Beta testers wanted

[JonasNorberg]

Hi,

I'm the developer of Helix, the fairly popular free synthesizer. I'm going "commercial", and future versions will be sold as opposed to given away.

To be perfectly clear, the current beta version will remain free, and the free version might receive some bug-fixes soon, but all new features and improvements will be focused on the "non-free" version.

Now I'm looking for some power-users, synth-geeks, and kick-ass producers to help me test Helix in different hosts and environments.

Windows-PC, Intel-Mac or PPC-Mac and hosts able to run VSTs (with or without a wrapper) is required.

If it sounds interesting please contact me at (jonas at audjoo dot com) and please mention what hosts and computers you have. If I get a lot of requests I might deny some. But don't let that discourage you.

[EDIT] Don't send PMs please use email [/EDIT]

Jonas Norberg

[pandashake]

I just shot you an email.

[fred-hal]

I'd pay good for an updated linux native gui-version of Helix!

[sinkmusic]

Hi, Jonas.
I just sent you an e-mail.

[djsubject]

Hi,

I'm the developer of Helix, the fairly popular free synthesizer. I'm going "commercial", and future versions will be sold

Modest & Smart

To be perfectly clear, the current beta version will remain free, and the free version might receive some bug-fixes soon,

if your going to fix bugs & Keep the current one free i dread to think what plans you have in store for the updates


i'm glad to see Helix will have a motivated future, freeware normally reaches a stage then stays there for ever,

best of luck & looking forward to seeing what you have in-store for the computer music indistory

Subz

[ckatrun411]

Has the GUI, changed at all..... By that I mean, dramatically!

Please excuse my honesty... I don't mean to hurt feelings at all. But, I like the synth... Would be very interested... Would need a proper GUI....



( edit)

Yeah, yeah... No question this is an amazing synth. But, man... arrg, I don't want to provoke animosity or anything, it is just the way I feel...


To me, this synth is the equivalent of getting inside of a porsche and not being able to find the steering wheel...

[Kai VejaR]

I hope it still will be a 'friendly' price!

[JonasNorberg]

To me, this synth is the equivalent of getting inside of a porsche and not being able to find the steering wheel...

Sorry for drifting off topic, but did you know that porsches have the key on the left side of the steering wheel?

The first time you might be puzzled how to start it. (you also have to press the clutch while turning the key) Still, they are great cars.

[ckatrun411]

@JonasNorberg

steering wheel mate... a totally different analogy...

I equated your synth to a porsche... a nice compliment... but I said steering wheel, and nothing about starting the car...

When I first toyed with Cakewalks Rapture, I was puzzled... But still found it easy enough to be bothered with, and eventually figured it out.. With your current gui for Helix, I simply couldn't be bothered.


I don't know what to say Jonas. I appreciate the fact that you are a talented dev... I also highly doubt I am the only person who has test driven your synth and come to the conclusion that the current gui makes it difficult to say the least.

With so many top end great synths. Excuse me... I mean, with so many top end well coded, fantastic sounding vst synths, why would you want to make it more difficult to sell one? Why would you want to create a user deiffieceny? Isn't the whole point of a computer and software to facillate the production of something?

I can't imagine Native Instruments coming out and saying, " Our gui will leave you puzzled. "

And if they did? The puzzled have so many choices, so many high quality choices....

I am simply trying to be friendly... I think your synth is very powerful, and sounds great... But to be frank... Max/msp is quite difficult. However the difficulty rests not in the GUI.

I am not making any sense?

[JonasNorberg]

steering wheel mate... a totally different analogy...
I equated your synth to a porsche... a nice compliment... but I said steering wheel, and nothing about starting the car...

[snip]

I am simply trying to be friendly... I think your synth is very powerful, and sounds great... But to be frank... Max/msp is quite difficult. However the difficulty rests not in the GUI.

I am not making any sense?

You are making total sense. I was trying to be funny with the fact that porsches actually have some weird details like the key... I wasn't trying to clown you.

I do know that the GUI is not top-notch. I've made a few improvements (visual ADSR, moved some tabs around) but the thing is it's a lot of work to make it much fancier, and believe it or not, if you know the synth inside out (like I do) the layout makes a lot sense.

I don't want to scare people away with an unattractive GUI, but I am trying to focus my efforts in making the synth sound better and offer different approaches than the competition.

I'm aware of that Helix might not be as attractive as a "beginner-synth" as for instance vanguard (which I really respect), the reason is not the GUI itself but the complexity, and the GUI is reflecting that complexity. If it wouldn't it could hinder the seasoned sound designer that learned the "inner-workings" of the synth.

During development of Helix a lot of synthesis was new to me (I never took a DSP course at univ.), so I exposed as much as I could to be able to experiment with it. I'm simply hoping that the niche market for passionate producers and sound-designers appreciating perfecting details like the start phase of an oscillator is large enough to justify exposing all these parameters of the synth. In electronic music the "sound" is very important. I remember reading about a produces that sampled his analog gear and used the takes where the phase of the oscillators started in the "best" place. That's pure gold.

I do appreciate your feedback and I don't want to look nonchalant by not focusing more on the GUI. I'm sorry for ranting but the above might explain what I'm aiming for.

Jonas

[topaz]

going commercial.

Audio Unit and RTAS.

if not you are missing out on large chunk of the market.

[Architeuthis]

if I pay for Helix, there should be a simple exponential and linear version of the envelopes

[Kai VejaR]

Jonas,

What about the price? (see my earlier post).

[Plug]

This is fantastic and i applaud you for the move. Helix has a very impressive sound.

However i agree with the previous poster about the gui. I actually don't use it much because it takes ages to load and is a bit tricky to use (compared to a traditional layout).

Perhaps you should also look for a graphic artist/gui designer kind of person around here to help out.


In the meantime though, more power to you Any ideas about pricing?

[Polite Company]

I have to agree with what most people have been saying; Helix is definitely payware worthy but honestly I think very few people, myself included, will buy something with a GUI like Helix's. Depending on how much you are charging you might consider partnering with a graphic designer.

Edit: E-mail sent.