KVR Audio

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 12:47 pm

Charlatan sticks Synth1 in the pocket sonically, Synth1 sticks Charlatan in the pocket in terms of versatility. Charlatan 1 - 1 Synth1.

nineofkings · Post by **nineofkings** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 1:25 pm

Charlatan has this nice subtle driftiness to it. It's the opposite of lifeless. It's got a wide frequency range with very little aliasing, and a sweet-sounding filter. No effects, two oscillators. What does that sound like? Oh, yeah, an analog synth. If you want the "analog sound" for free, this is where to get it. Synth1 is really a different synth altogether. This is like having an analog synth in a plugin. All the members here pine for it and fetishize it and when one finally comes out they criticize its lack of features XD

Dandruff · Post by **Dandruff** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:03 pm

Some little things I'm missing:

1. Parameter value readout or tooltip when tweaking a knob/fader

2. Possibility to have ENV and LFO both modulating Cutoff and Pitch. Why just ENV or LFO?

3. Doubleclick or CTRL+Click on faders/knobs to reset them to default value (not just on some knobs as it is at the moment)

4. Why the 8 voice limit? Why not 64 or something like that?

5. Maybe Velocity->Volume modulation possibility would be nice. In my opinion that's what the VELO button should do in the GLOBAL section. "Velocity -> mod envelope intensity" VELO button should be placed below the MOD knob. Wouldn't this be a better place for it?

DuX · Post by **DuX** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 6:21 pm

I have just discovered this gem.

Thank you so much! I love the raw sounding synths without any FX, but with HI-Q sound. It's easy to drown it in some "3rd party" FX...

However, I would agree with Dandruff that it does lack a bit of more "modulation freedom". And a different background bmp.

Cheers!

karrikuh · Post by **karrikuh** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:02 pm

Thanks for the suggestions!

Dandruff wrote:Some little things I'm missing:

1. Parameter value readout or tooltip when tweaking a knob/fader

I actually prefer to tweak parameters purely by ear, just like with hardware. In the rare case you really need to accurately set a specific value you can switch to your host's default plugin GUI.

Dandruff wrote:2. Possibility to have ENV and LFO both modulating Cutoff and Pitch. Why just ENV or LFO?

Because I never felt the need to have both active at the same time.

Dandruff wrote:3. Doubleclick or CTRL+Click on faders/knobs to reset them to default value (not just on some knobs as it is at the moment)

Ctrl-click (or double-click) is not activated for parameters whose default value is either the start or end of the value range because because you can reach these values easily by mouse dragging. Maybe I should activate it for all controls just for consistency's sake.

Dandruff wrote:4. Why the 8 voice limit? Why not 64 or something like that?

I think a limitation of the number of voices also contributes to the hardware feel since it forces you to play differently to avoid cutting of notes when playing bold chords in combination with long release times. That said, I actually think the sound of notes cut of when the polyphony limit is reached adds to the character of hardware machines.

Dandruff wrote:5. Maybe Velocity->Volume modulation possibility would be nice. In my opinion that's what the VELO button should do in the GLOBAL section. "Velocity -> mod envelope intensity" VELO button should be placed below the MOD knob. Wouldn't this be a better place for it?

Yes, velocity support is limited, see my comment in a previous post in this thread.

karrikuh · Post by **karrikuh** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:14 pm

Evan wrote:I think Charlatan is more for those who want to learn about synthesis, and sound designers/tweakers. Those who can tell their sawtooths from their sines. Those who are willing to put several Charlatans in a chain and layer them to create complex sounds. It's not so much for the instant gratification people who want a collection of modern sounds out of the box.

Well put.

karrikuh · Post by **karrikuh** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:20 pm

Dandruff wrote:Feature request:

Hiding the mouse cursor when dragging knobs. This way you still can move the knob when hitting screen edges. See Voxengo and Ohm Force plugins or REAPER's fine tuning mode (CTRL+Drag on faders/knobs) for example ...

