Getting back to b-ACE-ix...

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Hey Urs,

Firstly I hope this topic hasn't been addressed elsewhere... I'm almost sure it has, but probably/possibly not all in one place.
Secondly I know you're a busy man, so I hope you'll have time to indulge us with some insights :D

Regarding ACE, I perceive 'her' as almost a modular take on a Jupiter 8, soundwise.
She has a polished, pristine character, which, although it can get rough around the edges with filter gain and various audio rate modulations, remains polite, articulate and coherent.
She never seems to get nasty or really dirty... in that, erm, throaty way a 303 or 101 does at high res. Or like Diva's Cascade Rough filter mode, particularly in 12db mode. :shock:

Was this an intentional sonic character you were aiming for (I'm pretty sure the answer is yes... I can't imagine Urs not achieving what he's aiming for, or releasing something which doesn't quite sound the way he wants!)

What were your main influences sound-wise when developing ACE? Did you have the Jupiter 8 in mind, or perhaps the M-100 system? Or nothing in particular?

Just to be clear, I don't intend to address the technical aspects, such as the audio-rate-any-cable-everywhere-ness, just the choice of components, and particularly the filter's character, which to me always sounds polite and polished.
Any chance of 12db LPFs finding their way into ACE someday? 8)

Thanks Urs!
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I think ACE can get pretty nasty, in some ways it's better for that than Diva. Also, there is a 12db/o filter, if you click where it says "LP4" you can switch between 1 to 4 poles.
http://sendy.bandcamp.com/releases < My new album at Bandcamp! Now pay what you like!
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Sendy wrote:I think ACE can get pretty nasty, in some ways it's better for that than Diva. Also, there is a 12db/o filter, if you click where it says "LP4" you can switch between 1 to 4 poles.
Hey, thanks Sends! I really had the feeling I was missing something obvious somewhere! RTFM X! I'm gonna try that 12 db filter right now. 1 pole too, excellente! :D

Would still love to hear Urs's perspective on the general sound character, and influences.
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Aah, that was fun. Can't believe I forgot the switchable modes! Can get very nasty with the 1 pole filters. I still find it to be very 'well behaved', perhaps it's the env curves, I should dig MUCH deeper and try to apply lag or modulation to the env curves, or something like that.

Not complaining, but to me ACE has always had 'a sound', despite the huge number of modulation options, there's also a lot that just sounds samey.
That can be fixed fairly easily with a preset folder sort out... and rolling my own of course. Modular presets? What a woos. :D

Thanks Sendy!
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xalama qo wrote:...perhaps it's the env curves, I should dig MUCH deeper and try to apply lag or modulation to the env curves, or something like that.
The easiest way to change the env curves is to simply modulate the envs by themselves:

Image

Cheers
Dennis
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ACE is a remarkably synth...I wish that this little beast had a swapping modules like in moog modular :roll:
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Bronto Scorpio wrote:
xalama qo wrote:...perhaps it's the env curves, I should dig MUCH deeper and try to apply lag or modulation to the env curves, or something like that.
The easiest way to change the env curves is to simply modulate the envs by themselves:

Image

Cheers
Dennis
Awesome B, now I don't have to dig in the manual! You're not supposed to encourage my laziness! :D
I'm still determined to know ACE inside-out some day soon. I've had the manual in my desktop "Learn your Synths" folder for ages. I actually was quite good a while back and covered a lot of ground, then life happened, and now I have to go back and relearn it. ACE is well worth knowing and becoming fluent in. It can be soooo rewarding.

I've almost convinced myself not to buy Bazille until I know ACE properly... in the end it will probably be my bank balance which speaks loudest! :D

Thanks again Bronto! :tu:
Last edited by xalama qo on Tue Oct 29, 2013 8:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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K@rol wrote:ACE is a remarkably synth...I wish that this little beast had a swapping modules like in moog modular :roll:
Do you mean swapping modules like have 3 ADSR's for example? Because you can pretty much configure what's there in any way you like, you just can't add more modules to it. Would be nice... maybe you'd like to support this thread...?
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... sc&start=0

:D
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xalama qo wrote:... now I don't have to dig in the manual!
:uhuhuh:
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xalama qo wrote:
Sendy wrote:I think ACE can get pretty nasty, in some ways it's better for that than Diva. Also, there is a 12db/o filter, if you click where it says "LP4" you can switch between 1 to 4 poles.
Hey, thanks Sends! I really had the feeling I was missing something obvious somewhere! RTFM X! I'm gonna try that 12 db filter right now. 1 pole too, excellente! :D
Yeah, I'm a fan of shallow resonant filters too, having a decent 1-pole filter is something of a delicacy :)

You can get quite a lot of distortion/resonance variations by ganging the filters in series and playing with the drive/gain on each.
http://sendy.bandcamp.com/releases < My new album at Bandcamp! Now pay what you like!
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Howard wrote:
xalama qo wrote:... now I don't have to dig in the manual!
:uhuhuh:
Thanks Howie, you can kick my rear-end any day! :D
I shall most definitely spend some quality time with the manual... it's my new weekend 'break from music' rule... just read the manuals... ok, so it's not foolproof, cos it usually leads to much tweaking and experimentation.

So I'm still working on getting some balance in my life! Easier said than done!
A work in progress am I :D
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Sendy wrote:
xalama qo wrote:
Sendy wrote:I think ACE can get pretty nasty, in some ways it's better for that than Diva. Also, there is a 12db/o filter, if you click where it says "LP4" you can switch between 1 to 4 poles.
Hey, thanks Sends! I really had the feeling I was missing something obvious somewhere! RTFM X! I'm gonna try that 12 db filter right now. 1 pole too, excellente! :D
Yeah, I'm a fan of shallow resonant filters too, having a decent 1-pole filter is something of a delicacy :)

You can get quite a lot of distortion/resonance variations by ganging the filters in series and playing with the drive/gain on each.
Yeehaw! That sounds like a kaboodle of fun. Will definitely give that a go... hold on ears!
I'm actually getting my hearing checked tomorrow... the big 40 approaches, I need to know if I can still trust 'em! :D I don't think I have anything to worry about though. Whew!
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Sendy wrote:
xalama qo wrote:
Sendy wrote:I think ACE can get pretty nasty, in some ways it's better for that than Diva. Also, there is a 12db/o filter, if you click where it says "LP4" you can switch between 1 to 4 poles.
Hey, thanks Sends! I really had the feeling I was missing something obvious somewhere! RTFM X! I'm gonna try that 12 db filter right now. 1 pole too, excellente! :D
Yeah, I'm a fan of shallow resonant filters too, having a decent 1-pole filter is something of a delicacy :)

You can get quite a lot of distortion/resonance variations by ganging the filters in series and playing with the drive/gain on each.
Ok, last lazy question before bed... how do you gang the filters?... assigning the same mod source/cc number to both cutoffs? Or is there a clickable filter-gang mode for mouse-driven tweaks?
Thanks Sendy :tu:
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xalama qo wrote:Ok, last lazy question before bed (etc.)
Manual, page 22.
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Howard wrote:
xalama qo wrote:Ok, last lazy question before bed (etc.)
Manual, page 22.
Thank you kind sir! I'm on it... :D
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