One Synth Challenge #108: Diodow by HrastProgrammer (Schiing Wins!)

[subterfuge]

Thanks a lot, looks much better. But I must be doing sth wrong, it's not working. Any idea what could be the problem?

What I noticed at least with Reaper as my host is that you'll have to restart the host to get the ini doing anything. Removing, replacing, rescanning the VSTs, none of that worked but restarting the host does, every time. Has to be done every time you change or edit the ini, but doesn't really matter as it's not that often.

[Frostline]

Very nice synth but unfortunately unusable, at least in Reaper, since it won't retain settings on save/load. Seems to be some problem with the instances getting mixed up. Things like duplicating a track will use the last edited instance instead of the instance on the track.

Very unfortunate, since I really like the oscillator shaping and thought the filters sounded nice, but I don't have the patience right now to work with something this buggy...

Glad to see that it was not just me (though not glad the issue is real).
It seems to like copying things like modulation matrix, filter setting, noise and maybe more from the first instance to to the other instances.
Had a kick and a bassline going, sounded ok.
Then decided to add an *.ini file in case I wanted host automation (only like 3 or 4 things show up in Reaper parameter list otherwise) and on project reload my pitch and filter modulation from my kick had been applied to my bass patch. Made quite a difference.
Fixed that and then opened a new fresh instance of Diodow which also already had the pitch and filter modulation applied from the kick instance even though I had previously saved the default from the autoplaying Diodow patch to the silent when opened init patch.
It seems this will be one of those projects where I really want to avoid rebooting the PC

[wagtunes]

Okay, it turns out that patch sharing, when using samples, doesn't work as the samples are hard coded paths into the patch. So you'll have to find the invalid sample on your system, reload it into the patch for the correct oscillator and then resave the patch.

Not ideal, but it is what it is.

[progtronic]

Settings won't save in Studio One Pro (Win7).. and I've managed to crash it in a variety of ways.

Gonna have to pass on this one.

Good luck folks.

[schiing]

Settings won't save in Studio One Pro (Win7).. and I've managed to crash it in a variety of ways.

Gonna have to pass on this one.

Good luck folks.

Just a couple of observations re: Studio One Pro:

It hasn't crashed on me yet, but the Studio One preset menu doesn't work with Diodow. But I've been careful to update and save the patches in the synth .hp format - and it remembers the settings whenever I exit.

I've had a recurring problem in Studio One with a lot of freeware synths and effects: Very often a big pop will "red out" the master bus and freeze/crash the DAW. I've started putting a limiter on the master bus before I start adding stuff to the project, and that seems to have solved the problem for me. Of course, this could be a sound card issue as well, but it never happened when I used Sonar Platinum with the same setup. Anyway, thought I'd mention it.

[progtronic]

...I've been careful to update and save the patches in the synth .hp format...

That's one of the things that was crashing it on me.. every time.

Other glitches and crashing occurred with various settings and whatnot. I think it just hates my particular computer/setup.

[Guenon]

Very nice synth but unfortunately unusable, at least in Reaper, since it won't retain settings on save/load. Seems to be some problem with the instances getting mixed up. Things like duplicating a track will use the last edited instance instead of the instance on the track.

The synth doesn't recall its contents through the DAW project but through the patch files alone. Try if it makes a difference when you have the patches saved, using a unique filename for every instance.

It reminds me of the Tunefish round, juggling those patch text files

Anyway, the main thing to remember is, the patches are not saved with the project. I tested this in Live, and when doing a project save, the plugin instances automatically just save over the patches they have loaded in them, writing over the corresponding named patches in the patch directory. So if you have duplicate patch names (everything saying "init", for example), it will mess up. If all patches are individually named, and preferrably already saved in their current state to be sure , the project is always correctly recalled.

Note that if you change a patch in any one project and save that project without changing the patch name, you will be altering the patch for all projects using that same patch, eh. Similarly, if you duplicate a track or plugin instance without saving the patch first, the duplicate will most probably load the latest state of the patch that is actually in the patch file of that name.

Always save a patch using a unique name before altering something for a different sound / different project. And after altering it, save that altered version using a unique name for the alteration.

It's a throwback to an earlier time for sure , but that's how it sometimes is with experimental/outlier software.

[Frostline]

Always save a patch using a unique name before altering something for a different sound / different project. And after altering it, save that altered version using a unique name for the alteration.

It's a throwback to an earlier time for sure , but that's how it sometimes is with experimental/outlier software.

Thanks for the excellent advice.

I will, I fear will soon be at a point where I will need to relaunch Reaper.
Seems that changing the GUI size via the *ini file has a negative impact on Reaper similar as reported in the other thread in another DAW.
Each new instance is getting bigger and it no longer will fit on the monitor where I usually put the synth GUI and if it keeps growing as it has it will soon not fit on my largest monitor either.
I am going to try and just change the *ini with all instances of Diodow closed but Reaper still running, but I could see that potentially causing a crash or it will not let me modify a file in use by another process or something similar.
At least now I feel a bit more confident that the work I have done so far will manage to survive a Reaper restart should it be necessary. So thank you.

Now I just hope I do the patch saving correctly.

[mehum]

The synth doesn't recall its contents through the DAW project but through the patch files alone. Try if it makes a difference when you have the patches saved, using a unique filename for every instance.

Thanks, that explains things. I really liked the sounds I was getting so might give it another shot. Or just release my track with only hihats

[Guenon]

Each new instance is getting bigger and it no longer will fit on the monitor where I usually put the synth GUI and if it keeps growing as it has it will soon not fit on my largest monitor either.

I noticed this as well. Sigh. It makes every subsequent instance 150% in size compared to the last one ... Oh well. If anyone encounters that problem, remove the "Scale=150" row from the ini file. I'm testing this at the default 100% now.

Also, for all things considered, it might be a good idea to backup the DiodowPatches folder once in a while . As all patches are saved only there, and a single patch is shared between all project files using it... that kind of stuff is good for paranoia (at least for me), hah.

To recap, have all individual Diodow instances use uniquely named patches, save them every time you actually change the patch and wish to keep the changed version, and at the end of the session, drag the DiodowPatches folder somewhere safe so that you can drag them back if something unexpected happens (like, if you forget to rename a patch and happen to write over something that is critical in another project or instance).

[Guenon]

Or just release my track with only hihats

One Hihat Only?

[TheNeverScene]

Anyone else having Reaper crashes when moving a slider from the default patch? I can't even keep one instance alive for more than 3 seconds :/

[EvilDragon]

Must say it didn't crash on me when moving sliders (it could crash if you try automating some parameters that start with * in their name, this is about the only way I could crash Tranzistow. Not sure how this all applies to Diodow.).

BTW, for Reaper, make sure to enable "Save minimal undo states" for this synth.

[TheNeverScene]

BTW, for Reaper, make sure to enable "Save minimal undo states" for this synth.

Thanks, I will try that and see if it helps. Cool to see you here...always see you posting good info throughout the forum.

[TheNeverScene]

Okay, I'm a maroon. Looks like the patches folder needs to be with the dll. I'm in I think, but is it supposed to come up with the Diodow patch playing before initializing?