SoloRack v1.0 is here

[kokotte]

Congratulation for the release, the price is really good,
do you plan to add a phaser, a reverb and a wave multiplier-ala Doepfer 137-1 VC-?
and a biggest UI for see all the raw on 1 page....
I will by your SoloRack for sure !
the sound/cpu is really great.
Best.

[S0lo]

The SoloRack details page in the website was mistakenly hidden!!. I fixed that, It's online now. So the information is there. Sorry to any one who was trying to find it.

Still can't find it. This is all I can see but nothing about system requirements, plugin types supported etc (in fact it's not even clear if it is a plugin)

http://www.solostuff.net/solorack/

then it tells you to go to the shop but there you can only see details of each module, not the system as a whole

Even that page was hidden. I added the system requirements just now. Thanks for the heads up.

[S0lo]

Congratulation for the release, the price is really good,
do you plan to add a phaser, a reverb and a wave multiplier-ala Doepfer 137-1 VC-?
and a biggest UI for see all the raw on 1 page....
I will by your SoloRack for sure !
the sound/cpu is really great.
Best.

Thanks, glad you like

A reverb module will most probably be added to the System B. It can take some time though.

A phaser or wave multiplier is also possible but these will probably be sold separately.

The UI was designed to fit most screens, as many musicians very much use laptops. Fitting all rows may be done in future, but it can have some impact on the smoothness of moving the modules and cables. So some better optimization has to be done which can take some time.

[BlackWinny]

Just a bump (from here):

Is there an alternative skin for the modules (meaning an "inverted" skin having bright serigraph on black background) ? I ask this question because my poor eyes see much better on dark backgrounds when something is very dense.

[S0lo]

Just a bump (from here):

Is there an alternative skin for the modules (meaning an "inverted" skin having bright serigraph on black background) ? I ask this question because my poor eyes see much better on dark backgrounds when something is very dense.

I understand your situation. nothing as such at the moment, but it's possible to do a second skin for future versions if there is enough interest.

At what resolution and monitor size are you running windows ? Did you try a lower resolution?

[BlackWinny]

Just a bump (from here):

Is there an alternative skin for the modules (meaning an "inverted" skin having bright serigraph on black background) ? I ask this question because my poor eyes see much better on dark backgrounds when something is very dense.

I understand your situation. nothing as such at the moment, but it's possible to do a second skin for future versions if there is enough interest.

At what resolution and monitor size are you running windows ? Did you try a lower resolution?

Thank you for your reply!


I use a 1600x1200 resolution (on a 19" screen). It is excellent for me... because in fact my visual issue is not about the definition in terms of accuracy like glaucoma or myopia or strabismus (I even have an excellent sight by night for my other passion: the amateur astronomy)... but it is an issue about the perception of colors (especially concerning small dark elements such as serigraphs, letters, symbols, etc.) on white or bright large surfaces. My sight is very weak in this situation... and at the opposite it is excellent (and even very accurate) with the inverse situation, meaning when I watch bright serigraphs on very dark backgrounds. Probably by the way that it is incidentally the reason why I have such an excellent vision by night... and such a poor vision by day.

I also have (for the same reason) all the worse difficulties to read a book on conventional paper... but at the opposite with the "night mode" I read very well (even with very small letters) an ebook on a tablet. It tells how much this invention of ebooks has saved my life to read novels (I'm an intensive reader)...

The reason is genetic. No cure possible... But of course it limits my choice of VST plugins depending the type of skins which is featured. Bright backgrounds I must go my own way... And dark or black backgrounds I'm very happy to purchase... and to use!

[martin_l]

Hi, here are some first impressions:

It looks like a great synth with lots of potential. I like the selection of included modules and in particular the handling of modules. For instance, that a new module is first attached to the mouse and you can immediately place it where you want it. Also that you can simply move modules without entering a special 'edit' mode it great. This is one of the things I don't like about Softube, and is much better implemented here.

