KVR Audio

4damind · Post by **4damind** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 6:03 pm

Angus_FX wrote:I'd say fairly early 2016, but not this year. There's more work to do than meets the eye, and there are a few loose ends to tidy up with Strobe2 still as well.

Btw, is there some chance to add 2 additional knobs besides unison for spread and detune so it doesn't need the transmod system?
In this prototype, osc1 has 2-knob unison supersaw (like Strobe). Can't promise anything - what you want I guess is to automatically set a patch to unison-2 or unison-3, with unison voice modulation applied to pan and finetune?

Yes... this typical stuff you found on nearly all synth with unison support.
For Cypher it's the global unison where you need this time the modulation system to connect it eg. to finetune and pan.
So I want some kind of "hard wired" knobs on the GUI to set the unison spread ("pan") and unison finetune ("detuning") . So, 3 controls (unison type, unison spread, unison detune)

xanderevo · Post by **xanderevo** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:17 pm

Some people don't live on forums.

jsp1979 · Post by **jsp1979** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:20 pm

xanderevo wrote:Some people don't live on forums.

There is a website with info though, right? And a demo?

thetechnobear · Post by **thetechnobear** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:12 pm

cypher 2 looks good... looks like Strobe 2 but with more oscillators... begs the question, whats the difference?

Angus_FX · Post by **Angus_FX** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:51 am

Oh, and already saw the preview of Geist 2, will Geist have a dark skin as well.

Still under discussion. Certainly is a practical solution to the problem of peoples' different working environments.

cypher 2 looks good... looks like Strobe 2 but with more oscillators... begs the question, whats the difference?

Well, it's still a VA, but..
Different oscillators (three, with one continually variable waveform output each, thru-zero FM, audio rate PWM, variable sync - vs Strobe's single multi-waveform mega-oscillator)
Different filters (diode ladder & state-variable in Cypher 1, vs Strobe's active ladder)
Dual polyphonic waveshapers
More of everything (3 envelopes, 2 LFOs, additional sequencer lanes) - more powerful but also more complex

sacer · Post by **sacer** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:59 am

xanderevo wrote:Asked for a refund, the sound is great but there are better competitors for what strobe2 has to offer.

I thought the upgrade was for the complete bundle, disappointed.

yeah for the complete bundle with 80€ I also would upgrade now, hope you get the refund.

sacer · Post by **sacer** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:59 am

xanderevo wrote:Asked for a refund, the sound is great but there are better competitors for what strobe2 has to offer.

I thought the upgrade was for the complete bundle, disappointed.

yeah for the complete bundle with 80€ I also would upgrade now, hope you get the refund.

Ah_Dziz · Post by **Ah_Dziz** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:08 am

I've only had SS1 for a while now so I'm a bit hesitant to upgrade my least favorite of the three synths. On my workstation the CPU Usage even with fusor and lots of stuff going on is rather negligible so as far as I can tell the main feature I'm paying for that I have wanted (and that has kept me from using strobe quite often) is that I can detune the main osc without affecting the sub. That's a big deal and greatly ups the usefulness of this thing for bass sounds. I'm gonna demo. The eight patch bank switching thing or whatever could lead to some neat stuff especially with some randomization (or maybe it can be modulated). Is it set in stone that all the upgrades are gonna cost 80$ or more or is there going to be a bundle upgrade discount if you buy all three?

Ah_Dziz · Post by **Ah_Dziz** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:10 am

Also is there a multipoint loop able envelope somewhere in all that modulation? The mod lanes in fusor were the closest in v1 and they were nowhere near precise enough for serious sound designing.

epiphaneia · Post by **epiphaneia** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 9:24 am

re: Geist 2...

Angus_FX wrote: Still under discussion. Certainly is a practical solution to the problem of peoples' different working environments.

... may I just hijack that thread for a moment, after being very happy with the Strobe2 GUI, and ask when Geist 2 may, approximately, be released, or at least go (public) beta?

Angus_FX · Post by **Angus_FX** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 9:37 am

@ epiphaneia I think we're looking at a couple of months til beta of any kind. Drop me (or better Drew, if you have his details) a line if you're interested in private beta on that one.

I've only had SS1 for a while now so I'm a bit hesitant to upgrade my least favorite of the three synths. On my workstation the CPU Usage even with fusor and lots of stuff going on is rather negligible so as far as I can tell the main feature I'm paying for that I have wanted (and that has kept me from using strobe quite often) is that I can detune the main osc without affecting the sub. That's a big deal and greatly ups the usefulness of this thing for bass sounds.

That, and phase reset, and the separate tone controls for main and sub. Let us know how you get on with the demo.

