Absynth 3 notes

OK, here are my first notes about Absynth 3. Except some new features which are great, there's not so much new. Some old bugs (of course some new ;-)), handling isn't improved in wide ranges - so I'm a bit disappointed about what I got for 99 euros upgrade fee...

good:

+ unison mode with random transition, economical on CPU
+ fractalising mode for osc
+ free running mode for osc
+ resonator effect: wide range of timbres at your fingertips
+ multiple breakpoint selection

not so good:

- fractalising mode only for main oscil
- free running mode not for lfo
- envelope cursor way too dark and hardly visible, esp. when zoomed in
- no cursor for linked envelopes
- no "zoom to fit" for envelopes
- only 3 grid sizes, no triplets
- only adjacent breakpoints selectable
- envelopes not for all important parameters of resonator effect
- patch window doesn't remember if osc is set to main, mod or uni
- tiny output meter without peak hold, override "LEDs" are almost invisible
- still no library function for note scale maps
- still no tempo-sync for envelope lfo
- still no random lfo
- still no noise generator

- errors in manual and too brief explanations ("try out and hear it yourself")

bugs:

- completely unusable as VST in Sonar because of major display bug!!!
- improper window resizing of dxi plug-in, way too small after changing page (Sonar4)
- different behaviour of panning lfo, distroying the sound of some v2-patches
- bypass doesn't work with linked envelopes (it does in v2)
- still sometimes wrong envelope is shown in link mode
- still problems with displaying of envelope segments
- still hanging notes when played very fast
- only 6 midi sliders (plus volume and pan) show up - manual says that ALL will show

questions:

? frequency shifter feedback <= 0.5 ?
? no output with "audio in" as plug-in in Sonar4? - meter is indicating input though

 

I keep running into a display bug during VST plug in mode too. Changing the envelope display window size causes the main patch view to be resized wrong, you can't see the lower three modules anymore (even if you change the envelope window back to the default size). This happens in both SX3 and Live 4.04 on a 1.6gHz centrino based laptop.

 

And here is the update of my little Aby3 diary and it's for free ;-). Would be nice if someone could confirm my experiences or correct me if I'm wrong.

good:

+ frequency shifter gives clean and somehow "aetherical" sounds
+ did I mention that unison mode is great? ;-)

not so good:

- if output mode is set to stereo, lfo pan should work like in v2
- breakpoint doesn't follow exactly mouse cursor when env window is zoomed vertically
- no option to choose whether midi-controled breakpoints will shift all the following points, so time shifting changes loop length, only back-shifting possible
- Aby2 doesn't load v3 patches
- still no multiple UNDO !!!

bugs:

- "store to" doesn't work (flashes and nothing happens)
- hanging notes even with slow playing
- min. breakpoints in control driven is 4 - trying to delete causes crash
- if any env has 5 bp no more can be deleted
- sometimes moving the marker moves bp instead
- env cursors sometimes repeat a part of an env, although not hearable
- env cursors are not running synchronously
- moving multiple breakpoints up/down, deselect, select again, then moving gives unexpected results
- new pitch env with grid on: weird bp times (not explained in manual)

questions:

? output setup is showing "only" 7 modes and 6 outputs (audiophile 2496)?
? what does "shape" parameter mean in resonator effect?
? midi-controlled bp and lfo: transition ratio between cc-value and resulting change?

to be continued...

 

As to 2 not loading 3 patches,it has to be that way if you think about it.
If you're using both A2 and A3,COPY your A2 banks to your A3 folder.You'll save yourself lots of grief that way...
ew

 

OK, thought about it, you're right - but: There are still some bugs in Aby2, wouldn't it be nice if they were fixed? With that bugfix an import function could be implemented, allowing to load v3 patches which are NOT using the new features, or just ignore them. Moreover I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to be able to export v2-format banks with Aby3, again of course loosing new features. Any serious standard app out there can export older formats, why not a soft-synth?

