OK first off, ATmosphere sounds absolutely amazing and the variety of sounds available is just brilliant.Having said that its a REAL pity that such amazing sounds are being let down severly by simple LFO problems(Sync and cycle start on note on), these 2 problems are making all the movements in Atmosphere very difficult to predict so i dunno when the modulation is going to happen as the lfo is free runnin.

This comes into play especially for the patches which have movement(and almost all of them do).SO for me to start using more of Atmosphere in my songs(these things sound great when auditioning but the no sync makes a problem in the song) i would reallllyy need LFO sync, start cycle on note on, and more lfo waveforms would be a huge bonus.

I dont mean to sound like a critic who's whining, its just that such great samples could be used much much better if these simple and essential features(by todays standards) are available

Agreed.
I had no idea Atmosphere was limited in this way, I was close to purchashing but now I am not so sure.

Hold on, are you really saying Athmosphere's LFOs aren't syncing to your host tempo?!?

[1 minute later]
Indeed, just looked at their site. I must say that I simply can't believe this. Even the cheesiest freebie these days offers such syncing abilities and for an instrument of that calibre it's just a non-excuseable lack of not doing so.
Sorry Eric (or whomever will read this), but that's just so, there's no excuses of missing out on such an important feature.

Actually, this is one of the areas where VSTis are WAY superior over hardware synths. No more need to fool around with MIDI clock, let alone manually adjustment of parameters.
I think almost around 50% of my more or less recent EXS patches make intense use of some host tempo synced LFOs.

Btw, this is one of the things why I haven't got Absynth yet. It's host implementation and interaction simply s***s. Not that it only isn't able to sync to tempo automatically (hell, how great would that be with those envelopes), no, you also lose all the keycommands controlling your sequencer and such. How ridiculous!

[Edit]: Oh, and while we're at it, can't you use the LFOs to blend between layers? It doesn't look like...

Sascha

I think, it has been stated that LFO syncing with host is high in the list of Spectrasonics for future updates. Then probably you could program mixes between two layers via amplitude modulation if LFOs' phases can be adjusted.

IMO, having 8 free-running independent LFOs is great right now, think of the dynamism and the surprise factor!

TG

Thanks for the heads up, Tansu! Definitely won't be buying atmosphere now until sync is implemented

ttoz wrote:

Thanks for the heads up, Tansu! Definitely won't be buying atmosphere now until sync is implemented

some people !

I agree that LFO sync to host tempo is pretty essential. I bought Atmosphere anyway, since I expect Spectrasonics to come out with a free update that fixes this. I just had to have it now. It would be nice, however, if Spectrasonics would commit to a release date for this update. I guess that this commitment would make a lot of people buy now instead of waiting.

realmarco wrote:

ttoz wrote: Thanks for the heads up, Tansu! Definitely won't be buying atmosphere now until sync is implemented some people !

What's your problem realmarco?? lfo sync to tempo is essential in my book..

i dont think it has automation either

or at least i cant automate it in fruity.

It would be good to hear comments of Spectrum on this so we all can have a idea of what to expect and when to expec an Update cos alot of me using this depends on lfo sync(which is absolutely essential in my books).SO i hope SPectrasonics are working on this update right now.

prophet wrote:

i dont think it has automation either or at least i cant automate it in fruity.

Did you read your User Guide?

It needs midi messages for automization of parameters. There is a chart on the User guide. You can automize Atmosphere with controller modules in Fruityloops which can send midi data.

TG

prophet wrote:

i dont think it has automation either or at least i cant automate it in fruity.

It sort of works here but it's a bit hit and miss. Done the usual way, midi out, assign the knobs to Atmospheres cc's and like I say, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't Probably user error on my part tho'

gassle wrote:

You can automize Atmosphere with controller modules in Fruityloops which can send midi data.

Ermm... Is there a word "automize"? Automate should I say...

Atmosphere allows automation but not by grabing the knobs. You need to check which cc # is asigned to the function you want to control (refer to the manual) and record that cc # movements. It works fine this way.

All this makes me laugh, I have seen on other fourms some pretty..well it seems like big producers raving about Atmosphere.. and not mentioning the LFO sync to host.... BUT if anyone has read anything about it... and like some has said before Spec said that this will be done.