There are, however, a couple of things, which could be improved:

• I think a readout for the values would be really helpful. Sometimes it is difficult to dial in the values blindly, only guided by the ear.
• I also agree with the idea that the window size should be adjustable, to be able to display 3 or 4 rows, on displays which are big enough.
• Currently, the "Reset" inputs on the sequencers keep the sequencers on step 1 as long as the signal is high. While this might be useful in some cases, it is not the desired behaviour in others, e.g. resetting the sequencer from a Clock-divider.
  My suggestion would be to add a switch which would select a "GATE" versus "TRIGGER" behaviour, where the latter only uses the rising flank of the signal to reset the sequencer. Currently, this can be achieved by sending the signal through a HP filter, or an ADSR with short decay before patching into the RESET input, but this seems an unnecessary complication.
• It would be great if the sequencers had a selector for the number of steps (possibly with CV input). This can currently only be achieved using the RESET input, which has the above mentioned complications.
• I might have done something wrong, but I had issues with controlling the filter cutoff from a sequencer, which was set yo 1 OCT range controlling a VCO pitch. Somehow, the filter did not seem to track accordingly when using the same signal. To hear a audible change of Cutoff frequency, I had to set the sequencer to the highest range.

Those were the main specific points. A more vague but the most important point is the sound: It sounds good, but somehow did not blow me away in the way the Softube Modular did. I can't really pin it down to something specific, but it sounds somehow a bit thin. Maybe it is lacking a bit of low end, or the oscillators are a bit too clean. I will try to investigate that more. Also the Softube filter somehow has more oompf and sounds a bit more natural. Again, I will do some more tests.

I noticed that the whole modular comes in one large DLL. What happened to the idea of allowing third party modules? Is the idea of publishing the API and allowing external contributions still on the plate (I would have some ideas...).

One last comment and suggestion: You might want to change your logo and in particular the font for the 'S" in SoloStuff. Your current logo has an unfortunate similarity to the logo of the "Schutzstaffel" (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutzstaffel), which might give a bad connotation to your product.

Keep up the good work!
Martin

[S0lo]

@BlackWinny I see your point.

@martin_l Will reply to you shortly.

Just a note here for Bitwig users. There is an minor issue that has been there for a while:

In Bitwig, The Reset function of the SA03 (MIDI to CV) module does NOT go to high voltage when you press STOP in Bitwig. This is because bitwig seemingly doesn't behave like other DAWs in the sense that it will not TELL the plugin when it goes to zero position.

This has been a long standing issue that I still don't have a solution for. So please adhere to that.

[S0lo]

Thank martin_l for your comments, appreciated.

I think a readout for the values would be really helpful. Sometimes it is difficult to dial in the values blindly, only guided by the ear.

You can copy/paste the knob values by right clicking on them.

I should have mentioned that in the description. BTW, you can also choose the color cable by right clicking on the rack or wood sides.

also agree with the idea that the window size should be adjustable, to be able to display 3 or 4 rows, on displays which are big enough.

I agree, it is a great idea. The issue is with VSTGUI speed in painting graphics. It will be lagy with 3 or 4 rows shown on screen. Scrolling will be slow/slugish. I have to dig out a more efficient of updating the GUI.

[*] Currently, the "Reset" inputs on the sequencers keep the sequencers on step 1 as long as the signal is high. While this might be useful in some cases, it is not the desired behaviour in others, e.g. resetting the sequencer from a Clock-divider.
My suggestion would be to add a switch which would select a "GATE" versus "TRIGGER" behaviour, where the latter only uses the rising flank of the signal to reset the sequencer. Currently, this can be achieved by sending the signal through a HP filter, or an ADSR with short decay before patching into the RESET input, but this seems an unnecessary complication.

I did it this way only because Doepfer does it this way. I'm trying to adhere to Eurorack standards. Nevermind, I will create a Gate to Trigger converter module. This should solve it

[*] It would be great if the sequencers had a selector for the number of steps (possibly with CV input). This can currently only be achieved using the RESET input, which has the above mentioned complications.

Its a good idea, problem is the sequencer panels are already cramped. You could just copy/paste the step knobs until the last step. Alternatively, you could use the SB12 Trigger Sequencer to trigger the RESET input. Keep all steps on it at Zero except the one you want it to reset at. Keep the length knob on the SB12 very low. You may also need to rest the SB12 by using that same output. Keep both sequencers clocked the same with an external clock.

[*] I might have done something wrong, but I had issues with controlling the filter cutoff from a sequencer, which was set yo 1 OCT range controlling a VCO pitch. Somehow, the filter did not seem to track accordingly when using the same signal. To hear a audible change of Cutoff frequency, I had to set the sequencer to the highest range.[/list]

First make sure you use un-attenuated CV input of the cutoff. Second, you may not hear the tracking of 1 OCT if the cutoff is low, try amplifying that CV before the filter.

