About¶
dada tbd is an open-source audio DSP platform for musicians, educators, and audio developers. It runs 50+ synthesizers and effects on dedicated hardware with a full hardware interface (buttons, encoders, OLED display, RGB LEDs). Just plug in power and start making music, no computer required. A WiFi-based web interface is available for configuration and preset management.
The platform is built on CTAG TBD, an open-source embedded synthesizer created by Robert Manzke.
The dadamachines TBD-16 is the first standalone desktop version, a complete instrument with standard MIDI, high-quality audio I/O, and Ableton Link, designed to bring open-source audio processing beyond Eurorack.
What dadamachines Contributes¶
This repository is a fork of
dadamachines/ctag-tbd
(branch p4_main), adapted for the TBD-16 hardware. Our focus:
Desktop Hardware – Standalone form factor with hardware UI and standard MIDI, no Eurorack or computer required
Hardware Products – TBD-16 instrument, TBD-Core with FFC connector, custom integrations
UI/UX – Redesigned web interface with musician-friendly interaction patterns
Documentation – Clear guides, example workflows, and UX guidelines for plugin developers
The DSP engine, plugin system, and core firmware are developed upstream by Robert Manzke / CTAG.
The Team¶
dadamachines is a team of experts in hardware design, electronics, industrial design, and UX/UI design, based in Berlin.
Johannes Lohbihler / dadamachines – TBD-16 hardware, adaptation, UI/UX, documentation
Benjamin Weiss / instrument-design – UX and instrument design
dadamachines friends & contributors:
Per-Olov Jernberg aka Possan – creator of PicoSeqRack, the default app/firmware shipping on the TBD-16
Servando Barreiro
Justin Mammarella aka jmamma
CTAG TBD core contributors:
Robert Manzke (rma) – Creator, DSP engine, plugin system
Mathias Brüssel (mb)
Lukas Hermann (lh)
Lars Schubert (ls)
Community & Support¶
dadamachines Forum – Ask questions, share patches, report bugs, and connect with other TBD users and developers.
Discord – We have a Discord server that is currently invite-only and will be opened to the public soon.
GitHub Issues – Bug reports and feature requests for the firmware and documentation.
Funding¶
This project is partially funded through the NGI0 Commons Fund, established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet programme, under grant agreement No 101135429.
Not all work on TBD / TBD-16 is covered by NLnet funding.
