StiX : MultiSynthesis Drum Machine (v1.6 Released + Flash sales)

[CinningBao]

I have found an interesting bug -

Loaded the 'init kit' (after a heavily modulated kit)
Selected Sine on OSC1, expected pure tone, got white noise

After digging around I see this in the MacroMod target menu

Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 17.32.17.jpg

Perhaps there is some improvement to be made to the management of the Modulation targets - it seems that although the GUI doesn't show the previous configuration, the MacroModulation slots do point to an incomplete over write of the current modulations. Sorry for saying it so strangely.

edit----
I think the pertinent point in the attached graphic as that both None and actual target resources are 'ticked'

edit2---
the same problem exists in the MacroMod sources - None is selected as is OSC1, and I can't seem to remove the modulation. If you need a more detailed path to recreate, please let me know

Hmm just to be sure : When the GUI is not reflecting exactly what you hear, could you please try to 1/ select another drumpad, then 2/ return back to the one exhibitiong some problems. It's possible that some matrix nodes are not properly reinitialised when changing presets, but I'd like to be sure that this is not only a kind of 'graphic bug'. Almost every time I was confronted to such things, selecting another drumkit, then reverting to the edited drumpad fixed it. ( Worth also sometimes for the sequencer in line editor )

Ok, yes - I switched around other pads, and even checked their MacroModulation settings and the one I posted above above with None, VCO1 freq and VCO3 freq all ticked, all the pads have the same attribute on that top MacroModulation slot.

to be honest, I'm not quite sure what's going on - it looked like the MM slots weren't getting over-written if they have no definition in the 'new' patch, but I'm running out of time to test it this evening
I'm definitely seeing ticks next to modulations which are no longer there, which _is_ a GUI issue, but I've also got a sine wave with no modulations (according to the GUI), from an init kit load, which sounds like the FM noise I setup in a previous patch.. I'll try to design a test to recreate.

[Lotuzia]

We have very few gamers for the contest atm . So maybe some of you are working undercover on it atm ... or maybe drum synthesis ( category 2) is regarded as a bit too special (actually it's certainly a bit specific), but you can still make a demo track (category 3), or make global presets, ie sequences/rythms mainly (category 1) . You guys should really take your chance now. Lot of prizes to win, few participants, I'd say zero risk to at least try ...

Been really busy, definitely going to put some bits in for all apart from the song, not enough time. I love drum synthesis, don't go removing that section

We're NOT removing it

[HardSinc]

If you remove it, I'll flood your email with millions of presets from this day on until the day that I die.

[Lotuzia]

If you remove it, I'll flood your email with millions of presets from this day on until the day that I die.

Lol. We will avoid this

I corrected my typo in my last post

[wald]

I have a couple of GUI bugs to report:

the Modulator sources are not quite right - I would have expected the osclillator entry here to in fact be the LFOs:

Screen Shot 2016-02-13 at 22.36.00.jpg

And the entry for Modulation Source Envelope 2 Attack is inconsistent:

Screen Shot 2016-02-13 at 22.33.41.jpg

Jesus...
Why not just label them ADSR (like very other synth)?

[Lotuzia]

But they are labelled as Adsr. Then, you have three ADSR envelopes, so you simply must be able to distinguish between them in a matrix modulation.

[wald]

But they are labelled as Adsr. Then, you have three ADSR envelopes, so you simply must be able to distinguish between them in a matrix modulation.

No, they are labeled At, Dc etc.
Not a big deal, of course, but it puzzles you every time the menu opens (just like many other weird abbreviations). It adds to the slightly amateurish feel of it.

[CinningBao]

But they are labelled as Adsr. Then, you have three ADSR envelopes, so you simply must be able to distinguish between them in a matrix modulation.

No, they are labeled At, Dc etc.
Not a big deal, of course, but it puzzles you every time the menu opens (just like many other weird abbreviations). It adds to the slightly amateurish feel of it.

I understand what you are saying - there is certain inconsistency to
At(tack),
Dc(ay? missing e),
Su(stain) and
Re(lease)

If the Decay is labelled De, it looks a bit less related to an ADSR group, so the Dc kind of makes sense, but the inconsistency is there. Perhaps 'Env1 A', 'Env1 D', 'Env1 S' and 'Env1 R' _might_ be neater.. since we all know what we are expecting to see there..

Moving along to the left of the machine, it might be a good idea to have consistencies like 'letter count' across the machine. I'm looking at the ENVELOPES section - ATT, DEC, SUST, REL - we all know SUST means sustain, so we probably don't need the T..

Another example would be the Filter destinations in the MacroModulations - currently named FiltFr. Since there is only one filter in the signal path, we don't need to see Filt, just the target parameter Freq (named the same as the actual target parameter)

I think it is things like this wald has observed.

[CinningBao]

I have found an interesting bug -

Loaded the 'init kit' (after a heavily modulated kit)
Selected Sine on OSC1, expected pure tone, got white noise

After digging around I see this in the MacroMod target menu

Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 17.32.17.jpg

Perhaps there is some improvement to be made to the management of the Modulation targets - it seems that although the GUI doesn't show the previous configuration, the MacroModulation slots do point to an incomplete over write of the current modulations. Sorry for saying it so strangely.

edit----
I think the pertinent point in the attached graphic as that both None and actual target resources are 'ticked'

edit2---
the same problem exists in the MacroMod sources - None is selected as is OSC1, and I can't seem to remove the modulation. If you need a more detailed path to recreate, please let me know

Hmm just to be sure : When the GUI is not reflecting exactly what you hear, could you please try to 1/ select another drumpad, then 2/ return back to the one exhibitiong some problems. It's possible that some matrix nodes are not properly reinitialised when changing presets, but I'd like to be sure that this is not only a kind of 'graphic bug'. Almost every time I was confronted to such things, selecting another drumkit, then reverting to the edited drumpad fixed it. ( Worth also sometimes for the sequencer in line editor )

Shutting down and restarting Live seems to have reset the MacroModulations.

