New (or rather, very old :-) Synth in town

[arakula]

Hi All,

I've just uploaded a new VSTi that's accompanied me for some years already - it's good enough now for a broader audience, I think.

It's called WaveSim and is an accurate simulation of a PPG Wave 2.2 synthesizer. "Accurate", in this case, goes a bit into the obsessive direction. This program simulates the hardware of an original PPG Wave 2.2, seen from a programmer's perspective. It consists of a simulated 6809 CPU running at 1.5MHz, plus simulations of all peripheral chips (6821, 6522, 6840, 6850, ...) running the original PPG OS V6. That means that WaveSim is functionally nearly 100% identical to the original (haven't implemented the Cassette interface yet, and I'm not sure whether this would make much sense ). There are some slight sonic differences, but for somebody who doesn't have the original at hand to do an A:B comparison, it should be nearly identical.

That also means that it has precisely the same limitations as the original - fixed to 8 voices, "interesting" pitch changes if the LFO is pushed too far, weird artefacts if you detune the voices too far up, buttons not recognized if you press/release them too fast (debouncing logic eats them!), ...

This simulation method comes at a cost, of course - the constantly running 6809 simulation takes quite a lot of (real) CPU cycles. Moderate, if compared to some of the current state-of-the-art VSTis, but still... it's not exactly a featherweight.

A more complete description can be found at WaveSim's new home at
http://www.hermannseib.com/english/synt ... avesim.htm
(scroll down to "Wave 2.2 V6 Simulation" if you're not interested in the text, but just want the download )

If you're a die-hard fan of the old PPG synths, like me, this might be fun for you.

Anyway, please try it and tell me what you think about it.

I'm also contemplating to release a full-blown version which, in short, can simulate PPG Wave 2.2, 2.3, or EVU, using about 10 different operating systems, and can talk to my Waveterm simulation, providing an additional universe of sounds (self-defined Wavetables, Transient sounds, ...). Does anybody think that this might be still interesting?

Thank you for your time,

Hermann

[TotcProductions]

Hi Hermann. I don't know. I'm going to try it out now (that is the demo I just downloaded right? )...I'd pay for it though, if it holds up better than the Waldorf Edition PPG.

Peace

[arakula]

I'm going to try it out now (that is the demo I just downloaded right? )

Not knowing what you downloaded, it's hard to say... but there's only one download on that page, and the Wave 2.2 V6 isn't really a demo version. It has no load/save limitations, no sound variations, no beeps or silence ... no whatever. It's not crippled, it just doesn't have all the features of the bigger version. It can even load sound banks from the full version (with the slight exception that it doesn't use the included operating system, but stays fixed to Wave 2.2 V6).

I'd pay for it though, if it holds up better than the Waldorf Edition PPG.

That depends on what you need / expect. The Waldorf variant uses much less CPU, can play up to 64 voices, is much more user-friendly. The sound, however, isn't fully PPG. Can't be, since it doesn't have all features of a true PPG synth. To create sounds like, for instance, Program 32 in the version you downloaded, you'd need 2 instances of the Waldorf 2.V, with the second one detuned. The Waldorf variant can't load user-defined wavetables or play natural sounds, like the Wave 2.2 and 2.3 can do, with the help of a PPG Waveterm.

[NAS]

It eats a little too much CPU here but it sounds nice other than the fact that the volume is real low ?
I would consider it at the right price no doubt
It does sound very nice and from what i remember works and sounds pretty much like the original
The volume thing is probably me forgetting some arcane setting though so thats probably a non issue too

NAS

[arakula]

The volume is experimentally determined so that full output on all 8 voices doesn't clip in 99% of the time. You can, however, play with the parameters - there's an automated parameter (#12 if numbered from 1, labeled "OutputVol") where you can tweak it from timid to insane

[NAS]

Aaaaaaaaah cheers dude
I think it could do with a small GUI overhaul just so that some of the text can be read
I'm struggling here a little with this monitor and i'm sure higher res monitors would be even worse
Still sat here enjoying it though so thanks again

NAS

[arakula]

The GUI is a 1:1 copy of the original Wave front plate, just cut in 2 pieces... obsession, remember?
I've got a 1187x657 variant, too, which is a bit easier to read. You can find it here.

[Notron User]

How do the oscillators work? Like the hardware or the plug-in from steinberg?

[arakula]

Mostly like the hardware (Phase-Accumulating Oscillators, see a description here); I'm still fighting with getting the aliasing 100% the same as the original, so this can't really be considered the "final" version yet.

[omissis]

I would have been a lot happy if the WaveSim would have featured a Waveterm emulation, at least in order not to completely waste the "Waveterm C" project....I believe it had a nifty though a little "get used to" GUI....

BTW: ever thought to port the Waveterm to software while getting free of the hardboard?

[anothercomposer]

so this vst loads preset banks from the hardware version??? and what format would those be in?? looks cool by the way

[arakula]

I would have been a lot happy if the WaveSim would have featured a Waveterm emulation, at least in order not to completely waste the "Waveterm C" project....I believe it had a nifty though a little "get used to" GUI....

BTW: ever thought to port the Waveterm to software while getting free of the hardboard?

Waveterm C is a Windows program, and it can work without the hardware interface, too - this is only necessary when talking to a real Wave. And not even that, provided it uses my OS V8.3 - in this case, Waveterm C can talk to it over MIDI. This, of course, is much slower, but works quite well, too. Waveterm C (the software part) can communicate using the hardware interface, MIDI, a serial port, or an internal interprocess communication driver for simulated Waves/EVUs. And yes, I'm thinking about reviving it on a software-only base - if and only if enough interest is there.

[shamann]

Well, it is both very neat and very confusing, Hermann. Not having tried a real one, I'm going to have to sit down and read through the docs to figure out how to work it effectively. Using the Waveterm emulator to send MIDI seems especially confusing (no doubt, exactly like the real thing).

But this is a fun project to see, I don't actually think the CPU hit is all that big of a deal. Don't know how committed I'd be to buying a full version, as I don't much use synths.

[bambooman]

wow, i love these "vibraphonic" presets very cool
*h-h-hot*

[arakula]

so this vst loads preset banks from the hardware version??? and what format would those be in??

The free one can't - or rather, it can, but only if you manage to produce a binary dump of the 16K static RAM in the hardware version. In this case, simply (heh... "simply" from my point of view, that is ) save a .fxb file from WaveSim, then copy these 16K into it, starting at the 1st byte of the chunk data (offset 0x00A0), overwriting the previous SRAM contents of the .fxb file. Save, and that's it.

I intend, however, to provide a little converter program that can convert the SysEx files from my V8.3 operating system (see here for some examples) and the original Waldorf Wave 2.V .fxb files into WaveSim's .fxb format. Should'nt take too long.