Aurora FM - New Win(32/64) VSTi FM synthesizer - Introductory pricing

[RyFi]

Thank you - I'm happy to hear it!

[nichttuntun]

Hi Ryan,
I checked the latest update and I am pretty amazed by the new waveforms. Your Synth gets better and better with each update. Its a real sound design monster machine right now.

Thank you so much for all the cool ideas, updates and the fantastic price policy. Considering the sound quality and options your Synth has its a real steal and I truely wish that the market will recognize that and people will highly appreciate what you did here. I really wish for you that this FM synth will become a standard synth one day for many people who love FM.

Cheers and a joyful modulation

[Inversion Of Control]

Hi Ry,
thanks for update, new possibilities looks (and sounds) nice, can't wait to explore it little more

[RyFi]

Hi Ryan,
I checked the latest update and I am pretty amazed by the new waveforms. Your Synth gets better and better with each update. Its a real sound design monster machine right now.

Thank you so much for all the cool ideas, updates and the fantastic price policy. Considering the sound quality and options your Synth has its a real steal and I truely wish that the market will recognize that and people will highly appreciate what you did here. I really wish for you that this FM synth will become a standard synth one day for many people who love FM.

Cheers and a joyful modulation

Thanks for the awesome support and kind words as always, my man!

Aurora FM probably won't ever have a fraction of the success that I'd hoped for, but knowing that there are a few very satisfied users such as yourself and the others here is the one thing that keeps assuaging and motivating me to keep adding the features that I want to have in my synth, when all rational thought and financial motivation would've had me give up and move on to other things a long time ago... I'm happy that a few people really enjoy and get use out of Aurora FM and appreciate the slow trickle of new features and capabilities.

Hi Ry,
thanks for update, new possibilities looks (and sounds) nice, can't wait to explore it little more

Thanks and you're welcome, my man!

[gentleclockdivider]

Aurora is a great synth , that's for sure , but I think that it might be a bit friendlier on the eyes
Apart from sound and features , this is one of the first things that people base their buying decision upon.
I know it is difficult to cramp in all those parameters on single interface , especially when we're takling about the dx7 , but imho it could be better organized .
The way how the controls re-organize themselves according to the choosen algoritm etc..
The tiny envelope handles aren't exactly inviting either ( just my 2 cents ) .
Keep up the good work

[woggle]

Aurora is a great synth , that's for sure , but I think that it might be a bit friendlier on the eyes
Apart from sound and features , this is one of the first things that people base their buying decision upon.
I know it is difficult to cramp in all those parameters on single interface , especially when we're takling about the dx7 , but imho it could be better organized .
The way how the controls re-organize themselves according to the choosen algoritm etc..
The tiny envelope handles aren't exactly inviting either ( just my 2 cents ) .
Keep up the good work

It was the appearance that put me off when released. But such a great sounding synth! - improving the appearance to improve the usability could be as simple as changing the colour scheme. Get rid of the gradients for a start, and change colour of fonts / colours in general. Just that could make a huge difference.
Glad I came back to have another look as I think I will buy this time even if the interface is a bit unpleasant. Had the dev considered taking advice on simple changes to the interface ie just colours for example?

[ZeePok]

 
Here we go again! If an interface isn't pitch black (and with almost no contrast!) the general people doesn't like it! They don't see it as 'mature' probably!

Well I like the interface of Aurora! I like its colours as they are and I like the way the operators are displayed!

[woggle]

 
Here we go again! If an interface isn't pitch black (and with almost no contrast!) the general people doesn't like it! They don't see it as 'mature' probably!

Well I like the interface of Aurora! I like its colours as they are and I like the way the operators are displayed!

The layout is fine - much better than fm8 for example - but the gradients increase visual complexity unnecessarily and some of the font colour choices go against basic visual function

Here is a link to some basic physiology and recommendations from siggraph.
https://www.siggraph.org/education/mate ... loreff.htm

[RyFi]

I appreciate the willingness to have a more meaningful discussion than just "teh interface sux, i wont by it!!11!!". Let me read woggle's link and reply once I feel armed for a healthy discussion.

[woggle]

I appreciate the willingness to have a more meaningful discussion than just "teh interface sux, i wont by it!!11!!". Let me read woggle's link and reply once I feel armed for a healthy discussion.

Hi, that was just a quick link - I will get some more that will be more useful for you as a designer

... but does point out the underlying physiological reason to bias design to single colours differentiated on hue saturation and brightness eg https://medium.com/@erikdkennedy/color- ... 8cacd97f9e

[egbert101]

That's a good reason why people like to skin and change colours, because we all respond differently to an interface. Woggle makes completely reasonable points.

[RyFi]

My apologies for the pokey response, folks. Times have been nutty, but I always intended to not leave this discussion hanging...

First of all, thank you ZeePok! I really appreciate having someone on my side against the pitchfork-wielding mob. I'm very happy that you like the interface and colours as they are - I do too!

Woggle, those were interesting links and I even learned a thing or two, so thank you for sharing knowledge, but I'm afraid that getting me to read an article on colour perception physiology and a common sense explanation of HSB isn't a sufficient condition for me to have some grandiose revelation about my UI.

I don't even know what to say next. I'm weary of needing to write paragraphs defending my decisions against people whose opinions are different from mine, but I feel like that's once more what's required of me... There are many factors and decisions that have gone into the UI that I've created, and I've put in tons and tons of thought and effort. I think I've struck the balance between clarity, readability, separation, visual feedback, ease of navigation/operation, and an aesthetic style with a clear vision of theme quite well, all things considered. I think I've embraced vastly many more principles of good design than ones that I've flangrantly broken. Do I think it's perfect? Of course not, there are definitely some minor compromises that have been made in one area to enhance a factor in another area, but that's what you get when you need to try to find a balance of so many different and potentially opposing factors.

But let's cut the vagueness and opinionating and get down to brass tacks: which SPECIFIC colour choices and gradients are causing you such grief that you feel they transcend subjectivity and are objectively, measurably detrimental? I'll either explain my reasoning or be willing to admit that you have a point and that improvements could be made in that area. Sound good?

The tiny envelope handles aren't exactly inviting either ( just my 2 cents ) .

The cursor hit-boxes are actually one or two pixels bigger than the drawn handle, but I admit that they're still not exactly big. Let me look into seeing if I can improve their grabability...

[nichttuntun]

For most people it is very hard to accept things as they are...and due to their long-trained preferences even the ability to see things like the really are. Cheers

[RPH]

Been following this thread for a while, bought a license today to support the dev.
Why not add the option to let people change (text) colors in a settings page, and choose between gradients or single colors?

[Stefken]

I really like the sound of this synth.
It's underrated and certainly the UI will be one of the reasons.
Just take the advice or let someone else do the UI.
There is a saying: most good coders are bad graphical designers and vice versa.
Let a designer do the Ui. No more discussions and your sales will increase.

And yes you can't become a designer overnight or by reading an article. Nor can people explain to you in 2 paragraphs how to change it. You can't explain how to code a synth in 2 paragraphs can you ? It takes years of experience just like coding does.