Deimos - free synthesizer (Windows, MacOS, Linux)

[audiojunkie]

New version is up: Deimos 0.10.0

Lots of fixes this time, and Linux now gets a VST3 version as well for more support across different DAWs

Fixes:
- Synth voices no longer output a small amount of DC after their amp envelope ended
- Fixed note-off handling in case of multiple notes of the same pitch being played, such as is possible on a LinnStrument for example
- Fixed poly realloc mode so it no longer steals voices that are still held
- Fixed bug where note-on events with 0 velocity were not properly interpreted as note-off (as intended by the MIDI spec), resulting in new notes being triggered when releasing a key (observed in certain combinations of controller + DAW + CLAP format)
- Added limits to the "Track" modulation source to contain feedback loops if it is assigned to voice tuning
- Fixed handling of file path encodings on Windows, so that presets and configuration can also be saved/loaded properly with Unicode characters in their path
- Added filtering of very short bursts of note on/off messages to help against anomalous/jittery controller output

Improvements/Changes:
- The oscillator shape modifier UI was updated slightly, and some modifiers modes were combined (an extra toggle gives access to the same functionality as before)
- The ratio for modes that support it can now go up to 32
- The "Mix" mode now also has a ratio selector and invert option
- Better visualization of velocity and pressure curves in the settings
- Increased UI contrast for modules that are currently not in use
- Added a modulation wheel control in the expression section, which is saved in the DAW project and presets
- Right clicking the synth background gives faster access to screen size selection and settings
- Factory presets: updated some to make better use of the expression controls, as well as setting a more useful modulation wheel default. Added 4 new ones.
- The windows download has been split into a normal and a "cpucompat" version to avoid confusion which plugin files to install: use the normal one unless you experience rendering issues (usually happens only on older systems)

Very nice update!! Thank you for providing Linux with the VST3 version!!

[Tom Trnk]

Found some more issues thanks to the OSC crowd and got inspired to do a little envelope update: Deimos 0.11.0

- Fixed poly realloc mode not behaving as intended when using the sustain pedal
- Fixed midi handling bug that sometimes caused pitch bend to be applied twice when used before note-on events
- Fixed problem with sine wave algo where the flat control caused loud clicks at both extremes

- Envelope curve knobs now display actual curves
- Envelopes now have a dedicated modulation input to modify envelope times. The ADS mode is still accessible by right-clicking the (1) and (2) headers
- Added new aux type: an AD envelope that can optionally be triggered on note release

[Nug Wrangler]

Any chance you'll add unison, maybe even polyphonic unison at som point?

[Spitfire31]

Hi! Nice sounds, nice GUI but – Deimos AU crashes my Live 12 upon selecting arbitrary patch from its menu. Sequoia, MB Air M2. Report sent to itch.io, #R-154916. Contact me if you want the two crash logs!
/JHS

[Tom Trnk]

Any chance you'll add unison, maybe even polyphonic unison at som point?

Sorry, not for the free version. The bigger version will have that though, even polyphonic.

Hi! Nice sounds, nice GUI but – Deimos AU crashes my Live 12 upon selecting arbitrary patch from its menu. Sequoia, MB Air M2. Report sent to <span class="skimlinks-unlinked">itch.io</span>, #R-154916. Contact me if you want the two crash logs!
/JHS

Thanks for bringing it up, sent you a DM!

[Nug Wrangler]

Any chance you'll add unison, maybe even polyphonic unison at som point?

Sorry, not for the free version. The bigger version will have that though, even polyphonic.

No problem. When will the bigger version be out?

[ZonderP]

Any chance you'll add unison, maybe even polyphonic unison at som point?

Sorry, not for the free version. The bigger version will have that though, even polyphonic.

No problem. When will the bigger version be out?

Deimos sounds good!
Do you have an official ETA for your big version?

Thanks!
The big version is coming along well and I enjoy using it, but it still needs a little polishing, more presets, and some backend work that is difficult to estimate. While I don't want to promise a date, I can say that the optimist in me is currently hoping for around August.

[Nug Wrangler]

Any chance you'll add unison, maybe even polyphonic unison at som point?

Sorry, not for the free version. The bigger version will have that though, even polyphonic.

No problem. When will the bigger version be out?

Deimos sounds good!
Do you have an official ETA for your big version?

Thanks!
The big version is coming along well and I enjoy using it, but it still needs a little polishing, more presets, and some backend work that is difficult to estimate. While I don't want to promise a date, I can say that the optimist in me is currently hoping for around August.

Thanks

[jsandas]

This synth sounds great and I really enjoy using it but I still have some issues understanding the user interface, apologies if this has been addressed before!

