Klark Teknik CT-1 + Fifine: How I Built Decent Sound Without an Expensive Audio Interface

I struggled for a long time. A very long time. First I tried writing and recording on whatever I already had. Then I tried squeezing the maximum out of old microphones. Then I watched reviews, calculated the money, doubted, calculated again. And in the end I finally decided: enough. I need a more-or-less decent setup that will properly capture my voice.

The choice fell on the Fifine combo (microphone + mixer) and the Klark Teknik Mic Booster CT-1.

Why exactly this

A lot of people immediately advise: “Just get a proper external audio interface.” I thought about that for a long time and came to the conclusion that for my tasks it’s largely pointless. I don’t need studio monitoring, a bunch of inputs, MIDI, or expensive preamps. I just need to record speech properly. And I had a very specific problem with that.

Studio dynamic microphones (and many “budget studio” ones too) are fairly quiet. And my voice itself is quiet and bass-heavy. So even on a relatively good mic I had to crank the gain very high, and the noise came up with it. The sound ended up either quiet or noisy.

Accepting reality as it is

I thought for a long time about whether it was even worth writing this article. Whether it was worth putting my personal life on public display. To be honest, there aren't that many events. But they do exist. At some point, I realized: if I don't write it now, I most likely never will. So here it is.

I've understood for a while now that my recovery has turned out to be incomplete. This needs to be acknowledged directly. There is no neurodegeneration as such, and in that sense, the idea of broader exercises still makes sense. Multiple sclerosis doesn't so much knock out strength as it affects the "width of the controller." But even this acknowledgment doesn't make the situation any easier.

My life goes on. Two years ago, I moved to Belgorod. Recently, I even made a short video report — I posted it on YouTube. If you're interested in seeing how I live now, feel free to subscribe to the channel. I often talk there about neural network technologies and how they're changing life.

About the project, life, and the idea of the application

I’ll say it honestly right away: there won’t be large series of posts here or attempts to turn all of this into some kind of large-scale public project. Rather, this is simply a recording of the process — of how everything is developing inside me and around me.

Life right now is quite simple and clear: work, fundamental science, and sometimes applied things that I do more “out of interest” than out of necessity. Everything else is an additional layer that exists in parallel.

I have already written a book. It did not become something widely known or massively discussed, and probably that is exactly why there is no particular desire now to ramp all of this up to large volumes of content. Not because there are no ideas — there are. It’s just that there is no feeling that this necessarily has to turn into something big.

About the idea of the application itself

To put it simply, the idea of the application is connected with what I call generalization.

The human central nervous system is not just a set of wires along which signals run. It is a much more complex structure in which information is not only transmitted, but also constantly processed.

As the signals rise higher — toward the brain — the system becomes more and more branched. It ceases to be linear. It begins to “think” inside itself, even at the level of simple reflexes.

And this property — nonlinearity — seems key to me.

Disability Benefits, Caregiver Payments, and Rehab Equipment in Russia: My Personal Experience and the Reality

When I was 15 years old, I was assigned  group I disability. Until I turned 18, I was registered as a disabled child, and then at 18, my disability status was confirmed as indefinite (lifelong). However, despite having group I, my social pension is currently at the minimum level because I have no work experience. At the moment, I receive a social pension of about 32,000 rubles per month.

Russia is a huge country, and the size of pensions varies significantly by region. In Syktyvkar, where I used to live, the regional coefficient for pensions is 1.2, so my payment there would have been around 36,000 rubles. Meanwhile, my acquaintances in the far east regions have a coefficient of 1.5, and their pension is already about 45–50 thousand rubles.

Pain after spinal cord injury (SCI)

Pain is a common and serious problem for people with spinal cord injury (SCI). It can occur both in areas with preserved sensation and in areas where sensation is reduced or absent. The pain is real and can significantly worsen quality of life, interfering with daily activities and rest.

For most people, the pain becomes chronic and can last for years. It is most often associated with damage to nerves, muscles, or joints. It is difficult to eliminate completely, but it is possible to reduce its intensity and learn to control its effect on life. Pain frequently intensifies anxiety, stress, and depression — and vice versa. This is an interconnected process, not a “psychological invention.”