I am not stating that this feature is not important to you but if you will die because you need it so bad then wait I am sure they will implement it..... Just dont come slagging a product just because of one feature

And Sasha I am growing wearing of your Pontification on things like that this is Non-excuseable on this product... Who are you to state that?

Do you own the product? Do you think that you will ever buy it? (I doubt it) so why slag it?

Rant mode off

ner0z wrote:

And Sasha I am growing wearing of your Pontification on things like that this is Non-excuseable on this product... Who are you to state that?

Just someone with a bit of experience regarding the possibilities of nowadays software synths. And syncing LFOs are almost mandatory for anything coming with LFOs. And they are a thing used broadly by anybody and his mum.

Quote:

Do you own the product?

Not yet.

Quote:

Do you think that you will ever buy it?

Most likely. Maybe sooner than later.

Quote:

(I doubt it)

And who are you to doubt that?

Quote:

so why slag it?

Because this is one thing that will keep me away from buying it. It's a similar thing why I haven't bought Absynth yet - its host integration is just lousy and we're living in 2003. Such drawbacks have no justification. And in case this sounds too harsh for you, it's a perfectly legit claim for me.

Sascha

Sascha Franck wrote:

Btw, this is one of the things why I haven't got Absynth yet. It's host implementation and interaction simply s***s. Not that it only isn't able to sync to tempo automatically (hell, how great would that be with those envelopes), no, you also lose all the keycommands controlling your sequencer and such. How ridiculous!

Sascha, you do know that you can sync absynth to the temp of your songs by simply opening up the absynth engine and setting the tempo of a patch yourself? It may not be automatic, but all it takes is a couple of seconds. There really is nothing stopping you from enjoying all those envelopes!

[quote="ner0z"]All this makes me laugh, I have seen on other fourms some pretty..well it seems like big producers raving about Atmosphere.. and not mentioning the LFO sync to host.... BUT if anyone has read anything about it... and like some has said before Spec said that this will be done.

Look dude.. jus because some top producers rave about the product and dont mention the LFO sync doesnt mean its not Improtant.I'm sure that they would also dearly miss this small but essential feature.And nobody said Atmosphere sucks or anything(if u read my post correctly u'll know) all we'r saying is that atmosphere is a awesome product but is being let down so severly by such a simple feature.

deep wrote:

Sascha, you do know that you can sync absynth to the temp of your songs by simply opening up the absynth engine and setting the tempo of a patch yourself? It may not be automatic, but all it takes is a couple of seconds. There really is nothing stopping you from enjoying all those envelopes!

Oh, I have been fiddling with the demo long enough to know that. Did you ever try that on a song with tempo changes? That's what makes up for the beauty of host-to-tempo synchronisation. In earlier times one had to use MIDI clock but as this is no option anymore with VSTis there's gotta be host-syncing implemented.

Cheers,
Sascha

LFO's not syncing to tempo is an issue I'm sure EP will address in this forum but to say you will not buy it because of "that" is like saying you won't buy a car because you don't like the tires. This produst was just released a few months ago and the amount of content that comes with it is unheard of. Thanks for raising the issue but let's not use the life boats just yet!

My copy of Atmosphere is coming through the door today and although the sync isssue does concern me, the product and content is far too good to bash because of a glitch, over sight, misunderstanding, or mis-communication (whatever it may be) of this magnitude. Let's just keep things in perspective and wait to hear what Eric has to say.

dano

Sascha Franck wrote:

Because this is one thing that will keep me away from buying it. It's a similar thing why I haven't bought Absynth yet - its host integration is just lousy and we're living in 2003. Such drawbacks have no justification. And in case this sounds too harsh for you, it's a perfectly legit claim for me. Sascha

Its not too Harsh but I am really just rying to get you streesed out so you can make music

[quote="tansu"]

ner0z wrote:

All this makes me laugh, I have seen on other fourms some pretty..well it seems like big producers raving about Atmosphere.. and not mentioning the LFO sync to host.... BUT if anyone has read anything about it... and like some has said before Spec said that this will be done. Look dude.. jus because some top producers rave about the product and dont mention the LFO sync doesnt mean its not Improtant.I'm sure that they would also dearly miss this small but essential feature.And nobody said Atmosphere sucks or anything(if u read my post correctly u'll know) all we'r saying is that atmosphere is a awesome product but is being let down so severly by such a simple feature.

