I just bought the Dash synth bundle. I'm VERY pleased with daHornet and Combo Sister, but daAlfa2k 2.0 isn't much better than the previous version. Yes, the custom waveform feature is nice, but I at least expected some new and usable presets. The ones that come with it mostly suck. There's lots of atonal FX garbage and patches based on fifths. I find this really annoying. If I wanna play a fifth, I have the fingers to do it manually, thank you very much. Plus, the pitch wheel and mod wheels don't work in my version. Anybody else have the pitch and mod wheel problem?

Are there any good preset banks out there for this synth?

geese

Well I don't know how good they will be but I'm working on a bank right now and yes there are some fifths, it's just one of the basic tricks of patch programming.Why don't you whip up a batch o' patches and share them with us?

Hello, sorry that you are not 100% pleased with daAlfa2k. Most users liked the array of presets. But we are working on a new bank to follow on V2.1 by next month. We would love to receive user banks to include more presets. Also, the Random feature gives you plenty of new presets right away, so there is no need of too much ready presets.

The synth do have ModWhell and PitchBend support. PitchBend is fixed to the global pitch, and can be selected from 0 to 12 notes up/down. Just use the menu, and please, read the manual.

The ModWhell can be used for ANY parameter, just use Midi-Learn. Right-Click on any parameter you would like to use ModWhell and select midi-learn, that's all.

Any other question or problem, let me know.

Regards, WilliamK

Uh, there are quite a few new presets that use the new waves, and the random function is very capable of generating some good stuff... How many presets were you expecting? I have been using DaAlpha since it first came out, with the original set and I still find ways to use it... I guess the question here is, are you paying for the synth or presets??

Hi William,I've started a new topic at the Dash Forum.I'll check back with you in the morning.

To be honest I just think their stuff sounds flat and flavourless.

Go to ReFX or something - get something with a bit of taste.


Oh - I forgot Ben is in love with William - hope he doesn't delete this


Reg

WilliamK wrote:

Hello, sorry that you are not 100% pleased with daAlfa2k. Most users liked the array of presets. But we are working on a new bank to follow on V2.1 by next month. We would love to receive user banks to include more presets. Also, the Random feature gives you plenty of new presets right away, so there is no need of too much ready presets. The synth do have ModWhell and PitchBend support. PitchBend is fixed to the global pitch, and can be selected from 0 to 12 notes up/down. Just use the menu, and please, read the manual. The ModWhell can be used for ANY parameter, just use Midi-Learn. Right-Click on any parameter you would like to use ModWhell and select midi-learn, that's all. Any other question or problem, let me know. Regards, WilliamK

If I order it on CD do you still do the Reaktor cracks????

xxxxxxx

Reg

RegPheonix wrote:

To be honest I just think their stuff sounds flat and flavourless. Go to ReFX or something - get something with a bit of taste. Oh - I forgot Ben is in love with William - hope he doesn't delete this Reg

What?! Ben never did anything to make people think that. He loves EVERY DEVELOPER.

Also, looks like YOU love reFX. Remember one thing, I didn't release daAlfa2k to compete with JunoX2. I released cause it was for ages on my ToDo list.

Regards, WilliamK

WilliamK wrote:

RegPheonix wrote: To be honest I just think their stuff sounds flat and flavourless. Go to ReFX or something - get something with a bit of taste. Oh - I forgot Ben is in love with William - hope he doesn't delete this Reg What?! Ben never did anything to make people think that. He loves EVERY DEVELOPER. Also, looks like YOU love reFX. Remember one thing, I didn't release daAlfa2k to compete with JunoX2. I released cause it was for ages on my ToDo list. Regards, WilliamK

What about the cracked Reaktor?? Native Instruments hand-that-feeds-you-biter.

Mhuahahaha

I'm just in the mood for it.

Nothing personal Willy!!!!!

I'm drunk - you got a cool little company - just a shame it's a fruitless orchard.

xxxxxx

Reg

aaaah William, I know it´s out of topic but what about the dahornet ? You said you will develop a 2nd output ?!? (---plastic taste----like---a--bee---)

My opinion: concentrate on daHornet not on daAlfa

~ingo

I don't agree that daAlfa2k sounds 'flat and flavorless.' I wouldn't have bought it if it did. I was just complaining about the presets, which have actually grown on me since my last post. However, my pitch bend wheel still doesn't do anything in this synth. I went to the menu to see if it was set to zero by default. It wasn't. I still need help with this problem.

Dash Sythesis is an awesome company and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I'm very pleased with my purchase.

geese

That's just RegPhoenix. He's his own special brand of insulting/amusing/offensive and seems to be drunk right now. He also seems to be following poor William around in this forum making fun of him. I'm rather enjoying it, but I doubt William is.

pough wrote:

That's just RegPhoenix. He's his own special brand of insulting/amusing/offensive and seems to be drunk right now. He also seems to be following poor William around in this forum making fun of him. I'm rather enjoying it, but I doubt William is.

Precisely.

I'll grow out of it eventually - NOT.

In fact I would do - but I'm sat here drinking on my own.

I didn't lift a finger and the world went to war.


xxxxxxxx

Reg

geeseaplenty wrote:

Dash Sythesis is an awesome company

No question at all! I wonder why they don´t bring out a big synth meanwhile they must be able to do something big. Also they are producing great patches -> I bought a lot of SynC patches.

geeseaplenty wrote:

my pitch bend wheel still doesn't do anything in this synth.

Hello, thanxs for the comments.

Yes, there IS a problem on the pitch-bend. The last compilation I did for V2.0 I lost some lines of code on the Event-Processor. Now is fixed. In about 15 minutes you can download the V2.0b that I'm uploading now. Sorry for the problem. I just got from Brazil to Canada, and my computer is still a mess.

