DCAM Synth Squad on sale again ?

[ThoughtExperiment]

I would like Fusor to be integrated to each. Something like Cypher is very deep already, so it's a travesty I have to open up Fusor just for sequencing/FX...

In effect, Fusor is already integrated with all three synths. It's hardly a 'travesty', having to open up one more interface to enable you to do what you can do with Fusor.

I'm only just beginning to get to grips with Synth Squad (I bought it during FXP's Christmas sale) but I love the sounds it makes, and I don't see anything wrong with the interface(s). So I don't see any need for a V2.

[Angus_FX]

breakmixer - kind of meant that feature requests already in the thread would be listened to, if you're talking Geist specific things better to post in the Geist forum over at fxpansion.com. But will pass your message on to the relevant people anyhow.

Phase47 - yes, that's a pretty nice innovation, would be great in SS. Little bit more difficult to do for a polyphonic synth, but I'm sure we can come up with something.

SadPuppyBlues - in some ways it's the first of that generation. However, being pretty flexible, it does allow you to get outside what people think of as vintage synth territory - the parameter ranges & modulation options are more than what you'd get on an older synth, so it's rather easier to end up in "that doesn't sound analog" territory than on synths which deliberately limit parameter ranges and feature sets to match vintage instruments. So it's best to think of it as sitting somewhere between the most strictly vintage synths of the last couple of years, and the kind of flexible synths that don't try particularly hard to be vintage.

softska - it's easy for us to keep sonic compatibility between Synth Squad versions, the patches are future-proof as long as the sound engine doesn't change too much.

[bmanic]

How does Synth Squad hold up against the newer batch of VAs?

Extremely well.

Cheers!
bManic

[~Pd~]

How does Synth Squad hold up against the newer batch of VAs?

It was released in a very peculiar time, juuuuuust before that generation was being developed.

I've demoed the newer ones and to my ears SS blows them away in terms of presence and character. It's not lacking anything in sound quality either.

My two quibbles: FXpansion should update the GUI, and ought to include a selection from their expansion packs - the bundled sounds were created before sound designers had fully realized what Cypher could do and the Electric Himalaya and Cypherdelics expansions are head and shoulders above the factory presets. (probably the Myagi expansions too but I haven't tried those)

[Numanoid]

I'm only just beginning to get to grips with Synth Squad (I bought it during FXP's Christmas sale) but I love the sounds it makes, and I don't see anything wrong with the interface(s). So I don't see any need for a V2.

I like SS, but if not a V2, it would be good with some improvements, for instance
bigger GUI (or maybe resizeable GUI), and it would be fantastic if the plugs could become less heavy on CPU.

[Angus_FX]

GUI is resizable in the latest build, though at present the quality of the image scaling is not what we'd like it to be.

Pd - you're right, the sound packs are a lot more usable than the factory content. I think the factory content is a bit misunderstood, a lot of it is more "here's a particular patch design trick that the synth can do", rather than say "here's a ready to go bass sound to drop in to your latest track". That's not something the factory bank was ever intended to be, so needless to say it suffers when compared against those that are.

[~Pd~]

GUI is resizable in the latest build, though at present the quality of the image scaling is not what we'd like it to be.

Pd - you're right, the sound packs are a lot more usable than the factory content. I think the factory content is a bit misunderstood, a lot of it is more "here's a particular patch design trick that the synth can do", rather than say "here's a ready to go bass sound to drop in to your latest track". That's not something the factory bank was ever intended to be, so needless to say it suffers when compared against those that are.

I see. OK, they are perfectly good as starting points for further modification, and some of them ARE usable right off the bat - you have to hunt for them though. A "premium" bank with some select expansion patches would be nice for instant gratification. Just my 0.02.

