular

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 27/12/2025

Today I'm workshopping silkscreen art for Sound Byte Labs PCBs! This is Quincy 🚀👾 #synthsky #modular #pixelart

A 3 color pixel art drawing of a spaceman holding a flag that reads "SBL". The background is green like a printed circuit board. The outlines are white silkscreen and there are gold accents.

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 23/12/2025

All I want for Christmas is thousands of dollars worth of Make Noise modules and that new @intellijel.com Performance case

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 21/12/2025

Oh hello, Warps 👀 Some days you go to the music store for a MIDI cable and there is a beautiful Mutable Instruments module calling your name from the modular room 🤩 They look so happy together! #modular #mutableinstruments #synthsky #plaits #warps

Mutable Instruments Warps Eurorack module seated next to Plaits

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Sound Byte Labs @soundbytelabs.net · 20/12/2025

TIL the hard lesson of not enabling the watchdog timer until the boot sequence is finished 😔 One more brick for the pile! #synthdiy #firmware

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