 

Seems that NI is getting the "Award for the worst software release of the year". Not only took they most old bugs from Aby2, but even worsened them! Didn't they make tests? C'mon ladies and gentlemen, I cannot be the only one who's running into all of these bugs within a few days!?

good:

+ audio in (works in Sonar now - my fault)
+ yeah, unison... ;-)

not so good:

- no gain for individual resonators, which makes it a bit difficult to mix different settings

bugs:

- copy/paste notescale map doesn't work !!! (can't believe it!)
- display problems with link parameters in env window
- no pitch-, phase- and vol-envelope in fractal mode in new dialog - workaround: switch to single, add envelope, switch back again
- most times fractal displacement goes from -128 to 64 instead of 0 to 100, ajustments are sometimes not remembered then - have to switch to single mode and back again
- effect of fractalizing mode is weaker than fractalizing in wave editor with same parameters
- canceling wave editor transformation does not reset sound
- if midi-area for bp is activated, slider(s) appear(s) on main page even if settings are at 0 and remain there, hence "running out" of sliders (only 6 plus vol and pan possible!)
- switching a channel on or off resets display of all channels to main
- wave editor sometimes doesn't show the presets ("No editable waveforms...") - workaround: make a new preset, then all will be shown again

questions:

? what is "fractal detune" (envelope in fractal mode)? It seems to have no effect

to be continued...

 

Is it just me but it seems to sound better ( judging on the mp3's )

Still no way of loading scala or tun microtuning files ?

Can the envelop groups be customised ?

Is still the horizontal zoom on the envelop window still a massive pain in the ass ?

I lost so much time with those envelops and management of them that I gave up using Absy long time ago

 

Sound is much better, mostly due to unison mode with random transition and free running oscils. Also frequency shifter introduces less distortion than ringmod and last not least new resonator effect is great! I cannot find that the sound of existing patches is improved and there's still some noticable clicks with fast envelope transients.

Envelope display groups can't be customised, there's a fixed set of options. Actually customisation seems to be foreign word for NI.

Envelope zoom works smooth now, although still display anomalies with very long envelopes (I mean VERY long!), and there's no "zoom to fit".

AFAIK there's no way to import scala and the like. In general there's nothing new which isn't mentioned by NI at Absynth info pages (or did I miss sth?).

 

Thanks much dreamkeeper for the infos !

Absynth can have a lot of things going on at the same time and as long as it won't have power tools for fast monitoring / editing / managing modulations, I'll use other synths that will give me more quick and predictable results when tweaking.

 

question to NI and moderator,
is bug posting here in this forum considered by you?
i am just asking because i have never seen here an official statement.
greets,
gunnar

 

I'm sure that Nils looks at the bug reports here,as do replicant and myself,and whatever we see that hasn't been reported already gets reported.
ew

 

thank you,
that feels good.

 

Do you have a dual CPU machine? If yes and you have Windows XP, you can set the affinity to one CPU and it should work fine.

Is that a dual CPU meter on AB3?

 

Thanks Bingo242 - but I haven't a dual CPU machine (AMD 1.5GHz). I got a lot of hanging notes with Aby2 on Win98. It became a bit better after uprading to XP pro, no more hanging notes with normal playing. But now with Aby3 it's much worse again, cannot use it at all this way...

Not sure about the CPU meter, looks like it could be double on a dual CPU machine but don't know, sorry.

Nice signature btw. ;-)

 

What are you using for a MIDI interface and soundcard?Is the interface USB per chance?
ew

 

It's not only nice but also very true...


I have severe problems using MIDI with Absynth 3 (with both CPUs enabled) (Absynth 2 works fine though): if I use a MIDI keyboard, AB3 plays about 5-8 notes and after that it won't receive any more MIDI for about 30-60 s. But with only one CPU enabled it works fine.

 

No no, I keep away from that crap. This is pure, old fashioned MIDI.
(Yamaha keyboard -> CreamWare Scope)

 

Not you Bingo-I was asking dreamkeeper in regard to his stuck note problem.
Sorry for not being clearer,
ew

 

Eric - I'm using m-audio delta audiophile 2496 - no "USB-crap" like Bingo stated correctly ;-). I should mention that I have not any problems with other synths, including Kompakt and Kontakt.

There is an earlier thread about this topic, I think it's titled "sticking notes" or sth. like this. I had made some tests then and tried to describe the problem in detail.

werner

edit: I even came across hanging notes while "scratching" over Aby's virtual keyboard sometimes. That never happened with v2.

 

For Info.

I have these sticking notes too. But with Absynth2 (last update)

I had tested it with different VST-Hosts. Here are my results:

SX3 -> sticking notes
MiniHost (Tobybear)-> sticking notes
VstHost (H.Seib) -> no probs!!!!!!

tested Interfaces:
-Midisport2*2 USB
-Terratec Ews88MT
-Yamaha 01x
same problems on all interfaces (tested with HT on and off).

Other VSTI are ok (Komplete2, XPhrase, MoogModular etc.)

System:
Asus P4p800del. P4 2.6 (Ht on), 2GB DDR400, 400GB HD (Seagate, IBM)
WinXPpro SP1, Cubase SX3

This problem was discussed in german forum - without a solution

M.S.