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

[Local Man]

... So unless someone can guarantee me 500 sales of a Mac version...

Man, I wish I could. Maybe I'll put some flyers up at my local Apple store.
Anyway, good luck with the PC version.

[nichttuntun]

Hi Ryan,
funny track. Thank you again for the update and information )

What are your plans for the future with AuroraFM and in general considering coding VSTs?

Have a great time.

Thanks, dude. No specific plans, I'm afraid. There may be many more updates and features, there may be none, I really don't know. I'm actually USING my synth on a somewhat-regular basis for composing and sound design (as opposed to the years of development and testing to get it to that point), so if I run into any situations where I discover functionality that I'd like it to have that it's lacking, then I'll probably add that for my own sake and everyone can benefit. But I'm past the point of adding things on principle or idealism or personal challenges or for its market appeal, etc., because I've already sunken so much time and money into it that I'll never recoup. The unfortunate reality is that further time and costs spent developing new features are not going to pay off, and I'm sadly not in a position to keep going with that unsustainable situation.

It's something that I'll always have close to me though, for as long as I'm around, and I'm certainly not abandoning it. If/when I get the itch to add something to it just because I want to, then I will. But obviously that's all totally up in the air and not something that I can communicate with current or prospective users.

I've had a freelance gig developing a VST controller for a fellow's hardware unit, and I've been slowly adding to my personal library of audio routines for my projects, but there aren't any other plans for other commercial products... until, maybe, some day there are... Heh. I totally don't know!

Will there ever be a Mac version?

No concrete plans. I'd LOVE to make a Mac version, but sadly it's totally unfeasible at present. It would be an expense that I'd never recoup. So unless someone can guarantee me 500 sales of a Mac version, I simply can't afford to sink the time and money into it out of the goodness of my heart and my idealistic desire to have the dozen or so interested Mac folks be able to enjoy my synth...

Thank you Ryan for your personal insights. It was an interest read. Sorry, I reacted so late
Wish you all the best as always. Will be glad to hear again from you.

[jbraner]

OK, I'm game for approx £10 GBP

I'm just waiting for my license file (I guess the email will say what to do with it).
Aurora seems to load up DX7 syx files (there are millions of these floating around) that I use with dexed - and they sound pretty good, once I figured out how to turn off the dist FX in Aurora

I'll have a look at the manual later.

I'll be back if there's anything I can't figure out.
Thanks Ryan

[RyFi]

Slightly old news by now, but since I'm writing a response here anyways I figured I'd mention that Aurora FM has been confirmed by a couple of people to work on Linux under Wine . I had to make one change to get the licensing working so people could actually buy it, but other than that the actual synth didn't need to be touched. How cool is that? So there's a new version up with that change but you don't need it if you're on Windows.

Thank you Ryan for your personal insights. It was an interest read. Sorry, I reacted so late
Wish you all the best as always. Will be glad to hear again from you.

I'm pretty sure it won't be long before you hear from me again. I always seem to keep finding more things I want to do with my synth. Thanks, and all the best to you too!

Man, I wish I could. Maybe I'll put some flyers up at my local Apple store.
Anyway, good luck with the PC version.

Please do! Heh. Thanks man.

Aurora seems to load up DX7 syx files (there are millions of these floating around) that I use with dexed - and they sound pretty good, once I figured out how to turn off the dist FX in Aurora
Thanks Ryan

Yeah, you probably noticed that I don't clear the effects parameters and mod section parameters when loading a DX patch (they obviously don't have equivalents in the patch you're about to load, so it's either keep them or clear them). I felt that this was conducive to better exploration and happy discoveries, and you have the option of dealing with it the way you want: if you want to apply the current effects and mod to the DX patch, then just load it; if you don't want to apply them to the DX patch, then just pull up the Init patch first before loading a DX patch. Easy.

Thank YOU!

[nichttuntun]

Hi. Does that mean I can load a Dexed patch-file too into aurora?

[RyFi]

Hi. Does that mean I can load a Dexed patch-file too into aurora?

Does Dexed have its own proprietary patch format to handle the differences between it and a DX? If so, the answer is no. But if you're just talking about DX patches, then YES, absolutely!

