Tone 2 - Saurus 2 is available

[fluffy_little_something]

When unison is on, the Pan knob serves as Stereo Spread for the detuned voices.

Yeah, seems like it, makes sense
Either way, unison sounds pretty good, what a difference to Element's unison. When unison is on, the phase knob works almost like a shape control, changing the sound completely as you turn it.

[Robmobius]

Yes, I like the way the filter sounds:

https://app.box.com/s/2sj5yedp21uuckytc9rjqodkljqz3zmf

Nice... That sounds cool.

They also have that nice 'chirp' as well (if you like Acid etc). Originally is was a bit thin I thought. They also sound a lot more musical as you modulate them (I'm not going to say 'analog' as a few people would probably have a seizure). Safe to say imho, I think they are great!

The low end is damn big without being woolly. And very nice to have some new waveforms.

[KingTuck]

Ya the unison does sound good here. The only flaw I recall from my time with Saurus 1 is noticeable clicking in the attack envelope of monophonic patches when going yonkers with the amount of MIDI notes being sent to it. Saurus 1 could reaaaallly not handle it.

I'll have to stress test Saurus 2 in the same situation.

[Robmobius]

A few more filters would be nice. But the ones they have sound very good.

Filter module is pretty damn strong. It's a multimode filter with most every filter type you could really want. Do you mean different filter characters for each respective type/slope? That'd probably go against the design of the synth. The design of Saurus is to be articulate and focused instead of extensive and exhaustive. A bunch of variations of 4-pole LP filters would be strange for this synth.

Or do you mean more filters in the signal route? I could see why that's appealing. But same reason applies I think for why that isn't here.

No I get that you're right... In all honesty it does'nt really need more for what it is. I'm just being fekin' greedy.

But I'm liking it more with each hour.

More filter routing would be a nice option though.

[fluffy_little_something]

Ya the unison does sound good here. The only flaw I recall from my time with Saurus 1 is noticeable clicking in the attack envelope of monophonic patches when going yonkers with the amount of MIDI notes being sent to it. Saurus 1 could reaaaallly not handle it.

I'll have to stress test Saurus 2 in the same situation.

As I said before, that still seems to be a problem, I don't like the mono mode at all, it is hard if not impossible to get rid of the blip, even with higher attack values. I think it has to do with the way the new note kills the old one.

[Apostate]

Still checking my mail for the update download links.

[fluffy_little_something]

Still checking my mail for the update download links.

It is 2:30am in Germany and tomorrow is a holiday, so I think you can go to bed now without missing anything

[zvenx]

60 bones eh?

............. I bought Diva and have had a major update for free and another one on the way that adds a step sequencer, most likely free also.

Sorry, this update is incremental in caliber at best and IMHO that doesn't equal 60 bones. ..........

Agree with you. I was surprised at the update amount, especially when it came out after Diva and Diva has added so many things FREE!!!!!
rsp

[KingTuck]

Ya the unison does sound good here. The only flaw I recall from my time with Saurus 1 is noticeable clicking in the attack envelope of monophonic patches when going yonkers with the amount of MIDI notes being sent to it. Saurus 1 could reaaaallly not handle it.

I'll have to stress test Saurus 2 in the same situation.

As I said before, that still seems to be a problem, I don't like the mono mode at all, it is hard if not impossible to get rid of the blip, even with higher attack values. I think it has to do with the way the new note kills the old one.

Wow that sucks. Was probably my only big gripe with it.

[Apostate]

Still checking my mail for the update download links.

It is 2:30am in Germany and tomorrow is a holiday, so I think you can go to bed now without missing anything

Ewwwps

That's alright, I'm programming Harmor for now.

[KingTuck]

60 bones eh?

I bought Saurus over a year ago so no grace period. I bought Diva and have had a major update for free and another one on the way that adds a step sequencer, most likely free also.

Sorry, this update is incremental in caliber at best and IMHO that doesn't equal 60 bones. This rat ain't taking the bait. That's the last Tone 2 product for this guy.

