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I have a bunch of audio devices connected to my computer. I mostly use them for audio production, but sometimes I like to play a bit of Sea of Thieves. The problem is I can’t ever seem to get a microphone connected to any of my audio inputs to work with the in-game voice chat. Windows sees my microphone. Discord sees it. Xbox Game Chat sees it. Sea of thieves is like “you have a microphone?”

I used to sail around thinking I was talking to people, but nope, they couldn’t hear me. At some point Rare added a little speech bubble that appears when you are talking (along with mouth movements that sort-of sync to your speech). That’s helped with troubleshooting. At least I can tell when I’m not actually making friends.

Searching the Internets suggests that a lot of people have this problem, but the suggested fixes don’t work for everybody (including me!) I kept trying all the ideas, but to no avail.

• Set microphone as default device (more on this in a bit)
• Check microphone privacy settings
• Reinstall sound drivers (that’s your answer for everything)
• Restart Windows audio service
• Disable antivirus (not very safe!)
• Disable all sound inputs that aren’t the one you want to use (a clue?)
• If you have PTT enabled, make sure you are pushing the PTT button (push it real good)
• Make sure the microphone isn’t muted (if it was, everything else wouldn’t pick it up either)

Sea of thieves doesn’t give you any control over which audio inputs/outputs it uses, so you must select them in Windows.

This is fine, but it seems SOT doesn’t always pay attention to this setting.

The Fix

It turns out Windows has separate settings for “Default Device” and “Default Communication Device”. You can’t see this in the fancy sound settings window.

No, you have to go to the old-school Windows 95-looking sound settings window. To get there, right-click on the speaker icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen and click “Sounds”.

Select the “Recording” tab.

There you’ll see a list of all your input devices. The input you want to use for in-game chat may be set as default already, but if you scroll around a bit you may see another input that has a little phone icon next to it. This is your default communications device. This is what SOT is probably trying to use as a microphone.

Scroll to the input you really want, right-click on it, and click “Set as Default Communication Device”. Click “OK”.

Now go back into Sea of Thieves and test out the voice chat. It might actually work now! This fixed the problem for me.

I think for the people that had luck disabling all their other inputs, it ended up switching the Default Communication Device to the desired input automatically since it was the only one left. This wasn’t really an option for me since I need all my inputs (all the inputs!).

Bonus tip: You might make sure the right default communication device is selected in the Playback tab too. My Minecraft text-to-speech always came out of some random monitor speakers I had hooked up instead of my regular speakers. It turns out this was the issue for that too.

Anyway, I didn’t see this suggestion on any other sites I looked at, so I figured I’d post about it in the hopes that it helps somebody. Now go find some booty!

Yes, it’s a trick.  No, there was no fancy video editing involved; the trick looked exactly the same to the people standing in the room with it.  Here’s the behind-the-scenes video showing how it was done:

As you can see, there’s an air hose taped to the back of the monitor that did the actual blowing.  You’re not limited to just blowing out candles, though.  Any physical effect you can control with electricity can be synchronized to a video.  This includes lights, motors, pneumatic cylinders, other video players,  solenoids, etc. The secret is using DTMF tones (yes, like the beeps your phone makes).

Most video players have at least 2 audio tracks.  When you edit your video, you can keep one track for the audio that goes along with your video (in this case it was the blowing sound).  In the other track, place appropriate DTMF tones where you want your effect to turn on and off.

Next, you’ll need a DTMF relay board to decode the tones and switch things on and off.  In the videos above, the video was being played in a standard DVD player, and one of the 2 audio outputs was connected to the DTMF board.  When the girl in the video started blowing, the board received an “on” tone and turned on a relay.  This closed the circuit powering the air valve and out went the candle.  When it was time to stop blowing, the DVD player sent the DTMF board an “off” tone, the relay opened and the air valve shut off.

You can use this trick to synchronize all kinds of things:

• Turn on a light when a video character lights a match
• Fire a strobe right before a thunder sound
• Activate a water sprayer right when your video person sneezes
• Shoot a puff of fog when something magical happens on screen

The possibilities are endless once you realize that the video world and the physical world don’t have to be separate things.

