Improved oscillators: do we put them in Aspect?

[colin@loomer]

I've been working on some new oscillators which were originally intended for a future project, but, well, they seem too darned good to not put into Aspect. If you want to have a listen, some audio samples have been posted at the Loomer blog.

There are several pretty huge advantages to these new oscillators:

• - Reduced CPU usage.
  - Reduced memory usage.
  - Reduced aliasing and folder over noise both at ultra-high frequencies, and when syncing oscillators.
  - Removed DC offset when using the Pulse waveform with Pulse-width modulation.
  - They sound awesome.

I'm assuming that people would rather see these oscillators in Aspect than not, so I'm wondering how best to incorporate them. Obviously, they do sound slightly different than the current Aspect oscillators (although, in the vast majority of cases you'd have to be do some intense A|B testing, or be a dog, to notice the difference), which is why I'm reluctant just to do a straight-up replacement.

I'm not keen on the idea of having two sets of Oscillators in the Oscillator Shape Parameter, simply because I can't imagine why people would use the old ones in preference to the new ones. The only case would be due to backwards compatibility, ie, old patches that have been tweaked to perfection that you still want to use without having to re-tweak for the new oscillators.

With this in mind, I'm suggesting having a backwards compatible option (either in the menu somewhere, or perhaps in the Aspect configuration file) that means you can still use the old Oscillators, but by default, Aspect 1.5 will use the new oscillators. I'd assume that in some future version of Aspect, provided everyone is agreed and moved onto the new oscillator set, we'll probably phase the old oscillators out altogether.

Any comments on this? Is this an acceptable way of including the new oscillators?

[rexlapin]

Colin,
I would say to go with the new ones. I already like what's in there
but I don't mind tweaking a few patches if I can get the benefits
you describe and they do sound great even in raw form. Will there be
any benefits in terms of one oscillator modulating the other at audio
rates? It seems like there would be a smoother response at the higher
frequencies and with less artifacts.
Bring 'em on! ;-)
Cheers,
Scott

[djanthonyw]

The new oscillators sound like they'd be a lot better for bass and I found that was definitely a week point for Aspect when I originally demoed it. About when would the new version be available to demo?

[sunhome]

I need the cpu reduction, so new oscillators please.

[colin@loomer]

Great, unanimous so far: that's what I wanted to hear!

@rexlapin - Yes, oscillator feedback works great with these new oscillators. For example, by feeding back a sawtooth oscillator into its own Pitch Modulation at increasing depths, you can smoothly morph from this :

to this:


@djanthonyw - Indeed, they are much better for basses. It was, in fact, your comment a few weeks back that made me seriously think about how I could improve bass response in Aspect, so thanks!

@sunhome - CPU reduction is currently at about 10% on a patch. I'd hope to get it down further between now and release.

In terms of release for Aspect 1.5, I don't think it is too far off, but I don't want to commit to a date and then disappoint when I miss it! The oscillators are all coded, but still need a final polish, and there are a few other (very) minor bugs that I want to investigate. I also want to categorize and group the presets in the Aspect default bank so that it's a bit easier to browse. Ballpark guess for release: early next week?

[taoyoyo]

... I like the legacy osc idea but maybe it would be best to say "Out with the old and in with the new"? Especially if only a dog can tell the difference, (we have cats so no problem! )

[kuniklo]

... I like the legacy osc idea but maybe it would be best to say "Out with the old and in with the new"? Especially if only a dog can tell the difference, (we have cats so no problem! )

I agree. I don't think the dependencies on the old behavior are extensive enough to warrant any serious acrobatics to preserve it. I'd much rather see you spend that time adding more new features or working on something new.

[af20001]

... I like the legacy osc idea but maybe it would be best to say "Out with the old and in with the new"? Especially if only a dog can tell the difference, (we have cats so no problem! )

I agree - if it was the filters changing I think there would be more reason to keep a legacy mode, but not for the Oscillators. Personally, I spend more time tweaking the filters/modulation options when editing patches rather than the Oscillators.

And I was just going to finally update to Aspect 1.42 as well...

[Madrayken]

Bring on the new oscillators. If you were increasing aliasing or reducing flexibility then I'd be worried. However, I'm still most interested in the adsr release tail fix. Looking forward to 1.5 regardless.