PG8X (inspired by the JX8P): new beta version uploaded

[martin_l]

Status report: still working on some bugs, mentioned previously.

Audio Engine: algorithms are final, but I am still tweaking some parameters, and trying to solve a bug in the voice allocator. I also still plan to alter the voice priority mode when portamento is used. Furthermore, implementing higher polyphony .

GUI: functionality mainly finished (MIDI panel for some Sysex settings and channel select still missing). And then I will still work on the optics.

My clear preference at the moment is to sort out all bugs and finalize the sound and functionality.


Cheers,
Martin

[murnau]

great plugin! glad you keep working on it! i'll donate!

ps. why you don't put the latest beta download on your site instead of fb? or at least a hint.

[AdmiralQuality]

I also still plan to alter the voice priority mode when portamento is used. Furthermore, implementing higher polyphony .

Increasing pitch bend range to a full octave would be a nice improvement on the original as well.

Is your portamento acting the same as the original? Yours sounds reverse-exponential. The original's was linear, I think anyway.

You really do need to rethink your parameter/program/bank/preset system, for the reasons myself and others have been pointing out. Again, none of these things are supposed to be done by the plug-in itself. (Including loading and saving .fxp and .fxb files, which is a function all VST hosts offer. Though I guess I could see reason to offer it for compatibility with the AU version.) Storing and recalling state is the host's job, and if you overlap with that with your own featureset you'll end up causing ambiguous situations where people won't get what they were hearing before when they reload a saved project.

[BlackWinny]

great plugin! glad you keep working on it! i'll donate!

ps. why you don't put the latest beta download on your site instead of fb? or at least a hint.

Yes, since it is a free synth... sure that many people here at KVR would be glad to help you by participating in the beta tests as we did for OBXD and a good number of other free synths which are now among the most famous.

[Spitfire31]

Saving an .fxp file now works as expected, though. But how do I save a bank?

/Joachim

I believe you save a bank in .fxb format, that is how I did it and it loads up OK afterwards.

That's what I'd have thought, too. But .fxp is the only option available when Saving in Mac OS 10.9.3.

/Joachim

[BlackWinny]

Saving an .fxp file now works as expected, though. But how do I save a bank?

/Joachim

I believe you save a bank in .fxb format, that is how I did it and it loads up OK afterwards.

That's what I'd have thought, too. But .fxp is the only option available when Saving in Mac OS 10.9.3.

/Joachim

There is something I'm missing, here...

Save a patch and save a bank is not simply replace the extension fxp by an extension fxb.

Saving a bank is like saving a full sheet in a spreadsheet like Excel (for example) while saving a patch is like saving ONE line of the sheet. A bank is a collection of elements (patches) while a patch is an element.

[AdmiralQuality]

Saving a bank is like saving a full sheet in a spreadsheet like Excel (for example) while saving a patch is like saving ONE line of the sheet. A bank is a collection of elements (patches) while a patch is an element.

Normally that would be the case, but another non-standard thing Martin has done here is make the filename extension you choose determine the type of thing you're saving vs. the other way around, as it should be. (There should be separate save program and save bank buttons.)

I'd just use the host for that, if I were you. (Except for the AU version. .fxp and .fxb are purely a VST thing.)

[Spitfire31]

Saving an .fxp file now works as expected, though. But how do I save a bank?

/Joachim

I believe you save a bank in .fxb format, that is how I did it and it loads up OK afterwards.

That's what I'd have thought, too. But .fxp is the only option available when Saving in Mac OS 10.9.3.

/Joachim

There is something I'm missing, here...

Save a patch and save a bank is not simply replace the extension fxp by an extension fxb.

Saving a bank is like saving a full sheet in a spreadsheet like Excel (for example) while saving a patch is like saving ONE line of the sheet. A bank is a collection of elements (patches) while a patch is an element.

Thanks for the patronizing lecture. I can assure you that I'm very well aware of the fundamental difference between patch and bank, and fxp and fxb.

The problem is, I never get an option to select one or the other in Mac OS 10.9.3 (the very latest OS). I assume you're on Windows? When I hit the Save button in PG8X AU, the file name in the System file dialog is by default suffixed by ".fxp" – you know, "one line in a spreadsheet".

There is no option to change the format of the save and consequently no option to save. or Load, for that matter, a bank. Dixi.

/Joachim

[AdmiralQuality]

There is no option to change the format of the save and consequently no option to save a bank as .fxb. Dixi.

/Joachim

Try just typing it in. I haven't even tested this part of it yet, but it seems his logic is, look at the filename extension the user chooses, then use that to determine whether we're saving a patch or a bank. (It should be the other way around. User specifies patch or bank by separate buttons, then the correct filename extension is forced on them by the open/save dialog.)

[Spitfire31]

There is no option to change the format of the save and consequently no option to save a bank as .fxb. Dixi.