Basically, my problem is that when I start with a new unnamed patch, I understand that the greyed out elements are inactive, but they all seems to be activated in a different way. The second oscillator is activated by clicking the Osc 2 button in the mixer, while the chorus effect is activated by just turning up the Depth knob, and the low frequency oscillator I haven't figured out how to turn on at all. By reading the quick guide, I get the impression that the LFO is inactive because it's not connected to anything, but there is no mention about how to connect it or turn it on.

As a secondary issue, I also think it's a little bit cofusing that I can change the settings of inactive/greyed out elements without activating them first, but this is of course consistent with the user inteface paradigm of looking like a hardware synth so I'm sure I'll be fine with it once I figure out the main issue.

[jsandas]

This synth sounds great and I really enjoy using it but I still have some issues understanding the user interface, apologies if this has been addressed before!

Basically, my problem is that when I start with a new unnamed patch, I understand that the greyed out elements are inactive, but they all seems to be activated in a different way. The second oscillator is activated by clicking the Osc 2 button in the mixer, while the chorus effect is activated by just turning up the Depth knob, and the low frequency oscillator I haven't figured out how to turn on at all. By reading the quick guide, I get the impression that the LFO is inactive because it's not connected to anything, but there is no mention about how to connect it or turn it on.

As a secondary issue, I also think it's a little bit cofusing that I can change the settings of inactive/greyed out elements without activating them first, but this is of course consistent with the user inteface paradigm of looking like a hardware synth so I'm sure I'll be fine with it once I figure out the main issue.

[Nug Wrangler]

This synth sounds great and I really enjoy using it but I still have some issues understanding the user interface, apologies if this has been addressed before!

Basically, my problem is that when I start with a new unnamed patch, I understand that the greyed out elements are inactive, but they all seems to be activated in a different way. The second oscillator is activated by clicking the Osc 2 button in the mixer, while the chorus effect is activated by just turning up the Depth knob, and the low frequency oscillator I haven't figured out how to turn on at all. By reading the quick guide, I get the impression that the LFO is inactive because it's not connected to anything, but there is no mention about how to connect it or turn it on.

As a secondary issue, I also think it's a little bit cofusing that I can change the settings of inactive/greyed out elements without activating them first, but this is of course consistent with the user inteface paradigm of looking like a hardware synth so I'm sure I'll be fine with it once I figure out the main issue.

For the LFO, right click e.g the cutoff knob and choose lfo from the pop up menue.

[jsandas]

For the LFO, right click e.g the cutoff knob and choose lfo from the pop up menue.

Thanks, this solves all of my problems!

However, for the developer: this means that the user interface doesn't work at all like I thought it would. I expected it to either be like a hardware synth where everything is controlled with knobs and switches, or like a modern computer program where I'm supposed to select functions in a menu. Either way is fine and so is a combination I guess, but it really threw me for a loop!

[Nug Wrangler]

[Tom Trnk]

...
However, for the developer: this means that the user interface doesn't work at all like I thought it would. I expected it to either be like a hardware synth where everything is controlled with knobs and switches, or like a modern computer program where I'm supposed to select functions in a menu. Either way is fine and so is a combination I guess, but it really threw me for a loop!

Thanks for the feedback!
It was a bit of a challenge to fit all the functionality into a fairly simple and "hardware-like" interface, so it became a bit of a hybrid. Especially the right mouse button is probably more important than one would expect

You're not the first to be confused a bit, I'm considering adding some help function or something inside the synth to help with this.

Glay you enjoy the sounds though!

[jsandas]

Thanks for the feedback!
It was a bit of a challenge to fit all the functionality into a fairly simple and "hardware-like" interface, so it became a bit of a hybrid. Especially the right mouse button is probably more important than one would expect

You're not the first to be confused a bit, I'm considering adding some help function or something inside the synth to help with this.

Glay you enjoy the sounds though!

I've noticed that there already is a built in help feature, where I'm shown a little bit of descriptive text at the bottom of the window when I bring the mouse pointer to one of the controls. And if it happens to be a knob/potentiometer, there is also a little popup window that shows the value, so for my LFO I get the information that it's the LFO output level, and that it's set to 0.27. I'm not sure if it's possible to add a third layer of feedback that tells me how to turn the LFO on if it's off, at some point it just becomes too much.

For my own personal needs, I would happily get rid of the informative text at the bottom of the screen because I already know all that, and replace it with information about how to turn this feature on and off, but I'm sure there are people who prefer it the other way around!

(I keep bringing up the low frequency oscillator as an example, but as a matter of fact I just turned it off again )