One Synth Challenge #74: DEXED (Jasinski Wins!)

[sawsq]

While we're at it: Is there some hidden (from me ) way to sync the LFO to the DAW?

[wagtunes]

There's no question Dexed is missing a lot of things we're now used to.

Son of a gun, so did the DX7 even though it did have portamento. But no FX and I'm sure a few other things that we now take for granted. Of course it was also over 30 years ago.

Welcome to early FM synthesis.

[mmoncur]

This should be fun!

I'm looking forward to the *challenge* aspect - Synthmaster wasn't exactly challenging. Frankly it's become my go-to synth since the OSC and I could easily make more tracks using only Synthmaster -- the only tough thing was not using sampled drums and cymbals.

This, on the other hand, will be a *challenge*...

And it works on Mac, so I'm in!

[bftucker]

If you need inspiration, The Synth Freq has just posted three new videos showing off her "new" DX7:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=beQ_mKfBQmY

[asb2m10]

While we're at it: Is there some hidden (from me ) way to sync the LFO to the DAW?

Not in the current version, but it is definitely part of my todo list.

Sorry for anyone who doesn't like the fact that they need to save the cartridge when they store a program. Dexed is designed to save it state from the DAW project, not externally. This will change in the official 0.8.1 version but I won't release it until this OSC is done.

PS: there might be a UI corruption bug when multiple Dexed UI are loaded. It is a rare bug, but if you see it, simply close the window and reload it.

PS2: Yamaha in 1983 actually did an exceptional /low cost/ digital synth for the computing resources they had in those years. This OSC might be a homage to them

[Parduz]

There's not Portamento and panning?

Both are not available.
However, panning should be no big deal to pull off with your DAW software.
Concerning the missing portamento: it could be worse ! at least we have a working pitchwheel !

There's no question Dexed is missing a lot of things we're now used to.
Son of a gun, so did the DX7 even though it did have portamento.
Welcome to early FM synthesis.

Eheh, as i already said somewhere, i had a FB01. And this is why i was searching for portamento and panning: that little thing had them.
About pan, it was in a sort of "master" section (can't remember the exact names) where you were able to layer patches, with detune, pan and keyrange for each of them. So the classic FM EPiano was always doubled and detuned/panned to get the "chorus" effect.
I can't remember if Portamento was a patch or a global parameter, but sure i've used it a lot, making fast "sweeps" using short hit on the lowest key and then playing on the high octaves.
But: if the DX7 had the portamento, why Dexed don't have it? (not complaining at all, just for curiosity)

[MTLE]

While we're at it: Is there some hidden (from me ) way to sync the LFO to the DAW?

Not in the current version, but it is definitely part of my todo list.

Oohh, tha programmer is in the house

Sometimes when have an instance in the background and bring back to front it changes desing completely. It has really coloful, with large 3D buttons and flat knobs. Reopen the instance fixes this. DAW is Reaper on XP.

Question for loading DX7 syx. I tried some files downloaded over the years. Didn't get nice results. I have no DX7 to test them, but what could be wrong, except they are not for DX7.
Interesting that it loads all files, I put in. PDFs, RARs, ... Funny sounds . From my knowledge, users input should be always checked for security reasons and to avoid unstable configuration.

Thanks so far for this nice toy.

[Chris-S]

But: if the DX7 had the portamento, why Dexed don't have it? (not complaining at all, just for curiosity)

Simply because it has not yet been implemented in Dexed.

Mono will certainly be done in the 0.7 version but portamento is a tricky part and the DX7 had multiple portamento modes... so later and the UI is more important...

[sawsq]

While we're at it: Is there some hidden (from me ) way to sync the LFO to the DAW?

Not in the current version, but it is definitely part of my todo list.

I don't really need it, I was just wondering. Thx for making dexed, I like it a lot!

[mcaitch]

While we're at it: Is there some hidden (from me ) way to sync the LFO to the DAW?

Not in the current version, but it is definitely part of my todo list.

Sorry for anyone who doesn't like the fact that they need to save the cartridge when they store a program. Dexed is designed to save it state from the DAW project, not externally. This will change in the official 0.8.1 version but I won't release it until this OSC is done.

PS: there might be a UI corruption bug when multiple Dexed UI are loaded. It is a rare bug, but if you see it, simply close the window and reload it.

PS2: Yamaha in 1983 actually did an exceptional /low cost/ digital synth for the computing resources they had in those years. This OSC might be a homage to them

Thought this info might be useful to Logic Pro X users.

I just downloaded and installed the following AudioUnits version of DEXED:
http://le-son666.com/software/dexed/dex ... u_test.zip

I found it on this forum:
https://github.com/asb2m10/dexed/issues ... t-68101346

At first glance, it seems to work on Logic Pro X (10.1.1).

Dear asb2m10,

Good to have you here with your great synth! Since my DAW is Logic Pro X (10.1.1) running on OS X Yosemite (10.10.2) I downloaded the above mentioned au test version of DEXED (dexed-0.8.1-au_test.zip). Is the au support the only difference compared to the official VST 0.8.0 version? If not, I think me and others won't be allowed to use it for OSC#74. That would be too bad. I am new to the DAW field and think it is quite tricky to run VST plugins for free in Logic Pro X.

Thank you for your support and clarification!

[spidergod]

found a link to some presets (have downloaded the zip file but not checked them out yet, hopefully these are ok for this OSC?)

http://audiotournament.com/forums/topic ... for-dexed/

[spidergod]

And some more :

http://www.audiobombs.com/items/975/sub ... ed-presets

[spidergod]

Some more DX7 presets :

http://www.audiobombs.com/?q=&devices.q ... _at%3Adesc

[ontrackp]

I'm hoping this will work in Logic (or Pro Tools) on Mac. For me, the spirit of the OSC is to experiment with new software, and while I had a DX7 for many years (and hated programming it) I'm looking forward to diving back into FM and working up some new sounds. I heartily encourage everyone to take some time to play around with sound design -- not just scour the internet for presets. For me, a big part of what makes OSC so fun and challenging is the sound design. And this is the best possible way to learn about FM synthesis -- actually doing it with the goal of producing a song! I think last month was kind of an aberration in that so many people had to use the player only version of the synth so use of presets was very common, but now that there's a synth that can be programmed I'm looking forward to hearing some great new sounds!

[GrokSynth]

This looks like fun; I will surely learn something this time.

FM synthesis looks hard... Thanks for the previous posts!

Currently watching a REALLY long video (possibly will watch over the next week) -