The Waldorf Microwave XTk is the keyboard version of the Waldorf Microwave XT.  It uses the same line-lump power supply, only it’s hidden inside the unit.  The coaxial power connector normally used on the XT is covered up, and the power supply wires are soldered directly to the board.

There are many things that can make these synths not power up, but one common culprit is the transient voltage suppressor diode that is connected across the power input.  This can fail to a short, causing it to appear that the power supply has died.

To troubleshoot, take the unit apart and disconnect at least one side of the power supply.  Plug the power supply in.  Does the light come on now?  Do you measure ~12VDC at the output?  If not, then the problem is probably a bad power supply after all.  If so, then the problem is somewhere else in the synth.

Next, lift one leg of the transient voltage suppressor diode and use a meter to take an ohms reading across it.  It should either appear open or have a very high resistance.  If the resistance is low (like less than 1 ohm), then the part is bad.  This very low resistance shorts out the power supply and makes it shut down.

Obtaining and replacing the diode is fairly easy and inexpensive.  The part number is BZW04-15B and Mouser stocks them.  Don’t worry about installing it the wrong way; it’s bidirectional.

Scares

Greet your trick-or-treaters (or TOTs as they are called in the industry) with a gross squishy eyeball doorbell button.

Put a giant glowing floating ghost on your roof.  It’s guaranteed to attract folks from way down the block.

Tech

Is your el-cheapo fog machine not putting out much fog since you dug it out of storage this year?  Try repairing the fogger’s pump.

Are you trying to find a wireless or timer remote that actually works with your Lite FX fogger?  Try modding one.

Tired of missing fog cues because your fogger decided it needs to warm up instead of spraying fog?  Mod it so it’s always ready for fog.

Got a talking skull from the store, but you want it to say what you want it to say?  Mod it so you can control your skull with MIDI.

Want to trigger props when your victims approach?  Modify a flood light motion sensor so it can be used with just about anything.

Costumes

Ladies, does it seem like all the good geeky costumes are for guys?  Here are 25 geek girl costumes for you to check out.

Looking to really freak people out?  Let them see right through you with this gaping hole costume.

Years later a friend introduced me to Surefire flashlights.  They put my old Mini Maglite to shame.  They’re bright (for real this time), they’re tough, and they do neat tricks like shine in multiple colors and brightnesses.  I own several of them, and I’ve been carrying their Backup model around in my pocket for a couple years now.

A few months ago I stupidly lost my Backup.  I don’t want to go into detail on how I lost it, but it has to do with how my brain doesn’t really work in the middle of the night when I get up to go check something out with my flashlight.  I miss that light.

Recently I bought a Surefire P2X Fury as a replacement for my old light.  It was more than twice as bright on its maximum setting and a little cheaper even, so I figured I should get one.

Models

The Fury comes in 4 different models:

	P2x Fury	Click on/off	2 brightness levels	Smooth bezel
	P2x Fury Tactical	Twist on/off	1 brightness level	Smooth bezel
	P2x Fury Defender	Click on/off	1 brightness level	Crenellated bezel
	P2Zx Fury CombatLight	Twist on/off	1 brightness level	Slightly Crenellated bezel

Since I’m a theatre techie, I like the idea of having 2 different brightness levels;  low for general sneaking around in the booth or backstage, and high for when things really hit the fan and I just need to see stuff at the cost of being stealthy.  I chose the P2X Fury model.

Specs

• Output (high): 500 lumens / 1.5 hours
• Output (low): 15 lumens / 46 hours
• Length: 5.4″
• Bezel Diameter: 1.37″
• Weight w/ Batteries: 5.7 ounces
• Batteries: 2x 123A

Packaging

I ordered my flashlight from Amazon.  Their price was comparable to most other places, and they gave me free shipping.  It arrived fairly quickly despite the fact that I chose free (slow) shipping.

Here’s what I got:

The package contained the flashlight, 2 batteries (installed), a manual, some safety information and a free sticker!

