f. 'em - a new FM synth from Tracktion

[rafa1981]

I played with it a little but it froze. Reaper 6.6.4 Windows 10 Ryzen 5800x.

I'm demoing also FM8 and although small I find the GUI requiring less clicks back and forth. I like of FM8 that it has a page were you control all envelopes, amplitude and pitch for all operators at once. You never lose the matrix (edit: it stays in view) and forget which operator was doing what.

[SLiC]

I played with it a little but it froze. Reaper 6.6.4 Windows 10 Ryzen 5800x.

I'm demoing also FM8 and although small I find the GUI requiring less clicks back and forth. I like of FM8 that it has a page were you control all envelopes, amplitude and pitch for all operators at once. You never lose the matrix and forget which operator was doing what.

I haven't had any issues with Bitwig so far (win 11), its been out a while so I would hope its OK!
It takes a while to get around but its pretty logical once you gtev it (some good videos on YT) and it sounds great- even just 2 layers makes a big difference and putting random velocity on the arp (with velocity fed to operators) creates some pretty cool modular like stuff.

For simple easy to dial in FM I would go Arturia DX7V over FM8, scalable GUI and all that!

[rafa1981]

I was dragging the lfo1 box under the matrix to the matrix to see what it does and it froze. It continued making sound but both Reaper's and F'em gui were unresponsive/frozen. I don't know if it's a host or a plugin problem.

The thing is that FM8 is now 10 bucks or something like that. For that price it's worth even as a preset machine. I remember that the FM7 factory presets were great back in the day.

I only have Bazille for FM, so I'm still missing less experimental and more immediate FM. I guess that the final destination is probably Opsix native on the next sale if and only if the software is mature enough. Will probably try to demo again F'em on the next sale if I'm allowed.

There was a small thing that could be improved too: the dropdowns don't support the mousewheel. This is just a function call on JUCE for enabling it.

[BBFG#]

One strange thing I'm finding is that it requires me to sign into my account to reactivate it from time to time. I wasn't aware they did that when I purchased it and may eventually sell it if that's indeed what they require. My main music computer is offline and I recoil from having to go online more than once for a simple c/r authorization.

[zzz00m]

I didn't need another FM synths, but at the price I now own one.
I have a fast PC (i9) and it doesn't move the needle for CPU use...

I almost bought it again, it's a great deal

I wonder if these types of FM centric synths are nearing an EOD (or more hopefully to their next evolution.)

FM9 ???

[Tj Shredder]

Actually most digital modular systems that I know of introduce a single sample of delay, not a whole block... Reaktor, VCV, even ye olde VAZ Modular - all single sample delay.

Do they separate the feedback loop with a block size of one sample? Or how do they achieve it? Just wondering…

Feedback is just storing the previous value at whatever point to some variable, then acting upon it... No need to have a "block"...

But then you need to process the complete feedback loop with 1 sample. If you place anything in that loop… In Max you can encapsulate such thing into a poly object. Does VCV or Reaktor do that automatically and keep the rest of the patch with a bigger block size?

[aMUSEd]

OK I'm a sucker but at that price I had to buy it to try it

Anyway first impressions are favourable - cpu is not as bad as I expected, on my 6 Core 15 most patches are less than 15% (to me that is fine, I don't plan on using lots of instances). Also I don't know what the gripe is about the sounds - so far I have found a number that I like and I'm only on the 'C's'.

On the downside I do wish there was more use of aftertouch and some seem to take a while to load. Some of the programming is a bit weird, for example the Bali Agung patch seems to have OP1-4 active but they aren't actually contributing anything to the patch (as far as I can see). Nice crystalline sparkle and density on this patch though - it is kind an FM staple but this is one of the better examples I've come across. Looks like there are other patches like this with additional OPs active but unused (which adds to cpu use).

[WasteLand]

OK I'm a sucker but at that price I had to buy it to try it

Anyway first impressions are favourable - cpu is not as bad as I expected, on my 6 Core 15 most patches are less than 20% (to me that is fine, I don't plan on using lots of instances). Also I don't know what the gripe is about the sounds - so far I have found a number that I like and I'm only on the 'C's'.

On the downside I do wish there was more use of aftertouch and some seem to take a while to load. Some of the programming is a bit weird, for example the Bali Agung patch seems to have OP1-4 active but they aren't actually contributing anything to the patch (as far as I can see). Nice crystalline sparkle and density on this patch though - it is kind an FM staple but this is one of the better examples I've come across. Looks like there are other patches like this with additional OPs active but unused (which adds to cpu use).

i didn't look at the presets, at this price point, i am also a sucker for it, well i had it on my radar, but bought what i think was the better option, but i FM8 like, we can't deny it (can't we?), MPE capable FM synth is always great.

i don't look at presets much, sometimes i do, and i see that things aren't 'connected' or disabled, most of the times, it is, i think, forgotten. in the process of making a preset.

the CPU usage of an FM synth must not be that high, i think the CPU usage is mainly because of the layers, modulation adds to CPU load and effects.

of course other things can kill a CPU, don't have full discovered all the possibilities of F.'em, while the basics i know... but the specifics, well some things are the same as Biotek 2 (an underrated synth?).

but glad i bought it.

and on a quite new CPU, it won't take much, i think..

[aMUSEd]

we can't deny it (can't we?), MPE capable FM synth is always great.

Yes that is why it was on my radar too - OPSix is also nice but not MPE - I revised down the CPU, apart from a couple of patches most are well under 20% - more like 10-15%, some less than 10 - so yes for a more modern CPU it shouldn't be a problem.

[EvilDragon]

But then you need to process the complete feedback loop with 1 sample. If you place anything in that loop… In Max you can encapsulate such thing into a poly object. Does VCV or Reaktor do that automatically and keep the rest of the patch with a bigger block size?

No, the whole structure is calculated per sample. It's the only proper way to do a modular synth digitally IMO.

[noiseresearch]

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[Tj Shredder]

But then you need to process the complete feedback loop with 1 sample. If you place anything in that loop… In Max you can encapsulate such thing into a poly object. Does VCV or Reaktor do that automatically and keep the rest of the patch with a bigger block size?

No, the whole structure is calculated per sample. It's the only proper way to do a modular synth digitally IMO.

But that is what eats the CPU for breakfast. The advantage is that the rest of the DAW can still run with a bigger block size…
Or are they smart enough to only get to that minimum block size if there is a feedback in the patch?

[noiseresearch]

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[Examigan]

One strange thing I'm finding is that it requires me to sign into my account to reactivate it from time to time. I wasn't aware they did that when I purchased it and may eventually sell it if that's indeed what they require. My main music computer is offline and I recoil from having to go online more than once for a simple c/r authorization.

Can someone confirm this? Is an internet connection regularly needed? If so I'm out as my working machine is not connected to the web. Thats s*it ... Is NI with FM8 and Native Access also so intrusive?

AFAIK that's only if it checks and finds that there is an update, so then it will ask you to login. You can click cancel on that screen (if it appears after loading F.'em) and continue using it.

[EvilDragon]

But that is what eats the CPU for breakfast. The advantage is that the rest of the DAW can still run with a bigger block size…
Or are they smart enough to only get to that minimum block size if there is a feedback in the patch?

DAW always operates in blocks (your audio interface buffer size), and this buffer size is what the plugin ultimately hands over to host. However, plugin's internal processing doesn't at all need to comply to that. And I mean, VAZ Modular is old and low CPU yet it still does per sample processing. It's all about what sort of algorithms you're running.