Biotek2 custom (sound) folders

[plenz]

Just bought Biotek2. In Settings I can select locations for custom instrument folders(preset and user) configured during install, custom sample folders (preset and user) configured during install AND sound folders (preset and user) NOT mentioned during install. Where are the sound presets, the sound preset folder?? Searched for *.biotek2sound files on HD without result?

[Greenstorm33]

I have the same question. Biotek tells me there is missing content but when I push the "Show Download Manager" button it says there is nothing to download.

[WasteLand]

did never anyone answered this? sound presets, i can see in the sound tab, after instrument. in the edit tab..

biotek 2 seems not that popular? i bought it just a few days ago, upgrade from 1.
even when the demo had some problems (and the licensed version too, of course), contacted support.

also the manual is outdated, very outdated.

[jabe]

I've only had a demo of BioTek installed. I'm on Windows 10. I've just checked for folders with BioTek in the name and four were listed, including one that's hidden. I'll list them here in case any might be what folk are looking for.

NOTE: Number 4 appears to have the files for the demo, so start with that one.

1 c:\Users\All Users\Tracktion\BioTek

2 c:\Users\MyName\AppData\Roaming\BioTek

3 c:\Users\MyName\AppData\Roaming\Tracktion\BioTek

4 c:\ProgramData\Tracktion\BioTek

The last of these is normally hidden. I found it because I still use DOS for searches. If you want to locate it and check within, you'll need to change options in File Explorer/Windows Explorer (whatever it's currently called). Do it via View, Options, Change folder and search options, View, Show hidden files, folders, and drives.

[WasteLand]

biotek gives itself the location of the presets/sounds/instruments/samples within settings.
if you downloaded them from biotek2 itself, if i remember correctly. or you must manually locate, where you installed them, with the installer.

the question was: what are sound presets, and where is the folder? there is no location for it, because the folder does not exist...

there are indeed default locations.

(DOS for searches, sometimes it works better than in explorer, i don't use it, but i remember it, i come from the DOS days.. but hidden files/folders are also very simply accessible via explorer. they way you mentioned.)

but in the manual, i mentioned already, this isn't explained. nor what sound presets are..
MPE isn't explained. a lot of features were added, it seems, after it's release.

but the manual has never been updated. a pity, for such a powerfull synth. i will work things out, but a manual speeds up the learning curve (the learning curve of biotek2 itself, it has all the familiar "stuff", but some things aren't were you expected them or better, the links between some modulations and pages..)

and especially, MPE, fully implemented, but is release velocity the same as roli's lift? or can it be used that way?? you can find out, no problem. but is much quicker when you read a manual..

[astey]

biotek gives itself the location of the presets/sounds/instruments/samples within settings.
if you downloaded them from biotek2 itself, if i remember correctly. or you must manually locate, where you installed them, with the installer.

the question was: what are sound presets, and where is the folder? there is no location for it, because the folder does not exist...

there are indeed default locations.

(DOS for searches, sometimes it works better than in explorer, i don't use it, but i remember it, i come from the DOS days.. but hidden files/folders are also very simply accessible via explorer. they way you mentioned.)

but in the manual, i mentioned already, this isn't explained. nor what sound presets are..
MPE isn't explained. a lot of features were added, it seems, after it's release.

but the manual has never been updated. a pity, for such a powerfull synth. i will work things out, but a manual speeds up the learning curve (the learning curve of biotek2 itself, it has all the familiar "stuff", but some things aren't were you expected them or better, the links between some modulations and pages..)

and especially, MPE, fully implemented, but is release velocity the same as roli's lift? or can it be used that way?? you can find out, no problem. but is much quicker when you read a manual..

As far as I know, Biotek2 isn't mpe capable.
Therefore it isn't mentioned anywhere too. Spacecraft Waverazor and multi sampler are the only mpe instruments from Tracktion.

[WasteLand]

biotek gives itself the location of the presets/sounds/instruments/samples within settings.
if you downloaded them from biotek2 itself, if i remember correctly. or you must manually locate, where you installed them, with the installer.

the question was: what are sound presets, and where is the folder? there is no location for it, because the folder does not exist...

there are indeed default locations.

(DOS for searches, sometimes it works better than in explorer, i don't use it, but i remember it, i come from the DOS days.. but hidden files/folders are also very simply accessible via explorer. they way you mentioned.)

but in the manual, i mentioned already, this isn't explained. nor what sound presets are..
MPE isn't explained. a lot of features were added, it seems, after it's release.

but the manual has never been updated. a pity, for such a powerfull synth. i will work things out, but a manual speeds up the learning curve (the learning curve of biotek2 itself, it has all the familiar "stuff", but some things aren't were you expected them or better, the links between some modulations and pages..)

and especially, MPE, fully implemented, but is release velocity the same as roli's lift? or can it be used that way?? you can find out, no problem. but is much quicker when you read a manual..

