Fxpansion Strobe 2 is available

[SJ_Digriz]

Can you add a midi takeover mode (i.e. knobs don't respond until their current value is overtaken by the incoming value)?

I guess I'd be interested if you had a relative mode too?

Basically I have a few controllers that simply spam MIDI. I have a couple that send relative +- instead of a value. I have quite a bit of software that lets you set the takeover flag, to get a quasi relative behavior out of non-relative controllers. I hope that all makes sense.

[SJ_Digriz]

io.XML does apply to hosted instances, but you'll need to restart the host probably.

Also there are TWO io.xml - the factory one

Program Files (x86)/FXpansion/Strobe2/Settings on PC
/Library/App Support/FXpansion/Strobe2/Settings on Mac

and a user one which is loaded over the top:

~/Documents/FXpansion/Strobe2/Settings

perfect, thanks.. it's working.

[digitalboytn]

Most professionals (especially the ones whom wish to continue making money) become familiar with and take advantage of new tools regularly, otherwise their style/sound/knowledge becomes too dated to be lucrative.

I think you don't have a clue. Would make you wonder how many pro users are not up2date and there's a reason for it.

I agree with this 100 %....

Like I said in an earlier post,most professional people rely on tools that have been proven to be reliable...

We have systems and procedures in place that have been refined over time and the primary focus is on the workflow and the result at the end of the line...

We know the tools that we need to get the job done - garnered from years of experience...

Most people who flit around trying the all latest wizz bang shit get very little actual work done...

They fart around checking out the sounds and the all new dooh daahs and then get bored and move on to the next "big thing"...

The new Messiah that will be their new "go to"

It's light entertainment for sure,but it can waste an awful lot of time and it doesn't achieve much of actual substance....

Most of those people who "dabble" will never feel fulfilled because their focus is on the transient things...

The bottom line is that it doesn't really matter what synths and plugins you use anyway...

That's got FA to do with it...

The primary focus should be on the music itself and once you've got that right,the distribution of the parts is fairly easy

[ObsoleteAcc99]

[DELETED]

[db3]

Yes - DCAM Synth Squad is now discontinued - it's not viable for us to keep selling and supporting 2 versions!

Strobe2 is just the first in the V2 series, which will be sold individually - this enables faster development and allows people to buy/upgrade to the synths they need.

so no bugfixes either?
Is this backward compatible with strobe in projects?
Are all the other dcam synths getting version 2's?
We all know a version of logic and osx will break them eventually, which is why i ask.

Indeed. Not a particularly smooth move straight off the back of a SS promo period. Legacy presets in Strobe 2 sound nothing like Strobe 1 (i.e not as good).

[murnau]

It's no secret that Strobe2 isn't a replacement for the original Strobe and therefore can easily co-exist along v1. Also it's no secret that imported v1 presets sound slightly different.

What has the SS promo to do with all of this? It's most of the time if not ever when a product get discontinued it goes on sale a last time.

[db3]

Nonsense. Companies don't generally advertise 50% off promos and then immediately discontinue the product saying it's no longer for sale and their not going to support it anymore. That's a faux pas for sure. And yes it's no secret that same presets sound different on S2, just raises the point that projects using the discontinued product will not sound the same with its replacement.

Perhaps not an issue for fanbois, but both points would be genuine customer concerns.

[murnau]

If you don't have a substantial argument you see fanbois? Funny as i rather see it pretty prosaic: Why you should replace it in old project as v1 is still fully functional and you want the v1 sound? Now thats really nonsense. You struggling to find an issue which simply isn't one. Does your SynthSquad stop working by now? Also SynthSquad was on sale already 4 years ago for $99 and since then a few times i guess. So this last time it was a great opportunity for the people to get it before it is discontinued completely. What's bad about that?

[Angus_FX]

so no bugfixes either?

For v1? No.

Is this backward compatible with strobe in projects?

Presets? Yes, with some caveats. Most sound very close. A few don't - particularly if they use filter gain to drive the output amp really hard. The gain compensation in the new filter prevents you from doing so "accidentally", and the conversion algo isn't smart enough to compensate for the compensation. Once you understand that, it's quite easy to dial it in to sound very very close. Arpeggiator presets don't come across, because the arp is a rewrite - it just doesn't have enough in common with the v1 arpeggiator to bring them over.

Projects? Not at present because we want to allow people to run them side-by-side - there are small sonic differences. Thinking about releasing a project conversion injector at a later date (which will replace v1 in projects, but cannot be installed side by side with v1)

Are all the other dcam synths getting version 2's?

