f. 'em - a new FM synth from Tracktion

[aMUSEd]

But anyway F. 'em

[Calenberger]

Yes. F. 'em!

[sinemotor]

I'm in hope of a FM-X coming at some point with a modular approach to FM.

Then f. 'em looks like a true FM8 successor.

When you look at Massive X, you've got that modular approach and you've got FM. In some configurations you can build a patch with up to a 7 Operators. Actually, I recreated several FM8 patches in Massive X with success even though both have a different architecture. I just hope that NI continue to improve MX because this synth is sonically impressive.

[Jace-BeOS]

Rebuilding the GUI of FM8, Absynth, etc., is the clearest way to get current owners to buy again.

Which means that they will have to rewrite it from scratch, because the UI is embedded in the rest of the code and it's impossible to change one without changing the other. And the code is late '90s - early '00ies, which means it's obsolete by now, let's not talk about in 5 or 10 years time. - Talking about FM8.

And Absynth is a one man affair and he moved on long ago, which means this will never happen.

Why would the GUI be “embedded” in the rest of the code? Hasn’t GUI programming been its own modular object code for many decades? You don’t rewrite the whole program from scratch. You build a GUI in modern tools, maybe a new framework, and attach all the behavior code and DSP to that new framework’s UI. If every control is directly contained in the code for the implementation of whatever the control does... well shit...

[Echoes in the Attic]

I'm in hope of a FM-X coming at some point with a modular approach to FM.

How would that look like, compared to - say - FM8 or Sytrus?

I'm guessing that if NI do plan to update it, they will want to be consistent with the design approach used in Massive-X

So if we're really lucky, we'll get a half-finished FM-X which doesn't work on touch screens and where nothing can be automated or remote controlled with host visible parameters unless they are assigned to macros.

[EvilDragon]

And what's the problem of DX7 V, then?

CPU usage

[Examigan]

Maybe you were kidding, but I just loaded up the standalone version of DX7 V and checked the CPU in the task manager. I went through many presets and played 4-5 notes at once with several of those and it never went above 7%. Usually it was around 3-4%. My PC is nearly 5 years old and is a i7-based PC with 16 GB of RAM.

[SebAV]

... because of the lack of proper FM-Synths I'm really excited about this one.

What? Lack of proper FM synths?

Tell me... Where is a proper FM-Synth which is "state-of-art"?

FM8 (which I useed almost a decade): practically unusable due the gui
Sytrus: Workflow is arkward, sound stops when touching an envelope
Rhino: practically unusable due the gui
Dexed: practically unusable due the gui
Tone2: Dont know but I find it unusable
Linplug Octopus: Abandonware + practically unusable due the gui

Nowadays I use Ableton Operator and Zebra but I would be happy if you could show me an good FM synth (no I don't want to use reaktor because I dont like the workflow)

You have Image-Line Toxic Biohazard, Arturia DX7 V, and Rob Papen Blue and Blue 2. All of these are "proper" FM synths, IMO. Any of them is way more advanced than anything you quoted (except Rhino, maybe, and FM8), and the last two don't suffer of the GUI problem you are complaining about.

And don't forget Arturia Synclavier V. It's not FM in the way DX7 implemented it, but it's still FM, and very powerful.

And PX7 from Reason Studios

[tristan-]

gimme those 11 op f.'em keys and f.'em all!

[tristan-]

do you think F.'em will have a good librarian and be able to load TX816 patches in full polyphony as 8 modules? actually, it would be cool to even have 128 x 8 voices.

[DJ Warmonger]

Hasn’t GUI programming been its own modular object code for many decades? You don’t rewrite the whole program from scratch. You build a GUI in modern tools, maybe a new framework, and attach all the behavior code and DSP to that new framework’s UI

Everyone is so smart now, but legacy code is still haunting many companies. I've left my previous job for that reason.

It's especially true for oldschool C developers (so most of DSP / embedded stuff), who believed (void*) cast was the perfect solution to any design problems.

[Bodhisan]

^I don't need any more "monster" features, just a clear GUI and fast workflow. Blue II on paper looks amazing, but in reality it turned out too complicated to use...

Yes. Just two weeks ago I revisited Blue II with the sole purpose of trying the FM now that I have a good understanding of it, and it is quite unintuitive and impractical, compared to, say, Wiggle or FM8 or Octopus. Even the Arturia DX7 - maybe because it's an emulation, is not the most practical FM synth to work with - and I feel the carrier/modulation menu selections are inferior to the aforementioned synths.

[Greenstorm33]

So does this thing have a release window or are we just biding the time until it's released by discussing how much other FM synths suck?

[fmr]

So does this thing have a release window or are we just biding the time until it's released by discussing how much other FM synths suck?

It wasn't even announced in Tracktion site. Besides, they now have Waveform 11 in Beta, so I guess that's their priority for the time being.

[felis]

Early April Fools joke?