u-he

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:12 am

Urs - bring your iPad

(sorry about the personal message here, guys!)

penguinfromdeep · Post by **penguinfromdeep** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:28 am

Can't wait for this! Yay for Urs for pushing things forward in the plug-in world!

Bronto Scorpio · Post by **Bronto Scorpio** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:37 am

Sounds really interesting

I can't wait to hear some examples!

Cheers
Dennis

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:30 am

Urs wrote:we won't be afraid of double blind tests

So, are you seriously considering performing true double blind tests? Have you thought about how you might go about it - particularly the *double* blind bit?

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:20 am

hakey wrote:
Urs wrote:we won't be afraid of double blind tests
So, are you seriously considering performing true double blind tests? Have you thought about how you might go about it - particularly the *double* blind bit?

Well, good question. I guess we have to create audio files and then have their names randomised. Or we need to have someone inbetween.

arbee · Post by **arbee** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:42 am

yes all those new infos are pretty exciting. cannot wait !

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:22 pm

Urs wrote:I guess we have to create audio files and then have their names randomised.

I reckon that if the aim is to demonstrate that the emu is indistinguishable from the real thing then using pre-recorded audio files falls somewhat short.

There's a number of objections that would be raised: there's potential bias introduced in the selection of the audio files, the results only hold for comparison of those particular audio files, AD conversion might colour the sound of the recorded Minimoog.. etc.

Live ABX using a common controller has to be the gold standard - but I would imagine pretty difficult to set up.

Bronto Scorpio · Post by **Bronto Scorpio** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:26 pm

hakey wrote:Live ABX using a common controller has to be the gold standard - but I would imagine pretty difficult to set up.

Would be nice to have something like that at the Musikmesse

With headphones of course

Cheers
Dennis

hakey · Post by **hakey** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:53 pm

A fairly straight-forward methodology might consist of a common controller midi keyboard connected to the Mini and DIVA, with a randomisable A/B switch to send midi/cv to one or the other.

The tester would set up a patch on the Mini, then Urs, Howard or whoever would attempt to match it with the emu. The A/B switch would be randomised and the tester would audition A vs B and decide which, if any, he/she thinks was the Mini and which DIVA. Only once the test was finished would the state of the A/B switch be checked to reveal which was which.

Breeze · Post by **Breeze** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:17 pm

Urs wrote:I'm convinced now that all known papers about the Minimoog are wrong, or at least omitt numerous properties that are relevant to the sound. We had to create an array of little trimpots to bend levels, dc offsets and curves before, within and after the filter. These let us tune the filter and its surroundings so that we could bridge the gap between actual sound and theory. Our's has some nice properties, e.g. it does not fade as much when resonance comes in, and it's a tad brighter on lower notes (mostly because the VCA distortion seems to muffle the sound at times). However, we won't be afraid of double blind tests.

That must be some fascinating work!

I have what you might refer to as a "Dirty Mini": before I got it (some 20 years ago) many parts were changed from the original, mostly because of repairs and stability: caps, summing resistors, transistors, trimpots, etc... Other than some trimmer and pot mods I made, there haven't been any additional mods and the synth still works but I doubt every circuit is up to spec. For example, now I hear distortion in the low end on some settings, which didn't use to happen.

My point is that factoring in component decay, repairs and modifications, I'm pretty sure that 90% of Minis out there (other than the ones kept un-powered in glass cases) sound slightly different from one another. So how will you know when to stop fiddling?

But more seriously, given time, it could be interesting to offer accurately modeled circuit bending parameters, simulating typical component variation and aging.

I gigged for many years using my Mini as my left hand bass unit. The depth and warmth of that sound was just amazing on good sound systems. To get that sound in a laptop would make my aging back extremely happy.

I'm totally for this emulation business. You're slowly unlocking the mysteries of what makes things sound good. Noble cause!

GruvSyco · Post by **GruvSyco** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:21 pm

factoring in output, curious what audio cards/monitoring the U-he guys are using as well.

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:30 pm

Here are some pics from today's work:

ariston · Post by **ariston** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:40 pm

The UI sure looks good from over here... it'll be christmas early this year, then...

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:41 pm

GruvSyco wrote:factoring in output, curious what audio cards/monitoring the U-he guys are using as well.

Mostly RME Fireface 800 and Babyface, ADAM P22, Behringer DT990

Urs

justin3am · Post by **justin3am** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:44 pm

Urs wrote:Behringer DT990

I assume you mean Beyerdynamic DT990... either that or Uli Behringer is shameless in ripping people off at this point.

u-he

KVR Audio

Diva teaser at U-He website