Hacker News with Generative AI: Audio

Show HN: Sober Ringtones – Cringe-free ringtones for people who hate ringtones (wize.io)
Ever found yourself scrolling through ringtones on your brand-new phone, only to realize you can't find one that wouldn't make you and everyone around you cringe?
Software, Mobile Apps, User Experience, Audio
49 points by francescobonomi 4 days ago | 25 comments
Show HN: WhisperCat – An Audio Recorder and Transcription Tool (github.com/ddxy)
WhisperCat is your personal companion for capturing audio, transcribing it, and managing it in one seamless interface.
Software, Audio, Transcription, Tools
8 points by Slaight 12 days ago | 0 comments
PipeWire Is Doing an Excellent Job Handling Audio/Video Streams on the Desktop (phoronix.com)
Red Hat engineer and PipeWire lead developer Wim Taymans presented at FOSDEM 2025 last weekend around the state of the PipeWire project for this integral component to the modern Linux desktop.
Linux, Audio, Video, Open Source, Desktop
6 points by LinuxBender 15 days ago | 0 comments
Sonos Cuts 12% of Workers in Bid to Improve Product Organization (bloomberg.com)
Sonos Inc. said it’s cutting about 12% of its staff, or 200 workers, in a bid to make its product teams “flatter, smaller and more focused.”
Business, Layoffs, Technology, Audio
6 points by solardev 15 days ago | 0 comments
What does it mean that MP3 is free? (idiallo.com)
The MP3 format, once the gold standard for digital audio files, is now free. The licensing and patents on MP3 encoders have expired, meaning you can now include them in your applications without paying royalties. For software developers and audio enthusiasts, this might seem like a big deal. But, surprisingly, almost no one noticed. Why? Because the world of technology has changed so drastically that MP3's significance has faded into the background.
Technology, Audio, Software, Licensing, Patents
164 points by foxfired 16 days ago | 103 comments
Ask HN: Why isn't an open source A/V receiver a thing? (ycombinator.com)
So FFmpeg can decode pretty much any modern home theatre audio standard, including the multi-channel Atmos and DTS. It can take HDMI input, process the audio as separate channels on the fly, mapping them to a sound card, while passing through the video further out. There are very good sound cards that can process the channels and pass the analog signal to also very good and inexpensive, audiofile-level amplifiers.<p>Why isn’t building a modular A/V receiver a thing, then?
Open Source, Audio, Home Theater, Hardware
15 points by cromka 21 days ago | 9 comments
Ask HN: Is onboard audio still good enough compared to dedicated Sound Cards? (ycombinator.com)
Recently, I upgraded my outdated PC to a Z890 motherboard, primarily because it was significantly discounted compared to AMD alternatives.
Audio, Hardware, Personal Computers, Technology, Comparisons
66 points by monkburger 22 days ago | 73 comments
Show HN: Design/build of some parametric speaker cabinets with OpenSCAD (calbryant.uk)
This post documents a saga of speaker design dating back to 2019. Since then, I’ve been gradually working on a CAD model for a new set of what started as (yet another) subwoofer, but became some compact 2-way office ribbon speakers.
Open Source, 3D Printing, Audio, DIY, Design
66 points by naggie 25 days ago | 27 comments
Yoodio generative radio stations app – looking for testers (youtube.com)
Generative AI, Mobile Apps, Audio, Testing
4 points by quicheshore 26 days ago | 0 comments
The Ribbon Microphone (khz.ac)
Audio, Music Production, Equipment, Recording
207 points by glittershark 33 days ago | 65 comments
"Better for you if you take me off" – The Whispering Earring (gwern.net)
Creative Projects, Fiction, Technology, Audio
12 points by barry-cotter 34 days ago | 2 comments
Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out (keydiscussions.com)
A couple of weeks ago I noticed my pair of AirPods Pro 2 aggressively switching me into Transparency mode. It seemed like a bug. Again and again I would have to manually switch back out of Transparency mode. Annoying.
Apple, AirPods, Audio, User Interface, Technology
69 points by spenvo 38 days ago | 40 comments
Sonos CEO Leaves Company (sonos.com)
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., January 13, 2025 – Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) today announced that the Sonos Board of Directors and Patrick Spence have agreed that Mr. Spence will step down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and as a member of the Board effective today.
Business, Leadership, Technology, Audio
20 points by FinnKuhn 40 days ago | 4 comments
Free music archive (freemusicarchive.org)
Free access to original music & creators
Music, Audio, Creative Commons
179 points by empressplay 41 days ago | 27 comments
Show HN: I've been posting a sound I made everyday day for the last year (listenfaster.com)
A minute of sound a day.