Build

As you can see, the head is a little bigger than most of Surefire’s other lights that are about this size.  I guess that helps produce a beam that makes this light count as a “pocket-sized, handheld searchlight”.  It still fits in my hand nicely and is quite portable.

The construction looks and feels nice like all their other flashlights.  The body is made out of heavy anodized aluminum, and the window seems to be made of the same tempered glass that somehow manages to not get scratched up living in my pocket that their other lights use.  All the joints have o-ring or gasket seals, so you can use the light in bad weather without worrying about it getting waterlogged.

The button on the tailcap is the clicky type; press it part way for momentary on and all the way to make it latch.  The first press gives you low power (15 lumens), and if you quickly release it and press again you get high power (500 lumens!).  The button feels good, but it’s recessed a little more than I’m used to, so sometimes I don’t quite get it clicked on all the way.

This light doesn’t come with a clip or lanyard, although there is a wide assortment of lanyards and holsters available that will fit it.

Power Source

The P2X uses 2x Surefire-brand 123A 3V batteries.  Like many things in life, the first ones are free.

It takes quite a bit of power to run these bright lights, and Surefire is very adamant that you only use their batteries, or ones made by Panasonic, Duracell or Energizer.  Apparently there are cheap knockoff 123A batteries that either don’t provide enough power or get way too hot.  I always just by the Surefire batteries by the box; the price isn’t too bad and I don’t have to worry about my pants catching fire.

Light Source

At the business end you’ll find a single Cree XM-L LED sitting in the middle of a slightly textured reflector.  I looked up the specs on this bad boy and it’s capable of putting out 1040 lumens.  Surefire is only driving it to 500, so I’m sure they wanted to provide usable battery life.  Heat dissipation may have also been a factor.

Color

The P2X Fury emits a white beam, of course, but not all whites are equal.  White can be warmer (lower color-temperature) or cooler (higher color temperature).  Think about how a light bulb in your house looks white at night, but during the day when the sun is out it looks kind of yellowish in comparison.  This is because the sun has a higher color temperature than the light bulb does, even though they both put out a “white” light.

The beam put out by the Fury is very uneven in color compared to most other LED flashlights I’ve used.

You can see that the edges of the beam are a nice white.  For reference, the areas outside the beam are lit by the sun in a shady area.  The color of the beam edges matches the sun fairly well.  In the center of the beam, however, you can see that it’s fairly yellow.  This isn’t a trick of the camera, either.  It’s very obvious when you’re using the light, on both low and high power.

This is caused by the way white LEDs work.  LEDs typically only emit one color.  Since white light consists of all the colors (or at least enough colors to make our eye think we’re seeing white), they have to get the rest of them from somewhere.  To make a white LED, they usually start with a blue or UV one.  Then they add some phosphor, which gets excited by the blue/UV light, to make up the rest of the colors.  That’s why white LEDs sometimes appear yellow when you look at them when they’re off; you’re seeing the phosphor.

In this particular LED, it appears the colors aren’t mixing very well from all angles.  It’s not a deal-breaker by any means.  It’s just noticeable enough to mention.

If you want to completely change the color of the beam, Surefire offers an assortment of colored dichroic filters that clamp onto the end of the flashlight.

Performance

Enough staring at the flashlight itself.  How well does it work?

Click once and get low power mode.  This is actually a fairly good brightness for normal flashlight use.  When I had my Backup, I used low power mode most of the time.  This was partly because I wanted to save batteries, and partly because high power mode was just too bright for many things.  I wished it was a little brighter though (it was 5 lumens).  The Fury seems just about right at 15 lumens.

I like the fact that the low power mode comes on with the first click, as opposed to the second click with the Backup.  Now I don’t have to click twice 90% of the time I use the flashlight.  (If you find this annoying and you just want bright mode, you can choose one of the other 3 models).

Click twice and get high power mode.  Great googly moogly is it bright.  It’s way too bright for walking around your house in the dark.  It is, however, excellent for trying to see what’s inside your hand.