/Joachim

Try just typing it in. I haven't even tested this part of it yet, but it seems his logic is, look at the filename extension the user chooses, then use that to determine whether we're saving a patch or a bank. (It should be the other way around. User specifies patch or bank by separate buttons, then the correct filename extension is forced on them by the open/save dialog.)

You're right! It works with AU as well as Mac VST. Thanks for the hint!

But what a bizarre and fundamentally un-Macish kludge…

/Joachim

[BlackWinny]

Saving a bank is like saving a full sheet in a spreadsheet like Excel (for example) while saving a patch is like saving ONE line of the sheet. A bank is a collection of elements (patches) while a patch is an element.

Normally that would be the case, but another non-standard thing Martin has done here is make the filename extension you choose determine the type of thing you're saving vs. the other way around, as it should be.

Ah ok.

Strange method... Hmmm... Why not... I guess that it would mean that even a single patch is in fact saved encapsulated in a "one record bank" and that the extension "fxp" is there... just for the fun.

I'd just use the host for that, if I were you. (Except for the AU version. .fxp and .fxb are purely a VST thing.)

Yes. It's indeed the way I'm used to do. Except for certain purchased synths which have a very solid reputation for their management of patches and banks, as TAL, U-He, Native Instruments, etc. For the others, especially the freewares, the best is to delegate that to the host/DAW (and when we are sure that the synth makes every parameter visible from the host/DAW, but that's another story...)

[BlackWinny]

Saving an .fxp file now works as expected, though. But how do I save a bank?

/Joachim

I believe you save a bank in .fxb format, that is how I did it and it loads up OK afterwards.

That's what I'd have thought, too. But .fxp is the only option available when Saving in Mac OS 10.9.3.

/Joachim

There is something I'm missing, here...

Save a patch and save a bank is not simply replace the extension fxp by an extension fxb.

Saving a bank is like saving a full sheet in a spreadsheet like Excel (for example) while saving a patch is like saving ONE line of the sheet. A bank is a collection of elements (patches) while a patch is an element.

Thanks for the patronizing lecture. I can assure you that I'm very well aware of the fundamental difference between patch and bank, and fxp and fxb.

The problem is, I never get an option to select one or the other in Mac OS 10.9.3 (the very latest OS). I assume you're on Windows? When I hit the Save button in PG8X AU, the file name in the System file dialog is by default suffixed by ".fxp" – you know, "one line in a spreadsheet".

There is no option to change the format of the save and consequently no option to save. or Load, for that matter, a bank. Dixi.

/Joachim

I don't patronize anything. All those who know me here know that it is not at all my behavior. You'd know me you'd never write that, you can be sure...

No... I simply try to understand, that's all.

And yes, my computer is Windows based.

[AdmiralQuality]

Strange method... Hmmm... Why not... I guess that it would mean that even a single patch is in fact saved encapsulated in a "one record bank" and that the extension "fxp" is there... just for the fun.

Other than some header that says how many programs there are in it, I believe that's the only difference between .fxp and .fxb, yes. A bank is just a serial bunch of programs. (This is Steinberg's invention. Not any of us VST plugin authors'. We just use it according to their spec. In fact, we're not even supposed to use it at the plug-in level. .fxp and .fxb saving and recalling is normally just a host function.)

[BlackWinny]

Strange method... Hmmm... Why not... I guess that it would mean that even a single patch is in fact saved encapsulated in a "one record bank" and that the extension "fxp" is there... just for the fun.

Other than some header that says how many programs there are in it, I believe that's the only difference between .fxp and .fxb, yes. A bank is just a serial bunch of programs. (This is Steinberg's invention. Not any of us VST plugin authors'. We just use it according to their spec. In fact, we're not even supposed to use it at the plug-in level. .fxp and .fxb saving and recalling is normally just a host function.)

At the origin, yes. But when Steinberg introduced the version 2 with the ability to compile also as standalone, it was needed to have full internal access to the procedures in order to let a standalone version have the ability to manage the patches/banks itself without changing anything fundamental in the structure of the synth.

If i recall correctly

[fmr]

Thanks for the patronizing lecture. I can assure you that I'm very well aware of the fundamental difference between patch and bank, and fxp and fxb.

The problem is, I never get an option to select one or the other in Mac OS 10.9.3 (the very latest OS). I assume you're on Windows? When I hit the Save button in PG8X AU, the file name in the System file dialog is by default suffixed by ".fxp" – you know, "one line in a spreadsheet".

There is no option to change the format of the save and consequently no option to save. or Load, for that matter, a bank. Dixi.

/Joachim

That's because the AU format isn't suppose to even use FXP/FXB format of patches, but AUPRESET. And I don't recall any AU synth that uses this format to save banks - just patches. FXP/FXP are formats created bt Steinberg for VST - which is a different format. I know this is silly, but it's as it is in the Mac world, and that's why many vendors opt to create their own format - to avoid this format chaos.