Circle 2 just hit!!!

[galmo]

Circle sounds like crap tbh, gonna pass again.

[aMUSEd]

You would think so.

Ah I see, MW is just set in those patches using midi learn, there is no built in MW mod source.

Well, I've seen that method in a lot of cheaper synths (well under $100) but have never seen it in a synth priced at $129. That's just crazy.

MIDI learn is a nightmare if you're selling patch libraries. By default, even if you assign MIDI learn to the mod wheel when creating the patch, unless the user does the same, the mod wheel won't function.

That's what threw me, I was assuming MW must be a mod source but there's no MW circle, but it does appear with Circle you can save the midi learn assignment with the patch as that is what has been done.

If you shut down your DAW completely and then reload Circle with a MW assigned patch, does it still work?

Yes, I didn't assign them, they came with the preset so obviously they are stable between sessions etc. Still not the best method of assigning mod sources though.

[Sendy]

Also the VPM sounded great, but it was a bit of a limited system - to params, no interaction with other stuff. Still nice to have, but I wanted to do it on some other waves: maybe parabola, triangle, padded sines and other soft waves. There was no mention of it in the manual, though. Seemed a bit like a cross between FM and wavefolding.

[wagtunes]

You would think so.

Ah I see, MW is just set in those patches using midi learn, there is no built in MW mod source.

Well, I've seen that method in a lot of cheaper synths (well under $100) but have never seen it in a synth priced at $129. That's just crazy.

MIDI learn is a nightmare if you're selling patch libraries. By default, even if you assign MIDI learn to the mod wheel when creating the patch, unless the user does the same, the mod wheel won't function.

That's what threw me, I was assuming MW must be a mod source but there's no MW circle, but it does appear with Circle you can save the midi learn assignment with the patch as that is what has been done.

If you shut down your DAW completely and then reload Circle with a MW assigned patch, does it still work?

Yes, I didn't assign them, they came with the preset so obviously they are stable between sessions etc. Still not the best method of assigning mod sources though.

No, it's not the best but as long as it's stable between sessions that's the most important part. I mean when you think about it in reality, all mod wheel assign is, is just hardcoded MIDI CC assign. As long as it isn't lost between sessions, in practice, there is virtually no difference. If anything MIDI CC assign could be more flexible depending on what routings mod wheel has built in.

For instance, some synths only allow mod wheel assigned to filter cutoff and maybe 3 or 4 other things. Having a MIDI CC assign in those synths where you could bypass the hard wiring and have those assignments not get lost between sessions would be quite powerful and bypass a lot of limitations.

I may change my mind about demoing Circle 2 because I did like the way the demo songs sounded.

[Sendy]

Circle sounds like crap tbh, gonna pass again.

Define crap, otherwise you're just being self indulgent.

[wagtunes]

Circle sounds like crap tbh, gonna pass again.

Okay, I'm curious. What synths do YOU like?

[Xenos]

FIXED a few of the Circle 2 patches:
https://app.box.com/s/uf9r5uppvxs05vzndm227uoqzwtjmiyq

I went through the release version and noticed a few of the sounds didn't sound correctly. The other designers on board might want to take a quick look at their stuff as well, just in case.

Anyhow, I share a similar feeling as some others in this thread. Spent some time going though the factory patches and most of them are missing. They had some real treasures by Reason Lahalla, Biomechanoid and others. Those more experimental sounds were a big part of Circle's charm.

I think they're going for a more commercialized angle with 2.0. Just my opinion, but I think they could have left the best 50-70% of the original patches in there. A synth needs a well-rounded selection with a variety of tastes, as that appeals to as many people demoing it as possible. That helps get more synth sales for the developer.

[aMUSEd]

Yeah I copied the old factory presets over but the other problem is none of them are categorised so the browser categories are useless now and just take up space.

[JoeCat]

To my ears it's certainly a more digital sound then some others,

It's "more... than" not "then". (Just trying to stop this wherever I see it, because pretty soon so many people are going to be saying it that it will be accepted as 'the norm'.)

HA! In complete agreement - we must crush this!
(no, seriously; that was a typo. I still type "your" for "you're" and "it's" for "its" sometimes, and handily flog myself, because I do in fact know the difference).

Don't get me started on "less" and "fewer".

[Gamma-UT]

Also the VPM sounded great, but it was a bit of a limited system - to params, no interaction with other stuff. Still nice to have, but I wanted to do it on some other waves: maybe parabola, triangle, padded sines and other soft waves. There was no mention of it in the manual, though. Seemed a bit like a cross between FM and wavefolding.

The question I've been asking myself if whether VPS can do anything that can't be emulated using wavetable morphing or shaping or even a VA with enough voices and filter stages. In this form, I'm leaning towards "no it can't".

I skimmed the Aalto/Maynooth Uni paper on it and it seems there's more that can be done with VPS that doesn't appear to be in Circle2 yet. Audio-rate modulation looks as though it might yield interesting results but the LFOs only go up to 30Hz in Circle2 as far as I can tell.

[BDeep]

Also the VPM sounded great, but it was a bit of a limited system - to params, no interaction with other stuff. Still nice to have, but I wanted to do it on some other waves: maybe parabola, triangle, padded sines and other soft waves. There was no mention of it in the manual, though. Seemed a bit like a cross between FM and wavefolding.

The question I've been asking myself if whether VPS can do anything that can't be emulated using wavetable morphing or shaping or even a VA with enough voices and filter stages. In this form, I'm leaning towards "no it can't".

I skimmed the Aalto/Maynooth Uni paper on it and it seems there's more that can be done with VPS that doesn't appear to be in Circle2 yet. Audio-rate modulation looks as though it might yield interesting results but the LFOs only go up to 30Hz in Circle2 as far as I can tell.

The oscillators can be used as a mod source as well, haven't tried fm with it yet though.

[spaceman]

Sounds nice enough, quite punchy but also quite digital, for lack of a better word. Doesn't excite me very much though. I'm having tons more fun playing with Sunrizer, even though it's more limited on paper.

[Gamma-UT]

The oscillators can be used as a mod source as well, haven't tried fm with it yet though.

Ooh, didn't notice that. I shall give it a go.

[drunken jesus]

I think they're going for a more commercialized angle with 2.0. Just my opinion, but I think they could have left the best 50-70% of the original patches in there. A synth needs a well-rounded selection with a variety of tastes, as that appeals to as many people demoing it as possible. That helps get more synth sales for the developer.

The preset sounds are good but the preset system really needs some work, it functions like a popup dialog so while testing it in savihost I can't just click a preset and hear how it sounds I have to double click it or browse using the arrow keys. Most of the patches don't have the modwheel connected which just seems a bit lazy, the built in midi learn seems to work well so it'd just take 2 clicks to do. Just having it default to filter cutoff or something would be better than nothing. The categories don't seem very well thought out either, theirs a categories for organ and piano with 1 patch each instead of just having a keyboards category. No arps or sequence category and they probably could have came up with something more useful than decades & fx? for the "style" section the "types" aren't very well thought out either. Doesn't make sense why they didn't bother to include the first version presets since the factory bank isn't all that big.

It sounds good but just seems rushed out or something I'm not a sound designer so I just pointed out issues with the preset system but judging by the flaws in it I imagine it has issues in other areas as well.

[audionewsroom]

Hi, we're running a Circle2 giveaway on ANR, enter to win!
http://audionewsroom.net/2015/05/circle ... eaway.html