[jbraner]

jbraner wrote: ↑
Mon May 27, 2019 3:27 pm
Aurora seems to load up DX7 syx files (there are millions of these floating around) that I use with dexed - and they sound pretty good, once I figured out how to turn off the dist FX in Aurora
Thanks Ryan

Yeah, you probably noticed that I don't clear the effects parameters and mod section parameters when loading a DX patch (they obviously don't have equivalents in the patch you're about to load, so it's either keep them or clear them). I felt that this was conducive to better exploration and happy discoveries, and you have the option of dealing with it the way you want: if you want to apply the current effects and mod to the DX patch, then just load it; if you don't want to apply them to the DX patch, then just pull up the Init patch first before loading a DX patch. Easy

Hi Ryan,
Yeah - I figured out that if I just turn off the effects (I didn't think to load the init preset) - they just stay that way (unaffected) when loading DX7 syx files. (then they can be added later)

I noticed something else a little strange. I'm not at my music PC now so can't add pictures - but if you:
- load a DX7 preset
- save it as presetA
- hit random a few times (till something neat comes up)
- then save as presetB

The actual file names (.afm files) are fine, but the the name in Aurora still says "presetA" for both of them. Do you know the part I'm talking about? (if not I'll take a screen shot)
It's like you have to update that preset name field AND then save to a afm file with the new name.
TBH - I don't get what that preset name field is for - besides a place to list the default presets. I doesn't necessarily match the names of the afm files unless you enter the name of a new preset twice (once in the name field and then again when saving the file).

Please let me know if this doesn't make sense - or if I'm missing something

[RyFi]

I haven't tested your procedure so I might be misunderstanding, but my hunch is that you're doing things the opposite way of how I intended it: You set the patch name in the textbox first, and then save, and the filename defaults to that name for you and you can just immediately click save (barring any filename collisions) - you shouldn't need to and probably don't want to manually specify a different filename.

If you're not changing the patch name but specifying a filename and then expecting a loaded patch name to get populated based on the filename, it doesn't work that way. The patch name is a field stored in the patch and has nothing to do with the patch's filename.

Is my assumption of the situation correct?

[jbraner]

Hi Ryan,

Yep - you're correct!
OK - so I'll do it your way, and that should be fine. I assumed there must be a better way to do it - or you would have heard about it by now

[crystalmsc]

What a deep sounding FM synth with a decent engine. I own the TG77 and this reminds me of the AFM part, which sounds warmer, thicker and darker than the DX7. Really compliments the DX7 V. I like the UI as well, would like to see more development of this great synth. The developer is very supportive and friendly to communicate with.

[RyFi]

Hey, gang!

Small update posted for ya:

• Fix: Issue with Ableton Live 10 where the DX Patch Bank window was getting hidden in the Z-order and couldn't be brought back without minimizing windows to reveal it, closing it, and then reopening it. Yuck.
• Improved: Chorus effect smoothly toggles on/off without clicks.
• Improved: Can override locked parameters when Resetting or Randomizing by SHIFT+clicking.

Happy holidays!

What a deep sounding FM synth with a decent engine. I own the TG77 and this reminds me of the AFM part, which sounds warmer, thicker and darker than the DX7. Really compliments the DX7 V. I like the UI as well, would like to see more development of this great synth. The developer is very supportive and friendly to communicate with.

[nichttuntun]

Hey, gang!

Small update posted for ya:

• Fix: Issue with Ableton Live 10 where the DX Patch Bank window was getting hidden in the Z-order and couldn't be brought back without minimizing windows to reveal it, closing it, and then reopening it. Yuck.
• Improved: Chorus effect smoothly toggles on/off without clicks.
• Improved: Can override locked parameters when Resetting or Randomizing by SHIFT+clicking.

Happy holidays!

Hi Ryan, so cool. Thank you and I wish yourself a merry christmas/ winter time

[Aloysius]

[gentleclockdivider]

Suggestion
It would be great if we had the option for envelopes to not re-trigger ( particularly usefull for bass )

[RyFi]

Hey man,

Can you please elaborate on what you're asking for? Are you implying monophonic mode?

Because I'm not sure if it applies to your situation or not, but I've been sitting on a fix for clicks from discontinuities in envelopes on re-triggers in monophonic mode when the env amp scaling factor differs between notes... I just haven't gotten around to posting it yet because I'm so incredibly busy with other things...