Cytomic "The Scream" stomp box distortion plugin

[dark water]

Windows people, how is it going? I've not done as much testing as I'd like on Windows, and this odd shutdown issue hasn't exactly instilled me with confidence so it would be good to hear if it's going ok

It's a no-show here in Ableton 8, 32-bit dll, Scream version 1.01 on Windows 7.

I've installed version 1.01 via its installation application, which results in the plug-in physically appearing in my vst folder.
But when I start Ableton (either running it as administrator, or not), the Scream isn't recognised at all and so can't load.
I've checked for Windows 7 user permission issues etc, but that still makes no difference.

It's possible it's just my computer messing around. However, it is also possible that this current version of the scream doesn't play nicely with Ableton 8 as 32-bit plugin?

[Melvin J.]

I'm on Windows 7 using REAPER x64, the Scream physically shows in my plug-ins' folder but isn't seen by the host after several re-scans and re-installs. No firewall or permissions issues that I'm aware of...

[GrabtharsHammer]

I have read a lot of posts in other forums about Tubescreamers and the Boss SD-1. Apparently the schematics are nearly identical. Since Cytomic's The Scream is highly tweakable - does anyone know if it's possible to turn it into an SD-1 emulation?

Theoretically, changing 1 of the diode counts to 2 instead of 1 will do it. I own an Analogman-modded SD-1 that has been converted to a TS-808 circuit and has an added switch to change from Tube Screamer clipping to SD-1 clipping. To be honest, that switch has a more pronounced effect than changing The Scream's diode count to 2.

Errrm, sorry for being such a know-nothing... but could anyone please give me an instruction, what exact value I have to find and change in The Scream to achieve asymmetrical clipping? Thanks in advance!

[Compyfox]

I'd say the most iconic overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedals of all time include:

Tube Screamer
Big Muff
Fuzz Face
Tychobrahe
Klon
Rat
Guv'nor
DS-1
Tone Bender
Dallas Rangemaster

Agreed. Though I'd mainly focus on Big Muff/Fuzz Face, Rat, DS-1 and maybe as "booster" the Dallas Rangemaster (as vintage circuit). So that's what, 4 additional circuits to the TS one we already have?

Would quickly add up price wise, though. Each device being 30bucks, meaning 150bucks for the whole lot (not counting possible discounts). Still an interesting value considering the modding capabilities.



Anybody created presets from famous/go-to pedals yet?



Currently no issues for me on Win7 with Cubase 9.0.20 and Wavelab 9.0.20, both x64.

FR through:
Please label the diodes with their "color name" or add an info in the manual or tooltip where to find specs for the spare parts. This would add a lot, not only for educational purposes.

And I take it the amount of Diodes are "in series", not in parallel, no?



EDIT (8pm):
This thing is great! A bit CPU hungry, but honestly... on my i7 920 it shows 20-30% load, but it's actually quite minimal on 256samples (RME). So... pft.

I do encounter clicking noises if you hit the CPU meter (to reset the engine), and switching through the HP Capacitor. Else, no issues. Really liking the concept.

HOWEVER... my skills with electrical circuits aren't outstanding... so I try to find out where the positions of the caps are in "simplified mod" mode. I take it that "HP Cap" is C103 on the circuit, sucking out the frequencies for the OP amp (bass, to add "saturation"/distortion to the source signal). And the "LP Cap" is actually C106, influencing the Tone Pot's transition steepness. Others that are not as skilled might be wondering "wait, is this a Bandpass setup?! So that might be better to address in a manual (where is the manual anyway?)

Also - please ignore my commentary on the LED Colors. Though what about Yellow and Violet and White? Don't they exist as well? However, please add something where we we can look up spare parts. Some US descriptions are definitely not the same for EU.


SUMMARY:
Really linking it. Some modders will definitely get a kick out of it, non-Pedal techs will have a sh*tload of fun with just switching out the diodes and therefore get a different form of clipping.

Bit of a turnoff is the latency of 60samples. At least this is what Cubase 7.5 shows me. Realtime use might be a bit of an issue in combination with other tools.





EDIT2:
Oh - wait... got a crash (can reproduce it even) on my Win7 x64/Cubase x64 rig... will file a report

[Frantz]

Demoed for less than 5 minutes and bought. Beautiful job Andy! I think my other distortion plugs are gonna gather dust.

Maybe there could be presets for the various circuit configurations for those of us less inclined to learn about diodes?

[meloco_go]

Bit of a turnoff is the latency of 60samples. At least this is what Cubase 7.5 shows me. Realtime use might be a bit of an issue in combination with other tools.

