The state of the TV repair business what it is, I have moved into music equipment. These guys are like the hifi audio guys. And old tube amp from 1957 is gold. Even some solid state amps are at least silver. Powered mixers, they bust a nut every time I fix one of those.

Now comes keyboards. Regular keyboards, fine. But then we have MIDI controllers. These used to plug into the joystick jack on PC soundcards. Now they are USB. That is not the question though, the question is - is there standard software for a PC that would let me test all or most of these controllers ?

If there is I should find an older version for free and stick it on my bench PC. I don't know about everyone else but I think if I fix a keyboard I should test all the keys. Right ?

Also, let's say an older one comes in with the old joystick plug. My bench PC is a laptop and does not have the jack for that. Maybe I should get a desk PC with an older soundcard ? And if I do, would that software maybe come with the drivers for the card ? Hell I already dropped the laptop and broke the screen. I brought in a monitor so I could use it but it is an old CRT with a weak CRT so I have to get something better. It was here and it was expendable but it is ****ty. Either way, this laptop has a virus, and it is an "upgrade" from Vista to XP. Actually doesn't run all that bad. So I already got a mouse on it and am consieering an external keyboard so I can just slide the thing into a nook somewhere and save bench space.

A tower I could put on the floor but then plugging anythihng into it would be a bitch. Maybe I could make an extender for that joystick jack. With USB it is no problem, in fact I think I have a USB extension cord.

Anyway, comment : Now you see what time can do. I was just about the preemininent authority on TV repair in the past. Seriously. And now I am learning.. I have to. I have to because I want more money.

Just like the old days. It's like time got reset.

I am getting used to this work though. People WILL spend some money on it, when they would throw a TV on the curb if it farts wrong. It seems that audio of some type is what I am going to do now. Whether audiophile, and some of them are nuts, or musicians, and all of them are nuts, maybe I can eek out a living until I can get my SS or croak.

I have figured out the usual. I need more bench space. I need to have a spot where I can pull guitar amp chassis and leave the cabinet there. (that resembles how the TV business used to be a LONG time ago)) I have a test speaker that can pretty much handle anything, it has that warning on it "WARNING, THIS SPEAKER CAN MELT YOUR BRAIN AND ANYTHING IN YOUR FRONT POCKETS". Actually another thing might be a power soak. I know how to make those, the one one I have at home consists of a taoster oven and a 150 ohm resistor. I am good up to 1,600 watts I guess but the impedance might rise as it gets hot. If an amp burns that up I AM INPRESSED. But for work I think I'll just order some big Dales.

At any rate, the MIDI thing is one I know very little about, the interface and all that. Other things I do at least have a clue but any pointers would be nice. Do you test ampos at full power before shipping them ? I think it is a good idea but I can't rsally do it right now. It is not common that something ****s up at really high power but sounds fine lower, but it does happen. I would like to at least be able to say I checked it.

Another thing is I intend to connect something other than a guitar to these amps. A simple music source but wired up to the right cables. Maybe the PC audio but padded down and wired to both ¼" and XLR plugs. I can get the material for the PC audio. Hell, I even got sit tones dot wave. Not that I would use it there, but I mean I got such diverse music it is ridiculous. I also have something called cyberkeyboard which is an onscreen keyboard you can play with the mouse or (PC) keyboard. Problem is there is no way to make a pure sine or square wave out of it, but if say I wanted A - 440 or C - 512 I could probably depend on its accuracy.

Anyway, whoever works on all this stuff, what works for you ? tbhough the MIDI question is the main one, any other ideas to make me more effective at this, I appreciate.

Thanks in advance for whatever you got.