Third, these filters don't precisely track 0.1V per octave. They track somewhere around that. This is the way it is with many analog hardware filters. Precise tracking can be easily done, but it will require much more CPU, it can easily prevent you from adding 10+ filters to the rack. The CPU will go up quickly.

Those were the main specific points. A more vague but the most important point is the sound: It sounds good, but somehow did not blow me away in the way the Softube Modular did. I can't really pin it down to something specific, but it sounds somehow a bit thin. Maybe it is lacking a bit of low end, or the oscillators are a bit too clean. I will try to investigate that more. Also the Softube filter somehow has more oompf and sounds a bit more natural. Again, I will do some more tests.

There are two main reasons for this:

1. Most of these analog or emulating oscillators/synths have a BENT shape waveform. These emphasize bass to mid range. It's a colored sound. I did not want to do this, not for a standard oscillator. Instead I use an unbiased waveform where neither bass no treble is emphasized. It's more resemblance of synths like Sylenth1 (although Sylenth1 has aliasing in mid range, which ironically makes it fatter!!). This is more flexible from a sound engineer, or experimenter point of view where you can evenly test or EQ properly.

May be I'll do it in future oscillators.

2. Some of these emulating oscillators out there have embeded pitch drift in them. The developers just add a very small random value to the pitch. The effect of this is profound and appears when you mix two VCOs or more. You hear a beating/phasing effect that really sounds fat, and really can convince any one hearing that there is some kinda magic in there . I did not want to do these tricks, you can easily accomplish it in SoloRack (or any synth) by a tiny difference in pitch between VCOs. (Use shift to fine tune the pitch knob). Infact the S304 is even easier to do that with the detune knob.

By the way since your experimenting already, try comparing the hard stuff. Like oscillator sync or audio rate PWM. Only few developers dare to do this and do it right without aliasing, all along while maintaining low CPU. Another thing to compare is oscilator pitch range and filter cut off range. The higher the range, the more difficult it becomes. Smoothness/stepiness of knob transitions are also a criteria. Have a look at how low the delay time in the delay module can go (it can go down 1 sample is SoloRack), and how smooth is the modulation of delay time compared to other synths.

For sync in SoloRack, the best possible results can be achieved when the master is Triangle, or Sin.

I noticed that the whole modular comes in one large DLL. What happened to the idea of allowing third party modules? Is the idea of publishing the API and allowing external contributions still on the plate (I would have some ideas...).

Definitely on the plate. I'd love to do a plugin/dll based thing for 3rd parties where SoloRack would act as host. But I have nothing ready yet. It will take some time, I won't say near future.

One last comment and suggestion: You might want to change your logo and in particular the font for the 'S" in SoloStuff. Your current logo has an unfortunate similarity to the logo of the "Schutzstaffel" (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutzstaffel), which might give a bad connotation to your product.

holy crap. How did that happen!!?

[DuX]

And just the other day I was involved in a discussion [u-he thread] about how there's no good modular synthesisers that emulate the functionality of Eurorack standard. I've been using VAZ modular for many years. Look it up SOlo for inspiration, it is still unsurpassed VST in flexibility and functionality IMHO, but the sound is getting a bit old [and cold ] in comparison to new u-he synths and it is only x86 and no multicore support. This is really good news SOlo! I have to check your SoloRack.

But even without demoing I can tell you two things I can already see as a problem.

1) Many musicians use laptops with low resolutions indeed, but many musicians also use as big monitors as they can get, too. So you have a small problem there, literally. You will have to make it freely resizeable, the rows and columns, and modules should be available in two sizes, too, to satisfy everybody [kinda, you cannot satisfy everybody and that's a fact].

2) GUI looks great, [thanks for not using stupid fish-eye 3D perspective! ] but many people also prefer darker backgrounds with light lettering, me included. I would completely agree with BlackWinny on that one. Many musicians work in the dark and white/light backgrounds can be very distracting. There should be a choice of light and dark skin for it. In the long run I can bet the dark skin will be used by more users because it is easier on the eyes and it is actually trending lately. Just check the very popular DAWs like Bitwig, LogicX, Cubase, many dark Reaper themes... an even new Windows look quite a bit darker than usual.

Enough about the GUI. GUI doesn't make it sound better, but it can seem so because, sadly, it is easy to trick the mind. I hope it sounds up to the modern >~2010 standard. Check u-he Bazille, Diva and Repro-1 and 5 for reference. Don't use Native Instruments and Arturia synths as a reference, please. Those sound <~2010 IMHO.

Cheers!