Thanks!

This might be nice although I never really had an issue with hitting screen edges myself.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:56 am

Well I've done a quick edit but I can't figure out how to replace the png....(yes I know you need a ResHacker but the one I'm using isn't working).

Evan · Post by **Evan** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:41 am

karrikuh wrote: I think a limitation of the number of voices also contributes to the hardware feel since it forces you to play differently to avoid cutting of notes when playing bold chords in combination with long release times.

Unless you're planning a commercial version with these limitations removed...

Why not allow a choice, or freedom, for functionality that requires minimal effort to implement? Like, set a default polyphony of 8, but give the option to 16 or 32 or unlimited. The synths of yesteryear had these limitations out of necessity, not because it somehow sounded better.

Again, unless you're planning a commercial version later on, I don't understand the choice to lock things down artificially.

DuX · Post by **DuX** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:14 am

Teksonik wrote:Well I've done a quick edit but I can't figure out how to replace the png....(yes I know you need a ResHacker but the one I'm using isn't working).

You need a v3.6 of "Resource Hacker". Here: http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/rh_history.html

I found out that saving pngs with Gimp sometimes doesn't work - the VST can give me an error at times, but saving the png with Xnview works every time.

The problem is - you have to save the png with the exact parameters that the author used, I think. I have changed more than a few VSTs this way... I often find bright colours irritating and distracting from real work which is done with ears.

I simply adore stuff that uses "universal GUI" for that matter, since it really forces you to use your ears for tweaking sounds.

Cheers!

Mutant · Post by **Mutant** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:29 am

Do we have an official "OK" from karrikuh to "hack" the dll ???

It would be quite disrespectful to do it without his permission.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:12 pm

DuX wrote:You need a v3.6 of "Resource Hacker". Here: http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/rh_history.html

Yes that's what I'm using (it's how I extracted the background png) but I have not been able to re-import the edited image. There is no "Replace Png" option and clicking Replace Bitmap, Icon or Cursor does nothing......Have you actually tried it with this version of Charlatan?

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:17 pm

Mutant wrote:Do we have an official "OK" from karrikuh to "hack" the dll ???

It would be quite disrespectful to do it without his permission.

I assumed this entry in the Change Log was a blessing by karrikuh to change the background:

GUI: change color of version text to light gray (for people changing background color)

If you've followed this thread you'll know why changing the version number from pink to light grey was requested and you'd also have seen my post on page 28 that said:

Teksonik wrote:You have to hack the .dll which I have chosen not to do out of respect......

DuX · Post by **DuX** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:29 pm

There is an option to replace PNG but it's a little less obvious, and a little more complicated than it should be. As it was always with "Resource Hacker".

Try this: Open Charlatan.dll with ResHacker, open the "PNG", "101", "0" branch, then right mouse click on the "0", click "Replace Resource", "Open file with new resource...", enter this in the fields below: "PNG", then "101" and "0" in the last field [without the quotes, of course] et voila! "OK", I mean.

And save the DLL, of course.

It took me a while to figure that out when I was playing with Satson CM that I disliked the stupid reflection in the VU meter of... so I exchanged the VU meter PNG with a "non-reflective" one.

I'm one of "those" who hate fake perspective, reflections, and shadows on computer GUIs... I think they are of absolutely no use and impede functionality of a plugin, actually. I mean look at "Charlatan", for example. Brilliant GUI! Except for the bg colour, of course.

That's how a functional, non-distracting, no-fuss, software synth GUI should look like. ♥ it!

Cheers!

Kriminal · Post by **Kriminal** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:39 pm

its an ok synth, but i feel it follows the hardware pardigm too srictly. Its nice to have a bit more flexibility even in something this simple, best of both worlds. It never going to replace anything i already have, an even for a beginner i think they may find it frustrating.

Charlatan v1.4.1 - free VA synth (Win VSTi 32-/64-bit)