SPC ArcSyn

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I miss a "free osc" option for the OSCs. Or are they already not restarting?

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Stunner synth!

Btw do you guys also have something weird going on with the Cathedral preset, in the C6 octave (7th octave)?
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God damn it, this is instabuy :D Great work.
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hesnotthemessiah wrote:I love this plugin!! :love: I was going to list everything I loved about it but my head exploded with excitement so all I will say is try this beauty out if you like to experiment with your sounds.

What I would like to see:-

As mentioned here in this thread - the ArcSyn logo does seem like a waste of space. I would love to be able to see all the modulation matrix at once - it's a vital tool for sound designing in ArcSyn. How about splitting the modulation matrix view into two, always visible, panels of 8? You could use that current ArcSync logo space for the extra panel.
Thank you for that suggestion. Working on the GUI is top of my list for updates (after the inevitable bugs have been ironed out). I wonder if anyone will actually use more than 8 modulation slots though - few (if any) factory programs do, partly because the number of modulation slots was only 8 until very late in development.
hesnotthemessiah wrote:It seems such a shame to me that you cannot modulate the fantastic fx that ArcSyn has from within it's modulation matrix. This is really the one feature that I am surprised is missing in ArcSyn.
Good point. Modulatable FX is on my list for a future version, once I can figure out how to add dozens more parameters to the limited menu space (and maintain compatibility with existing programs, that's the really tricky part!). The original reason it's missing is that I was trying to save CPU cycles - I started this quite a few years ago when processors were slower. I don't think it would be an issue now.
hesnotthemessiah wrote:I would really like to be able to have the A and H and D and S and R for each envelope as individual modulation destinations aswell. For example, I have just been editing the lovely "Massive" preset and used Env1 to modulate the COMB filter which really adds a nice variation to the sound. Tweaking the sustain part of Env1 whilst playing added some more nice "movement" to the COMB filter. Now if I could automate the sustain setting with an LFO, or velocity or............ I love this plugin!!!
I agree, the envelope parameters should be available as modulation destinations. Again, it's on my list for a future update. Originally, I had note velocity control over attack time available as a front panel slider but it got culled at some point, to save space if I remember correctly. The specific example you mention of modulating the sustain with an LFO would actually be pretty much the same as just modulating the filter cutoff directly with an LFO - just in case you still want to do that!
hesnotthemessiah wrote:Thankyou Steve for providing me with my dream synth for creating original sounds. Developers like yourself make my life worth living :tu: Plus Party Rings of course.
I'm speechless! Thank you very much indeed for your kind words :-)

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Hanz Meyzer wrote:I miss a "free osc" option for the OSCs. Or are they already not restarting?
Hanz, the oscillator waveforms are all 'free phase', they *don't* start from the same point each time a note is played (is that what you mean? I apologise if I'm not understanding your question). A 'phase reset' button to force the waveforms to start from zero is another thing on my list of future updates. I experimented with adding one during development but left it out as I was worried about the extra CPU load.

*Or* do you mean the 'FREE' option on the LFOs? (updated in v1.2) That's still there, only improved and the name has gone as it's not really descriptive - it's now the default option.

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HunterKiller wrote:Stunner synth!
Glad you like it!
HunterKiller wrote:Btw do you guys also have something weird going on with the Cathedral preset, in the C6 octave (7th octave)?
Having transposed my keyboard up 3 octaves, I see what you mean - that is weird. I'll have a look and see what I can do. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

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SPC Plugins wrote:Thank you for that suggestion. Working on the GUI is top of my list for updates (after the inevitable bugs have been ironed out). I wonder if anyone will actually use more than 8 modulation slots though - few (if any) factory programs do, partly because the number of modulation slots was only 8 until very late in development.
Because it has such obvious uses as an SFX synth, yes I can see myself using more than eight. But, having said that, the multipage mod matrix layout on Albino and Tone2 stuff has never bothered me.
Last edited by Gamma-UT on Wed Feb 10, 2016 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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urlwolf wrote:Congrats Steven on a fantastic piece of work. I hope you understand how great a response you have gotten!
Yes, I was expecting a barrage of criticisms, so I'm very pleased!
urlwolf wrote:Quick question: There's an osc type called wavetable, is this also computed on the fly (ie not real wavetables, which are small one-cycle samples that are read, not computed)? The waves there look quite complex. All the osc types are pretty amazing. I have to wonder how complex waves can be generated with a formula. Seriously impressive.
The 'wavetable' waveform is a deliberately very basic version of a standard wavetable oscillator, limited to 16-step waveforms so they sound very bright and buzzy (but the steps are still fully anti-aliased). In addition, instead of each waveform having it's own set of 16 steps, they're 'shared' between waveforms, so 1 is steps 1-16, 2 is 2-17, 3 is 3-18 and so on. Also, the waveforms switch from one to another rather than crossfading.
urlwolf wrote:Related question. What is the advantage of computing all oscs in real time instead of using small one-cycle samples as in wavetables? Is the final sound less likely to alias?
It's probably easier to minimise aliasing using wavetables actually. The main advantage of avoiding wavetables is that you can have inharmonic components, noise and other stuff which can't be reduced down to individual cycles.
urlwolf wrote:Since you seem to have put quite a few popular synths under the oscilloscope, could you share your results? If you prefer to keep it undercover so you don't publicly say bad things about your competitors, feel free to PM me :)
I don't have anything bad to say about any popular (or unpopular) synths, only the greatest respect for their developers after having struggled through developing my own! The only thing which surprised me from looking at spectrum plots (which is quite easy to do with something like Audacity) was how the best sounding synths (to my ears) have less high end than you'd expect.

