coming soon...

wavelength · Post by **wavelength** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 3:51 am

EDIT: just updated the screenshot featuring some new parameters...

I have continued adding a few things to the design, including:

- 2 custom oscillators (unique to the OP-8) which feature smooth morphing waveforms (Tri/Saw Up/Saw Down/Pulse) that can move subtractively down to a pure sine-tone from any of the switchable waveshapes; OSC2 can be sync'ed to OSC1; OSC2 can be set to "drone" and can be pitch-shifted down to low-frequency oscillation (great as a mod source)

- pulse-width control/mod on "Pulse" waveshape

- the "fusion filter" is a custom resonant 24dB filter (again unique to the OP-8) that moves seamlessly from lowpass into the highpass with one cutoff control knob -- added a highpass "trim" to cut low frequencies before they reach the "fusion filter" (nice for crunchy, buzzy sounds)

- the envelopes feature a switchable "punch" button that (you guessed it) adds an exponential punch to short attack/decay/release times

- LFO can be clocked by MIDI (and divided)

- added a ModWheel LFO with switchable destinations

- fuzzy and distinctive distortion (saturation) -- two modes: soft/hard

- "trash" makes the oscillators more digital sounding and "trashy" with artifacts

- dedicated FM oscillator which modulates both OSCs1 & 2 at the same time

- "low key" and "high key" control allows for key-mapping which is great for split-keyboard layered sounds (when multiple synth instances are used)

- unison stack takes the synth's polyphony and stacks each voice on top of eachother, creating extremely "fat" timbres

I have spent a lot of time making sure that this synth sounds and functions in a very polished and professional way. With this design I have strived to provide the user with just the right balance of flexibility and efficiency.

I feel confident that you will be able to hear how this synth stands apart from the current crop of synths available, in terms of both its smooth, punchy sound and its ease of use. I'll be putting up some sound samples shortly.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: wavelength on 2004-03-23 04:38 ]</font>

petal · Post by **petal** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 4:59 am

nice design

Thomas

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:17 am

what's the "fusion filter" thingy?

decimator · Post by **decimator** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:20 am

Is it your FM hybrid, the name Op rings a bell ... FM ... sorry

What kind of sounds ?
How much soon ?
How much ?
Sounds like a kid !

A big minus for me : the white on light grey / white is hard on my eyes, would go for darker grey ( uniform ).

samplaire · Post by **samplaire** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:54 am

On 2004-03-09 05:17, kensuguro wrote:
what's the "fusion filter" thingy?

I'm interested in it, too

valis · Post by **valis** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 6:05 am

I think it looks great, but I would also have to add 1 complaint...

it doesn't make noise in my browser! Do I need another driver?

decimator · Post by **decimator** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 6:38 am

On some settings, the fusion filter will turn your computer in a 100 millions °C fireball.
Am I mistaken ?

wavelength · Post by **wavelength** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:01 pm

On 2004-03-09 05:17, kensuguro wrote:
what's the "fusion filter" thingy?

thanks for asking! it is a smooth 24dB filter that I have designed that moves seamlessly from lowpass into highpass. the single cutoff knob sweeps the lowpass frequencies from extreme left to center and than moves into highpass from center to extreme right. cutoff modulations can sweep both filter-types as one, for example: a fast envelope mod on the cutoff is really punchy as you can get the initial 'crispy' highpassed sound at the top and then sweep down into the lowpass.

wavelength · Post by **wavelength** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:12 pm

On 2004-03-09 05:20, decimator wrote:
Is it your FM hybrid, the name Op rings a bell ... FM ... sorry
What kind of sounds ?
How much soon ?
How much ?
Sounds like a kid !

A big minus for me : the white on light grey / white is hard on my eyes, would go for darker grey ( uniform ).

1. this has grown out of my larger FM project, as this deceptively simple design suddenly jumped out at me.

2. it is capable of a rather huge variety of sounds. i have been making clangy FM stuff, smooth analogue leads, very punchy basses, strange 'feedbacking' pads and some truly brutal aggressive stuff. this synth architecture allows for extreme timbre-shifts with relatively little components (combining subtractive, phase distortion and FM).

3. i am still working on small tweaks to the design and designing the batch of factory presets/ spec-sheet, etc.

4. price will be inline with my other products.

