XILS 3 LE and PolyKB II Player, good buys!

[Lotuzia]

I may get those soon, I've been meaning to get your UA-1 patches for a while now.

Btw is there any user patch repository where we can share sounds we create?

Also, how compatable are the LE patches with the full version, are they totally different? I'm still not upgrading until I ca do it sans-dongle but it would be nice to k ow if the day does come I could use my old patches.

They have a forum at xils-lab.com where you can share patches. Not super active, but it's there. I don't know about compatibility- I know some patches are interchangeable and some aren't, but I really need to differ to Lotuza or someone else. I don't think they'll ever get rid of the dongle at this point. I'm fine with it, but I know others make a big deal out of it. I think if someone really knew how good the XILS synths were they'd just buy a dongle.

I am not going to get a dongle... but if there were a non dongle version of the full XILS3 I would get that one... Sound-wise I think it is my favorite of the three... some innovative features in the others as well and they are all good but the XILS3 and the modular nature is up my alley... This is one of the only synths with a dongle that makes me think for a second about getting it... maybe someday it will be dongle free!

The dongled version is only $20 at Sweetwater IMO it is wonderful regardless of being an LE version and whatever is missing won't be missed if you never have it.

A bit of history :

The Xils3 LE is a full modular synth, and is actually the first incarnation of XILS 3 (ie version 1.0) . So the Xils3 LE could have retained its name XILS 3, and the version 2.0 named Super Xils 3 or XIls 3 MKII ( a la Roland) as well, as the LE is not a cut version, and the Xils 3 should be seen as the "super extended version".

And yes the Xils3 LE is dongleless

[osiris]

LE (or BE)is dongle free, and has a great selection of presets. And a great price.
I think if you demo it, you'll be hooked.
PolyKB Player uses a LOT of CPU, but sounds lovely and woolly. Synth people will know what I'm talking about.

[alexfalcao]

The upgrade cost to the XILS 3 Full version is €109 (about $157).
http://www.xils-lab.com/pages/XILS3LE_F ... grade.html
So the Sweetwater XILS 3 current sale price is really good then, $149.00.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XILS3/

[Echoes in the Attic]

Well this thread made me spend a little more time with it and I've found that I can get some cool sounds out of it. It is very cpu heavy though, not sure if it's worth it for those sounds. Still don't think I'd reach for it often but decided not to uninstall it just yet. I tend to like the reaktor synth in a case myself for those crazy synthi fx.

I got this in a no brainer deal but I've never used it. Every time I fire it up it just sounds muddy and a bit lifeless to be honest. Not a fan myself. I also find the behavior a bit weird. Some patches don't make sound and some are crazy effects that send the channel way into the red so maybe there are bugs as well (OSX Lion).

Hi Echoes,

As far as I know, there isn't any known bugs on Lion (or other systems) which involve the audio engine.
But when the XILS 3 was released, now three years ago, we left the sound designers almost free. So some of the patches show their feeling at that time for this first version of the XILS 3. Chris Pitman from Gun N'Roses, for instance, didn't create bread and butter 80's sounds ..., but Cliff Douse or Kevin Lamb feeling was different.

Best regards
Xavier

I think there is some minor bug because I loaded it in Ableton Live (via saved rack) and after hitting the preset down button, the sound turned off and no sound would play for any preset after that. I reloaded it and the sound came back. I've seen this happen for one or two VSTs before, maybe it's an OSX thing.

[Lotuzia]

Well this thread made me spend a little more time with it and I've found that I can get some cool sounds out of it. It is very cpu heavy though, not sure if it's worth it for those sounds. Still don't think I'd reach for it often but decided not to uninstall it just yet. I tend to like the reaktor synth in a case myself for those crazy synthi fx.

I got this in a no brainer deal but I've never used it. Every time I fire it up it just sounds muddy and a bit lifeless to be honest. Not a fan myself. I also find the behavior a bit weird. Some patches don't make sound and some are crazy effects that send the channel way into the red so maybe there are bugs as well (OSX Lion).