As far as I know, Biotek2 isn't mpe capable.
Therefore it isn't mentioned anywhere too. Spacecraft Waverazor and multi sampler are the only mpe instruments from Tracktion.

there are MPE buttons all over the place... in the GUI... on different pages. and timbre.. but that doesn't say MPE. it is a bit strange.
it isn't mentioned anywhere. on site, in the manual.

EDIT: even a button to map X Y (pressure, slide) to the ring...
or MPE glide. etc.

EDIT: strangely i didn't test the MPE capabilities yet. i will do.

[WasteLand]

in one of pages, instrument page:

"Quick MPE Setup

Press these buttons to activate MPE on all Sound layers and to assign pressure to Ring X and timbre to Ring Y.

For fine-grained programming of MPE, assign 'Ch Press', 'MPE glide' and 'Timbre' on page 'Sources 1' to any number of parameters."

under this information there are 3 large buttons:
activate MPE on all layers.
and two, on for Ring X and one for RIng Y to activate on all layers.

on the sound page: there is a MPE button, to enable it for that sound.

and in the global settings there is a MPE button...

[yellowmix]

Explicit MPE features were added in 2.1.5, they are currently on 2.1.7. Instrument panel has a "Quick MPE Setup" which is redundant to the separate options in the keyboard modulation sources below and Settings as you mention. They crammed an MPE option on the right that used to be empty, Timbre next to Random, and MPE Glide under Poly Pressure. They always had Poly Pressure.

Oddly, there is no mention of this in the changelog: https://marketplace.tracktion.com/relea ... ?v=biotek2

There were changelog notes in the installer. It says the same thing about MPE that's in the plugin itself. While I love reading manuals for the same reasons it seems they are leaning toward video tutorials and built-in help: https://www.tracktion.com/training/videos#biotek

I feel like they're not promoting the synth well. It's ridiculously deep and very expressive. They released a paid preset/expansion pack. There aren't any third party presets that I know of. It comes with a lot of interesting presets though from many designers.

As for release velocity, it seems to be polyphonic regardless of MPE setting. When MPE is on, channel pressure becomes poly and poly pressure does nothing. Makes sense so legacy presets can become MPE compatible instantly. I can't figure out how Glide works with respect to the MPE setting.

[WasteLand]

Explicit MPE features were added in 2.1.5, they are currently on 2.1.7. Instrument panel has a "Quick MPE Setup" which is redundant to the separate options in the keyboard modulation sources below and Settings as you mention. They crammed an MPE option on the right that used to be empty, Timbre next to Random, and MPE Glide under Poly Pressure. They always had Poly Pressure.

Oddly, there is no mention of this in the changelog: https://marketplace.tracktion.com/relea ... ?v=biotek2

There were changelog notes in the installer. It says the same thing about MPE that's in the plugin itself. While I love reading manuals for the same reasons it seems they are leaning toward video tutorials and built-in help: https://www.tracktion.com/training/videos#biotek

I feel like they're not promoting the synth well. It's ridiculously deep and very expressive. They released a paid preset/expansion pack. There aren't any third party presets that I know of. It comes with a lot of interesting presets though from many designers.

As for release velocity, it seems to be polyphonic regardless of MPE setting. When MPE is on, channel pressure becomes poly and poly pressure does nothing. Makes sense so legacy presets can become MPE compatible instantly. I can't figure out how Glide works with respect to the MPE setting.

still haven't used biotek 2 with MPE, beta testing something, that recquires some background knowledge...

the MPE implementation is indeed cramped. i was wondering about channel pressure... you explained it. thanks for your info! helps! also about the other MPE stuff.

" It's ridiculously deep and very expressive" yes!, i don't have made any patches yet. so i must learn the thing, while making patches... that is my way. but busy, as i already told, beta testing, also much fun...

i agree with you, why is all what biotek 2 can do so unknown?????????
it is a beast.

i bought because of the workflow, possibilities and MPE. as upgrade from biotek 1 (that i have gotten for free, novation...).
for the sale upgrade price, you get a synth that is, well, as you have said: It's ridiculously deep and very expressive! i can only repeat it!

i discovered one bug, that biotek 1 also had, but i didn't know what caused, and to solve it, besides loading the plugin again. that is why i never used biotek 1, by accident i discovered it (no sound, after you change a preset, why? because you had soloed a later in previous preset. pressing solo twice in the new preset, and: sound..). and it crashed in cubase.

i reported this to tracktion. even if i had only the demo. 2 or 3 days ago i decided to buy it, even it seems not stable, and manuals, etc.

tracktion! you have a synth, that can do AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, and nothing? yes on the website. but outdated.

EDIT: the biotek video's are from... biotek 1...... still usefull or not? i noticed that before, when looking for some info on YT....

