Fathom Synth Development Thread

[FathomSynth]

Please try the Windows MT Build, which you can download here:

https://www.fathomsynth.com/updates

Maschine is the host DAW?

Can you send me the Fathom preset loaded when it crashes.

OK, I will try it myself on Windows 10.

[wetdentist]

i will try out the Windows MT Build hopefully this evening. Maschine was the host DAW. I don't remember off the top of my head what the preset was, and it has already been deleted from the project

[FathomSynth]

Fathom Update:

2.12 will (hopefully) be out by Friday for the Fathom Friday sale.

The new settings page will be available in the pro version and will provide deeper control over the processor as well as new GUI options.

Debug bench testing is showing a 40% CPU increase with draft settings over full quality settings, interestingly the actual audio quality with all draft settings is still high enough to barely tell the difference.

The new GUI will offer two panel options and three dial options "Factory", "Hi-Fi" and "Industrial" (shown below).

People, just a heads up, there will be a small fee for the version updates starting with 2.12. Probably between $3.00-$5.00. Please rest assured this new policy is not driven by any rapacity but really is purely just to keep the project going. Please feel free to weigh in below if you think this amount is too much (or too little).

It's a good time to start this now because there were so few bugs in 2.11 (I don't recall any actually) that 2.12 is almost all new features, and trust me the depth of control and CPU efficiency provided by the new settings will be worth it.

factory.jpg

metal.jpg

industrial.jpg

[Ikalou]

Update looks great. Thanks you for your hard work!

People, just a heads up, there will be a small fee for the version updates starting with 2.12. Probably between $3.00-$5.00.

Fathom gets very frequent updates (usually multiple per month) compared to most products with an update fee. How will it work for people who, say, skip 3 or 4 versions in between updates? Or will there be different numbering scheme with a clearer distinction between "major" and "minor" updates in the future?

[TrojakEW]

The new GUI will offer two panel options and three dial options "Factory", "Hi-Fi" and "Industrial" (shown below).

People, just a heads up, there will be a small fee for the version updates starting with 2.12. Probably between $3.00-$5.00. Please rest assured this new policy is not driven by any rapacity but really is purely just to keep the project going. Please feel free to weigh in below if you think this amount is too much (or too little).

Well I think instead of having different knob style I would rather see more changes to UI organization. Suggestions that I already send you with email during Fathom OSC. Don't get me wrong but different looks of knobs doesn't make UI better.

3 or 5$ is not problem but it is also depened how often you will release new version . There is also another question when user skip certain update how much he will need to pay then

[tatanka]

Wouldnt it make more sense to just call it 3.0 and then charge for a version upgrade in an "conventional" way just to avoid too much discussion and explanation needed ?

I think most people in here will have no problem with a moderate upgrade prize (lets say 10 € as an example) for version upgrade lets say evry half a year or so.

And then only have small bug fixes/minor updates in between. I am afraid otherwise it could be getting very confusing (one example: what do you do IF then you change later the Version to 3.0).

Of course I dont know how your financial calculation is and it that will work for you but I think it would be much clearer.

[levendis]

The GUI alternatives look great.
Draft quality settings would be appreciated. i'm guessing audio rate modulation is standard at the moment. This does offer more sonic possibility but may be superfluous with some parameters.

Wouldnt it make more sense to just call it 3.0 and then charge for a version upgrade in an "conventional" way just to avoid too much discussion and explanation needed ?

I think most people in here will have no problem with a moderate upgrade prize (lets say 10 € as an example) for version upgrade lets say evry half a year or so.

And then only have small bug fixes/minor updates in between. I am afraid otherwise it could be getting very confusing (one example: what do you do IF then you change later the Version to 3.0).

Of course I dont know how your financial calculation is and it that will work for you but I think it would be much clearer.

i too would prefer this model.

[fmr]

Wouldnt it make more sense to just call it 3.0 and then charge for a version upgrade in an "conventional" way just to avoid too much discussion and explanation needed ?

I think most people in here will have no problem with a moderate upgrade prize (lets say 10 € as an example) for version upgrade lets say evry half a year or so.