Main types of pain

1. Neuropathic (nerve) pain

Arises due to damage to nerve structures. It may feel like burning, tingling, “electric shocks,” numbness, or stabbing pain. Sometimes pain occurs even with light touch. It often responds poorly to treatment, so a comprehensive approach is required.

If new or worsening pain appears years after the injury, especially along with changes in sensation, muscle strength, or spasticity, it is important to see a doctor — this may indicate another medical condition. Increased pain can also be triggered by constipation, urinary tract infection, or depression.

Marriage, Disability, and Inequality: Between Necessity and Choice

For many people, marriage is about love, intimacy, partnership, and a shared future. However, for some people with disabilities, marriage takes on an additional dimension. It becomes not only an emotional union, but also a survival strategy, a way to compensate for limitations, a social instrument. And at this point, the romantic ideal collides with reality.

Marriage as a Way to Gain Freedom

Paradoxically, for some people with disabilities, marriage can mean greater independence. A person may not have the ability to travel alone, go outside freely, buy groceries independently, or manage everyday logistics. In environments where social support systems are weak or inaccessible, a partner becomes not only a spouse, but also an assistant — someone who mediates between the person and the outside world.

In such cases, relationships are often built not solely around love, but around practicality and mutual benefit. People live together because it makes sense. One receives physical support; the other may receive emotional stability, social status, or financial advantages. This does not necessarily mean that feelings are absent, but the original motivation for the union may be pragmatic.

Neural network Darwinism 🧠

So, regarding the question of neural network Darwinism 🧠. You should understand that, essentially, the human brain represents a kind of broad neural network controller. It organizes groups of neurons into layers, and these layers, interacting with each other, form synapses. It is precisely the synapses that determine how generalization will operate.

According to various sources, a single neuron is capable of forming from 10,000 to 60,000 connections. Both numbers are certainly impressive. Through these synaptic connections, neurons perform signal generalization.

From an evolutionary perspective, we as a neural organism have gone further. The peculiarity of our neural system is that we use as the primary unit not so much the neurons themselves as the synapses. Synaptic connections become the key reference point.

From this arises a problem that can be called the problem of neural network Darwinism 🧬. It lies in the fact that we begin to depend on the synaptic connections that are formed. Thus, our nervous system in some sense continues to evolve, but without full control on our part.

The process of neural network Darwinism leads to neurons constantly restructuring synaptic structures by changing their connections. As a result, functions may either strengthen or weaken.

From here arises an important problem of modern medicine 🧪. When we talk about cell therapy, for example the transplantation of stem cells as a method of recovery after neural injuries, a fundamental limitation appears. The issue is not only — and not even primarily — the restoration of the neurons themselves. The problem lies in restoring their synapses, that is, the plasticity of synaptic connections, a fully developed technology for which essentially does not yet exist.

On Paralysis 🧠 How It Works. Part 1

 As you can see, the image shows a tree 🌳Why a tree? Because technically, all types of paralysis that a person can experience—when we are talking about the motor system—are structured in exactly this way.

There is the corticospinal system, which begins at the top of the human brain — essentially, at the crown of the tree.

This corticospinal system gradually descends downward and transitions into the roots. Along the way, part of this system becomes the upper motor neuron, while in the roots it is predominantly represented by lower motor neurons and motor reflex arcs.

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Why does it look like this? 🤔

Because the human body is, in fact, a structure containing a vast number of highly diverse muscles. These muscles can be activated in countless combinations. The crown of the tree — the human brain — is capable of iterating through these combinations and achieving specific postures.

The trunk of the tree mainly represents motor neurons that transmit information along the spinal cord, partially including the corticospinal tract, which forms systems of complex reflexes. The roots, in turn, represent the lower motor neurons.

32 Years with Multiple Sclerosis: My Life, Work, and the Path to Acceptance

I m 38 years old, and in essence I have been living with multiple sclerosis for 32 years. Formally, the diagnosis has not been fully closed—there are still rare theoretical possibilities such as hypomyelination or leukodystrophy—but the likelihood of those is extremely low. The most honest and accurate description today is this: secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune degenerative disease of the central nervous system.

