Available now: Tone2 Saurus4 analog synthesizer

[syntonica]

I usually search within Bing or Google. It is faster then searching the specific website. Anyway, the manual is for Saurus 1, so not sure what the differences between v1 and v2!

I don't search, I look. I'd rather learn where something is than have it magically appear. Even after you provided a direct link, I went back and worked out how to get there from the Tone 2 home page. It's a man thing.

Finding out where to find a manual on a website is definitely not a "man" thing, lol.

I suppose one could go to the website, select Support, then select Manuals, but that is probably far too complex for the average bass player.

[vurt]

I usually search within Bing or Google. It is faster then searching the specific website. Anyway, the manual is for Saurus 1, so not sure what the differences between v1 and v2!

I don't search, I look. I'd rather learn where something is than have it magically appear. Even after you provided a direct link, I went back and worked out how to get there from the Tone 2 home page. It's a man thing.

Finding out where to find a manual on a website is definitely not a "man" thing, lol.

it is if you do it while drinking a tinny of lager and barbying some shrimp!

[EnGee]

I was actually reading and responding on the phone, so it's more convenient is to select a word and search the web for it. I don't care if it's a man or mickey mouse thing

[BONES]

it is if you do it while drinking a tinny of lager and barbying some shrimp!

What manner of oaf drinks beer from a can? Beer is best consumed after being poured into a glass, to release the aromas and maximise the experience. You can also drink it much faster from a glass than a can.

[vurt]

it is if you do it while drinking a tinny of lager and barbying some shrimp!

What manner of oaf drinks beer from a can?

that would be paul hogan, from the fosters ads when i were a kid.

[BONES]

I got two free cans today - they cocked up my order last week and wanted to make nice. One of them is 8.5%, which is half a night out all on its own.

Anyway, been using Saurus a bit more and I am really enjoying the sound and the workflow. I feel like, all of a sudden, I have a nice handful of synths I can always rely on to get me any kind of bread & butter sound going really quickly. Just in the last couple of months I've got Invader, GR-8, Deducktion and now Saurus as well. Before I was using MonoFury as that kind of workhorse synth - I'd throw it into a part to get an arrangement going and later on go back and either tweak it into shape or, more often, replace it with something else. But now I have 5 synths I can use for that kind of thing, which will hopefully mean less back and forth. Even though they are all kind of similar, each has their own character and strengths, once you get to know them.

[briefcasemanx]

Okay I'm demoing Saurus. I think it sounds very unique. I own probably most of the popular VA softsynths currently available and most of them start to sound kinda samey. This was not the case at all in the heyday of hardware VA synths, the MS2000, Nord Lead, AN1x, JP8000, Virus, etc all sound very, very different from each other IMO. I suspect this is due to having to find interesting workarounds to limitations in hardware configuration and CPU throughput.

Saurus sounds unique from other companies' synths in that same vein. Which makes sense because Markus has been programming synths since that "heyday" time. Somehow Tone2 synths in general have very good note separation and a kind of hyper clear high end, which doesn't feel like post-processing but instead is inherent to sound generation in the core of the synth. Does anyone have any idea of what technically might be going on to cause this effect?

[Markus Krause]

Update:
Development is finished. I am currently doing sound design. Saurus3 will come with 150 additional sounds. The total number of included patches will be 1000.
Saurus3 will be released in early September.
The update to v3.0 is a major update, that will be available for free for all Saurus users.
The price already has been reduced to €59 / $69 instead of €99.

[randygo]

Thanks Markus!

[skapulier]

Thank you in advance!

[IrionDaRonin]

Thanks for the head up, Markus!

[Markus Krause]

The public beta for Saurus3 is available.
https://www.tone2.org/forum/index.php?topic=2872.0

---

The update to v3.0 is a major update, that is available for free for all Saurus users. It includes a big GUI, a massive number of new sounds, new features, higher sound-quality, better performance and many enhancements.
Saurus3 is downward-compatible with all previous versions. All existing song-projects and patches can be loaded without any further steps necessary.


New features:

- A big interface is available beside of the normal scale now.
- Added 192 new sounds from a professional designer. The total number of included sounds has increased to 1022.
- It is possible to select from 4 GUI sizes in 'Config'.
- The synth can create an unlimited number of new sounds with FILE->'Create random patch'.
- 'Soft clip' is available in the 'Config' section.
- A scrollbar is visible in the patch-browser if many soundsets are installed.
- Added detailed tooltips that are shown when the mouse if hovered over a button or list-selector.
- The texts shown in the patch-browser on Mac support hi-dpi drawing.
- The plugin detects the best GUI-size automatically.
- Patch-selector shows a checkmark for the current patch and category.
- Added Digital-Signatures for the installers on PC.
- Added Notarisation for the installers on Mac.
- The texts shown in the patch-browser on Mac support hi-dpi drawing.
- A double-klick on a knob resets it to the default-value.
- New microtuning algorithm that is more subtle and can enhance also complex chords.

Enhancements:

- The synth has more 'bottom' and sounds warmer.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb.
- Replaced Chorus with a better one.
- Reworked all factory patches.
- More precise timing.
- More smooth sound of noise.
- Higher sound-quality in 44 khz, 48 khz and 88 khz sample-rate.
- Reworked many graphics.
- Many small enhancements.
- Fonts are easier to read.
- Fine-tuned GUI layout.
- Enhanced mouse-focus and mouse-wheel support on PC.
- OSCs in free-mode have a more punchy sound.
- Midi-learn syncs better when multiple instances are used.
- A warning is shown when Midi-configuration can't be stored because of write-protected files.
- More accurate modeling of the tuning in mono-modes.

Changes:

- Updated some links.
- 32-bit on PC is not longer supported. If you still use a 32-bit host, install Saurus 2.6 instead.
- 'Gate' has been rename to 'Step'.
- Renamed 'Tutorial' patch-category to 'Templates'.
- Demo-version contains now all sounds.

Fixes:

- Workaround for the badly designed architecture of FL Studio. It is not longer necessary to enable 'Use fixed size buffers' to avoid crackles.
- Workaround for a bug in Apple's AU-validation in Big Sur and Catalina. It is not longer necessary to reboot the Mac to detect the AudioUnit.
- Workaround for a bug in Apple's 'Dark Mode' in Big Sur. It displayed unreadable tooltips with white text on yellow background.
- Fixed a crash that could happen if filter-type is automated.

Installation note on the Mac if you upgrade from a previous version:

The directory of some patches has changed since they have been re-categorized and enhanced. To avoid duplicates it is recommended delete 'Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Saurus_sounds' before you install Saurus3.

[4damind]

VST3 version?
and... will the Beta/V3 overwrite V2 or can both be used side by side?

[EvilDragon]

Workaround for the badly designed architecture of FL Studio.

It's not really a bad architecture. It's just that in VST2 nor VST3 fixed buffer sizes are enforced exactly nowhere, the host is not under obligation to send regular sized buffers at all, nor is it prescribed by the plugin standard as mandatory. But this was probably already discussed in the DSP subforum.

[4damind]

The font in the display could be a little smaller, at the moment some of the text is cut off.

saurus3.jpg