[S0lo]

@Dux, thanks for your comments. Will reply shortly.

Just a note to you guys trying the synth,

As of now, the beta version saves all global configuration and activation in a file called config.ini which is in the same folder where you put SoloRack dll files. Your user account needs to have permission to SAVE to this folder. Make sure you login or run your DAW as an Administrator, other wise the beta WILL NOT work or activate properly. It will not even save presets in the presets folder which is located in the same place.

[BlackWinny]

@Dux, thanks for your comments. Will reply shortly.

Just a note to you guys trying the synth,

As of now, the beta version saves all global configuration and activation in a file called config.ini which is in the same folder where you put SoloRack dll files. Your user account needs to have permission to SAVE to this folder. Make sure you login or run your DAW as an Administrator, other wise the beta WILL NOT work or activate properly. It will not even save presets in the presets folder which is located in the same place.

My usual method: I install ALL my plugins (but it is also the case of my DAW) in a tree I have made especially for the music creation : "C:\MyHomeStudio\".

It contains these subdirectories:
"C:\MyHomeStudio\Progs\" (for the DAWS and all the things which are neither plugins neither samplesets neither documentations)
"C:\MyHomeStudio\VST\!32\" (for the 32-bit plugins)
"C:\MyHomeStudio\VST\!64\" (for the 64-bit plugins)
"C:\MyHomeStudio\VST\!samples&MIDI\" (for the samplesets and the MIDI files which are given sometimes in the samplesets)
"C:\MyHomeStudio\VST\!Docs\" (for the documentations on DSP or on hardware synths, for the ebooks about DSP, for the tutorials in videos about this or that, etc.)

That way I have NEVER the least hassle with any right of writing on any directory. Because everything here is in a tree which is totally self-made.

Note: what is the use of these "!" at the beginning of these foldernames? Simply because they are folders which have the purpose of organizing the structure of this tree, simply. So they are always in head of the sub-folder lists instead of lost in anywhere in the middle of the sub-folder lists. The ordinary sub-folders (Mutools, DiscoDSP, KV331, Xils-Lab, RapidComposer, Synthedit, AAS, Cakewalk, Linplug, TAL, etc.) having of course not these "!" in first character, I therefore have always a very clear visibility of what is structural in the folder list and what is the rest, given that the structural sub-folders of the opened folder are always at the top of the list.

It's been years and years (perhaps more than 10 years) that I do like this for many domains (my applications and plugins of music, my applications of sciences, my applications of graphic arts, etc.)... without having never encountered the least interdiction from Windows about rights to write on the disk. It is the best way to definitively get rid of ALL the hassles due to the permissions to write or forbidding to write by the UAC of Windows. It definitely avoids the use of "Launch as Administrator" and all these things which are unnatural.

And all the DAWS allow that! All! We generally forget that in their options they usually allow not only the default directory (stated by Steinberg) for the plugins but also additional optional directories that one has just to declare in a settings panel to see them scanned as well by the DAW so that they appear and load and work perfectly.


Cheers!
Jacques

[DuX]

@Dux, thanks for your comments. Will reply shortly.

Just a note to you guys trying the synth,

As of now, the beta version saves all global configuration and activation in a file called config.ini which is in the same folder where you put SoloRack dll files. Your user account needs to have permission to SAVE to this folder. Make sure you login or run your DAW as an Administrator, other wise the beta WILL NOT work or activate properly. It will not even save presets in the presets folder which is located in the same place.

Or you just add yourself to the VST folder owners list. Right button>Security> Edit Permissions
Thank god it is so simple.

It is even simpler to have a VST folder anywhere else but in Programs/Program Files.
Thank you Microsoft for making us feel safer but making our lives so much more complicated.

[S0lo]

And just the other day I was involved in a discussion [u-he thread] about how there's no good modular synthesisers that emulate the functionality of Eurorack standard. I've been using VAZ modular for many years. Look it up SOlo for inspiration, it is still unsurpassed VST in flexibility and functionality IMHO, but the sound is getting a bit old [and cold ] in comparison to new u-he synths and it is only x86 and no multicore support. This is really good news SOlo! I have to check your SoloRack.

I don't know why I've never tried VAZ, though I used KarmaFX and Bazille.

1) Many musicians use laptops with low resolutions indeed, but many musicians also use as big monitors as they can get, too. So you have a small problem there, literally. You will have to make it freely resizeable, the rows and columns, and modules should be available in two sizes, too, to satisfy everybody [kinda, you cannot satisfy everybody and that's a fact].