Where I live and why

I currently live in Belgorod. I moved here before the war and chose the city purely for practical reasons. Belgorod is one of the most accessible cities in Russia for wheelchair users: sidewalks, curb cuts, and overall infrastructure make it possible to move around relatively freely.

There is also a climate factor. Compared to Syktyvkar, there is significantly less snow here. This means that for most of the year I can use a regular wheelchair without having to rely on heavy, all-terrain models. In winter, of course, movement is still difficult for a couple of months, but in spring and autumn there is almost no snow, and temperatures are usually above zero, sometimes even hot.

The building where I live is also fairly accessible—I can leave the house independently in my wheelchair, which has a major impact on my quality of life.

An Exoskeleton as a Form of a Path

Sometimes life unfolds in such a way that text becomes the only honest way to record what is happening. Not to justify oneself, not to explain, but precisely to record—to leave a trace in material. That is how the book “Neurophysiology for Dummies” came into being.

Where Life Is Rolling

After the book, there was no sense of relief. Rather, there was silence, in which everything else became audible. The idea of a marathon—around which plans and expectations had been built for a while—began to fall apart. Not dramatically, without loud gestures—it simply became clear that this was not the right vector for now. Perhaps not a cancellation forever, but a pause—a pause that was honest.

Meanwhile, life continued moving in a very material direction. I bought an apartment. Not as a symbol of success, but as a necessity for stability. A place where one can exist w
ithout explanations. Where the walls know more about me than most people do.

4 years have passed, part 3

 I have good news for you, girls and boys, my health condition in recent years has stabilized so much that I decided to look for work again. Yes, yes, I go back to work, again to the front end development. What's the point? Because I can, because I can again!

What is the point then in writing in this part of blog if it does not have an audience? Well, answer is quite simple, because I will have to show something to the employer and develop trust. The Hapibai project is a wonderful project in terms of front-end and data science. This is a wonderful project in terms of internal growth and development. And for audience, it is just  a matter of time. I can buy ads, I can tweak YouTube, write articles, it's just a matter of money.

And here is the last video at the time of 2020. Walk for 1 km. It has took about 1 hour. The road is uneven, gravel, village. It is also extremely difficult for me to maintain balance when implementing complex movements of the hips. Why? This is a good question and debates on it are underway and probably will continue for more than one millennium. If you, my dear readers, have a desire to understand this, then you should look in the theory of GMFCS.

4 years have passed, part 2

Somewhere in 2014 I quit my job as a programmer and began to invest all my free time in a project on neurogenesis and solution for SPMS. In those years, I faced a number of problems - I was crawling, I had paresis in my right hand, and I was also extremely frightened by negative dynamics of my MS development. If I had to go somewhere on the street, go up / down the stairs, my father often dragged me around on his neck. I clung to him, hung on him and he dragged me around. All other times i used a wheelchair.

I worked without an employment contract, one might say I was a freelancer, sometimes it was good, but sometimes it was bad. So, for example, I was not able to receive unemployment benefits after being fired. And there also was no sense in staying at work, even if I had signed an employment contract and worked for another half a year, expecting that I could then apply for unemployment benefits. Because in this situation, only a cemetery and a coffin would await me.

Video above is August 24, 2020. It has became noticeable that my gait became even stronger, that MS not only failed to grab a piece of my legs over the past year, but he also weakened a little. Why? How ? The question is extremely interesting.

4 years have passed, part 1

Hello everyone. It has been 4 years since my last article in the English variation of this blog. This is largely due to the fact that there are not so many people who look into this part. Therefore, there was no point in trying to develop this part of the blog. No audience. But nevertheless, yes. Over past years, so many events have happened in my life, but first things first.

Startup with the challenge - cure for SPMS, i haven't given up it.  In fact, the project continues to move and this is largely due to my stubbornness, thanks to the fact that I managed to find some keys to the problem in my childhood.

The result after the 1-st year of applying the 4.0.

