Opinion on Dimitry Sches Diversion

[Boy Wonder]

Diversion is one of my favourite synths but there's one problem I've noticed - with some of the glassy or bell-type arps and sequences, I can hear an intermittent glitch. I've tried removing or lessening them with transient shapers and SpectraLayers but those remedies only work halfway. I think this only happens with sine waves. I need to somehow smooth out the peaks.

I hadn’t noticed this, though I don’t often use plain sine waves. Do you have the oversampling up?

Thanks for replying. I found the solution. (BTW, whether I have OS set to 2X, 4X or 8X, I can still hear a clicking, like with ARP - Glisten from Serene Horizon, for instance). As it turns out, when I set "Declicking" to off, I can't hear the clicking. Isn't that wild? I guess whatever works.

[YnJ]

Just a question, if you have Thorn already, what has Diversion to offer? I downloaded the Diversion demo once, and it felt like Thorn was sort of a Diversion 2 and then some. Thorn is on sale all the time, and I can't say I've ever seen Diversion on sale. Perhaps I should download the demo again?

[Boy Wonder]

Diversion has a lot of things going for it that I like.

Everything is modulatable and modulating is a walk in the park.
The arpeggiator/sequencer is to die for because it's so full-featured, far more than most. In fact, it's the main reason why I tend to reach for Diversion.
It produces the type of sounds (pads, plucks, etc) that I like and use for ambient music.
It even has a gate sequencer but I hardly use it, maybe just a little here and there.
It's real easy on the CPU.
It has nice effects but I tend to print Diversion dry then add effects later.

[machinesworking]

Diversion is great, but it's in need of a resizable GUI. I don't currently use it, and that's a big reason why, it's an eye strain on a regular HD screen.

[Teksonik]

It's real easy on the CPU.

Huh?

[Boy Wonder]

Some synths make my laptop scream for mercy. Diversion doesn't.

[Teksonik]

Granted these quotes are from 2018 when this thread was started:

the CPU usage is crazy high for what it does.

Quite CPU hungry but the sound totally justifies it.

Takes a LOT of CPU.

But in 2022, I can still choke out a 6 Core 12 Thread CPU with a turbo speed of 4.7GHz using a patch with a single Osc.

Diversion is one of the most CPU demanding plugins I own which is why I rarely bother using it. Great sounding synth but far too hungry. Diversion 2 was supposed to address the problem but at this point I think we can safely call it vaporware.

Try this patch. Play a series of four or five note chords. It's a single Osc but it eats my CPU for lunch. The issue is the analog filter. It's a patch I've programmed on just about every synth I own and all can handle it with ease, some with single digit cpu demand.

Diversion Test Patch.zip

[Boy Wonder]

@Teksonik - You're right. I stand corrected. I have a longstanding habit of automatically increasing buffer size to 2048 samples when using pads, so I guess that's why I hadn't noticed.

I gave your Test Patch a looksee. Yeah, it stresses my CPU with chords of 6 or more notes even with buffer set to 1024 or higher. It also peaks at 2048, but then I went out of my way to create crazy 10+ note pads which I'll never use, but still.

[Teksonik]

I usually work at 512 samples so that patch really eats the CPU. If I'm not careful it will choke out my studio system.

I love the sound of Diversion but it has to be used very carefully to be practical for me at least.

[zerocrossing]

Granted these quotes are from 2018 when this thread was started:

the CPU usage is crazy high for what it does.

Quite CPU hungry but the sound totally justifies it.

Takes a LOT of CPU.

But in 2022, I can still choke out a 6 Core 12 Thread CPU with a turbo speed of 4.7GHz using a patch with a single Osc.

Diversion is one of the most CPU demanding plugins I own which is why I rarely bother using it. Great sounding synth but far too hungry. Diversion 2 was supposed to address the problem but at this point I think we can safely call it vaporware.

Try this patch. Play a series of four or five note chords. It's a single Osc but it eats my CPU for lunch. The issue is the analog filter. It's a patch I've programmed on just about every synth I own and all can handle it with ease, some with single digit cpu demand.


Diversion Test Patch.zip

The thing about Diversion is, it’s like four synths that got stuffed into two synths. So, you have the ability to have four oscillators, 6 filters, four distortion stages and unison happening. So, yeah, it can be a CPU fryer, but also, you can shut things off. You can keep the oversampling down if you don’t have the distortions running and you’re playing down on the lower octaves.

[zerocrossing]

Diversion is one of my favourite synths but there's one problem I've noticed - with some of the glassy or bell-type arps and sequences, I can hear an intermittent glitch. I've tried removing or lessening them with transient shapers and SpectraLayers but those remedies only work halfway. I think this only happens with sine waves. I need to somehow smooth out the peaks.

I hadn’t noticed this, though I don’t often use plain sine waves. Do you have the oversampling up?

Thanks for replying. I found the solution. (BTW, whether I have OS set to 2X, 4X or 8X, I can still hear a clicking, like with ARP - Glisten from Serene Horizon, for instance). As it turns out, when I set "Declicking" to off, I can't hear the clicking. Isn't that wild? I guess whatever works.

Maybe it’s “de clicking,” like “de plane! DE PLANE!”

[zerocrossing]

My issue is that I’ve moved to using MPE a lot, and Diversion doesn’t speak it. It doesn’t even respond to polyphonic aftertouch. I’ve sent a few requests, but let’s face it. Diversion is probably never getting an update. He’s moved on and it doesn’t seem we’ll ever get a new version. I’d love it, though.

[Boy Wonder]

Maybe I need to spend more time exploring Thorn. I don't know, though. It's one of those things where I feel more of an affinity for Diversion. It's like I'm hooked. Fentanyl synth!

[aMUSEd]

My issue is that I’ve moved to using MPE a lot, and Diversion doesn’t speak it. It doesn’t even respond to polyphonic aftertouch. I’ve sent a few requests, but let’s face it. Diversion is probably never getting an update. He’s moved on and it doesn’t seem we’ll ever get a new version. I’d love it, though.

That would be a pity as it's capable of some beautiful sounds, much prefer it to Thorn personally.

[Teksonik]

The thing about Diversion is, it’s like four synths that got stuffed into two synths. So, you have the ability to have four oscillators, 6 filters, four distortion stages and unison happening. So, yeah, it can be a CPU fryer, but also, you can shut things off. You can keep the oversampling down if you don’t have the distortions running and you’re playing down on the lower octaves.

In DUNE 3 we have the ability to have 24 Oscs, 16 Filters, Two forms of Unison etc etc and it's far less demanding that Diversion even when pushed.

I can do the same one Osc patch in DUNE 3 that I posted above for Diversion and it will barely register on the meter while the Diversion patch can completely choke out the buffer of my studio system.

Sure we can "dumb down" Diversion to keep its CPU demand down but that's like driving a sports car and never shifting out of first gear.

I love Diversion but it is one of the most inefficient synths I own. That's the main reason I rarely use it in projects, the other being the fact that it has suffered from GUI shrink as I have increased monitor resolutions over the years.

I had high hopes for Diversion 2 and Dmitry said he was working on a new synth but that was a pretty long time ago so I guess at this point we're left to consider them both abandonware.

I haven't heard a word from Dmitry in quite some time but I always had the impression he has more work to do than time to do it.....