Cytomic "The Drop" Resonant Filter

[andy-cytomic]

Cool, no (hidden) VAT on the price being shown.

Thx for the 30% discount, too.

I'm in Australia, so it's an export so I don't have to charge VAT. I do have to add GST for Australian customers, but I don't know they are from Australia reliably until someone enters their address, so it is kind of a hidden charge for them. Hopefully I can work out a better system in the future.

[nrosko]

Hi Andy just wondering if you will go a similar way with your next project as you did with Drop by making a Beta purchasable?
Although the drop never really was a beta & just seemed like a free upgrade to version 2 when it was released.

[andy-cytomic]

Hi Andy just wondering if you will go a similar way with your next project as you did with Drop by making a Beta purchasable?
Although the drop never really was a beta & just seemed like a free upgrade to version 2 when it was released.

I will release my next plugin as beta, but I expect it to be in near final form because I have invested a lot of time in making a solid foundation for automating the solution of non-linear circuits as well as the framework for doing GUIs.

It took a long time to complete The Drop because of the difficulty in solving complicated filter circuits with loads of non-linearities in a robust and efficient manner (which is why I expect The Drop sounds so good compared to most other offerings!). The first filter models I released in The Drop were very manually intensive to get working, and it was going to take too long to complete all the filters I wanted to tackle like this. I was putting off writing my own circuit solver, because doing that would also take a long time, but I looked at how many filters I still had to do and realised it was needed.

It took a while to put together, but I invested the time in writing my own automated circuit solver that takes a spice netlist of components and how they are connected together, and generates highly optimised SSE2 DSP code that solves the circuit. Although the solving part is automated I still need to do loads of manual tweaks and adjustments to get the best tone and performance - I can now spend my time working on high level component models rather than getting bogged down in the slog of solving the circuit. I now spend my time fine tuning these high level models and comparing to the original circuits using an oscilloscope and spectrum analysis, which is much quicker and more rewarding as all the boring slog is automated.

[ftech]

Cool, no (hidden) VAT on the price being shown.

Thx for the 30% discount, too.

I'm in Australia, so it's an export so I don't have to charge VAT. I do have to add GST for Australian customers, but I don't know they are from Australia reliably until someone enters their address, so it is kind of a hidden charge for them. Hopefully I can work out a better system in the future.

Yeah, the GST component suddenly jumped out at me when I was checking out, which was a surprise but that's what we do here, and I don't pay VAT on the plugins I buy from OS so I'm ahead anyway. Besides, The Drop is so good it's worth it!

[Naenyn]

Andy: Just in case cytomic.com's email-handling isn't behaving... I tried creating a new account tonight but the website displayed an error saying it failed to send emails. I sent an email to your sales address, but thought I'd contact you here just in case.

[andy-cytomic]

Andy: Just in case cytomic.com's email-handling isn't behaving... I tried creating a new account tonight but the website displayed an error saying it failed to send emails. I sent an email to your sales address, but thought I'd contact you here just in case.

Thanks for the heads up. There were some email issues when the server was restored that were fixed, but I just checked and can confirm the web page isn't sending email properly - sorry. I have filed the issue with my web hosting people, they can hopefully get if fixed quickly. This server crash has been a barrel of laughs, I am very much looking forward to transferring my domain to a new hosting service.

[nrosko]

Hi Andy just wondering if you will go a similar way with your next project as you did with Drop by making a Beta purchasable?
Although the drop never really was a beta & just seemed like a free upgrade to version 2 when it was released.

I will release my next plugin as beta, but I expect it to be in near final form because I have invested a lot of time in making a solid foundation for automating the solution of non-linear circuits as well as the framework for doing GUIs.

It took a long time to complete The Drop because of the difficulty in solving complicated filter circuits with loads of non-linearities in a robust and efficient manner (which is why I expect The Drop sounds so good compared to most other offerings!). The first filter models I released in The Drop were very manually intensive to get working, and it was going to take too long to complete all the filters I wanted to tackle like this. I was putting off writing my own circuit solver, because doing that would also take a long time, but I looked at how many filters I still had to do and realised it was needed.

It took a while to put together, but I invested the time in writing my own automated circuit solver that takes a spice netlist of components and how they are connected together, and generates highly optimised SSE2 DSP code that solves the circuit. Although the solving part is automated I still need to do loads of manual tweaks and adjustments to get the best tone and performance - I can now spend my time working on high level component models rather than getting bogged down in the slog of solving the circuit. I now spend my time fine tuning these high level models and comparing to the original circuits using an oscilloscope and spectrum analysis, which is much quicker and more rewarding as all the boring slog is automated.

Really interesting Andy, sounds like we are set for some exciting times moving forward.

[Klinke1]

The "Glide" will only work with notes? And only when "track" button is on?
Got to turn on "Glide" + "Track" + Set to a mode1 or 2?
The "Track"-button can be deleted. There is an "off" button at the mode-selection.

It is not smoothing the cutoff changes, when i use the LFO2 as stepmod. LFO2 has a curve knob, but it is one-sided smoothing..
Every step always has 1 sharp corner ..or you have to go full triangles..


