SpaceCraft Granular Synth available now on desktop (Win/Mac VST2/VST3/AU)

[RPH]

@Caine123: Sync and Envelope on/off options:




@dev: The effect version of Spacecraft is not listed as a VSTfx, it's listed as VSTi here. Am using the latest beta.

[deltavaudio]

i know it is on sale but there are no sync options for example? i love to sync lfos in granular mode a lot.

It does certainly have sync options. The LFO is already synced to the tempo. If you move up and down the LFO pad it plays different divisions of the tempo of your DAW. Also the grain firing can be either free (by default) or synced to DAW tempo. Tap the settings cog and you will see the free/sync option on the grain panel.

[Caine123]

i know it is on sale but there are no sync options for example? i love to sync lfos in granular mode a lot.

It does certainly have sync options. The LFO is already synced to the tempo. If you move up and down the LFO pad it plays different divisions of the tempo of your DAW. Also the grain firing can be either free (by default) or synced to DAW tempo. Tap the settings cog and you will see the free/sync option on the grain panel.

thanks man! i really love the responsiveness thats why i wanna see the benefit of the product and support!

[deltavaudio]

@Caine123 no worries

What I'd say is, if you *need* to have control over fine details in a synth then spacecraft is probably not for you, and that's totally fair enough

Instead, spacecraft takes an 'opinionated design' approach where many of those details are manipulated by algorithms behind the scenes so that the interface can be focused on the fewest elements possible whilst still allowing it to be 'deep'. The intention here is to lead the user to creative results without being distracted by the details (details that can easily lead you away from musical sounding results).

I get a lot of positive feedback in this regard and I believe that this one of spacecraft's strong points. Believe me, I've agonised endlessly over what to show and what to hide (and how to hide it) and I can tell you that it’s a lot harder to make an effective instrument with 10 controls than one with 100s

[Spitfire31]

… The intention here is to lead the user to creative results without being distracted by the details (details that can easily lead you away from musical sounding results).

I get a lot of positive feedback in this regard and I believe that this one of spacecraft's strong points. Believe me, I've agonised endlessly over what to show and what to hide (and how to hide it) and I can tell you that it’s a lot harder to make an effective instrument with 10 controls than one with 100s

This is exactly why I took to SpaceCraft immediately when I started to demo it.

/Joachim

[skyscape]

So I ended up eating my words (somewhat) and picking this up on the 50% off sale. At full price I would probably expect deeper control from an instrument like this - and there are very obvious design limitations in place from its legacy as an ios app, but it doesn't really matter too much as I can automate most of what I need in my DAW. It is very elegantly designed and heaps of fun to play with and I think it offers just enough uniqueness as a granular instrument to be worthwhile. I would love for a few more features but can certainly also respect the dev's vision. It does what it does very well and I'm happy with the purchase!

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

So I ended up eating my words (somewhat) and picking this up on the 50% off sale.

About to do the same

I originally commented that I didn't think the price was justified when compared to the competition. My opinion at that point was based upon immediate perception of feature-set, which was in turn based on my experience with the iOS version. However, given that my iPad is way too old to run it properly, and it's just a bit too small for my iPhone screen, I probably should've just checked the demo for myself.

After spending a few days with the demo, I have to say that I haven't had so much fun with a plugin for a long time. The real attraction to me is being able to play the waveform like an instrument. Of course, this is not the only granular that allows this. However, the range of sounds that I can get from manipulating the filters, grain length/size etc, (especially some of the purer, cleaner tones) make this seem much better than others I've tried. It doesn't hurt that the Wacom pen I use makes it even more effortless...and joyous

The fact that it's not a direct iOS port, and is improved for more capable desktop processors, is already a huge mark in it's favour. But I also love the fact that this thing allows drag-n-drop of many common file-types, including mp3 and m4a (Hello iTunes library) makes the experience even more immediate, and begs experimentation.

My original criticisms of the ui/gui still stand. While I am glad to have found the options for a more muted colour palette, I still wish that some of the other controls were more utilitarian and less 'Spacecraft'. It is frustrating that there is no option to use hp and lp filters on the same sample, or that even the simplest of reverb changes involves menu-diving. This seems like unnecessary abstraction for the sake of keeping with the x-y theme. Ultimately, I just seem to always end up placing an eq/filter after the plugin, as well as using a more controllable reverb. Not really a huge issue, but it would be good to be able to turn off the internal options to save on CPU

Which brings me on to my bigger frustration, by way of a feature-request: Is there any possibility of a future update allowing for only one of the Sample engines to be loaded?