2) GUI looks great, [thanks for not using stupid fish-eye 3D perspective! ] but many people also prefer darker backgrounds with light lettering, me included. I would completely agree with BlackWinny on that one. Many musicians work in the dark and white/light backgrounds can be very distracting. There should be a choice of light and dark skin for it. In the long run I can bet the dark skin will be used by more users because it is easier on the eyes and it is actually trending lately. Just check the very popular DAWs like Bitwig, LogicX, Cubase, many dark Reaper themes... an even new Windows look quite a bit darker than usual.

Your right, the ultimate is to have it re-sizable and multi-colored and skinable. Thing is I'm not a good artist. It takes me days what a pro artist would do in hours. I barely did what I did with the graphics. Later on, I would probably hire a professional artist if there is enough interest.

Enough about the GUI. GUI doesn't make it sound better, but it can seem so because, sadly, it is easy to trick the mind. I hope it sounds up to the modern >~2010 standard. Check u-he Bazille, Diva and Repro-1 and 5 for reference. Don't use Native Instruments and Arturia synths as a reference, please. Those sound <~2010 IMHO.

Bazille, Diva, ACE, KarmaFX, Sylenth1, Diversion where a great inspiration for me. Along with being hooked to Muffwigler and eurorack too. I test lots of bits and things in hardware and see how it behaves, then go do some thing similar in SoloRack. Similar but not identical, as I always like to add my own input and ideas.

Most of the presets in SoloRack where done by Xenos Soundworks and Aiyn Zahev. Some where made by me (mainly the pads). The presets covers a reasonable spectrum of sounds, with a bit of emphasis on sound effects, as this makes sense in modular.

[martin_l]

Hi SOlo,

played a bit more with it yesterday and now bought the license.

I think a readout for the values would be really helpful. Sometimes it is difficult to dial in the values blindly, only guided by the ear.

You can copy/paste the knob values by right clicking on them.

I should have mentioned that in the description. BTW, you can also choose the color cable by right clicking on the rack or wood sides.

The copy/paste is nice, but does not serve the same purpose as a readout and possibly the option to enter a numerical value.

My suggestion would be: Show the value in the readout field which otherwise displays the preset name whenever the mouse is over a control (or possibly only when it is moving the control, to avoid too much CPU overhead), and add a "enter value" field to the menu which currently has the copy and paste.

[*] Currently, the "Reset" inputs on the sequencers keep the sequencers on step 1 as long as the signal is high. While this might be useful in some cases, it is not the desired behaviour in others, e.g. resetting the sequencer from a Clock-divider.
My suggestion would be to add a switch which would select a "GATE" versus "TRIGGER" behaviour, where the latter only uses the rising flank of the signal to reset the sequencer. Currently, this can be achieved by sending the signal through a HP filter, or an ADSR with short decay before patching into the RESET input, but this seems an unnecessary complication.

I did it this way only because Doepfer does it this way. I'm trying to adhere to Eurorack standards. Nevermind, I will create a Gate to Trigger converter module. This should solve it

This would be great. I currently use a HPF for that purpose. It does do the trick, but is most likely more CPU intense compared to a simple Gate to Trigger converter.

I noticed that the whole modular comes in one large DLL. What happened to the idea of allowing third party modules? Is the idea of publishing the API and allowing external contributions still on the plate (I would have some ideas...).

Definitely on the plate. I'd love to do a plugin/dll based thing for 3rd parties where SoloRack would act as host. But I have nothing ready yet. It will take some time, I won't say near future.

Good to hear that. I would have a couple of ideas, I'd like to implement. In case you need any beta testers for the API, get in touch. I'd be more than happy to help.


Another thing I noticed: The clock divider only has the outputs starting at "1/2n", up to "1/64n" but not a simple "1/n". A plain "1/n" would be very useful, if e.g. you want to create a 3 step or 5 step sequence. Also, 'n=7' would be a nice value for interesting rhythms. If you are concerned about panel real estate, you could drop the "1/64n" output. This could simply be achieved by using "1/32n" and "n=2". Further, you could drop the "n=4" and "n=6" on the dial, as they could be obtained from the "1/2n" and n=2,3. This would give you space to add a "1/n" and values 7 and possibly 9 on the knob.

I also have a question about the "trig" input of the oscillators. A trigger on this input seems to kick up the pitch by one octave. Is there a way to bring it back down?

Cheers, and thanks for a nice product.

Martin