I don't necessarily think it's a bad business decision but in my case it's a put off.

Makes sense. To be fair, it's iffy territory to change the sound of the synth in a free update. Perhaps it should have sold for less. Tone2 aren't typically a cheap company though.

The step sequencer in Diva will most probably be free. It was in development way back and whenever Urs and team go back at it I imagine they will put it out free of charge. Be weird to charge for it.

[dwozzle]

I don't like the mono mode at all, it is hard if not impossible to get rid of the blip, even with higher attack values. I think it has to do with the way the new note kills the old one.

I wonder if slightly longer release time might help, if you see what I mean. Don't know if that's even in effect in mono mode when a new note comes in, but it's worth a try. (Not at my rig, and don't have v2 any more anyway, since I bought and installed v1.)

[db3]

I got my free grace period upgrade by sending a query through the Tone2 contact form. A reply with download links was delivered swiftly

*edit* Markus posted in the T2 forum...
I sent out the emails with a download link to all grace period customers now.
If you still did not receive your mail take a look at the spambox. Otherwise send an email to support and tell Troels that you did not receive the upgrade mail. He'll take care of you.

[dwozzle]

Email with free upgrade links just arrived, will install tonight. Cool

Update description from that email (hope I'm not being redundant with what's already been posted here):

What's new in Saurus 2?

Summary:

- Enhanced sound quality because the synthesis engine has been completely reworked
- Over 260 (=827-563) additional patches
- Completely reworked all existing factory sounds
- Added a comfortable patch browser
- Much more detailed emulation of the 'analog' sound. The degree of analog behavior is now selectable.
- Redesigned graphics
- More comfortable user interface
- A huge number of further new features and enhancements
- Saurus2 is 100% downward compatible with all previous versions


New features:

- Added a comfortable patch browser with a keyboard which can be opened by clicking 'BROWSE'
- Added a 'Config' menu which allows to set the degree of analog behavior
- Additional LowCut equalizer
- Additional HighCut equalizer
- Added a new play mode 'Stack' which plays the autochord defined in 'Arp Key Mode'
- 14 additional 'Sine' LFOs as matrix source
- 4 additional chord modes which play thirds for the arpeggiator
- The patches can be ranked by clicking on the stars in the patch browser
- Keyboard can be hidden with 'Config->hide keyboard'
- The degree of analog noise modeling can be selected between 'none' and 'extreme'
- The degree of analog drift can be selected between 'light' and 'extreme'
- Added a smart microtuning algorithm. 'Fat tune' delivers more harmonic and transparent chords.
- The degree of analog saturation can be selected between 'linear' and 'extreme'
- The degree of analog OSCs damping can be selected between 'light damp' and 'heavy'
- An analog sounding default patch can be initialized with 'File->Init analog patch'
- A digital sounding default patch can be initialized with 'File->Init digital patch'
- Modwheel and pitchwheel are auto-assigned on patch initialisation


Enhanced sound:

- The OSCs and filters can emulate the noise created by analog circuits
- The OSCs can emulate the saturation of analog amplifiers
- The voices and filters can emulate drift and voice detuning
- Replaced oscillators with more 'analog' sounding ones
- Boost mode sounds more 'analog' and smooth
- Replaced Reverb with a better sounding algorithm
- More accurate high frequencies of 'Delay' and 'PingPong' effect
- More 'analog' behavior of 'drift'


Enhanced GUI & interface:

- Information about the current patch is shown in 'info' tab of the patch browser
- Rendering with ambient occlusion for a more realistic look
- More comfortable saving of patches on PC
- LCD displays have more contrast and are more easy to read
- Keyboard is now animated
- Added mouseover support: Parameter values are displayed when mouse is hovered over them
- Mousewheel support (if host supports it)
- Mac version now also supports waveform selection by clicking on diodes


Further enhancements:

- Better host compatibility
- More robustness
- More comfortable installer

[Apostate]

I received my download links a couple of hours ago! Messing about with 2 now, really loving it.