After shutting down Live and restarting this morning, it seems the MacroModulation settings have been reset and I no longer see the erroneous configurations. Sn pad is a simple sine and that is what I hear.. instead of it FM itself.

Thanks for your patience

[stardustmedia]

I thought the same, about the abbreviations. A lot of them are not the same as most other synths out there. First the "not standard" abbreviations, plus the inconsistency amongst them. On top of that the usage of upper and lower case mixed with not-using spaces, is sometimes pretty hard to read and understand.

Some things developer shouldn't try to invent again
It's wasted time for them and in worst case can detract potential customers.

[CinningBao]

Just had a crash moving OSC1 volume knob - log attached

[CinningBao]

I have a question about the target LFO modulations. In an attempt to modulate the shape of the LFO, using the LFO1 W target with the Seq Mod1 source, unless I'm having really slow day, it doesn't seem to be modulating as I'd expect.

Attached is the basic patch - I expected to hear the frequency of the oscillator to match the LFO shapes, but, as you can see in the patch, RAMP is selected, so I had expected the modulation to reach the SINE to RAND waveform, but it just seems to become a bigger RAMP shape instead. Have a listen, and please tell what I misunderstand.

FMsines1.zip

Which order are the LFO shapes in? I would guess SINE, TRI, SAW, RAMP, SQUARE and RANDOM
edit---
And how does the modulation behave if more than one LFO waveform is selected?

Also, while exporting this preset, from the preset menu, the OS window which popped up was titled 'Choose a XilS-lab bank file', which doesn't seem quite right. 1.7 MB seems a bit big for one patch.

[CinningBao]

I just had a crash while I was selecting and deselecting LFO shapes, which are modulating OSC1 frequency

XilS StiX crash LFO select.rtf.zip

[Lotuzia]

I have found an interesting bug -

Loaded the 'init kit' (after a heavily modulated kit)
Selected Sine on OSC1, expected pure tone, got white noise

After digging around I see this in the MacroMod target menu

Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 17.32.17.jpg

Perhaps there is some improvement to be made to the management of the Modulation targets - it seems that although the GUI doesn't show the previous configuration, the MacroModulation slots do point to an incomplete over write of the current modulations. Sorry for saying it so strangely.

edit----
I think the pertinent point in the attached graphic as that both None and actual target resources are 'ticked'

edit2---
the same problem exists in the MacroMod sources - None is selected as is OSC1, and I can't seem to remove the modulation. If you need a more detailed path to recreate, please let me know

Hmm just to be sure : When the GUI is not reflecting exactly what you hear, could you please try to 1/ select another drumpad, then 2/ return back to the one exhibitiong some problems. It's possible that some matrix nodes are not properly reinitialised when changing presets, but I'd like to be sure that this is not only a kind of 'graphic bug'. Almost every time I was confronted to such things, selecting another drumkit, then reverting to the edited drumpad fixed it. ( Worth also sometimes for the sequencer in line editor )

Shutting down and restarting Live seems to have reset the MacroModulations.

After shutting down Live and restarting this morning, it seems the MacroModulation settings have been reset and I no longer see the erroneous configurations. Sn pad is a simple sine and that is what I hear.. instead of it FM itself.

Thanks for your patience

No point. Glad everything works now as expected in Live.

Else :

Modulating LFO 'Wave' parameter in Macro Modulations Matrix : Alters the symmetry of the signal. ( Similar to PWM actually ) It works on every LFO Waveform, except Sine

Typos in mod matrix targets : Yes, Filters should be Filter, and the filter dest. might be renamed. However, labels for the 3 EVs on the Advanced Synthesis page will stay alike I think ( Because I think that, if everybody in Kvr knows what an Adsr is, I noticed that it was far form beeing the case for my students for example -at least in the beginning- , and I'd like my students or other people beginning in synthesis, to have the best possible experience even with sophisticated instruments like StiX)

[CinningBao]

Modulating LFO 'Wave' parameter in Macro Modulations Matrix : Alters the symmetry of the signal. ( Similar to PWM actually ) It works on every LFO Waveform, except Sine

You might want to mention this in the manual - there is no indication that we are modulating the width of the shape when we select LFO1 W as the target. Does W stand for Waveform or Width? Perhaps even the complete 'LFO 1 Width' would fit in the menu, as well as Frequency and Level

Typos in mod matrix targets : Yes, Filters should be Filter, and the filter dest. might be renamed. However, labels for the 3 EVs on the Advanced Synthesis page will stay alike I think ( Because I think that, if everybody in Kvr knows what an Adsr is, I noticed that it was far form beeing the case for my students for example -at least in the beginning- , and I'd like my students or other people beginning in synthesis, to have the best possible experience even with sophisticated instruments like StiX)

Ok, I think, in that, case you would be better off naming the complete parameters, or at least sticking to the names we see in the GUI; ATT, DEC, SUS(drop the unnecessary T) and REL instead of At, Dc, Su and Re.