I know brother I know...... I am just stirring up the Indians

ner0z wrote:

Its not too Harsh but I am really just rying to get you streesed out so you can make music

Eh - that was a good one

And to Daniel and the others: I wouldn't say the lack of LFO sync is something making a product such as Athmosphere unworthy, but missing it is nothing I'd expect from a modern software instrument either.
Just take Emagics EXSMkII as an example - the new modulation matrix with an additional LFO (and whatever) just brings new life into it. It actually really brings it up into the competition again.
Now compare that to Athmosphere - just imagine HOW much more options you'd have with syncing LFOs (and a free routing a la EXS or Albino or z3ta+).
And hey, it's not as if I was talking about rocket science here but about some things that simply are mandatory for modern VSTis.

As said, similar things go for Absynth: As much as I love the sounds coming out of it, I will defenitely not buy it until the host implementation is solved any better as it is right now (actually, right now it's no solution but a desaster). N.I. allready have better inhouse solutions, and it's no excuse that Brian Clevinger did it all himself - he could ask for assistance. Have a look at FM7 and you just know how multi-page VSTis can be handled inside a host.

Yes, I may sound a bit picky here, but if there's one thing that makes people use VSTis over hardware (apart from certain sonic advantages) it's the convenience. No syncing LFOs, no sustain pedal support (as in Synth1 and FreeAlpha), no proper host implementation (just to name a few) seriously don't make things any more convenient for me

Best,
Sascha

Quote:

Yes, I may sound a bit picky here, but if there's one thing that makes people use VSTis over hardware (apart from certain sonic advantages) it's the convenience.

Definately... I agree with you.

Seems like this should be a quick fix though, right? I'm going to get my copy today and explore all the things this baby can do without syncing my lfo's. I can't say this won't be an inconveniance at some point but it won't spoil the little party I'm going to have later today with my 3gig of cutting edge sonic heaven!!!

dano

I think ep addressed this long ago in another thread and said it would be in an update. He is aware of the desire for LFO sync, as members here who have been reading Atmosphere threads were aware that it does not yet sync.

Robert

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your feedback, we're always listening.

This LFO sync issue is not a secret. Yes, of course we know that this very important, and of course we wanted to have it originally in version 1.00. That's why we put the info about it on our website FAQs and have committed to doing this in an update in the manual from Day One. We have always been open about this current limitation from the beginning and it has been clear in every review about the product too.

However, "inexcusable" or "unusable" I don't buy.

The reason that we weren't able to include this in 1.00 is because we support every plug-in platform with the UVI Engine, and they all do host sync'ing differently. UVI is quite different than most plugs because it operates as a native plug-in in all these different platforms and we have to make sure everything works with every platform (RTAS, MAS, etc). It would have been a no-brainer to do this only with VST (or for emagic to do it in their native environment), but that's not how our architecture works. So we had to release 1.00 without it, with the promise of doing this in a future update.

It's definitely going to happen though, it currently in the works and much much more interesting stuff too. I won't promise when though...mainly because LFO sync is part of a much larger picture of a significant update with many cool things we are doing for Atmosphere and this will take some time to develop. I will only promise that it will happen. It will be ready when its ready as they say.

So yes...if you absolutely cannot make music without LFO sync, then you should not get Atmosphere yet. I will say however, that because of this current limitation, we intentionally kept the current LFOs to sine waves only, and didn't included any strong rhythmic sounds in Atmosphere that rely on tempo sync, and for the current sounds that Atmosphere does really well, LFO sync is not essential by any means.

It's also worth noting that Reason didn't not have any LFO sync either for more than one year....even though it is an extremely sophisticated software, and is highly rhythmic-oriented. It wasn't intil Reason 2.0 was available that this finally happened.

I had a lot of fun making music with Reason 1.0 without LFO sync....Reason 2.0 was even nicer when it had it.

