Upcoming Synapse OB-Xa: Obsession

[e-crooner]

I think the notion that the layout on the hardware indicated signal flow from left to right is wrong to begin with.
Those synths were 3 feet wide and 1 foot deep, much of which consumed by the keyboard. I.e. the control panel was usually like a long band. So, putting sections next to each other was the only option, they had to put stuff somewhere.

And when you look at the OB-Xa and also the Prophet-5, in both cases the mod section was clearly separated from the osc section by a thick/additional vertical line. They did not want people to think there was a signal flow. After all, when you look at the mod targets, one of them is the filter cutoff, totally bypassing the osc section.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eybp_Ly2qe8/ ... 1600/1.jpg

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/ ... 4fbtcj.jpg

I think the ARP 2600 had more of a signal flow control panel. And it was possible because the panel was rather deep, one can actually see tiny arrowheads at the end of some orange lines:

https://sc1.musik-produktiv.com/pic-010 ... p-sq-1.jpg

[e-crooner]

That's the thing, you can't change it without taking it further away form the hardware. Someone has been in touch with Rich and we've been discussing it on the best forum but I think the consensus is to leave it as is. As someone explained about 40 pages ago, the reason it's the same shape as Legend is so that they don't have to do a completely separate UI for the RE version.

Well, if beta testers didn't notice anything for months, I am not surprised they don't want GUI changes now

No idea why they would have to do a different GUI for the RE version, the format/shape wouldn't change at all.

[Echoes in the Attic]

This is what I mean:

[Echoes in the Attic]

OR with voice edits/mutes on top:

[vitocorleone123]

This is what I mean:

That’s pretty much exactly what I was expecting the layout to be.

On an actual physical device, having the oscillators and envelope on the bottom make sense because that’s where your hands are coming from. On a screen that’s not so true. However, I suppose if you’re using a hardware controller? Hmm.

I hope the RE versions make a lot of money, because using the same UI framework seems like a compromise for the nonRE users. I want Synapse to be successful, so optimizing what’s there is key.

Not meeting expectations is one usability hurdle. How quick and easy the synth is to learn - and remember from session to session - is a more important one. I suspect that enjoyment is NOT a usability issue in this case

[revvy]

using the same UI framework seems like a compromise for the nonRE users

+1

[Vortifex]

This is what I mean:

That looks exactly how I would have expected the actual plugin to look.

[Spencer Maddox]

I wonder why they don't just move the modulation row down, the layout would look more familiar this way:

Maybe Richard can make alternative skin for those who prefer this layout. Its not a complex layout. Maybe its just 10 minutes of work to make the work.

Nooooooooooooooooooo
In my limited coding experience the GUI is actually the LONGEST process.
Skinning synths is NOT a quick feat.

But i mean if its just switching module positions visualy (like someone made the sketch) and reconfiguring the configuration file (again, Hive 2 as example, or other U-he Synths) maybe its not that huge work.

Wait how did he get banned?
I mean his idea wasn’t realistic but worth a BAN?

[vurt]

dont be saying shits easy i guess

[AnX]

Wait how did he get banned?
I mean his idea wasn’t realistic but worth a BAN?

sock puppet I assume

Hink said he looks out for new names in threads like this....

[BONES]

Actually I think if the layout was Oscs/Fitler/Env at the top, modulation in the middle and common at the bottom, this could be seen as not that different from the hardware if you imagine it going from bottom to top.

Even if you were standing on your head, you couldn't make that argument. The hardware is very much left to right and the order is MANUAL->CONTROL->MODULATION->OSCILLATORS->FILTER->ENVELOPES

And it makes more sense in terms of typical VST design (the oscs being at the top I mean) so I think people would adapt to it easier.

There is no such thing. Different developers put different things all over the place. Look at DUNE, for example - oscillators crammed in to the top-left corner, with the filter section shoved under the big central screen. It's all over the place. Honestly, the OBSession layout takes no time or effort to learn at all, because it's such a simple synth. Until you guys here saw a picture of it, there had been absolutely zero mention of it on the beta forum. i.e. When you actually get to use it, it is a non-issue.

Maybe Richard can make alternative skin for those who prefer this layout. Its not a complex layout. Maybe its just 100 minutes of work to make the work.

Rich said any major change to the layout would delay release by several months, presumably because of the need to make it work cross-platform, which means Retina display support and all the rest of it. It takes more than 100 minutes just to mock up a layout. I made something up yesterday and it took me around three hours just to make a photoshop file. I can't show you because it contains elements that may or may not end up in the final release version.

[Spencer Maddox]

Wait how did he get banned?
I mean his idea wasn’t realistic but worth a BAN?

sock puppet I assume

Hink said he looks out for new names in threads like this....

Most likely. Musta failed Hink’s background check.

I mean being wrong isint a bannable offense
There would be little KVR if it was

Myself included

[wagtunes]

I agree with Bones, the GUI is a non issue based on what I'm seeing. If you have any degree of knowledge working with synths, the layout should be a non issue. And if you've never worked with a synth before, no layout is going to matter. I mean you can clearly see where everything is so what's the problem?

Having grown up with hardware synths I can tell you that I had plenty of synths that had ZERO order of operations layouts. Every try to program a DX 7 hardware synth? Good luck with that if you're a beginner.

Bottom Line: The Gui is done and it is what it is. Any changes and we don't get this thing until freakin August. Since I'm no longer getting Arturia's version, I don't want to wait that long.

[e-crooner]

Dune 3 is rather conventional, the oscillators are in the top left corner.
That's where the signal starts, the source of it all. Unlike the Xa, Dune 3 has a big display, else the filter would probably be to the right of the oscillators.
In Sylenth1 the osc's are also at the top, below is the filter.
Towards the bottom there is the modulation stuff.

Probably it has to do with the fact that in the West we fill pages from the top left to the bottom right side. Maybe an Arab or Japanese person feels differently about it

[wagtunes]

This is one of the first synths I owned. All the way at the far left, first thing...LFOs

WTF???

This is the kind of shit we grew up with. You looked for what you wanted, you grabbed a hold of it and you did whatever you were going to do with it and you didn't give a second thought to "Hey, maybe it would be better if this was over HERE."

We've become so spoiled that we go bat shit crazy over an oscillator not being the first thing in the chain.