Good point.
I believe it is possible to make a much less latency in minimum-phase mode. I believe the fixed latency is done to avoid troubles when switching modes, but please, make an option of some form (maybe a low-latency plugin build) to get the lowest latency possible for tracking and playing with this thing.

[Klinke1]

psst..60 samples latency are exceeding my pain treshold. (if true..I didn't test it)
Imagine you want to chain some more..

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Earlier in the thread, Andy said latency would be zero with 1x oversampling. Someone else then chimed in and said 1x oversampling at 96khz, so not sure which is true, but it might be worth experimenting.

[Compyfox]

Tied it - turned off all OS, cycled through Linear Phase to Minimum Phase... Cubase doesn't adjust the Latency

[andy-cytomic]

Tied it - turned off all OS, cycled through Linear Phase to Minimum Phase... Cubase doesn't adjust the Latency

You have to turn off both the realtime and render oversampling to have no latency. The problem is that Cubase crashes if I dynamically adjust the latency between realtime and render in the audio process function, but Cubase also doesn't tell me that the state is switched to offline before calling the process function! There is a handy "copy to others" function, to work around this, so you can set both oversampling settings to x1, then click copy to others, do all your work, then just before render switch it back to x8 or whatever you want, then copy to others, then render. As a developer there isn't much I can do about this, and I can't convince Steinberg to change their DAW to fix the issue. You may have more luck as a customer insisting they implement better support for switching latency on the fly when changing between realtime processing and offline (render).

[andy-cytomic]

Demoed for less than 5 minutes and bought. Beautiful job Andy! I think my other distortion plugs are gonna gather dust.

Maybe there could be presets for the various circuit configurations for those of us less inclined to learn about diodes?

Thanks! Yep, I'll add some presets soon but first I want to fix the AU validation issue and shutdown problems on Windows so everyone is up and running properly.

[andy-cytomic]

Code: Select all

* * PASS
--------------------------------------------------
AU VALIDATION SUCCEEDED.
--------------------------------------------------
Program ended with exit code: 0

I'll upload a new build soon so everyone using Logic can have a go My bad, should have tested AU validation when changing the plugin setting letting the host know about midi support since there was another setting that also needed adjusting to support it properly.

[Compyfox]

You have to turn off both the realtime and render oversampling to have no latency.

Tried, didn't work. Plugin manager still showed 60samples.

There is a handy "copy to others" function, to work around this, so you can set both oversampling settings to x1, then click copy to others, do all your work, then just before render switch it back to x8 or whatever you want, then copy to others, then render.

Is this built into THE SCREAM? Didn't see it to be honest.

*checks UI* Ooooh... bottom of the dropdown. In fact, your plugin even says "0 latency" - only Cubase's Plugin Manager is stupid... (C7.5)

As a developer there isn't much I can do about this, and I can't convince Steinberg to change their DAW to fix the issue. You may have more luck as a customer insisting they implement better support for switching latency on the fly when changing between realtime processing and offline (render).

*cough* Lost cause... they insist on that it's (pretty much always) the 3rd party dev's fault for "not sticking to the VST SDK specs"...


Crash is always the same, btw - "StackHash"
You got a detailed report via mail.

[andy-cytomic]

Code: Select all

* * PASS
--------------------------------------------------
AU VALIDATION SUCCEEDED.
--------------------------------------------------
Program ended with exit code: 0

I'll upload a new build soon so everyone using Logic can have a go My bad, should have tested AU validation when changing the plugin setting letting the host know about midi support since there was another setting that also needed adjusting to support it properly.

News update: The Scream v1.0.2 is now ready for download, only the Mac version has changed - now with new and improved AU Validation! Logic people please let me know if that is all fixed now, and sorry for the delay.

[andy-cytomic]

Windows people, how is it going? I've not done as much testing as I'd like on Windows, and this odd shutdown issue hasn't exactly instilled me with confidence so it would be good to hear if it's going ok

It's a no-show here in Ableton 8, 32-bit dll, Scream version 1.01 on Windows 7.

I've installed version 1.01 via its installation application, which results in the plug-in physically appearing in my vst folder.
But when I start Ableton (either running it as administrator, or not), the Scream isn't recognised at all and so can't load.
I've checked for Windows 7 user permission issues etc, but that still makes no difference.

It's possible it's just my computer messing around. However, it is also possible that this current version of the scream doesn't play nicely with Ableton 8 as 32-bit plugin?

Thanks for the report, I'll give the Windows build some love now, hopefully not too much longer before you're up and running!