5. i can darken the GUI, if the consensus is that the surface is too bright.

thanks for the interest!

wavelength · Post by **wavelength** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:17 pm

On 2004-03-09 06:38, decimator wrote:
On some settings, the fusion filter will turn your computer in a 100 millions °C fireball.
Am I mistaken ?

complete computer meltdown was an issue earlier on in the design process, but i have since added a nuclear buffer module to the signal chain and this seems to have somewhat tamed things. it is still bad-assed punchy in the face, however.

decimator · Post by **decimator** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 3:50 pm

I'am glad the filter is under control !

I noticed a trend with your latest devices : less controls but potent actions, I'am getting accustomed now.

I'am already sold by the way you're describing the sound capabilities, having the rest of your stuff !

Concerning the GUI, it's the lack of contrast more than the brightness that annoys me, my best GUIs are the ones I can spend hours on them, on this one : 15 min, on Arturia's, 2 seconds !

wavelength · Post by **wavelength** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:58 pm

On 2004-03-09 15:50, decimator wrote:
I'am glad the filter is under control !

I noticed a trend with your latest devices : less controls but potent actions, I'am getting accustomed now.

I'am already sold by the way you're describing the sound capabilities, having the rest of your stuff !

Concerning the GUI, it's the lack of contrast more than the brightness that annoys me, my best GUIs are the ones I can spend hours on them, on this one : 15 min, on Arturia's, 2 seconds !

thanks! i'll see what i can do on the GUI contrast.

wavelength · Post by **wavelength** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 1:34 am

I have updated the screenshot (see top) which includes some of the unique features I have added. I have also significantly adjusted the contrast of the surface elements to make things even easier to look-at (hopefully).

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: wavelength on 2004-03-15 01:36 ]</font>

Post by **hubird** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 4:30 am

very interesting, looking forward to the demo mp3's!

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 5:29 am

Hi Wavelength

I keep wondering whether the small dials are a bit fiddly to work with or not? Other than that possible issue, I think the UI looks really good!

Royston

wavelength · Post by **wavelength** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 6:02 am

On 2004-03-15 05:29, Counterparts wrote:
Hi Wavelength

I keep wondering whether the small dials are a bit fiddly to work with or not? Other than that possible issue, I think the UI looks really good!

Royston

Thanks! It's just a by-product of being able to have all of the controls available at once, on one surface, and also allowing for the text displays. I personally find the smaller knobs to be no problem at all.

The downside of using the large knobs exclusively would be excessive paging throughout the synth surface, which is also fiddly and less intuitive, IMHO. I find that patch-making inspiration can come from having all the possibilities laid-out clearly before you, at once.

Stubbe · Post by **Stubbe** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 3:38 pm

I have no idea what I am talking about, but would it be possible to make the small knobs in such a way, that you don't have to grab it precisely spot on, but could actually place the cursor next to the button (within an invisible square or circle), press down and presto, you would activate and change the setting ?

Just my 2 cents worth...

Stubbe

decimator · Post by **decimator** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 6:58 pm

The contrast is still not good ( for me ) on the oscillators for instance, whitey background + white text + white lines on knobs = my eyes will really hurt very fast !!!!
The right side is okay, I favor uniform dark grey, less distracting than those "effects".

I agree that there are a lot ( too much ) of small knobs, no intermediate size ?

Maybe with resizing of sections, more bigger knobs could be in ...

Agreed also : all in one is better than multi paging when possible.

wavelength · Post by **wavelength** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 6:59 pm

On 2004-03-15 15:38, Stubbe wrote:
I have no idea what I am talking about, but would it be possible to make the small knobs in such a way, that you don't have to grab it precisely spot on, but could actually place the cursor next to the button (within an invisible square or circle), press down and presto, you would activate and change the setting ?

Just my 2 cents worth...
Stubbe

If I did this then the text displays would be inaccessable, due to the knob control areas spilling over. The text displays are editable to allow for very precise changes.

I sincerely do not think the smaller knobs will be an issue -- especially since all parameters can be MIDI-automated with whatever comfortable tactile controller you want.

Also, when considering what other GUIs are out there, I think this design is really very efficient and user-friendly, in terms of screen real estate. It still boggles my mind that companies like Arturia like to waste sometimes half of their GUI space with "wood" and a useless graphical keyboard representation. At least the use of smaller knobs on the OP-8's GUI serves a function... hehehe

decimator · Post by **decimator** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 7:12 pm

Ah ! simultaneous posting !
No, no ! Arturia makes the best GUIs around ! look at the modular, you have no ideas of the values of the knobs !