I encourage you to save up for an proper small interface. Something like a small Steinberg Ur22 or something works well.
I once had a sledge keyboard, there was phones output noisy - it was considered normal.
Better put that cables into the proper outs.
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Iāve had the Megafm for a month and can confirm that itās great. Itās not for everyone which is why I think some ppl on here have returned it within a week of receiving it. It has a lot character and can fit into most styles or music. I try to record some sounds every night. (Samples include delay and spring reverb)
Would love to hear what other ppl are playing/sounding like.
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Just got one of these from Juno (B-Stock). Loving some of the sounds so far, little quirky - but enjoyable. Not had that long to play with it yetā¦. Looking forward to getting to know it better
has anyone else had issues with the display suddenly stops showing the numerical values of the sliders? Found a couple of people on Modwiggler had the issue, but not much info after these posts (one guy thinks he solved it ā It seems to go away when I turn off the LFO1/Midi settingā - will try that tomorrow.
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Did you update to the latest firmware?
It sounds like an issue I faced as well and after some exchange with Alex from Twisted Electrons (a super friendly guy by the way) he released an updated firmware that solved it for me. But not sure anymore if it was exactly this, I will check our mails a bit later today.
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Thanks! Fingers crossed! I updated firmware but that didnāt help unfortunately. Iāve emailed Alex as well so will wait to hear from him.
I just went through my exchange with Alex and itās hard to say what helped at the end, as there was a lot of back and forth.
I faced the issue with 2.4 and earlier versions, got a beta of 2.5 which didnāt properly copy to the device, then I installed 2.4 again, reset the device, restored my patches and suddenly the issue didnāt happen anymore. So my vague guess that the reset helped in my case, I didnāt find another explanation.
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Thanks mate! Will try this tonight. Alex just got back to me - Heās hoping to get time to look at the code for it in a few days but obviously snowed under with the new release.
I sent Alex this:
Its something to do with receiving MIDI. I can turn it all off, back on and all faders work and numeric numbers appear on the screen - Send out a midi note from Ableton to the MEGAFM and the numbers stop. Power off and back on - all works. Send note to it and it stops again. Now tried sending from Ableton and also from another Midi controller and both stop the numbers on the screen.
That seems to have pointed him in a certain direction and hopes its an easy fix 
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With pleasure! After having gone through this myselfā¦ 
We already suspected some issues with MIDI back then, but never really figured out the root cause at the end. However I didnāt face the issue anymore since then, so crossing fingers here as well
MegaFM MKII
Starting September 2022
This updated version is identical in appearance and functionality but will include a pair of YM3438 chips instead of the YM2612. The YM3438 is a variant of the YM2612 that is identical in functionality and was featured in the Sega Megadrive II. The circuit layout has also been updated to grant access to the FM chips with minimal disassembly.
Indeed the chips are now socketed (removable) and accessible by removing the bottom panel.
This allows you to install alternate FM chips (like the YM2612, modern alternatives or even custom sound chips).
You can also mix different versions of FM chip as there are 2 slots that can be configured individually.
MEGAfm MKII features the same audio circuitry and analog distortion as the MKI, as a result both chips sound very similar inside of MEGAfm.
The firmware will work identically on both versions.
(Source: Twisted Electrons website)
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Ok but sounds like thereās nothing really new since it will sound āsound very similarā to MK 1. I wonder why they would bother if thereās no new features and it will sound pretty much the same. I have been waiting for a MKII with proper stereo balance in Wide6. Pretty evident in my track above. Twisted Electrons MEGAfm - #202 by Soarer
I guess itās just a matter of continuing production with a better chip.
so the MK2 will sound absolutely identical, when YM2612 are installed?
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Iāve got a MegaFM mk2 incoming tomorrow and Iām very excited. I was a huge Sega Genesis nut as a kid so Iām very excited to dive down the memory well.
With that said, I know there is very little of a difference between the ym3438 and ym2612 but as a user of the OG Genesis, I would love to get some 2612ās in there.
Does anyone know of a reputable retailer for them? I see them on ebay and alibaba but despite their low price, I would prefer to buy from someone I knew was legit.
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This rarity and inability to source them from reliable resellers is the main reason the MegaFM stopped using them, as I recall. So you might just have to roll the dice with a few and see?
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Thatās what I was afraid of.
The dice will thus be rolled.
Cheers
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I am not aware of any super reliable web stores offhand for these chips, probably more non-counterfeit available than say, SID chips.
I guess pay attention to eBay resellers and their attention to provenance, if theyāre a nice mid-sized one that can respond to questions about sourcing it might help with the hope-n-pray approach 
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Has anyone tried the MKII version? I made the mistake of selling the original one and now theyāre going for over a $1000 used. I emailed Alex and he said there is no difference in sound between the YM2612 and YM3438 chips to his hears, but the online comparisons Iāve looked at seem to show the YM3438 sounding a lot let less noisy. I just want to make sure that fuzzy hiss thatās in the background isnāt lost with the new one and that itās retained the same magic as the first version. I also have no interest in swapping out chips because that sounds like a pain considering that MKI had itās own issues to deal with.