Perspective can be a beautiful thing

All the best,

spectrum

Thanks Eric,

My copy will be coming through the door in about 43min and 28 seconds.(I cant wait....can you tell?)

Great news.

dano

Interesting to see that around half a year after the $49 "Space" Synthesizer was released (featuring an evolving wave oscillator), someone is releasing a product called "Atmosphere" for "producing evolving pads and rich ambient sounds". (and charge $399)

Well, it's probably just a coincidence.
But quite funny. MHC must have started a trend...

Regards
Mikael Hillborg
MHC Synthesizers and Effects
http://www.mhc.se/software/plugins/

Hey Eric, without any doubt, Athmosphere seems to be quite far away from being unusable (and at least I was never saying so).
Host-tempo-sync these days is mandatory anyways. At least for a "modern" VSTi.

If you're using the UVI engine and it's easier to support all the different hosts, fine for you developers. But I'm afraid that from a user point of view this doesn't count too much.
You know, Athmosphere isn't advertised as a sample playback machine. As such it allready does a great job. But it surely lacks in the synth department, at least from what I can see. And from my understanding that was a part of what it was supposed to do as well.

But well, as long as you're getting it right one day, it's all OK with me. Gonna have the cash ready then.

Regards,
Sascha

Well, I really don't like to do this kind of "shameless self promotion",
but when I read this discussion I just want to mention that
the $49 Space Synthesizer, which has been out for 6-7 months
now, supports sync of all LFOs and it has full automation
of *all* controls. I think that's essential for a synth, which
claims to produce "ambient" sounds.

Kind regards
Mikael Hillborg
MHC Synthesizers and Effects (Space Synth and much more)
http://www.mhc.se/software/plugins/

What's the point of LFO sync if I can't even open the thing?

PC-Only

Make it M c!

What a bizarre dicussion?! My banjo doesn´t sync to anything yet it can get real groovy with the right combination of strokes!
Atmosphere is magic, it really is. Adding a LFO/sync-to-host-capable plugin in the chain works pretty well even if it´s not as potent as if it were floating inside the box! There is no end to the soundscapes in there, the tweakabilities should keep anybody busy for the next millenium or so!

Micke wrote:

Well, I really don't like to do this kind of "shameless self promotion", but when I read this discussion I just want to mention that the $49 Space Synthesizer, which has been out for 6-7 months now, supports sync of all LFOs and it has full automation of *all* controls. I think that's essential for a synth, which claims to produce "ambient" sounds. Kind regards Mikael Hillborg MHC Synthesizers and Effects (Space Synth and much more) http://www.mhc.se/software/plugins/

does it come with 3gigs of original sample content (sampled from REAL hardware vintage classic with cutting edge hardware fx processing an mixed in almsot every kind of synthesis known to man)

or is it just a live Va synth

Micke wrote:

Well, I really don't like to do this kind of "shameless self promotion", but when I read this discussion I just want to mention that the $49 Space Synthesizer, which has been out for 6-7 months now, supports sync of all LFOs and it has full automation of *all* controls. I think that's essential for a synth, which claims to produce "ambient" sounds. Kind regards Mikael Hillborg MHC Synthesizers and Effects (Space Synth and much more) http://www.mhc.se/software/plugins/

Yes, this is what I call SHAMELESS self-promotion.

Hi everyone.

I really don't see the need for all the hot air.

Those who think that LFO sync will interfere with their decision to buy atmosphere have a right to state that. And it's good of them to let others know.

Yes it isn't like Spectrasonics have been cheating people and keeping it secret but many might not be aware of the limitation.

I think that threads like this can help both users and the developer. It allows the user to make what's called an "educated purchase". And helps developers ..er..develop their product after intial release.

I would be mighty suspicious of a product that non of you highly critical, technically aware folks could find nothing wrong with.

So I don't think there is any need to fall into divided camps FOR and AGAINST. Infact I sort of expect my fellow KVRians (or is it KVRists?) to give an opinion of a product after real life use. And then it's up to me to deciede wheather the limitations (or unbelievably amazing features) are important for me.

Happy LFO SYNCing to you all!!