DSP563xx Emulator (Access Virus, Nord Lead, Waldorf MW...)

[chk071]

So what will be the end product?

A Virus C emulation? A wrapper that whould allow running Virus PoCo or TDM on a regular PC? Or what?

ROM emulator. You'd need to source the Virus firmware ROM youself.

Sorry to be thick, but, what does that mean exactly?

[recursive one]

Virus firmware ROM

I'm not sure what this exactly means. A distributive for Virus PoCo or TDM?

[EvilDragon]

No, the firmware that is burned on actual EPROM chips on actual hardware. Nothing to do with PoCo/TDM.

Legally, numerouno cannot release a plugin that outright contains the firmware in it. But nothing prevents him from making an emulator of the particular DSP chips that then run that firmware. But you need to find the firmware yourself (this is a google search away) and point the plugin to it. Then somebody would need to build a UI to edit things, and so on...

[chk071]

Cool. Not sure if I would be capable of doing that though. Maybe with a tutorial.

[EvilDragon]

Google "synthesizer ROM archive". Find firmware archive for synth in question. Whenever that VST plugin shows up, you'd point it to the BIN file unpacked from that archive (or more than one BIN file, depending on the structure of the hardware synth). Job done.

[chk071]

Ok, if it's that easy, I'm sure even I could do it. Thanks.

[numerouno]

No, the firmware that is burned on actual EPROM chips on actual hardware. Nothing to do with PoCo/TDM.

Legally, numerouno cannot release a plugin that outright contains the firmware in it. But nothing prevents him from making an emulator of the particular DSP chips that then run that firmware. But you need to find the firmware yourself (this is a google search away) and point the plugin to it. Then somebody would need to build a UI to edit things, and so on...

Exactly this! It will also be noob friendly
We are starting to get ideas down for a GUI right now, but we are pretty sure the Mystery Islands GUI will work with it no problem

[recursive one]

So... I downloaded a file called Access Virus C (some numbers).BIN

I load that into this emulator and get a plugin that works and sounds identical to Virus C (except the converters), is that how it will work?

If so, that's incredibly awesome!

[Nils Schneider]

So... I downloaded a file called Access Virus C (some numbers).BIN

I load that into this emulator and get a plugin that works and sounds identical to Virus C (except the converters), is that how it will work?

If so, that's incredibly awesome!

Exactly that. It basically works just as every other game console emulator. The emulator brings everything to run the code, but the code needs to be provided through rom files.

[recursive one]

Great!
And is the emulator itself going to be a VSTi plugin?

[EvilDragon]

It'd have to be. Perhaps even standalone. I expect JUCE, so VST3 and AU (because it'd be open source I suppose).

[chk071]

So... I downloaded a file called Access Virus C (some numbers).BIN

I load that into this emulator and get a plugin that works and sounds identical to Virus C (except the converters), is that how it will work?

If so, that's incredibly awesome!

Exactly that. It basically works just as every other game console emulator. The emulator brings everything to run the code, but the code needs to be provided through rom files.

Awesome.

[Shiek927]

It's basically like ROM Emulators for old video games, for any gamers around here. You'd get an Emulator which literally emulates hardware for the console (e.g the Super Nintendo) and then get the ROM which is essentially the game itself. Load up the ROM and voila: you're playing the game.

In this case, it's the same thing from what I understand: The Emulator emulates the DSP chip itself. Then if I were to look online for an Access Virus C Rom, I theoretically could just load up the ROM and voila: I now have a Virus C synth. You could also think of it as loading a Kontakt Library or UVI Workstation Synth. Right now, they are working on "Kontakt" or "UVI Workstation" right now. It's a tiny bit more complicated because there would have to be a custom GUI, working parameters and so-on for each ROM/Synth that you load up since they all came with different features, but it's nothing that couldn't eventually be done and there's loads of talent to go around. Once everything was designed and mapped out, we'll all have a Virus C synth in our computers -- and eventually, for every synth that used those chips.

It's technically illegal, but it's not as if the ROM's themselves will come with the Emulator. It's all at the person's discretion. And if someone were to load a working ROM into the working Emulator, well, that's a them problem

EDIT: Ahh, I just noticed that Nils explained the same thing already haha. Great job on the Kawai K1 plugin, by the way! it's great to see other people show interest in that late-80s/90s' era!

[Shiek927]

No, the firmware that is burned on actual EPROM chips on actual hardware. Nothing to do with PoCo/TDM.

Legally, numerouno cannot release a plugin that outright contains the firmware in it. But nothing prevents him from making an emulator of the particular DSP chips that then run that firmware. But you need to find the firmware yourself (this is a google search away) and point the plugin to it. Then somebody would need to build a UI to edit things, and so on...

Exactly this! It will also be noob friendly
We are starting to get ideas down for a GUI right now, but we are pretty sure the Mystery Islands GUI will work with it no problem

Dude that is freaking fantastic to hear because Jani did an exceptional job with those GUI's, even for the multimberal synths like the Waldorf Q. Using them, even for inspiration, is an excellent idea. I can barely contain my excitement at using these 90's/2k legends on my computer

[xhunaudio]

Again, congrats to the developers, this project leaves speechless...

And it's perfectly legal, without providing any rom directly.

Obviously, the main goal of this project is to provide a deep knowledge of the underlying 56k hardware and technology (and this aspect literally drives me crazy).

If your intention is just to produce a song, the correct behaviour is to try the emulator with a specific rom, then buy the corresponding hardware from the manufacturer.