Sequent 1.3.0: Now with sequenced Bitcrusher FX; Now available Mac 64-bit VST

[colin@loomer]

It's time for another update: Sequent 1.3.0 is now available.

About Sequent
Sequent is a step-sequenced multi-effect processor with a flexible modular effects routing system, an incredibly powerful beat looper, twenty-three parameter sequencers, and a wealth of randomization options. Sequent is the ideal tool for mangling audio on stage or in the studio. Sequent is available for Mac OS X v 10.4 and above, Windows XP and above, and Linux, in Audio Unit, VST plugin, RTAS for Pro Tools 7 and above, and Standalone application formats.



What's new in Sequent 1.3.0
OK, so it's not exactly a massive update, but I've had such a flood of requests for Sequent Mac 64-bit VST plug-in support, that I decided to push out an update. Still, there's a decent amount of new content and fixes in this release, including:

• Native 64-bit VST plug-in for Mac OS X (64-bit VST support requires Mac OS X 10.6 or greater; 64-bit Audio Unit requires Mac OS X 10.5 or greater; all other formats require Mac OS X 10.4 or greater. )
• Bitcrusher effect added to distortion module.
• Massively improved speed and responsiveness of all UI controls.
• Improved CPU usage when wiring effects in the modular view.
• Improved CPU usage when tweaking parameters from a hardware controller.
• Improved CPU usage when rapidly switching patterns.
• Sequence syncing is now more reliable for hosts which provide only periodic PPQ positional information.
• Rotary controls for Looper mode and Filter types are now replaced by combo controls.
• For the Windows VST plug-in, when using a relative path for the presets folder, the path is now relative to the DLL, not the host.
• Standalone versions now support multiple simultaneous hardware controllers.
• MIDI Program Changes are now multi-threaded, and so will no longer potentially stall the audio synthesis.
• Fix for GUI freeze that could occur in certain Mac OS X VST hosts.
• Preset searches are now multi-threaded. Preset browser can now immediately respond to user interaction, even whilst searching a massive preset library, or when browsing a folder containing a large number of presets.
• Added soft notching for volume and crossfade controls, making unity volume and 50% crossfade mix easier to dial in.
• Fixed extremely rare crash that could occur on a minority of Windows 32-bit systems when opening the UI.
• Preset meta data (ie, author name, notes, tags) is now correctly displayed after loading an .FXP based preset or restoring a saved project.
• Standalone application tempo can now be set to within two decimal places of accuracy.

Download the demo or update here. Feel free to post any questions, comments, or feedback. Thanks!

[axele]

thanks for keeping sequent updated, i enjoy it a lot

i have a suggestion concerning the distortion module. when using bits-mode i think it's counter-intuitive to have 16bit at top and 1 bit at the bottom in the graph. while 16 is bigger than 1, the intensity of the effect decreases when drawing a taller bar, and this is the opposite behaviour of other modules.

it also means that the default "empty" state of the graph results in all audio being reduced to 1 bit, probably not something you'd want. so you set all bars to max and then bring a few down to get occasional bit-reduction and suddenly think "why not try saturator mode instead" and get LOTS of saturation all the way through since the min/max behaviour is flipped.

so i think flipping min/max in bits mode would be helpful. another thing i'd wish for is automatic level compensation when using saturation. without it i don't find it very useful as the output level rises considerably even when it's applied only a little and you end up with a very jumpy result volume-wise. or is there a setting i missed to tune that?

axel

[colin@loomer]

Flipping the bits seems a sensible suggestion. My worry is it'll be slightly counter-intuitive, but I think the consistency with the saturation module, particularly when flipping between distortion modes, would more than make up for it.

There is currently no gain normalization, but I've added it to the features request list, and I'll take a look at getting it into the next version.

Thanks for the suggestions!