This gets warm after a while, by the way.  I suffer in the name of science!

It also lights up trees in the distance fairly well.

You can see the beam lighting up the moisture in the air in the left side of the picture.  Also, notice how even the very edge of the beam is enough to light up the neighbor’s house. (Sorry about the fuzzy picture.  It was raining and I was trying to hand-hold everything while whining about getting wet).

Here are some almost-scientific comparisons of the P2X.  Note, in each group, the camera settings are exactly the same so you can get an accurate reference (no auto-mode here).

2xAA Mini Maglite	G2 Nitrolon	P2X Fury, Low Power	P2X Fury, High Power

In the first picture, my assistant is being illuminated by a classic 2xAA Mini Maglite.  It looks orange because I set the white balance on the camera to daylight, and the Mag uses an incandescent lamp.  It’s also very dim.  I did set the exposure on the camera to settings that would not be totally dark or totally washed out for any of my four tests.  Obviously this light falls at the low end of the brightness range.  Also notice how uneven the beam is.  This flashlight is focusable, but I never could get a perfectly round/even beam out of it.

The second picture shows my old Surefire G2 Nitrolon.  It’s powered by the exact same batteries as the P2X, but it uses an incandescent lamp like the Mag (hence the orange color still)  It’s way brighter than the Mag, though (65 lumens).  That’s pretty bright, and even brighter than the P2X on low beam.  The runtime on this light is rated 1 hour, though.  That’s not very long at all.  When I got this light I had the brightest flashlight of anyone I knew, but I went through a lot of batteries.  The beam on this light is nice and round and smooth.

The third picture shows our test light, the Surefire P2X Fury, on low power.  This is an LED-based flashlight, so the color is much cooler.  It looks almost pure white with the camera settings I was using.  It appears much brighter than the Mag, but not as bright as the G2 (which only lasts 1 hour, remember).  At this brightness you should get around 46 hours out of the P2X.  The beam is also nice and even and round. (Of course it is!  It’s a Surefire!)  Note: It looks kind of dim in the picture, but it doesn’t read like that using it in real life.  It’s quite a bit brighter than the Mag.  I just had to set the exposure relatively low to make lots of room for…

High power mode!  The fourth image shows the Fury at full-blast.  Even using camera settings that caused the first 3 tests to be underexposed, full power all but washed out the image.  I had to squint while shooting it, and I saw a big purple spot in one eye for a few minutes.  The nice thing about this being an LED flashlight is that it’s way brighter than the G2 even, but it will run longer (1.5 hours).

Summary

Overall I am quite fond of this flashlight.  It’s a good size, it’s flexible and it’s well-built.  The dual-output design is a good match for how I use it in technical theatre, and I imagine it would work great for camping, search and rescue, finding frogs, blinding muggers, etc.

Pros:

• Low power is a good brightness for most uses
• High power is freakin’ bright!
• Small for the light it puts out
• Tailcap switch is quite handy
• Tough construction
• O-ring seals keep water out

Cons:

• Doesn’t come with a clip
• Beam color uneven

I don’t really have anything to complain about with this light.  Okay, I know I complained about the color thing a bit, but if you’re buying this flashlight then you’re probably more interested in quantity than quality of light.  I wouldn’t recommend using it to match paint colors, but if you want to pack a ton of light with you wherever you go and be the brightest kid on your block, you should definitely get the Surefire P2X Fury.

The whole thing is pre-programmed and the robots are acting autonomously.  We’re one step closer to Skynet.

• Arrange tracks and spaces between into their final order
• Perform any minor edits that may be required
• Remove noise
• Adjust levels
• Sweeten tracks by proper application of equalization and compression
• Adjust ambiance or stereo width as necessary

This is of course an over-simplified list.  My good friend Steve Turnidge wrote a book explaining the mastering process in great detail which is about to be released.  He’s a very talented guy,  so if you really want to make your music and studio recordings shine I highly recommend you check out his desktop mastering book.

Update:  Here’s a video of Steve explaining how audio production is like pie.  Sweet, delicious pie.