As I promised earlier you’ll find here  the results of recovery conception which I have been applying for one year and which is called 4.0. But in the first place, you have to take into consideration the fact that recovery is undergoing when I have a very dangerous wide-spread chronicle autoimmune disease – multiple sclerosis.  This disease turns a healthy person into a wheelchair user during 10 years, and it kills him completely over the course of 35 years (in most of the cases). And I’m not talking only about damage of motor functions. Multiple sclerosis can destroy absolutely any function which is controlled by brain – feelings, memory, eye sight, reflexes, absolutely anything. Please bear in mind that I haven’t been taking ANY medicine since the beginning of the challenge, and I’d say even more – there isn’t any medicine which aims at remyelination or neuron growth. As a result, recovery from constant MS symptoms is impossible because of disability accumulation. I understand perfectly that there is a range of drugs to slow down the development of MS – DMD’s, alemtuzumab, and a couple of medical procedures such as HSCT (Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation) and a high dose chemo therapy. However, I consider all the procedures highly risky and excessive. I’m not going to convince anybody in anything. Watch, read, study and decide on your own.

The end of the 12th month.

Hello, everybody! It’s already February. One year ago I made a decision to start this challenge and check whether I would be able to get out of my wheelchair. I decided to find out if it’s possible to recover pelvis and knee functions and return freedom of moves to my body. On the one hand, the challenge seems to be ridiculous and even crazy a bit. But, you can’t even imagine how many interesting cases of neuroregeneration and CNS recovery I can explain according to my theory which I have developed. It’s silly to run ahead a train (or a locomotive as we say in Russian), but I can’t just stand and keep silence either. And I’m not going to.

The partial analysis of what has been happening to me since last February can be found above, in the next article. As for now, here it is – the 12th month.

Сerebellar injury, multiple sclerosis and how to deal with it, the end of 11th month

Hello again to all of you! Accept my congrats on winter holidays - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you, my dear readers and subscribers. You will find the results of the 11th month in the video. My comments on this is below the video.

05 december 2016, multiple sclerosis, another month is over

Hello to everyone. Winter has сome as always unnoticeably. And I turned 29. Life flies very fast, I remember a great deal of moments from my childhood as it happened yesterday. One of my first memories – a tricycle, autumn, rainy weather.😎 The people come out of the entryway, the bike gets stuck in the crooked pavement made off-hand. Here’s the first class, the first problems. They felt funny for the first time. My legs spasmed during a PE lesson, but the effect disappeared very quickly.

Whatever. I don’t care, I have 70 years ahead of me. What’s the point in regretting the past? Let’s have a look at what is waiting for me in the future. So, here’s the video:

As always, I’ve decided to share with you some of my thoughts about what’s going on.

7 november 2016. 9th month is over. Moving ahead.

Hello to all of you, my concerned readers. November has come, there are 3 months left, and my challenge will be over. I’d like to say that the progress is going on. Maybe, it’s not so fast, and I still can’t run, on the other hand, I’m very glad of having this result after 7 years in a wheelchair. Some people who have never faced neuron injuries may think that I haven’t gone so far – I can hardly control my knees, my pelvis shakes while standing, I stagger while walking, and I hardly  control my feet at all. And still, I suggest comparing  videos in order not to speak a lot and show nothing, but to give you a chance to see with your own eyes :

7  november 2016, the 9th month.  

6 october 2016. New month, new successes.

Hello to everyone. The challenge is going on – you’ll find the result by the end of the 8th month below. And then I’ll tell you what I think when I see these results. I decided not to write everything, but only the most obvious part, which may be noticed at once. Here is the video:

The video is divided into 2 parts. At the beginning, I used my old way of walking, you can see it throughout 2 first minutes in the first part of the video.  I used to walk by not bending my knee forward. I would say that now this style has become pretty easy for me – I don’t make too much effort, it happens reflectively. I don’t get tired when I walk this small distance any more. However, I used to sweat heavily after 8-10 minute slow physical practice 6 months ago. I fell down very often, and I recorded only the most successful walks from my sofa to the wall and back. I would say that it happened every other 3 attempts.

05 September 2016. Multiple sclerosis and demyliation once more.

Hello to all of you, my dear readers! Autumn has started, so has a new school year. It´s already September and it is raining. How fast time flies! It seems that only yesterday I was thinking if I should start all this stuff with the blog and challenge, and now it’s the end of the 7th month.
So, let’s see the results :

As a whole, serious changes in the pace haven’t happened, my knee joint keeps my weight half time, and I can’t rely on it. That’s the reason why I move my body forward, but my legs stay kind of behind me, so I need more rigid support.