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

[Teksonik]

REAPER!
http://reaper.fm

I tried it three years ago, and it was super-clunky and ugly as sin.
I couldn't figure out how to arm a track or use a VST.
Has it improved since then?
I'll check it out after work.

Reaper is freakin awesome and if you don't agree I'll rip your eyes out and skull fuc.........well maybe that's a bit over the top but seriously give Reaper a try again. PolyAna runs like a Ferrari in it......

(Message brought to you by the Defenders of Reaper a non profit organization)

[lionscub68]

HAPPY TO REPORT
NO MORE HANGING NOTES WITH THIS VERSION!

[lionscub68]

It feels "quicker" too, in how it responds to parameter changes.
I poked around and just wanted to comment on these things:
Great addition of the # of voices switch. I didn't like the initial idea, but it grew on me after using it.
I hadn't noticed the trigger / and lfo sync switches before; too late to check it out now, i'm in bed writing this.
I do miss one thing from the initial design: the purposefully added chorus noise level knob. Bring that back, pretty please.
I'm not sure what the filter noise knob does, though.

[RexXx]

I was already saving single patches using your native format. Will you recommend SYX instead of it, or is it indifferent? Or maybe just for loading in the hardware?

As long as PG8X v2 is BETA, I think it`s safer to save your patches as SYSEX.
Martin mentioned PG8X parameters fine tuning and more is not finished.

That is why I uploaded the `missing preset` additional as sysex file.

[EvilDragon]

Martin, can you do something about that nasty clicking when tweaking the chorus depth knob? This should be smoothly automatable while voices are playing. In fact, perhaps it might be a good idea to de-click any parameters that produce them, too (num voices, DCO waveform switching, for example).


Other than that - no hanging notes anymore! Love the Mono 2 mode!

[rkell]

New versions (*12-11*) uploaded...This version should now also be able to save single presets as Sysex Dump (not including any prog change or write commands).

It does! A couple issues though:

• 1) the SYX file is 66 bytes rather than 67 and is missing the 'F7' at the end to close.
  2) while the generated file seems to load fine back into PG8X, when I try to upload to my hardware JX-8P using a SYSEX dump from Midi-Ox, it is not recognized as a patch. Strangely, this seems to be the case even if I add a 'F7' at the end of the string.

I also tested in reaper that I can send Sysex to my JX8P (which does react to the slider changes).

This was the thing that I was most excited about. At first I could not get it to work. But after trying several hosts and playing with a bunch of different settings for a long time, I somehow stumbled upon the solution that, while any MIDI channel will work in order for the JX-8P to transmit SYSEX and MIDI cc to PG8X, PG8X only seems to be able to send SYSEX to the JX-8P if the JX-8P is set to channel 16.

Now it works beautifully! After clicking Edit > Parameter on the JX-8P, I can change any of the settings in PG8X and watch the values change on the LED screen of the JX-8P. And then I can use the Edit slider on the JX-8P to move that particular control in PG8X. This is what I have been searching for!

There are some other cool things: when hitting a patch button on the JX-8P, the settings instantly change in PG8X along with the patch name (this worked in earlier iterations), and the reverse is true: when selecting a patch in PG8X it loads the settings into the JX-8P along with name of the patch (this is new). One can then perform a 'Write' function in the PG-8X to save the patch into one of the internal user slots.

I was coming across some occasional weird behavior in the JX-8P, but I think that was mostly a matter of me not being used to the intricacies of the edit and write patch behavior of the JX-8P (one can, for example toggle back and forth between a saved and an edited version of a patch before committing to a write function. I need to test further - I'll report back what I find.

I am very excited about this functionality! Excellent work!

Cheers,
Rik

[fmr]

This was the thing that I was most excited about. At first I could not get it to work. But after trying several hosts and playing with a bunch of different settings for a long time, I somehow stumbled upon the solution that, while any MIDI channel will work in order for the JX-8P to transmit SYSEX and MIDI cc to PG8X, PG8X only seems to be able to send SYSEX to the JX-8P if the JX-8P is set to channel 16.

Most hardware devices have a parameter to define the "basic" channel (the one used for sysex transfer). You should look for that parameter. By default it should be one, but user can change this, and it may be the case you or some previous owner changed it.

I was coming across some occasional weird behavior in the JX-8P, but I think that was mostly a matter of me not being used to the intricacies of the edit and write patch behavior of the JX-8P (one can, for example toggle back and forth between a saved and an edited version of a patch before committing to a write function. I need to test further - I'll report back what I find.

That's because the edit patch is in a temporary buffer, and remains there until you hit the Edit button in another patch (it will then be overwritten). Until then, you are able to "compare" between the edited patch and the patch being edited (a very useful function when we are "tweaking" parameters, that very few VST synths have implemented).

[fmr]

This was the thing that I was most excited about. At first I could not get it to work. But after trying several hosts and playing with a bunch of different settings for a long time, I somehow stumbled upon the solution that, while any MIDI channel will work in order for the JX-8P to transmit SYSEX and MIDI cc to PG8X, PG8X only seems to be able to send SYSEX to the JX-8P if the JX-8P is set to channel 16.

Most hardware devices have a parameter to define the "basic" channel (the one used for sysex transfer). You should look for that parameter. By default it should be channel 1, but user can change this, and it may be the case you or some previous owner changed it.

I was coming across some occasional weird behavior in the JX-8P, but I think that was mostly a matter of me not being used to the intricacies of the edit and write patch behavior of the JX-8P (one can, for example toggle back and forth between a saved and an edited version of a patch before committing to a write function. I need to test further - I'll report back what I find.