While we're on the subject of the GUI, some aspects of the current beta are worrisome:

http://youtu.be/uGkgSsr0U-8

Let me emphasize that this is in the beta, not in the current release. I do hope that it gets addressed before the next full release, though. (FWIW the waveform display in all versions takes up an uncomfortable chunk of CPU as well - be nice if there were an option to lower the refresh rate or something)

[Angus_FX]

Yes, we know - a regression that got through . Fortunately that extra CPU hit is in the idle (GUI) thread, so while frame rates may suffer a bit in some situations, it has zero impact on the system's capacity for audio processing.

[Wormhelmet]

Feature requests duly noted

Not D-Cam but Geist

Midi Learn on the Geist pads! I cannot use my MPD16 with Geist, OneSmallClue Poise drum machine can - so why can't FXpansion's! I do not want to buy an MPD32 just so I can use Geist with pads! Thanks!

It's the multitimbral nature of Geist in a DAW. I have Poise also. Very easy, but Poise uses one midi channel. If you are using Geist in standalone you should be able to put the mpd16 on channel 10 and start with lowest note on first pad and map your way up in semitones to last pad available in engine 8.

Took me three days to make maps for my padKontrol. Had to use separate maps for standalone and for Ableton AND make separate geistbinding files to go with each padKontrol map.

Once done it is awesome though.

I can hit all pads going through each engine, switch engines, switch patterns, switch through all available scenes, and have transport controls for most of the major functions.

If you run into a padKontrol for cheap, they work great.

I put my maps up for download on Geist forum.



Guarantee you will like the response of PadKONTROL's pads better than the MPD units.

[Numanoid]

GUI is resizable in the latest build, though at present the quality of the image scaling is not what we'd like it to be.

Cool, I didn't realize that.

Will try it out how it looks in FL Studio.

[~Pd~]

Yes, we know - a regression that got through . Fortunately that extra CPU hit is in the idle (GUI) thread, so while frame rates may suffer a bit in some situations, it has zero impact on the system's capacity for audio processing.

Excellent, very pleased that it's on your radar. Looking forward to the next beta.

BTW, if you're sharing code / components across products you should also take a peek at the CPU usage for graphics in Tremor. It makes a huge difference to CPU usage when the GUI is visible versus when the plugin or standalone program is minimized.

[musikmachine]

Yes, we know - a regression that got through . Fortunately that extra CPU hit is in the idle (GUI) thread, so while frame rates may suffer a bit in some situations, it has zero impact on the system's capacity for audio processing.

Excellent, very pleased that it's on your radar. Looking forward to the next beta.

BTW, if you're sharing code / components across products you should also take a peek at the CPU usage for graphics in Tremor. It makes a huge difference to CPU usage when the GUI is visible versus when the plugin or standalone program is minimized.

I get that with the SS guis too.

[~Pd~]

Yes, we know - a regression that got through . Fortunately that extra CPU hit is in the idle (GUI) thread, so while frame rates may suffer a bit in some situations, it has zero impact on the system's capacity for audio processing.

Excellent, very pleased that it's on your radar. Looking forward to the next beta.

BTW, if you're sharing code / components across products you should also take a peek at the CPU usage for graphics in Tremor. It makes a huge difference to CPU usage when the GUI is visible versus when the plugin or standalone program is minimized.

I get that with the SS guis too.

It's the waveform display that's the culprit, or one of the main ones at least. Put the focus on a static element like a ramp or an unmodulated envelope and the CPU usage goes way down. But mix noise into the waveform in Strobe and let that display and holy shit, it will eat its way through your processor, chassis and into the basement like xenomorph blood. I love the hell out of SS and will work around this but it'd be nice if they addressed it.

Geist seems to be mostly immune to this stuff though. I only see a modest rise in CPU when it's visible.

[Vectorman]

But mix noise into the waveform in Strobe and let that display and holy shit, it will eat its way through your processor, chassis and into the basement like xenomorph blood.

It'll be hard to top that for post of the day.

[breakmixer]

breakmixer - kind of meant that feature requests already in the thread would be listened to, if you're talking Geist specific things better to post in the Geist forum over at fxpansion.com. But will pass your message on to the relevant people anyhow.

Cheers, sorry for off topic! I will take a look at your forum - never used it!