Solcito Musica has announced the release of version 6.0 of SuperTron, the free step sequencer synth VST instrument plug-in for Windows.
After a long time, Solcito Musica got to work fully with the most popular of their virtual synthesizers. Due to the number of modifications made, this synth goes from version 4 to 6.
SuperTron v6.0 includes over 100 enhancements / new features, including: Global debugging, resizable window, added Ladder filters, new MIDI features, more modulation and effect routings, new features in the step sequencer, oscillators, filters and effects. There's a "Preset Info" feature to display and store user text of reminder, lyrics, etc. in each preset, and pop-up help when mouse hovers on each control.
What's new, in detail:
- Global Improvements:
- GUI redesign.
- General debugging of the internal structure.
- Added ability to choose 4 window sizes.
- Added mouse-over tooltips to all controls.
- Added "Preset Info" feature to display and store text notes in each preset.
- Enlarged the size of the Preset Manager panel.
- Now the windows for saving / loading presets and banks have their own titles to avoid confusion.
- Added MIDI Learn.
- Added MIDI output.
- Sliding selectors have been replaced by rotary selectors. Added logics for visual attenuation of several controls, displays, etc. They was carefully designed / redesigned.
- Optimized volume / output level bars to save CPU resources.
- Fonts of numerical indicators on panels were replaced by 7-segment Led displays.
- Narrowing of knob cursors.
- Relocation of Step Modulator, LFO, Vintager (formerly Age) panels.
- Improved the efficiency of CPU saving mode (cpu KEY to "eco").
- A PANIC button was incorporated to mute the synth quickly.
- Added DAW automation capability to On-Off buttons (previously only knobs and selectors could be automated).
- Several knob control responses were been smoothed to eliminate unwanted noises when turning them.
- Fixed wrong note frequencies at 48 kHz sample rate.
- Keyboard:
- Added a "KEYBOARD" panel.
- New handling of voices. Played notes that exceed the number of selected voices do not return except when 1 voice is selected. This avoids unwanted appearance of notes in poly modes and allows finger tapping in mono mode.
- Added "boost" button to increase the volume when playing in "mono", that is, when the number of voices selected is "1". This makes better use of the dynamic range in mono. It is disabled in poly modes to avoid unwanted over saturation.
- Reduced the maximum number of voices to 9 (previously 16).
- Added the option to disable the tone control from the keyboard, leaving the same tone in all keys, adjustable with a "pitch" knob.
- Added "Keyboard Split" function to make each oscillator work in a different keyboard zone.
- Added up and down range selectors for the pitch wheel.
- Fixed pitch bend bug that did not render well in certain DAWs.
- Added "kb loud" control, which lowers the volume of the high notes to balance their loudness with low notes.
- Added Portamento feature, adjustable by a "portam" knob.
- Improved the key velocity response control.
- Added a "vel resp" key velocity response curve selector with null response option.
- Step Modulator:
- Redesigned the step indication of the Step Modulator, optimized to save CPU. Now each Step Modulator screen has its own step marker.
- Optimized the scene selection operation of the Step Modulators.
- Added ability to copy - paste scenes.
- Added "Snap to lap" function to Step Modulators scenes. When changing scenes, the changes are not made until the next lap of the Step Modulators sequence begins. That function can be disabled by a button.
- The "loud" knob function of Step Modulator scenes has been modified. Now it is bypassed when the Step Multiple Modulator is turned off, leaving volume control exclusively to the Master knob.
- Added a general On-Off button for Multiple modulations in the Step Modulators top panel.
- Added a general pitch modulation On-Off button into the Step Pitch Modulator panel.
- Improved the control curve of the "FILT" knobs of the Step Multiple Modulator.
- Improved the control curve of the "PULSE" knobs of the Step Multiple Modulator.
- Added a knob "hold" in Step Modulator trigger section.
- Added an On-Off button in the Multiple Modulator panel.
- Added Pan modulations from knobs in the Step Multiple Modulator panel.
- Added LFO modulation from a knob in the Step Multiple Modulator.
- LFO:
- Rebuilding of the LFO engine.
- Added the option to control the global depth of the LFO from the modulation wheel.
- Added the option to enable / disable LFO modulations from a sustain pedal.
- Added Sustain pedal status indicator Led.
- Added "lap sync" option to sync the LFO rate with the Step Modulator. It resets the LFO in each start lap of the Step Modulator.
- Optimized the LFO Free mode.
- Added 4 waveforms to the LFO: Sine, Saw, Square, and Low Frequency Noise (Before: Triangle only).
- Added Pan modulation from knobs.
- Oscillators:
- Added mixed triangle / saw waveform option in oscillators.
- Now the noise generators can be used simultaneously with the other waveforms of the oscillators.
- Added graphical indications of oscillators routing to filters.
- Fixed oscillator square wave timing bug when switching from another wave, causing it to sound like a pulse wave.
- Added random phase to oscillator overtones to evoke retro behavior.
- Knob "tune" was changed for "detun".
- Knob "fat" was changed for "mix".
- Oscillator mode functions have been expanded. A selector with 2 sub oscillator modes was incorporated (one mode with the selected wave in the oscillator and another one with a sine wave). Added an "overton" selector with 24 combinations of overtones.
- The action of the oscillator "transpose" selector has been smoothed to avoid clicks.
- Filters:
- Added Ladder low pass filters.
- Added keyboard follow feature to the filters cutoff with "kb foll" knobs.
- Added options for adding and multiplying modulations of the filter cutoff with a "mod" switch.
- Added output level bars in filters.
- Added filter amplitude compensation based on selected filter type.
- Added filter amplitude compensation based on resonance.
- Reduced the filters cutoff range closer to the audible spectrum.
- Fixed wrong filter cutoff frequency at 48kHz sample rate.
- Improved the control curve of the filters "cut" knobs.
- Improved the control curve of the "Pan" knobs.
- Envelopes:
- Rebuilding of envelope generator engines.
- Eliminated some unwanted click noises.
- The maximum times of A, D, R were lengthened.
- The knobs "ampl" were replaced by "vol" switches.
- Improved envelopes behavior when triggering with Step Modulator, very noticeable in envelopes modulating the filter.
- Improved sustain behavior according to the selected curve.
- Fixed wrong envelope times for 48kHz sample rate.
- Effects Routing:
- Each Effect now can be applied independently on each filter output, via "1" and "2" buttons added in each effect panel.
- Multi-Effects Module:
- General optimization of SSE CPU instructions management. It means lowering of CPU consumption.
- Modified the control curve of multi effect "mix" knob.
- Fixed bugs in Echo effect.
- Now the echo effect turns On silently.
- Added tempo-synchronized rate control to the Echo effect.
- Added optional "color" feature to adjust the frequency spectrum of the wet sound.
- Added phaser effect.
- Improved the performance of the delay effect.
- Optimized the chorus effect.
- Distortion:
- Distortion effect rebuilt from scratch.
- Added bitcrusher effect on the Distortion panel.
- Vintager:
- The "Vintager" effect was designed to replace the "Age" function of the previous version.
- Optimized the CPU consumption.
- Added phase modulation by noise.
- Added slight polyphonic detuning.
- Optimized the frequency response in 48kHz sample rate.
- Different distortions were set for each wave of the oscillators.
- Modified the knob "age" control curve.
- Reverb:
- Internal debugging.
- Modified the "mix" knob control curve.
- Modified the "room" knob control curve.
- Modified the "damp" knob control curve.