Hi Echoes,

As far as I know, there isn't any known bugs on Lion (or other systems) which involve the audio engine.
But when the XILS 3 was released, now three years ago, we left the sound designers almost free. So some of the patches show their feeling at that time for this first version of the XILS 3. Chris Pitman from Gun N'Roses, for instance, didn't create bread and butter 80's sounds ..., but Cliff Douse or Kevin Lamb feeling was different.

Best regards
Xavier

I think there is some minor bug because I loaded it in Ableton Live (via saved rack) and after hitting the preset down button, the sound turned off and no sound would play for any preset after that. I reloaded it and the sound came back. I've seen this happen for one or two VSTs before, maybe it's an OSX thing.

For the CPU hit you can try to lower the number of voices to what is really needed ( often Fx dont have to be played with chords) It will really make a difference. Most 1/2 voices patches barely eat 5/8% cpu on my antique quad 9650 machine, as a kind of reference.

Also big release times will eat CPU. Sometimes i see patches with short release for VCA and huge ones for VCF for example : All the cycles eaten by the filter EV are useless in these cases. Then unisson is the last thing that eats a lot of cpu ( each unisson voices nearly doubles the needed CPU)

As for soundbanks, I've made a big one for the Xils 3, wich also includes many "models/templates" for the second matrix ( you can save/load templates of the whole second pin matrix,and this can be seen like saving entire models of virtual analog synth architectures you create )) and as soon as possible I'll make another one for the LE version as well, but atm I'm buried under the work for the next XIls synth, , wich we hope will pleasantly surprise a lot of people, for various reasons, including some mentioned in this thread.

[braj]

There definitely seems to be a bug regarding patch switching, if I don't give it time to load a patch completely before I start playing it will give lots of noise, and the voice may just fail to sound until I select a new patch. If I am careful it can be avoided though. And just a lot of presets have inconsistent levels. I definitely will be buying available banks for this, I am getting better at programming it but some more good solid 'starting points' would be helpful.

I definitely hear 'Angel's Egg' Gong all over the place while playing with this, which puts me in synth heaven. It does sound remarkably similar to my ears.

[KBSoundSmith]

... but atm I'm buried under the work for the next XIls synth, , wich we hope will pleasantly surprise a lot of people, for various reasons, including some mentioned in this thread.

Oh, that sounds exciting! Is there any indication of when it will be announced, or is everything under wraps for now?

[rasscass]

... but atm I'm buried under the work for the next XIls synth, , wich we hope will pleasantly surprise a lot of people, for various reasons, including some mentioned in this thread.

Oh, that sounds exciting! Is there any indication of when it will be announced, or is everything under wraps for now?

Couldn't put it off any longer: Just bought XILS 3 & PolyKBII to complete my XILS-lab synth collection - bought Synthix on launch last year.

XILS synths have that sound that I find so sonically alluring , even more so when combined with soundsdivine presets.

Pray tell, can you reveal more on the next XILS synth?

[Lotuzia]

There definitely seems to be a bug regarding patch switching, if I don't give it time to load a patch completely before I start playing it will give lots of noise, and the voice may just fail to sound until I select a new patch. If I am careful it can be avoided though. And just a lot of presets have inconsistent levels. I definitely will be buying available banks for this, I am getting better at programming it but some more good solid 'starting points' would be helpful.

I definitely hear 'Angel's Egg' Gong all over the place while playing with this, which puts me in synth heaven. It does sound remarkably similar to my ears.

HI Braj,

Patch switching : Well its nor a bug, nor a feature. Actually its due to the modular nature of the Xils3, and to the per voice genration of all Xils synths. So we made a compromise between load time, and noise artifacts.