Did i get it wrong? For me the manual says, that it should glide/smooth the cutoff when turned up..(does not work)

LFO2 step-sequencer has no smoothing? (..besides one-sided curve option)

[andy-cytomic]

The "Glide" will only work with notes? And only when "track" button is on?
Got to turn on "Glide" + "Track" + Set to a mode1 or 2?
The "Track"-button can be deleted. There is an "off" button at the mode-selection.

It is not smoothing the cutoff changes, when i use the LFO2 as stepmod. LFO2 has a curve knob, but it is one-sided smoothing..
Every step always has 1 sharp corner ..or you have to go full triangles..


Did i get it wrong? For me the manual says, that it should glide/smooth the cutoff when turned up..(does not work)

LFO2 step-sequencer has no smoothing? (..besides one-sided curve option)

There is no low pass smoothing (GLIDE) done to LFO1/2 Env1/2 or FM, it only works when you manually move the knobs to change the cutoff, or optionally when you use MIDI to change the cutoff. As a workaround you can draw LFO shapes using host automation of the SHIFT knob then the GLIDE time will apply.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Hi Andy just wondering if you will go a similar way with your next project as you did with Drop by making a Beta purchasable?
Although the drop never really was a beta & just seemed like a free upgrade to version 2 when it was released.

I will release my next plugin as beta, but I expect it to be in near final form because I have invested a lot of time in making a solid foundation for automating the solution of non-linear circuits as well as the framework for doing GUIs.

It took a long time to complete The Drop because of the difficulty in solving complicated filter circuits with loads of non-linearities in a robust and efficient manner (which is why I expect The Drop sounds so good compared to most other offerings!). The first filter models I released in The Drop were very manually intensive to get working, and it was going to take too long to complete all the filters I wanted to tackle like this. I was putting off writing my own circuit solver, because doing that would also take a long time, but I looked at how many filters I still had to do and realised it was needed.

It took a while to put together, but I invested the time in writing my own automated circuit solver that takes a spice netlist of components and how they are connected together, and generates highly optimised SSE2 DSP code that solves the circuit. Although the solving part is automated I still need to do loads of manual tweaks and adjustments to get the best tone and performance - I can now spend my time working on high level component models rather than getting bogged down in the slog of solving the circuit. I now spend my time fine tuning these high level models and comparing to the original circuits using an oscilloscope and spectrum analysis, which is much quicker and more rewarding as all the boring slog is automated.

I'm glad you took the time developing this stuff up front, especially if it means faster releases. How far along would you say you are on the next plugin (completely understandable if you don't want to make any time commitments or drop hints about what it might be)?

[andy-cytomic]

I'm glad you took the time developing this stuff up front, especially if it means faster releases. How far along would you say you are on the next plugin (completely understandable if you don't want to make any time commitments or drop hints about what it might be)?

I work on multiple products at once in the background. I've been investigating all sorts of circuits including EQs, compressors, stomp boxes, drum synths, BBDs and all sorts of other things.

Now with the web hosting transferred to a more reliable hosting service and my workflow using 3D apps getting faster, and with the help of my circuit solving code I hope to have a new plugin out before the end of the year, but I've not made a final commitment to any plugin at the moment.

[dayjob]

I'm glad you took the time developing this stuff up front, especially if it means faster releases. How far along would you say you are on the next plugin (completely understandable if you don't want to make any time commitments or drop hints about what it might be)?

I work on multiple products at once in the background. I've been investigating all sorts of circuits including EQs, compressors, stomp boxes, drum synths, BBDs and all sorts of other things.

go on.. i'm interested in all those things

[nilhartman]

Wait, drum synths? Tell us more!

[Klinke1]

The "Glide" will only work with notes? And only when "track" button is on?
Got to turn on "Glide" + "Track" + Set to a mode1 or 2?
The "Track"-button can be deleted. There is an "off" button at the mode-selection.

It is not smoothing the cutoff changes, when i use the LFO2 as stepmod. LFO2 has a curve knob, but it is one-sided smoothing..
Every step always has 1 sharp corner ..or you have to go full triangles..


Did i get it wrong? For me the manual says, that it should glide/smooth the cutoff when turned up..(does not work)

LFO2 step-sequencer has no smoothing? (..besides one-sided curve option)

There is no low pass smoothing (GLIDE) done to LFO1/2 Env1/2 or FM, it only works when you manually move the knobs to change the cutoff, or optionally when you MIDI to change the cutoff. As a workaround you can draw LFO shapes using host automation of the SHIFT knob then you can use the GLIDE time will apply.

Thank you very much for the reply.
I tried bouncing tracks with the LFO2 stepthing inside Bitwig...either it's me or the plug, but the first run-through of the sequence was always wrong.. whatever i tried.
There is the Bitwig note-mod... i use that or note input now.
Also one can send the mod everywhere in the project.

[andy-cytomic]

Thank you very much for the reply.
I tried bouncing tracks with the LFO2 stepthing inside Bitwig...either it's me or the plug, but the first run-through of the sequence was always wrong.. whatever i tried.
There is the Bitwig note-mod... i use that or note input now.
Also one can send the mod everywhere in the project.

Are you using Beat 2 or Beat 3 to trigger? Each host has very different song position information, so if it's not working in Bitwig I'll look into it and add some special cases to handle it. As a workaround you can record automation of the "TRIG" button just below the LFO2 power button, this will re-trigger the start of the sequence right on where you want.