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from listening to the demos I am hearing some things that I have not heard from other synths and that has me excited. I am hoping other synth designers are looking at your synth and learning something and or getting inspired to add what I am hearing because it is a nice sort of analog chaos that I think may be very useful for keeping the listeners ear from getting tired.

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Well, after reading all the raves in this thread about this synth, I had to download the demo even though I knew the GUI would be difficult for me to work with.

I don't even know where to begin.

In all the VSTs that I have downloaded and purchased, some free, many paid for, I have never heard one with such an analog, warm, hardware like sound. Reminds me of my early years back in the late 70s, early 80s with my first analog synths.

I have no idea what you did to get this thing to sound like it does but kudos. I could sit and program this thing for years.

I'm going to wait and see if and when anything is done to the GUI as it exists now, because this synth is too good not to own. But right now, I feel like I'm looking at an abstract work of art. And maybe that fits for what this thing sounds like. But the modulation section is so cramped and small I can just about make out the parameters. And the yellow on black contrast is distracting. The layout in general seems a bit cluttered. And yet, in spite of all this, I can't really put my finger on what it is about the GUI that puts me off the most. I just can't see spending hours working on this like I do other synths that are easier to look at, for lack of a better way to put it.

But make no mistake about it. This is the closest I've heard to the chaos I got out of my early analog polyphonic synths.

With a more "pleasant" interface, this would absolutely be one of my favorite synths and I own a ton of them.

My 2 cents for whatever they're worth.

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The interface colours don't grate too much but are meh for sure.

I agree about the size / shape/ workflow of the mod matrix being the biggest let down. Sort that and the rest is easier to live with. /2penethworth

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I've already created several patches with more than 8 mod slots. There are 8 lfos, may as well use them for stuff :)
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Gotta say.. I really appreciate the dev's candor here. That alone makes me want to buy Arcsynth. =]

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Arcsyn needs it's 16 modulation slots. 8 modulation slots would be way too limiting for the modulation options this beauty possesses. That's the main reason for me loving Arcsyn - it doesn't limit itself to "the norm". If you want "the norm" then there is plenty of it out there. For those that feel limited by "the norm" get into Arcsyn and create some mad, beautiful, original sounds.

Thankyou Steve for the feedback on my, and other posters, thoughts. Really looking forward to future development.

I hope Arcsyn users understand that, like many of the developers out there, this is not a major money earner for a multi national corporation employing loads of staff. This is one person spending many, many hours, days, weeks and months (perhaps even years) for comparably small financial gain. So please be patient :wink:

Could Arcsyn be the new moog?
Windows 10. Asus X99-Pro i7 6950X 10 Core 3GHz (Overclocked to 3.5GHz). Corsair DDR4 64GB Vengeance LPX 2400MHz. RME RayDAT. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970. UAD2 Quad+Octo. Reaper. A couple of plugins.

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hesnotthemessiah wrote:ArcSyn needs it's 16 modulation slots. 8 modulation slots would be way too limiting for the modulation options this beauty possesses. That's the main reason for me loving ArcSyn - it doesn't limit itself to "the norm". If you want "the norm" then there is plenty of it out there. For those that feel limited by "the norm" get into ArcSyn and create some mad, beautiful, original sounds.

Thankyou Steve for the feedback on my, and other posters, thoughts. Really looking forward to future development.

I hope ArcSyn users understand that, like many of the developers out there, this is not a major money earner for a multi national corporation employing loads of staff. This is one person spending many, many hours, days, weeks and months (perhaps even years) for comparably small financial gain. So please be patient :wink:

Could ArcSyn be the new moog?
Windows 10. Asus X99-Pro i7 6950X 10 Core 3GHz (Overclocked to 3.5GHz). Corsair DDR4 64GB Vengeance LPX 2400MHz. RME RayDAT. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970. UAD2 Quad+Octo. Reaper. A couple of plugins.

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