As for the Gong feeling, yes that's what Tim Blakes seem to think too, and I can't see someone more qualified than him to state so

[Lotuzia]

... but atm I'm buried under the work for the next XIls synth, , wich we hope will pleasantly surprise a lot of people, for various reasons, including some mentioned in this thread.

Oh, that sounds exciting! Is there any indication of when it will be announced, or is everything under wraps for now?

ETA : As soon as possible, the synth is fiercely running on my system, and it will enter in Beta 2 stage very soon, but its pretty stable and the debugging is already very advanced.

[Lotuzia]

... but atm I'm buried under the work for the next XIls synth, , wich we hope will pleasantly surprise a lot of people, for various reasons, including some mentioned in this thread.

Oh, that sounds exciting! Is there any indication of when it will be announced, or is everything under wraps for now?

Couldn't put it off any longer: Just bought XILS 3 & PolyKBII to complete my XILS-lab synth collection - bought Synthix on launch last year.

XILS synths have that sound that I find so sonically alluring , even more so when combined with soundsdivine presets.

Pray tell, can you reveal more on the next XILS synth?

HI Rasscass,

Many thanks for your KIND words

Well at least I can say what it won't be :

The next Xils synth won't be a strict emulation, so don't expect something with a Roman God name, or a prophetic unit, or a Voyetra. Its a synth on its own.

It's not a cut down version of any existing Xils synth, including Synthix.

Of course it will be able to do things that no other synth can do. ( "What did you expect ?" cheap a la Schwepps tease )

[braj]

There definitely seems to be a bug regarding patch switching, if I don't give it time to load a patch completely before I start playing it will give lots of noise, and the voice may just fail to sound until I select a new patch. If I am careful it can be avoided though. And just a lot of presets have inconsistent levels. I definitely will be buying available banks for this, I am getting better at programming it but some more good solid 'starting points' would be helpful.

I definitely hear 'Angel's Egg' Gong all over the place while playing with this, which puts me in synth heaven. It does sound remarkably similar to my ears.

HI Braj,

Patch switching : Well its nor a bug, nor a feature. Actually its due to the modular nature of the Xils3, and to the per voice genration of all Xils synths. So we made a compromise between load time, and noise artifacts.


As for the Gong feeling, yes that's what Tim Blakes seem to think too, and I can't see someone more qualified than him to state so

No, there's definitely a bug there because sometimes the sound will just totally drop out and won't be available, it depends on the user's interaction and in different cases you get different results with some patches loading in various states of usability. On one occasion I totally had to remove the plugin from the track (changing presets didn't help resolve) and reload it before the plugin would make sound again it is not the end of the world, I just need to be careful, but I know a bug when I see one I can work on a formal bug report if you like and investigate it in more depth maybe tomorrow.

[braj]

... but atm I'm buried under the work for the next XIls synth, , wich we hope will pleasantly surprise a lot of people, for various reasons, including some mentioned in this thread.

Oh, that sounds exciting! Is there any indication of when it will be announced, or is everything under wraps for now?

Couldn't put it off any longer: Just bought XILS 3 & PolyKBII to complete my XILS-lab synth collection - bought Synthix on launch last year.

XILS synths have that sound that I find so sonically alluring , even more so when combined with soundsdivine presets.

Pray tell, can you reveal more on the next XILS synth?

HI Rasscass,

Many thanks for your KIND words

Well at least I can say what it won't be :

The next Xils synth won't be a strict emulation, so don't expect something with a Roman God name, or a prophetic unit, or a Voyetra. Its a synth on its own.

It's not a cut down version of any existing Xils synth, including Synthix.

Of course it will be able to do things that no other synth can do. ( "What did you expect ?" cheap a la Schwepps tease )

Hopefully one big feature will be NO DONGLE!

[trimph1]

The new synth sounds like a good purchase...I want to hear this one!!

[aMUSEd]

My XILS Unquiet Night bank is very Gong influenced - not sure how well it works in LE though as I made it with the full version:

http://fingermarks.co.uk/music2.htm