New semi-modular synthesizer

neuroportal · Post by **neuroportal** » Mon Mar 13, 2017 9:34 am

I got the email.

Thank you for sorting this so quickly! I look forward to getting it....

Kernelkunt · Post by **Kernelkunt** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:10 am

Would like to hear a few more demos of this little synth. Sounds interesting so far

ocs · Post by **ocs** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:55 am

Kernelkunt wrote:Would like to hear a few more demos of this little synth. Sounds interesting so far

all official videos are there:
https://vimeo.com/nozoid

On the website, there is a dozen of sound examples :
http://nozoid.com/ocs-2/

there is also videos on instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/nozoid_synth/
but the recording is not always good.

neuroportal · Post by **neuroportal** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:13 am

This is an incredible little synth...

neuroportal · Post by **neuroportal** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:48 am

Just a quick recording - sorry about the clipping at some points. I was in a hurry. Completely self modulated and any effect is just the OSC3

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/312717004" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

neuroportal · Post by **neuroportal** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 4:15 am

Ok - my thoughts.

This thing is fun. This is important to me, because if it isn't fun, I won't experiment as much. This loves experimentation. The sound quality seems, so far, excellent. The interface layout shows a lot of forethought.

The intermodulation possibilities are almost modular like. The menu, initially, had me non-plussed, but I quickly worked out how it worked which shows the very logical approach. I would even say elegant.

Very quickly you can dial in complicated textures and the ease of routing modulaion options means you try everything just to see what happens.

If you aren't into modular, get one.
If you are into modular, get one.
If you are thinking of maybe going into modular - this is a great choice. Get one.
If you don't have one, get one.

Very well done.

If I could make changes - the pots are not really damped - or at least very lightly. This makes it very hard for fine adjustments. TBH - I like the oak enclosure, but I feel that a full enclosure with damped pots would be a complete sensory nirvana. BUt then I guess, at increased cost.

Oh - a simple 8/16 step, transposable sequencer setup would be awesome - judging by the software nature of the beast, something that may be possible in the future?

oldgearguy · Post by **oldgearguy** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 4:26 am

Question - is there any way to determine the current modulation routings?

I've been looking at the videos and I see how they are assigned and amounts adjusted, but I haven't seen any way to determine what's currently routed where.

thanks

neuroportal · Post by **neuroportal** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:07 am

Yep - you hold the button down of the source, and an indicator lights on the function that it is modulated by.

oldgearguy · Post by **oldgearguy** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:21 am

neuroportal wrote:Yep - you hold the button down of the source, and an indicator lights on the function that it is modulated by.

Cool - thanks for that. It definitely looks like a fun machine.

Kernelkunt · Post by **Kernelkunt** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 11:56 pm

neuroportal wrote:Ok - my thoughts.

This thing is fun. This is important to me, because if it isn't fun, I won't experiment as much. This loves experimentation. The sound quality seems, so far, excellent. The interface layout shows a lot of forethought.

The intermodulation possibilities are almost modular like. The menu, initially, had me non-plussed, but I quickly worked out how it worked which shows the very logical approach. I would even say elegant.

Very quickly you can dial in complicated textures and the ease of routing modulaion options means you try everything just to see what happens.

If you aren't into modular, get one.
If you are into modular, get one.
If you are thinking of maybe going into modular - this is a great choice. Get one.
If you don't have one, get one.

Very well done.

If I could make changes - the pots are not really damped - or at least very lightly. This makes it very hard for fine adjustments. TBH - I like the oak enclosure, but I feel that a full enclosure with damped pots would be a complete sensory nirvana. BUt then I guess, at increased cost.

Oh - a simple 8/16 step, transposable sequencer setup would be awesome - judging by the software nature of the beast, something that may be possible in the future?

Thanks for the write up. Liked the demo you posted too

Kernelkunt · Post by **Kernelkunt** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:16 am

A question for those of you who got your hands on of these;
From the documentation it seems LFO3 and the CV generator can be used to generate patterns/sequences. Can these somehow be clocked/synced using MIDI or CV?

ocs · Post by **ocs** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 4:12 am

neuroportal wrote:Ok - my thoughts.

This thing is fun. This is important to me, because if it isn't fun, I won't experiment as much. This loves experimentation. The sound quality seems, so far, excellent. The interface layout shows a lot of forethought.

The intermodulation possibilities are almost modular like. The menu, initially, had me non-plussed, but I quickly worked out how it worked which shows the very logical approach. I would even say elegant.

Very quickly you can dial in complicated textures and the ease of routing modulaion options means you try everything just to see what happens.

If you aren't into modular, get one.
If you are into modular, get one.
If you are thinking of maybe going into modular - this is a great choice. Get one.
If you don't have one, get one.