[WasteLand]

i think i make a seperate BIOTEK 2 thread, here.. the developer is around..

what should i say? nice to have such a powerfull synths (and i have other powerfull synths, the lesser known... and some well known, no not serum! or u-he, or uve or... i choose my synths... o well...), but were is the attention?

it has MPE!

nobody knows....

the GUI is redesigned, there are only biotek 1 video's???

[yellowmix]

The GUI has been improved but it is still largely the same in terms of workflow, so the tutorial videos are not outdated. Instead of a tag panel and preset list, there is now a full-blown browser. When you load a preset there is now a load indicator under the preset name which lets you know when the samples have loaded. Helps to have the samples on an SSD.

In the browser, there are buttons near the top right. "Reveal public Inst" will open a native file window to where the factory presets and samples are. "Reveal private inst" will open to where your/user presets are (as set in Settings).

Where the preset list used to be, there is now a permanent list/mixer of layers and arp control. Very useful for sound design and performance.

There are a few non-standard concepts. The most important is that the performance page is just that—you are meant to manipulate it live, and not modulate it internally. However, the controls are exposed to the DAW and can be automated, though it is intended to be live recorded. X-Y pads have been around for some time and yes, it really is just two source values but you can leverage it to be greater than that with multiple targets, ranges, and especially with modifiers. The two "Flow LFO" on the bottom look interesting. They're not sequenced, you have to manually slide the puck horizontally to choose which LFO is active. It's often used to change the LFO rate but you can change a lot more than that (which are all modulatable).

Envelope 4 is the default "master" multi-stage looping envelope for the layer. You can change the rate of any stage with any source!

Assigning modulation may require you to open multiple source pages. How do you reverse engineer patches? Next to every target at the 10 o'clock position there's a right-pointing arrow. Click on that and it'll show all modulation sources and values, click on one and it'll focus to the relevant source page and give that source focus.

The interface is 100% cleanly scalable. I like the big buttons and knobs, though there are so many sources and modifiers it can seem overwhelming. It's a good thing they divided them up onto multiple pages.

Those were the main issues that took me time to figure out and once you're past that, then design time becomes fun.

While we're talking about Tracktion, Waverazor is their other seemingly impenetrable synth. Similarly, the main page is for performance. The patch designer determines what many of the controls do. People asked for an editor for a long time and finally got it and it's very daunting at first but it makes sense. You're not just designing a patch, you're designing a synth that happens to have a particular layout already. I have to wonder how they made the first factory patches without it!

[WasteLand]

The GUI has been improved but it is still largely the same in terms of workflow, so the tutorial videos are not outdated. Instead of a tag panel and preset list, there is now a full-blown browser. When you load a preset there is now a load indicator under the preset name which lets you know when the samples have loaded. Helps to have the samples on an SSD.

In the browser, there are buttons near the top right. "Reveal public Inst" will open a native file window to where the factory presets and samples are. "Reveal private inst" will open to where your/user presets are (as set in Settings).

Where the preset list used to be, there is now a permanent list/mixer of layers and arp control. Very useful for sound design and performance.

There are a few non-standard concepts. The most important is that the performance page is just that—you are meant to manipulate it live, and not modulate it internally. However, the controls are exposed to the DAW and can be automated, though it is intended to be live recorded. X-Y pads have been around for some time and yes, it really is just two source values but you can leverage it to be greater than that with multiple targets, ranges, and especially with modifiers. The two "Flow LFO" on the bottom look interesting. They're not sequenced, you have to manually slide the puck horizontally to choose which LFO is active. It's often used to change the LFO rate but you can change a lot more than that (which are all modulatable).

Envelope 4 is the default "master" multi-stage looping envelope for the layer. You can change the rate of any stage with any source!

Assigning modulation may require you to open multiple source pages. How do you reverse engineer patches? Next to every target at the 10 o'clock position there's a right-pointing arrow. Click on that and it'll show all modulation sources and values, click on one and it'll focus to the relevant source page and give that source focus.

The interface is 100% cleanly scalable. I like the big buttons and knobs, though there are so many sources and modifiers it can seem overwhelming. It's a good thing they divided them up onto multiple pages.

Those were the main issues that took me time to figure out and once you're past that, then design time becomes fun.

While we're talking about Tracktion, Waverazor is their other seemingly impenetrable synth. Similarly, the main page is for performance. The patch designer determines what many of the controls do. People asked for an editor for a long time and finally got it and it's very daunting at first but it makes sense. You're not just designing a patch, you're designing a synth that happens to have a particular layout already. I have to wonder how they made the first factory patches without it!

some stuff you wrote i already knew, some not. thanks! will help me getting started, more quickly, not have time yet...

i am used to melda production plugins, so biotek 2 doesn't frightened me.. i like in depth stuff...
and i know my soft modulars... and matrix (what is the plural of matrix??), etc.