The eight patch switching can be mapped to CC0 or the keyboard (as well as program change), it's great fun to create 8 variations on the same patch and switch between them while playing.

Is it set in stone that all the upgrades are gonna cost 80$ or more or is there going to be a bundle upgrade discount if you buy all three?

Nothing's set in stone, depends on things that haven't happened yet to some degree. Part of what determines Strobe2's asking price (both new and upgrade) is the preset library, I think it's too early to say if it'll even be possible to get 900 such presets out of Amber2 (string machines have a more limited range, let's face it).. equally, when we let Himalaya & Tasmodia loose on Cypher2, there's no knowing what those two mad geniuses will come up with.

Also is there a multipoint loop able envelope somewhere in all that modulation? The mod lanes in fusor were the closest in v1 and they were nowhere near precise enough for serious sound designing.

Not a multipoint loopable envelope, but you can remap anything through either of the two polyphonic Curve processors (be it an envelope, the LFO, the Ramp, or some combination) & get complex, polyphonic, one-shot or looping shapes that way.

beely · Post by **beely** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 12:21 pm

Hmm - just seen the licence agreement in the demo installer:

Code: Select all

The making of sample libraries in any form, commercial or otherwise, is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN without express written agreement of FXpansion and its content development partners. The ownership of all the product audio material and presets is fully asserted by FXpansion and its audio partners. Please feel free to contact us if you are in any doubt.

It's not usual to restrict non-sample-content instruments from making sample libraries or other sound FX for resale, as in a straight VA synth there are no audio recordings that you would be reselling.

(Sound recordings are the copyright of the owner and cannot be resold by a third-party without a licence/agreement to do so, as we know. But a VA has no sound recordings, and thus no sound recording copyright applies. Intellectual property rights on presets have not really been forthcoming, or tested, to date.)

I can understand that FXP (or any company, really) would not want someone sampling all the presets out of the synth and selling a sample library of "Strobe2" but (at least in my experience) people don't tend to do that anyway (for hardware, yes, but not usually a softsynth).

But in essence, the licence agreement is saying that you can use this synth to make finished music, but you cannot use it to generate non-music samples for use outside of a normal composition - ie, a similar licence agreement as something like Spectrasonics instruments, which do use a huge variety of sound recordings under copyright.

Something to be aware of...

xanderevo · Post by **xanderevo** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 12:35 pm

sacer wrote: yeah for the complete bundle with 80€ I also would upgrade now, hope you get the refund.

Always had a great experience with Fxpansion support when I had issues with their products.
Just got the refund.

kelvyn · Post by **kelvyn** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 12:45 pm

I've been following this and the other Strobe 2 thread with interest and have been trying to understand Angus_FX's justification for the update price. I purchased the (full price) Synth Squad collection and was a little disgruntled to read that one justification for the update price was due to the sale price of $99 that many people took advantage of... Ok! But where does that put me and many other full paying customers? Also! It's expensive to do business in England... It's expensive to do business in a lot of places! And! There's been a lot of work under the hood... It's not a new synth and there could have definitely been a couple of extra features like a second oscillator.
We bought into the collection trusting that things would follow a normal trajectory, like update prices being based on the whole collection and not all of a sudden split into seperate units. This has not happened with any other collection as far as I know - Korg/Arturia/Komplete etc. Maybe they should have sold the indidual synths seperately right from the beginning like these other companies have done... but since they didn't wouldn't it be more honorable to stick with the original concept and charge one update price for the collection as others do. It all seems a little opportunistic... I 'm hoping that they sort things out and introduce different prices for the other updates, prices that will reflect the original concept and that will engender trust and not doubt as there seem to be quite a few people who are opting out from updating due to what seems like a pretty abitrary price policy.
The market dictates value and they seem to be moving in the wrong direction especially since there are so many great alternatives.
I'm going to wait and see what the other modules cost before I pull the trigger.

Angus_FX · Post by **Angus_FX** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:09 pm

A second oscillator is not a bolt-on new feature - you are talking about fundamentally redesigning a chunk of Strobe's core feature set there, one of the things that makes it what it is.

Two-oscillator "Strobe-like" synth? Great idea, totally in favour, but it's not the same product any more than an SH-5 is an SH-101.

Strobe1->2 is a far bigger upgrade than any of the Arturia or Korg synths has ever had, and it's quite rare even for NI synths (though there are some big exceptions to that rule). Yes, they've added new instruments to the existing bundle, but the existing products rarely get more than tweaks and maintenance - Korg for instance charged a small fee for owners of the original Legacy to get x64, whereas we did that for free.

Get the demo and run Strobe1 and Strobe2 side by side. Either you'll see what I mean, or the work we've invested is lost on you & is perhaps intended for a different audience.

Fxpansion Strobe 2 is available