discoDSP Retromulator: the Usual Suspects code repackaged

[Freaqpeak]

EDIT AGAIN: seems to be open source after googling a bit. Weird that he didn't post the link to github on his website since he so gladly post links to gearmulator's github repo.

I tested the product and it is only loading rom's and provides no GUIs or possibility to change parameters. I really don't understand the purpose at this moment. It's just meh.

I suspect though, that there's more going on. I'm guessing he's doing separate GUI's for a paid version 2 which will be closed source.
Im guessing he will hire someone to do a Win/mac version with new GUI for the VDX7 (FM7), which is native running and not DSP emulator. It is open-source but dev does not provide VST3 or native Win/mac support. Requires linux to compile and use without doing changes to the code. To compile for Win you could run Cygwin on Windows to use X11, but no one does that anymore (in the late 90's maybe).


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It's obviously made to make people click the Buy button even though it's "free" (and not open source). Not very clear, intentionally of course.

This just shows that the man behind the DiscoDSP company is an opportunist with very little self-respect.

He is charging more for his "product" than the original dev team asked for in donations during development.
It's one thing to make emulators open source and share with the world. It's another thing when a company like DiscoDSP make this into a commercial product.

The original emulator dev team does not mention how to get specific firmware files - on the contrary - they specifically do not allow discussions about how or where to find the firmwares online.

DiscoDSP does the opposite.
He mentions the very specific firmware filenames, directly on his website, that are the exact filenames sourced from non-legit sources (one google search away). The original synth companies' filenames for upgrading the rom with firmware, when/if they were available, are not mentioned. Isn't that weird?
This shows that the intent of DiscoDSP is to help people download the firmware files from non-legit sites, rather than helping his "legit" customers how to actually get the firmwares out from their hardware. No guides on how to extract the firmware.

How many people owns all the synths? Because you would need to own all synths to be able to make use of DiscoDSP's product.

DiscoDSP himself did not extract the firmware from the synths, he does not even own all the hardware synths himself. The commercial company DiscoDSP has used pirated copies of the firmware to make his product.

Also - he's not linking to the actual DSP56300 website - the site where screenshots, guides and emulator download links are clearly available. He only links to the github repository, where the average user do not understand how the whole thing works. Of course, this is not a coincident either.

[EvilDragon]

Also, what sort of priority support? ChatGPT and Claude?

Definitely do support TUS, code that's actually written by humans.

But by all means, anyone is free to give their money to get an inferior product with worse user experience.

[Amberience]

GPL explicitly and uncontroversially allows this. If The Usual Suspects didn't want people making a variant that costs money but adds tech support, they wouldn't have released it under GPL.

Bloody hell, there's a name I haven't seen in a while!!

[Sidom]

GPL explicitly and uncontroversially allows this. If The Usual Suspects didn't want people making a variant that costs money but adds tech support, they wouldn't have released it under GPL.

What kind of "tech support" are we speaking of? As far as I'm aware, discoDSP have nothing do with any of the synth emulations - it's The Usual Supects group who reverse engineer and develop them.

By the looks of it, this "Retromulator" is nothing more than a wrapper. Yet, the wording on the discoDSP webpage tries to imply that the company is involved in the development of the synth emulations.

Purchasing a license supports ongoing development and entitles you to priority technical support.

What's this supposed to mean? Again, discoDSP aren't developing the synth emulations, so how does this work? TUS team updates the emulation or releases a bug fix -> discoDSP copy the code, post an update on their website announcing there's a "new" version of "Retromulator"?
What if, let's say, an user of "Retromulator" finds and reports a bug in one of the synth emulations to discoDSP? What are they going to do? Forward the bug report to TUS team and wait until they fix it?

Sure, from the legal point of view, discoDSP are not doing anything wrong here. Yet, it is such a scummy move to The Usual Suspects team, the synth community, and to everyone who doesn't know anything about the discoDSP company or the work done by TUS team. On the other hand, those who know discoDSP, shouldn't be surprised by this.
DiscoDSP could have easily approached this differently: they could have clearly stated they are not involved in the development of the synth emulations and they can not provide support for any of them. They could have stated that "Retromulator" is not a "Classic VA Synth Emulator" but instead it is a "SKIN/GUI Wrapper/whatever" FOR classic VA synth emulations.
Even a donate button "for the further development of the Retromulator Wrapper" (or something along the lines) instead of the "Buy Now" button would have been a step in the right direction. Alas, this is not how discoDSP operates.

[Freaqpeak]

Seems to be open source after all:
https://github.com/reales/retromulator/tree/main/source

[El°HYM]

Me will stay with the usual suspects.

[digitalboytn]

discoDSP has repackaged the community-driven open-source code in his own Retromulator product.

We've seen this move before with the OB-xd

I knew as soon as George offered to "keep OB-Xd alive",just exactly what his true intentions were and what was going to happen down the line...

And he didn't disappoint me...

Wtf, dude. Wtf, this is such a scum move.

George's true style shining through once again...

He's a real class act

Moves like this show his true colors and intentions. TUS developers are not happy...

We shouldn't expect anything more from George...'

This is his MO....every single time...

Someone does all of the heavy lifting and George swoops in to take advantage and profit from their hard work...

He couldn't code his way out of a paper bag,but he knows all of the slick moves at the disco

Sure, from the legal point of view, discoDSP are not doing anything wrong here. Yet, it is such a scummy move to The Usual Suspects team, the synth community, and to everyone who doesn't know anything about the discoDSP company or the work done by TUS team. On the other hand, those who know discoDSP, shouldn't be surprised by this.

Alas, this is how discoDSP operates.

What we need to do is keep warning people that there is a shark in the water and that they should swim at a safer location...

George will play his usual dirty tricks and try to get us shut down or banned for warning people about his predatory behaviour,but even the mods are waking up to the fact that the real problem is not with the people who are standing up and calling out his bad behaviour...

Like I said before...

We shouldn't expect anything more from George...

He's a class act

[vertibration]

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[digitalboytn]

I don’t own any of Disco stuff. This is clownish behavior from Disco. First off, who in their right mind would use his stuff when it’s very clear that he has despicable business practices?

There are plenty of young swimmers who go to the beach and are seduced by the beautiful blue water and the gentle waves lapping at their feet,but not realising that there is a deadly shark lurking out there who is looking for another innocent victim...

The regulars are well aware of the risks,but the newbies should be warned in advance...

It is our responsibility to keep the younger generation safe

[ekwipt]

what a sumbag move. I've never bought anything DiscoDSP, and i definitely won't be now

[wagtunes]

You guys crack me up. I have George's stuff. It's great. Whatever.

[Lbdunequest]

You guys crack me up. I have George's stuff. It's great. Whatever.

Its not his stuff

[noahrbc]

I’d love to hear more about his scummy business practices. No idea what anyone’s talking about.

[beely]

Sales proposition:-
"Hey, you can buy this much less good, non-editable preset-only version of other people's stuff you can already get full-featured for free!"

George: "Whoop whoop, daddy's getting new Lambo money tonight!"

[wagtunes]

You guys crack me up. I have George's stuff. It's great. Whatever.

Its not his stuff

Well the stuff that is his I have and it's great. So who cares?