I do have an older computer, so it's not fair to expect that you perform optimisation voodoo. However, as it stands, there are two really powerful granular engines constantly running under the same global settings, and this seems a huge waste of resources. Maybe it's just me, but most of the time I am only concentrating on the top layer, and the lower layer just remains muted.
I can't get to 128 grains (I can do 64 with all the other settings maxed out), even at the highest buffer my daw offers, without stuttering. But I can't help thinking that the second engine is still going through all the motions (Literally blinking; pulsing), with those same maxed out settings, and stopping me achieving the full 128 grains. Even if were never able to reach such lofty heights, wouldn't it save a huge chunk of CPU?

Would be great to have the option in the plugin folder to choose either a one-engine or two-engine version, with their own separate settings/parameters

[simmo75]

Is there no Init or Default preset where it loads up empty and zero’d so I can build a patch completely from scratch?

[deltavaudio]

After spending a few days with the demo, I have to say that I haven't had so much fun with a plugin for a long time.

That's great to hear

Which brings me on to my bigger frustration, by way of a feature-request: Is there any possibility of a future update allowing for only one of the Sample engines to be loaded?

Actually I have been thinking about this exact feature, more for Android (out of necessity) but the same feature could be reused on the desktop version. There would be a button in advanced settings to disable the bottom sequencer. You are correct that this would save on CPU for both the audio and the DSP in general. Thanks for the feedback on this.

As a side note, I included two engines as I feel it represents a sweetspot between simplicity and flexibility. It's not too overwhelming to just have two audio sources (it can also be the same audio in both) and it allows just enough layering to get deep and complex sounds.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

And...bought

[deltavaudio]

Is there no Init or Default preset where it loads up empty and zero’d so I can build a patch completely from scratch?

There is an init preset in the 'generative' folder (check on presets panel), but I've had some comments also from others that it's not 'init' enough

If you want the most 'init' conditions possible load the init preset and just move both LFOs to the far left. That's the most basic configuration possible for SC. I will add an alternative init preset that has the LFO disabled like this (i.e. moved far left) in the next update.

[simmo75]

Is there no Init or Default preset where it loads up empty and zero’d so I can build a patch completely from scratch?

There is an init preset in the 'generative' folder (check on presets panel), but I've had some comments also from others that it's not 'init' enough

If you want the most 'init' conditions possible load the init preset and just move both LFOs to the far left. That's the most basic configuration possible for SC. I will add an alternative init preset that has the LFO disabled like this (i.e. moved far left) in the next update.

Thank you, I’ll do that and it’s great that you’re adding an init, init

How can I empty the two engines? Or at least one?

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

After spending a few days with the demo, I have to say that I haven't had so much fun with a plugin for a long time.

That's great to hear

Which brings me on to my bigger frustration, by way of a feature-request: Is there any possibility of a future update allowing for only one of the Sample engines to be loaded?

Actually I have been thinking about this exact feature, more for Android (out of necessity) but the same feature could be reused on the desktop version. There would be a button in advanced settings to disable the bottom sequencer. You are correct that this would save on CPU for both the audio and the DSP in general. Thanks for the feedback on this.

As a side note, I included two engines as I feel it represents a sweetspot between simplicity and flexibility. It's not too overwhelming to just have two audio sources (it can also be the same audio in both) and it allows just enough layering to get deep and complex sounds.

more for Android (out of necessity)

Actually, I forgot to mention in my post that I think it would be a huge positive for iOS. Not only would it be great for the CPU savings, but it would probably help it run better on a phone
By the way, I do see the advantages of the two engines, and I already have some ideas of how I might make use of them.

There was another feature-request which I forgot to post. Would it be possible to have zooming directly on the sample-range waveform or waveform directly, via a key-modifier i.e holding down the modifier and swiping up or down would zoom the main waveform in or out? Even better would be if it had trackpad-like pinch-to-zoom gestures, but that's not so important. Either way, I think it would be a more streamlined way to navigate through samples.

Anyway, thanks for taking the criticisms and suggestions in the spirit intended. Great support

[deltavaudio]

How can I empty the two engines? Or at least one?

well if you just mute it by putting the volume slider to the right down then you don't need to empty it per se. It's currently not possible to delete the audio data completely (I didn't see any value in doing that); the closest you could get to that would be to load a dummy blank audio file although I'm not sure what the point would be.

Maybe I'm missing something here, is it perhaps in the context of recording live input that you want to have the empty engine?

[simmo75]

How can I empty the two engines? Or at least one?

well if you just mute it by putting the volume slider to the right down then you don't need to empty it per se. It's currently not possible to delete the audio data completely (I didn't see any value in doing that); the closest you could get to that would be to load a dummy blank audio file although I'm not sure what the point would be.

Maybe I'm missing something here, is it perhaps in the context of recording live input that you want to have the empty engine?

Sometimes I don’t need to use two engines for the sound I’m trying to achieve so it makes sense to me to just not have a muted loaded sound when it can be empty. It reduces possible user error too.