That's because the edit patch is in a temporary buffer, and remains there until you hit the Edit button in another patch (it will then be overwritten). Until then, you are able to "compare" between the edited patch and the patch being edited (a very useful function when we are "tweaking" parameters, that very few VST synths have implemented).

[martin_l]

This was the thing that I was most excited about. At first I could not get it to work. But after trying several hosts and playing with a bunch of different settings for a long time, I somehow stumbled upon the solution that, while any MIDI channel will work in order for the JX-8P to transmit SYSEX and MIDI cc to PG8X, PG8X only seems to be able to send SYSEX to the JX-8P if the JX-8P is set to channel 16.

Most hardware devices have a parameter to define the "basic" channel (the one used for sysex transfer). You should look for that parameter. By default it should be one, but user can change this, and it may be the case you or some previous owner changed it.

While I don't think I will be able to send Sysex which works independent of the receive channel, I will try to implement that the selected channel is used (or 16, if the selected channel is 'ALL').

I was coming across some occasional weird behavior in the JX-8P, but I think that was mostly a matter of me not being used to the intricacies of the edit and write patch behavior of the JX-8P (one can, for example toggle back and forth between a saved and an edited version of a patch before committing to a write function. I need to test further - I'll report back what I find.

That's because the edit patch is in a temporary buffer, and remains there until you hit the Edit button in another patch (it will then be overwritten). Until then, you are able to "compare" between the edited patch and the patch being edited (a very useful function when we are "tweaking" parameters, that very few VST synths have implemented).

This behaviour is currently not present, but I am thinking about implementing it.

Cheers,
Martin

[EvilDragon]

Can you also add mousewheel on the preset display for quickly changing presets?

[kbaccki]

maybe it was 5 years agao, like version 0.2beta or something
I'll try to keep an open mind

Okay.

IMHO it's the absolute best host going, for reasons too numerous to mention here. But where other hosts say "You can't do that!", Reaper says, "Sure, why not?"

Even stupid things like: properly batch processing WAV files through FX chains. Case in point: tried to batch process 1000's of samples through NuGen Audio's Stereoizer using Sony SoundForge Pro 10... you know, a "professional", dedicated audio editor. Let's just say it didn't go very well. Some samples ended up with audible clicks in the beginning, and they all ended up with some left/right phase offset. Hmm. Looks like the buffering/latenecy/whatever required to process through Stereoizer is not being handled properly by SoundForge. OK, maybe my problems are due to using slightly older 3.0 version of Stereoizer... grab the latest 3.1 version, and SF 10 absolutely chokes on it... as in: it doesn't work at all. Set up a batch process in Reaper using the same plugin... either version... problem solved...

[syntheticillusion]

Here's some Presets I made, just a few, but you can open them without
the specific version number, the earlier version's presets don't work in the latest.
http://www.datafilehost.com/d/fde7692c
I will export syx files for JX8P when it is supported, right now it has it's own format
to save or export to.

[electro]

I'm starting to think native JX-8P .syx READ /WRITE is the smartest solution for PG8X

New versions (*12-11*) uploaded. I fixed a bug which was responsible for the hanging notes reported by EvilDragon. Not sure whether it also fixed lionscup68's stuck notes issue, as I was never able to reproduce it myself.

This version should now also be able to save single presets as Sysex Dump (not including any prog change or write commands).

I also tested in reaper that I can send Sysex to my JX8P (which does react to the slider changes).

I looked at the crash of FL11 when closing the host after loading a Sysex, but could not find anything. The crash happens in FL's wrapper.dll which does not have debugging info. I do assume that it is my plugin, leaving behind a corrupted memory, but have not yet been able to locate it. If anybody can reproduce such crash in a different host, please let me know.

Lastly, I also replaced the wrong preset in the presets.syx bank.

Download link, as usual:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m636vgxhta9e ... 3SVaa?dl=0

Cheers,
Martin

Great. I was already saving single patches using your native format. Will you recommend SYX instead of it, or is it indifferent? Or maybe just for loading in the hardware?

Also, since I don't have JX-8P, is there anything else specific that you want/need us to take a look? I have both Mac and PC, so, I'm at your command

[rkell]

I'm starting to think native JX-8P .syx READ /WRITE is the smartest solution for PG8X

I like the different options: save as SYSEX to upload to hardware JX-8P, but have option of proprietary PG8X format in order to access additional features in the soft VSTi (12 voices, etc.)

[martin_l]

I'm starting to think native JX-8P .syx READ /WRITE is the smartest solution for PG8X

There are some parameters, which are not available on the JX-8P. They are minor, though. Examples are the octave stretch, the filter noise, chorus parameters, etc. When loading a .syx, they will be set to the default, but you won't be able to save your modified values with Sysex.

I will implement Sysex saving, though, but mainly to communicate with the hardware.

There is one little issue. On the hardware, only the presets 1-32 (and 33-64, if you have a cartridge) can be written by the user. It does not make sense to write a sysex bank with all 128 patches. I will most likely implement the sysex export such, that you select a 32-preset sub-bank, and that will be written into a sysex file with presets 1-32.

I could implement saving full banks as sysex, but I don't really see the purpose, as the main patch format will be the pg8xbank. Right now, I do not recommend to use it (apart from testing), as I am still changing some parameters, which will affect the compatibility.

For example, I was considering moving the number of voices from a per-preset parameter to a global parameter (which will be saved with a bank, though).

Cheers,
Martin