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Did you buy it and have any thoughts about difference? Im thinking about buying the MK2 but a MK1 just popped up used and would like to know what to go for
I have been able to make a decent comparison recording of the Mk.I and Mk.II of the MEGAfm, AFAICT Iām the first to do this and share it.
Here is the .zip - MEGAfm_Mk1vsMk2.zip - Google Drive
Both units were recorded into a MixPre 6-II at the same gain level into Reaper, 48KHz 24bit. I did a common gain normalise so the level differences were maintained. The Mk.II is consistently a fair bit louder, a little under 4dB LUFS-I units more than the Mk.I.
To do the recording I initially played some notes in each preset, recording both audio and MIDI into Reaper and inserting a marker each time I switched presets. This was on the Mk.II initially, I decided to return it in favour of a Mk.I because I felt like I wanted the specific sound of the YM2612 chips, and I got a good deal on a B-stock model. When I got the Mk.I I set it up the same and used the recorded MIDI to play the same notes, and manually switched presets at each marker so it should be fairly like for like.
Both models used the latest firmware, I used the 50 factory presets as well as the 16 free presets available from the excellent Limbic Bits Magnitude pack.
I recommend taking the results with a pinch of salt however for a couple of reasons: Firstly both sets of presets were designed for the Mk.I of the synth, there are some differences in operator gain and general tone that means that in some cases it distorts a bit on the Mk.II or just doesnāt sound as the creator intended. That said I think both sound generally quite good and you can definitely hear the differences enough to make a fair comparison.
There was also an issue I had where when recording the Mk.I I noticed a couple of the sounds were completely different or barely there compared to my original Mk.II recording. After a bit of playing around I realised that those particular patches hadnāt quite loaded fully or something, maybe playing a MIDI note interrupts the loading process leading to an incomplete patch. I rerecorded the faulty bits and spliced in the audio where it should be. Iām not sure if thereās more of that throughout both recordings, it seems fine to me, but just keep that in mind. I could potentially have done the same for the original Mk.II recording, but I think it turned out fine.
In general the the Mk.Iās sounds are much more integrated into the fuzz and noise and it sounds quite a bit brighter, sometimes with a very different tone to the YM3438s in the Mk.II. You will probably want to boost the level of the Mk.I a bit, and I recommend trying some heavy compression and reverb for both to get a good idea of the practical differences.
While technically I think it would be fair to say that the Mk.II is ābetterā, thereās something I really like about the buzz and harmonics that come through louder on the Mk.I. I was thinking about why I like it so much and I think thereās a similarity with the buzzers you sometimes get on certain acoustic instruments. Take this wonderful Kalimba piece for example -
It has little rings around every other tine that buzz along with the notes. Iāve been looking at getting another kalimba and after hearing what the buzzers add to the sound Iām definitely going to be looking to get one with them now. The effect on the digital MEGAfm sounds quite different of course, but I feel like it has the same musical purpose, kind of adds a certain multilayered depth to what would otherwise be a fairly pure tone.
IMO itās one of the most beautiful sounding synths out there, thereās a real āsoulā in the pads and growls it can create. I honestly really like both Mk.I and II, and I think thereās a strong likelyhood of me trying to own both at some point. Thereās clear benefits for either, certainly if you want a clean and strong sound the Mk.II would be preferable, but if you really want that dirt and fuzz then the Mk.I is where itās at. Also itās easier to filter out harsh harmonics on the outgoing signal than try to add them in again, but similarly the Mk.II might have a little more dynamic range which might be hard to replicate on the Mk.I.
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This is quite interesting -
Mk.II (the upper track) -
Mk.I (the lower track) -
Just a section of the recordings where Iāve normalised both parts. You can see and hear the differences in how the harmonics ring out, I find it quite interesting how the Mk.II has some clear descending harmonic stuff going on whereas the Mk.I stays relatively steady. I really like both but I can definitely see me trying to pick up a Mk.2 again sometime just for that subtle effect on sustained notes like this. Itās quite clear on this long bit for factory patch 28 too -
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I realised that I didnāt have velocity and aftertouch enabled in my recordings of the Mk.I, the setup and enabling of those is seperate from a patch which I didnāt realise, so Iāve rerecorded the Limbic presets section. I donāt think it affected the factory presets as those donāt seem to have any external modulation stuff going on.
Hereās the .zip, I peak normalised both files this time, the Mk.II still has a higher average loudness though - MEGAfmLimbicRedo.zip - Google Drive
Previously there were some bits in the Mk.I recording that were way off what the Mk.II sounded like, such as that purple vs green bit up there in the first waveform screenshot. Now itās a much better comparison with these excellent patches by Limbic Bits. Again keep in mind that the presets were gain staged for a Mk.I, so thereās some distortion in the loud parts on the Mk.II that arenāt necessarily representative of how it would sound if you tried to make the same patch for both machines.
I thought this bit was an interesting comparison, really highlights the difference in noise level and quality -
Mk.II (top) -
Mk.I (bottom) -
And this -
Mk.II -
Mk.I -
The blue bass note at the end there sounds utterly fantastic on the Mk.I, seriously check it out. Iām not quite sure why thereās such a difference there but at least for that specific sound I definitely prefer the character of the YM2612. Both versions of the synth are amazing though and I could prefer either depending on the particular sound and the context of how Iād want to use it.
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