SYNTHMASTER 2 iOS RUINS CREATIVITY

[multicube]

I would like to say something good and encouraging about Synthmaster 2 for iPad, but I really - really - really can’t!
I have reported that many times that the current Preset Organisation system in this app is broken, I am always told “we will look into it” really!
My latest complaint is last night I made 2 new presets especially for a project I am working on, I saved these 2 presets in a numerical order to an existing named Bank of numbered presets, but what happens, as soon as select “save as” to place this preset, it duplicates itself in the designated bank, it also causes other existing presets to duplicate theirselves too, so I ended up with a bank of duplicate presets that CANNOT, I REPEAT, CANNOT BE DELETED, why can’t I delete these duplicates.
I did manage to export my bank containing 24 presets (31 including duplicates) into a named folder in FILES and then manually delete the duplicated presets IN there, but here is another dam problem, I cannot remove the existing bank of presets from Synthmaster, I select a preset, select “delete preset”, the preset then just blinks but stays put I had to created a new bank called Duplicates and change all the meta data for the duplicates so that they would move to that new bank, but do you think Synthmaster would allow me to change the Author and Bank Name in Browse/INFO, no, after re-writing the preset it still shows the same original info but after 3 or 4 attempts and numerous crashes, it finally renames and moves to the new folder.

Now for my next problem, I tried importing my 24 presets back into Synthmaster but only 18 will import, I tried re-importing the missing 6 presets but it will not happen! They all have the same identity and destination details, I am at a loss
I started working on these Banks at around 10pm last night, it is now 6.05am in the morning and I fuming that yet again I have wasted more hours trying to sort these presets out.
I took these problems to the Cubasis Forum to enquire if others users had the same experience and I soon found out I was not alone, lb (KV331) replied by saying he will look into the bank problems, how many times have I heard that!
Vanishing Midi Learn is still a big issue, I have written this about many times in this forum so I won’t go over it again!

If this was a free app and the preset packs were also free, then I would just have to put up with it, but it all cost money to buy and I - we all don’t get what we paid for. I have never felt so frustrated, I have so many projects that rely on these presets, I just haven’t got the heart to go through them all to change synths and create similar new presets. As my title says above- Synthmaster takes the fun out of creating music!
PLEASE CAN YOU TAKE THESE PROBLEMS SERIOUSLY AND FIX IT

[lb_kv331]

Hi, I tried to save and delete some presets and recorded a video. Can you please record a video so that we can understand the issue exactly?

Here is the link for the video I recorded: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NjI8DX ... sp=sharing

[multicube]

Hi IB,
Thanks for responding.
You have asked for a video of my preset disorder, I have recently gone to great lengths putting my banks back in order, I am also in the middle of a project and I dare not try experimenting at this stage, but as soon as any newly saved presets start scattering and duplicating themselves, I will try and record what is happening.

I noticed on your video that you saved your three presets to an empty bank, I also notice that your Bank/Name dialogue box is not obscured by the querty keyboard like on my Synthmaster, my querty keyboard covers the Name area! I have managed to saved a few presets to a new bank and everything is fine, it is when I add presets to a bank containing many that the problem usually starts, especially when they slot into place alphabetically, but as I said earlier, I will video any problems and send them to you.
Mike

[Tentype]

@lb_kv331

Here's the best summary I can do of the iOS preset management problems. I also can't make a video right now because everything is set for a show.

I recently recovered from preset hell and discovered some things. I would say very likely it's all internal database issues with Synthmaster 2.

This is what has been going wrong:
- When you save a new preset a dialog pops up with an option to make a new bank. If you make a new bank, or save a preset into a bank in that dialog, it will save, BUT, if you go to the new preset and check it's info - no bank info is there. Eventually what happened to me is that half the presets left the bank only to be found in "my presets" and half continued to still show up in the bank for some reason.
- The problem is worse if you add a bank name to an existing preset by using the info window and re-saving. You end up creating a duplicate that can't be deleted or even selected.
- Trying to delete a preset generally doesn't work, but sometimes does inexplicably.
- There is no way to delete the names of banks from the save preset dialog, even if the bank itself is already deleted.
- The presets are organized alphabetically, but the browse window rarely refreshes. So you can work for quite a while with your presets organized one way, and then suddenly it refreshes and moves everything. Things can get really confusing when you add presets to a program (to use program changes)and then they later reorganize.

Basically, there seems to be a problem with that save preset dialog not actually adding bank names and the database getting messed up. Possibly that's why presets can't be deleted most of the time too. Database can't find them properly because not all the info is there.

------------------------

I've found some tedious workarounds, to clean up the database and seemingly save presets properly. Would be amazing to get a fix though.

This is the best way I've found to save a preset:
- When you're ready to save, open the info dialog and change the author name and bank name to whatever you want.
- Then hit save preset and open the save preset dialog
- DO NOT choose a new bank or make a bank, leave the bank slot as "empty". (Remember that you just put the bank name in the info window) Rename your preset keeping in mind the bank will alphabetize them at some point.

If you need to delete a preset that can't be deleted - deleting a bank by using "delete presets" from the browse window (cog icon menu) seems to always work so:
- Open the info window and change the bank name of the preset you want to delete to anything else, like "delete"
- Save the preset, this will make a duplicate
- Delete the new bank, using the delete presets option in browse window (under the cog icon)
- This will delete BOTH copies of that preset and the bank
- If you need to save that preset but move it to new bank, first change the bank in the info dialog then save it as new preset with a new name. Then add the old one to a new bank and save it normally making a duplicate. Then delete the new bank.

As you can see working this way in iOS is incredibly tedious but I haven't found any other way that's reliable. I imagine this is why people on desktop organize presets using the Windows or Mac explorer folders instead of the browse window in Synthmaster, but that option isn't available for iOS.

I hope this helps somebody, I lost over 10 hours figuring this much out and trying to clean up the database and reorganize things in preparation for a show, but Synthmaster is such an excellent thing that I had to try to make it work. So far this method is working for me.

[baxissimo]

+1000. Preset managment with the "browse" screen is an unmitigated, buggy nightmare. I just bought Synthmaster2, and started running into this immediately. Crazy that nothing has been done about this in over a year!