Nice!

Watch first reveal of the HDD Synth Prototype MKII running on YouTube

This video shows it running in the test harness ISA slot I created, to make it easier (and safer!) to test outside of a PC. It uses an ISA slot connector I bought off eBay wired up with a USB C decoy board to provide +5V power

I'm still working on refining the software with the full feature set I want to demonstrate, so I'll post again once that's more developed

Wow, that looks and sounds amazing!!
I really love the volume control.
Can't wait to buy it someday 😀

I built something similar myself, but simpler, without an amplifier. In general, my version is powered by 5V (e.g., from a Molex connector). I considered adding a small amplifier, but it was too loud. But basically, it also plays the sound of the platters spinning up during startup, and the seeking sound of the heads when the activity LED is on. Interesting approach to mount it on an ISA card. Good luck!

elmo7x wrote on 2026-01-28, 19:44:

I built something similar myself, but simpler, without an amplifier. In general, my version is powered by 5V (e.g., from a Molex connector). I considered adding a small amplifier, but it was too loud. But basically, it also plays the sound of the platters spinning up during startup, and the seeking sound of the heads when the activity LED is on. Interesting approach to mount it on an ISA card. Good luck!

That's awesome, have you got any videos of it in action? Sounds like a very nice and small device

My thinking for the ISA card was to make it easy to draw power, but also meant it was easy to install as the card itself is quite large with the speaker attached

I've been having some fun this afternoon creating a jingle for the HDD Synth in the style of the Winamp jingle. So purposely a little cheesy 😀 the plan is that the first time you install the card in a PC it'll play this jingle before starting up in normal operation

https://youtu.be/CiWEeovqQ18

YouTube video update

I've just got the packaging delivered which I'll use to send out a limited run of the HDD Synth MKII to a few select people to gather feedback

If you have an interest in supporting the project by testing an HDD Synth in a range of PCs with ISA slots, please get in touch

I've also been working on a manual to be included with each HDD Synth, styled on the old Sound Blaster manuals

My eldest son has been getting involved too. He felt inspired to do a photo shot and have some fun creating a poster in the style of old Creative Labs 😀

oohh very nice physical box and art! kudos!

Very very nice! 😀
Thanks for the updates and photos!

Can't wait to purchase the final product.
For me it has one big advantage compared to HDDClicker: this is the volume control and that you can turn the volume down completely if you want silence.
With the HDDClicker you would have to open the case and de-attach it if you no longer want to hear the sounds.

Comparing YT videos of the hard drive sounds it seems that your sounds are more realistic.

Keep up the good work!

I took the HDD Synth to a public event for the first time and got a really great response from people. Thanks for everyone who said hello and showed an interest

A few new demos - please excuse some of the incomplete HDD sample packs. These need work for the looping to sound better, I just wanted to put together a few examples to allow me to test the new features

• Demo in 386 PC - loading Windows 3.11
• Demo in 386 PC - changing HDD sample pack

In some exciting news I had the pleasure of meeting an audio professional at the public event who I'm collaborating with to create some fantastic sounding HDD sample packs for the HDD Synth. Watch a demonstration of the inital test sample pack

I also met someone who pointed me in the direction of the solution used to supply the metal bracket for the PicoGUS. So I'm going to get some custom panels made for the HDD Synth that will expose the rear SD card reader, volume control, action button and status LED

Funny, i replace HDD with CF mostly to avoid the horrible sound... no nostalgia for this jeje

I've finally been brave enough to connect the components to power the HDD Synth when the power has been switched off. The idea is that it charges up a super capacitor when the device is running and then when the power is disconnected, it'll detect this and have just enough power to play the sound of the hard drive spinning down

It works 😀

Watch HDD spin down on YouTube

This always felt like a bit of a stretch goal to me, so I'm pretty pleased that it's working

Woahh, congrats that you got this working.
It get's better and better 😀

Do you have a rough timeline when this could be available for public purchase?

crusher wrote on 2026-02-27, 07:25:

Woahh, congrats that you got this working.
It get's better and better 😀

Do you have a rough timeline when this could be available for public purchase?

Thanks, nice to know they'll be at least one customer 😁

The current roadmap is

HDD Synth MKII (we are here)
- Testing and refinement of key features (80% complete)
- Ship samples out for testing/early review

HDD Synth MKIII
- Integrates MKII functionality with addition of ISA based IDE detection (no cable to HDD LED required)
- Custom metal bracket for ISA slot

Products for sale
- HDD Synth 1000: Full functionality
- HDD Synth 500: Cost reduced (No SD card reader, no spin down, no ISA based HDD detection)

In terms of dates, as this is a personal passion project that's really hard to accurately say. However, given how things look at the moment I'd roughly estimate

• MKII: Complete April - May
• MKIII: Complete June - August
• For sale: Sep - Dec

If things go well, it could be much sooner or if life throws me some curve balls then the opposite

Thanks for the detailed information.
Take your time. It's ready when it's ready.

And yes, you can count on me for having at least one customer 😀

I've just worked out the final issues with the HDD spin down feature, as there were more edges cases and complications than I expected!

Also as the previous video I filmed to demo this feature was quite hard to see and hear, I've recorded a much clearer demostration of this feature inside an actual PC

Watch HDD Synth full demo on YouTube

With this final major featured completed I'll shortly send out Prototype MKII to a few testers and YouTubers to start building up some excitment

Finally I've put https://www.strifestreams.com/hddsynth together to act as a central project page, with links to everything related

Hi,

Cool,
PicoMEM 2 Now has an HDD LED "Out" connector, so will be compatible with your Board.

The Synth code itself could be added in the PicoMEM Firmware, so no more need for your board 😉
(It is not totally true, as it is better to have the noise from inside.

Thanks for the updated video and this preview of it hearing it in action.
Looks and sounds amazing. Very well done!

I had the pleasure of visiting Neil at the Retro Collective recently to talk about and demonstrate the HDD Synth MKII prototype

Following the release of the video I've gathered an enormous amount of feedback through the comments along with a survey I sent out to the people who'd signed up on the mailing list I recently created.

More details on the results of that survey are available on my website, however one of the key take aways is a desire for a non-ISA version of the HDD Synth that is as portable as possible. So when I get the MKIII PCB manufactured in the near future, I'll also have a version that will fit in the 3.5" drive bay of a computer with the option to have the controls accessible via the front panel.

The MKIII ISA card is smaller, due to the use of surface mounted components

I recently purchased a 3D printer so that I can ensure the PCB and the rear bracket align correctly and can be fitted into a computer successfully, ahead of having both parts professionally manufactured.

Thanks for the update on this. Sounds and looks really nice!

That's actually quite convincing, there's only 2 things that pop out to me as artificial - One is the imperfect sample looping specifically with the narrow band whine and the other is that HDDs were almost always coupled to a metal chassis which introduced resonance so the clicking is quite dry. Other than that it sounds like a hard drive to me.