And then only have small bug fixes/minor updates in between. I am afraid otherwise it could be getting very confusing (one example: what do you do IF then you change later the Version to 3.0).

Of course I dont know how your financial calculation is and it that will work for you but I think it would be much clearer.

i too would prefer this model.

+1

I think it doesn't make sense to ask payment on EACH update, nor is it a pratice among other vendors. What is common is asking for a fee when you launch a MAJOR update (in this case usually called upgrade), e.g. the sampler expansion.

[aMUSEd]

Industrial fits the overall scheme better

[axembler]

Yeah, industrial is best looking but can you please make buttons (signal flow, browser, osillator, detune...) without that material background, same color but clean? Looks very untasteful currently...

[FathomSynth]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I promise to use common sense with the update fee. Software updates that are mostly bug fixes, or versions that were released quickly to address a particular bug will be free. Versions that come out once every couple months with major features will be the ones that will cost a little. Also the the cost will be very low, less than a burger and coke, since it will be spread out now over a regular user base of over 500 users.

The business model I think needs to be different for Fathom since releases for Fathom have been every two weeks to a month, where as most synth's it's more like 3 to 6 months (if at all). So the cost will be much lower per release.

Also, with PayPal working now it is more feesable and easy. I did not want to do it before with PayPal not working because it would have been too much of a headache for users who want the upgrade quickly. But that problem is now in the past.

Also, I realize a lot of you have requested much more meaningful features than the GUI, and I have not forgotten them, but the GUI issue was something that has been lingering for a long time and impacted sales, since I did not think Fathom was competing well enough with some of the more attractive synths out there currently. So I decided to get the GUI thing done now and out of the way. Improvements have been made to the mono GUI, but the ability to choose dials and panels is only for the pro version.

I've been very careful to record all feature requests, and the next release after this one will be entirely devoted to user feature requests, especially on the oscillators and sound itself. All the oscillators will have the Gaussian filter, FM will add Pulse Width and Phase Modulation, and all the wave shaping controls on the frequency pulse oscillator will apply to all oscillators, also the additive frequency spectrum will be generalized to all oscillators, etc. I also have a new analog simulation algorithm which I've been dying to get in, but did not yet have the time.

Also, keep in mind, the new GUI in 2.12 is being released with the most significant upgrades in CPU efficiency Fathom has yet seen. Like I said the draft mode settings during testing have proven over a 40% CPU gain, which is huge, and the loss in quality is almost impossible to detect, I'll be curious to see if anyone can notice the difference.

Formerly the Detuning was done per sample which was a huge overkill unless you are exporting the final take.

I will have to change the password for 2.12 since the "-" dashes were a problem for some users.

I will update you all with news later this week on emailing in to get your new password. I want to enable people to do it in advance of the releases so they are not held up getting the update. Just make sure the email you are sending the request from matches your purchase email.

Edit: LOL, yes the buttons bothered me also, actually they have already been redesigned for 2.12.

[imrae]

Having many "recent" versions without available free updates is going to be a real headache for support. Say I'm three releases behind the latest version and I contact you about a bug that doesn't exist in subsequent versions because that part was heavily refactored. Will you create a bugfix that is only necessary for that small group of users? Or demand that they pay to upgrade?

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

deleted

[Robbo]

Having many "recent" versions without available free updates is going to be a real headache for support. Say I'm three releases behind the latest version and I contact you about a bug that doesn't exist in subsequent versions because that part was heavily refactored. Will you create a bugfix that is only necessary for that small group of users? Or demand that they pay to upgrade?

This.

IMHO with this model you can't win. You'll either piss off people who would feel forced to pay for minor bugfixes or you'll end up in maintenance hell.

[nordickvr]

...
I think it doesn't make sense to ask payment on EACH update, nor is it a pratice among other vendors. What is common is asking for a fee when you launch a MAJOR update (in this case usually called upgrade), e.g. the sampler expansion.

I personally wouldn't use/buy a synth with such a payed/un payed update scheme.
But that just me.
I understand the challenge the dev is dealing with though.