Creative Projects, Audio, Sound Design, Music
9 points by listenfaster 46 days ago | 2 comments
Building Ultra Long Range Toslink (benjojo.co.uk)
This post is a textual version of a talk I gave at The 38th Chaos Computer Congress at the end of 2024. You can watch the talk that was recorded by the wonderful C3VOC team below if that’s your preferred medium:
Electronics, Networking, Hardware, Audio
279 points by ingve 46 days ago | 118 comments
Show HN: Asak – cross-platform audio recording/playback CLI tool written in Rust (github.com/chaosprint)
A cross-platform audio recording/playback CLI tool with TUI, written in Rust. The goal is to be an audio Swiss Army Knife (asak), like SoX but more interactive and fun.
Audio, CLI, Rust, Open Source
16 points by chaosprint 56 days ago | 4 comments
The Christmas story of one tube station's 'Mind the Gap' voice (2019) (theguardian.com)
If you happen to find yourself at Embankment station on the London Underground, pay particular attention to the tannoy: the station’s “Mind the Gap” announcement is pronounced in rich, theatrical tones, a voice you won’t hear elsewhere on the network.
London Underground, Public Transportation, Audio, Storytelling, Culture
34 points by taubek 63 days ago | 4 comments
OpenAI WebRTC Audio Demo (simonwillison.net)
OpenAI announced a bunch of API features today, including a brand new WebRTC API for setting up a two-way audio conversation with their models.
OpenAI, WebRTC, Audio, API
8 points by duck 66 days ago | 1 comments
Grug’s Guide to Sound (petrustheron.com)
Audio, Sound, Guides, Humor
33 points by dustingetz 69 days ago | 5 comments
Tape – the pocket audio sketchbook [video] (youtube.com)
Audio, Music, Creative Tools, Video
6 points by ChrisArchitect 80 days ago | 1 comments
Nvidia claims a new AI audio generator can make sounds never heard before (theverge.com)
Nvidia says its new AI music editor can create “sounds never heard before” — like a trumpet that meows. The tool, called Fugatto, is capable of generating music, sounds, and speech using text and audio inputs it’s never been trained on.
Artificial Intelligence, Music, Audio, Technology, Generative AI
8 points by benkan 82 days ago | 1 comments
The Color of Noise (2014) (caseymuratori.com)
Everyone knows what “white noise” is, at least intuitively. People say “white noise” to refer to the static on an analog radio or the sound of ocean waves breaking on the beach. But have you ever wondered why the term “white noise” is common, yet you never hear noise referred to as being any other color, like “red noise” or “green noise”?
Sound, Acoustics, Terminology, Audio
80 points by ekzhang 83 days ago | 12 comments
Listen to what gets lost when an MP3 is made (2015) (vox.com)
The songs you hear every day are stripped versions of the originals!
Audio, Music, Lossy Compression, Digital Audio
142 points by teleforce 95 days ago | 92 comments
Tinfoil.com – Dedicated to the preservation of early recorded sounds (tinfoil.com)
— Dedicated to the preservation of early recorded sounds —
History, Audio, Digital Preservation, Archives
79 points by cenazoic 102 days ago | 24 comments
Chi-fi tuning – Why it sounds piercing to Western ears (2020) (audioreviews.org)
Audio, Music, Culture, Sound
68 points by userbinator 111 days ago | 53 comments
Spotify Bricked the Car Thing, So I Hacked Mine [video] (youtube.com)
Spotify, Hardware Hacking, Video, Software, Audio
11 points by martin_a 113 days ago | 2 comments
Rust and C++ with Steve Klabnik and Herb Sutter [audio] (softwareengineeringdaily.com)
In software engineering, C++ is often used in areas where low-level system access and high-performance are critical, such as operating systems, game engines, and embedded systems. Its long-standing presence and compatibility with legacy code make it a go-to language for maintaining and extending older projects. Rust, while newer, is gaining traction in roles that demand safety and concurrency, particularly in systems programming.
Rust, C++, Programming Languages, Software Engineering, Audio
70 points by mcqueenjordan 114 days ago | 55 comments
Web Assembly audio decoders highly optimized for size and performance (github.com/eshaz)
WASM Audio Decoders is a collection of Web Assembly audio decoder libraries that are highly optimized for browser use.
Web Development, Audio, Performance Optimization, Web Assembly
145 points by ctoth 117 days ago | 27 comments
Hear the sounds of Earth's magnetic field from 41,000 years ago (usatoday.com)
The Earth's magnetic field is essential to life as we know it. But it’s something we can never see – or hear, until now.
Science, Earth Science, Magnetic Field, Audio, History
27 points by thunderbong 119 days ago | 7 comments