Yes. May take a little while.

We all know a version of logic and osx will break them eventually, which is why i ask.

Don't we just. Sigh.

[yemski]

Hi Angus, great synth. I'm actually one of the guys who contributed to the presets, although you might not know it, because a miscommunication (too long to go into here) meant that the presets are listed under my real name They are the presets listed under the name Adam Smith btw, in case you were wondering. On Strobe 2 I got in a bit late with the presets due to some technical problems on my end, that were later resolved. Although,with the kind help of your colleague Rory, I was able to get my work accepted, despite being technically past the deadline for admittance .

Slightly long preamble over with, I was wondering when you guys were planning to put out a beta of Cypher 2 for testing/preset writing. I really enjoyed working on Strobe 2 and as I understand it Cypher 2 is sort of the big brother of Strobe 2, so it would be cool to see what it can do. I've been digging a lot deeper into Strobe 2 of late, so having a similar concept but with greater capabilities like more LFOs, FM, two VCFs, etc is something I'd be really into.

The modulation on Strobe 2 is really special, with a clever and useful implementation that makes some quite complex sounds and textures pretty easy to achieve especially when used in conjunction with effect modulation. Also, the addition of the ramp, curve, euclid and various random mod sources allow for pretty unique ways of creating movement in a sound that go beyond just using conventional LFOs and step sequencers. So as I said earlier, I'm pretty keen to know when Cypher 2 will be past alpha. The thought of applying some of the techniques I've been developing with Strobe 2 to a more complex synth brings out the sound design nerd in me.

The possibilities...

And this time I'll bring stuff in on time.

To anybody who's bought the synth here's a quick tip for you.
As you all probably know, the Voice mod allows you to distribute the synth's voices through various different modules in a variety of ways.
You also probably know that the assigning a Voice mod to filter type will distribute the voices through the various different filters covered by the selection of the transmod amount. Try this out.
In a transmod slot select Voice 2 (plus/minus) and then modulate that via a random source...

Right now, I can't think of any synth that can do something like that.
It's stuff like that that makes this synth well worth checking out.

[Uncle E]

Companies don't generally advertise 50% off promos and then immediately discontinue the product saying it's no longer for sale and their not going to support it anymore. That's a faux pas for sure.

It seems pretty common to me. A salient example is Avid selling off all their Pro Tools 11 Upgrades/Crossgrades for $199 right before Pro Tools 12 came out.

And yes it's no secret that same presets sound different on S2, just raises the point that projects using the discontinued product will not sound the same with its replacement.

Yes, that's not good. However, if that's the cost for having the better sound of Strobe 2, I'll take it.

[scintillator]

The bottom line is that it doesn't really matter what synths and plugins you use anyway...

That's got FA to do with it...

This is simply Not True. You're Not a Pro. You're Deaf.

Nice try, though.

[Angus_FX]

Slightly long preamble over with, I was wondering when you guys were planning to put out a beta of Cypher 2 for testing/preset writing.

Good question. Likely a little while yet - a fair amount of work to do on the filter, and a large amount on the oscillator.

I really enjoyed working on Strobe 2 and as I understand it Cypher 2 is sort of the big brother of Strobe 2, so it would be cool to see what it can do. I've been digging a lot deeper into Strobe 2 of late, so having a similar concept but with greater capabilities like more LFOs, FM, two VCFs, etc is something I'd be really into.

That's roughly what Cypher is. Different filter algorithms, three variable-waveform oscillators - it's not as simple as saying it's a big brother, Cypher's feature set is not a superset of Strobe's - but UI-wise they're very much in the same family.

Rory will drop you a line when it's ready to start digging in.

[digitalboytn]

The bottom line is that it doesn't really matter what synths and plugins you use anyway...

That's got FA to do with it...

This is simply Not True. You're Not a Pro. You're Deaf.

Nice try, though.

You are so right....

I've been sitting around with my finger up my arse for the last 40 years just pretending...

Sure fooled a lot of people though...

Anyway...I'd better go now...

It's really hard typing with just one hand and I have some more pretending to do in the studio

[scintillator]

The bottom line is that it doesn't really matter what synths and plugins you use anyway...

That's got FA to do with it...

This is simply Not True. You're Not a Pro. You're Deaf.

Nice try, though.

You are so right....

I've been sitting around with my finger up my arse for the last 40 years just pretending...

Sure fooled a lot of people though...

Anyway...I'd better go now...

It's really hard typing with just one hand and I have some more pretending to do in the studio

Twist it how you will, such a statement can only come from a deaf person.