Regards, WilliamK

I just uploaded V2.0b with two fixes:

- PitchBend works as V1.x
- Synth ID works as V1.x - some DirectX Wrap users were having some problems.

About us not doing a BIG synth. Well, for us was a big deal to create the first VST from scratch. Now we are more confident about doing bigger stuff. But the problem is that working on a bigger synth also means investments. I can't say much, but a lot of new stuff are on the way. Luigi and I are working a lot. And he is going overnight to do new incredible stuff, just wait and see.

Regards, WilliamK

WilliamK wrote:

geeseaplenty wrote: my pitch bend wheel still doesn't do anything in this synth. Hello, thanxs for the comments. Yes, there IS a problem on the pitch-bend. The last compilation I did for V2.0 I lost some lines of code on the Event-Processor. Now is fixed. In about 15 minutes you can download the V2.0b that I'm uploading now. Sorry for the problem. I just got from Brazil to Canada, and my computer is still a mess. Regards, WilliamK

It's a Macintosh!!!!

No more rude private messages

Reg

Thanks for your quick reply, William. I'm just glad it wasn't me. I have another bug to report and I think it's with all the Dash instruments in the package. When I'm in Cubase and I close one of the Dash instruments and open another Dash instrument in the same channel, it says "unable to open editor" or something like that. Then it crashes my stuff, restarting my computer. This is a major bug. Has anyone else using Cubase 5.1 had this problem?

Strange, this is new. Since we tested like crazy for this problems and couldn't reproduce it here. Anyway, could you find if is only one VST from the 3 that is doing that? If so, it could help us a lot. But so far a group of people tested on CubaseSX, Orion, FruitLoops and others, without problems. But again, no one is free of bugs.

Regards, WilliamK

I myself have been de-infested William!

Sorry but what that means?

Wk

WilliamK wrote:

Sorry but what that means? Wk

I don´t know

But I know that you did ignore my question about daHornet.

I know why: you will not add a 2nd output that makes the bee sound

bryllyant wrote:

But I know that you did ignore my question about daHornet.

Sorry, but I didn't ignore you. We will work on that soon.

Regards, WilliamK

I'm unsure of the desperate need for an amp/speaker simulation on a Wasp sim. It does not sound anything like a bee, merely a synth plugged through a lousy guitar case amplifier. In order to achieve the same sound you are going to have the synth anyway.
I'd spend the time improving the lfo's on daAlpha

I think DaAlpha 2.0 is really going to take off when users start sharing waveforms.The ability to have up to 3 samples layered or in combination with the synth waves makes for a really powerful system.Factor in the effects and nice filter and DaAlpha has the potential to be a real monster synth.The included waveforms are nice but I can't wait to hear what she can do with waves from designers like Scot Solida.Any chance we might harvest a "DaAlpha" pack of waveforms from the Electronic Garden Scot?I'm going to try the waves that came on the CM disk to see how they sound.Anybody who hasn't tried DaAlpha give it a go I think you'll be impressed.

EDIT: Oh and Patchworkcat,how about the ability to route an LFO to OSC amplitude and more lfo wavforms to choose from?

In the daAlfa2K v2.0 readme file, WilliamK wrote:

Known isues - to be fixed on V2.1 - Better WAV importer feature, supporting Stereo files and any samplerate. Right now it only supports 16bits, 44.1khz, Mono WAV files

Ack! All my waveforms are 16bits, 44.1khz, stereo!

Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to play with Drumatic for a bit until 2.1 comes out...

-David, or find some more interesting sample sources.

Don't worry, V2.1 will be out shortly. I should start working on it next week. Also, daHornet with the speaker emulation should be out soon too. I will try to setup it for next week too.

Regards, WilliamK

P4-I use Sound Forge to transform stereo waves into mono.I'm sure any audio editor will do the same.It'll keep you busy until stereo files are supported.

Actually, I just went back and saw that one group of a dozen or so were mono after all. My bad.

I've got Cool Edit to convert the rest, of course, but for those, I'd really rather keep them in stereo for now and convert them later if they don't sound right. Gives them character, y'know.

-David, who really should just be outside right now. It's a gorgeous day in Bull City...

I had literally JUST (a week or two before) bought DaAlfa2K through SectionZ, when version 2 came out.

I inquired about an upgrade - fully willing to pay full price if need be, since I knew it was a special promotion to support SZ...

WilliamK took care of me and I *love* the new features (I liked 2K before that. 2K is one of my favorites so far - along with Triangle 2, Synth1, and Crystal. Give me these four and I'm pretty happy.

(Come to think of it, I haven't used T2 much since I got 2K....)

Great sounds, great service!

Doug

Permanent4 wrote:

Actually, I just went back and saw that one group of a dozen or so were mono after all. My bad. I've got Cool Edit to convert the rest, of course, but for those, I'd really rather keep them in stereo for now and convert them later if they don't sound right. Gives them character, y'know. -David, who really should just be outside right now. It's a gorgeous day in Bull City...

Er excuse me if this is obvious David but you could have two sets of the wavs you fancied playing through DaAlpha2k. You will soon realise which ones are ideal and it shouldn't take too much space?

patchworkcat wrote:

Er excuse me if this is obvious David but you could have two sets of the wavs you fancied playing through DaAlpha2k. You will soon realise which ones are ideal and it shouldn't take too much space?

I thought the same thing earlier when I read this, but didn't say anything. It's either a question of laziness(which we're all guilty of), but it shouldn't be because you can batch in Cool Edit...or ...there is no or...the little bit of hard-drive space should not be an issue in this day and age...

If I ever get the time I hope to make up some waveforms...I love daAlfa's presets anyway, let alone the new possibilities...

Hey, no one ever accused me of having common sense to spare.

-David