Very well done.

If I could make changes - the pots are not really damped - or at least very lightly. This makes it very hard for fine adjustments. TBH - I like the oak enclosure, but I feel that a full enclosure with damped pots would be a complete sensory nirvana. BUt then I guess, at increased cost.

Oh - a simple 8/16 step, transposable sequencer setup would be awesome - judging by the software nature of the beast, something that may be possible in the future?

Thanks for your enthusiasm and for posting your opinion and the demo.

About the pots : Prince of faders can vary a lot's and it's a big cost on a machine with 30 of them.
The best sensation I had was with very cheap pots from china. But I choosed to use more expensive pots from a known manufacturer hoping they will last longer. I guess we will see in 10 years if I made the right choice.

For the sequencer, it's possible to add one in the software. but it will break the "1 fader -> 1 function" philosophy.
I did not manage to find a good way to include a sequencer, but if someone came up with satisfying idea, I can program it and offer a software update.

ocs · Post by **ocs** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 4:13 am

Kernelkunt wrote:A question for those of you who got your hands on of these;
From the documentation it seems LFO3 and the CV generator can be used to generate patterns/sequences. Can these somehow be clocked/synced using MIDI or CV?

LFO and CV Gen are not sync with midi clock. But you are the 3rd asking for this, so it's the next update on my todo list.
Anyway, if you are using midi, it's easy to generate a CC sequence / loop, and use it as modulation instead of the analogue CV.

neuroportal · Post by **neuroportal** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:10 am

"Thanks for your enthusiasm and for posting your opinion and the demo.

Thank you for creating this lovely synth!

"About the pots : Prince of faders can vary a lot's and it's a big cost on a machine with 30 of them.
The best sensation I had was with very cheap pots from china. But I choosed to use more expensive pots from a known manufacturer hoping they will last longer. I guess we will see in 10 years if I made the right choice."

I noticed you had chosen ALPS. I wasn't stating the quality was there, more a case of the damping from the point of view of, say fine tuning.

"For the sequencer, it's possible to add one in the software. but it will break the "1 fader -> 1 function" philosophy.
I did not manage to find a good way to include a sequencer, but if someone came up with satisfying idea, I can program it and offer a software update."

This was on a 'in a perfect world' scenario. The User Interface/Experience is remarkable. I appreciate that adding the ability to program in a sequence would be doable but at the cost of subverting the current UX, and also would never meet the capabilities of a simple outboard sequencer. So in reality - if you were going to make updates, the ability to to sync lfo and cv gen would make far more sense.

I hope I didn't detract from the fact that this is an amazing product and it deserves to do very well indeed.

Kernelkunt · Post by **Kernelkunt** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 3:25 pm

ocs wrote: LFO and CV Gen are not sync with midi clock. But you are the 3rd asking for this, so it's the next update on my todo list.

Very cool!

tron23 · Post by **tron23** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 3:29 pm

Kernelkunt wrote:
ocs wrote: LFO and CV Gen are not sync with midi clock. But you are the 3rd asking for this, so it's the next update on my todo list.
Very cool!

Another vote for this feature (speaking on behalf of a close friend who got the OSC2).

ocs · Post by **ocs** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 7:38 am

tron23 wrote:
Kernelkunt wrote:
ocs wrote: LFO and CV Gen are not sync with midi clock. But you are the 3rd asking for this, so it's the next update on my todo list.
Very cool!
Another vote for this feature (speaking on behalf of a close friend who got the OSC2).

Ok!
Due to popular demand,I implemented a LFO MIDI syncro.
I'm not very experienced with MIDI synchro so tell me what you think.

Since there is no switch to enable / disable the synchro, I choose to sync only 1 LFO.
The LFO3 is more dedicated on rhythmic generation, so it's logic that it's the only one to be synchronized.

As soon as MIDI syncro signal (F8) is received : the LFO3 synchronize on this signal. Few seconds after you stop sending the syncro, or unplug the cable, the LF03 frequency goes back to a non synchro mode.

During the synchro mode, the LFO FQ fader change the frequency to 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 4 or 8 times the frequency of a MIDI note.
i.e, at 120 bpm, a MIDI note is 500ms, so the LFO frequency can vary from 8s to 16Hz.

I need to test this code a bit more, Then I'll try to find any easy way to update users OCS-2. But all new OCS-2 that I'll ship will be updated.

naegleria · Post by **naegleria** » Sat Apr 01, 2017 10:26 pm

Hey! How many preset slots does this have?

ocs · Post by **ocs** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:44 am

naegleria wrote:Hey! How many preset slots does this have?

10

ocs · Post by **ocs** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:46 am

ocs wrote:I need to test this code a bit more

I order a SQ-1, so that i can test the syncro.

Unborn Gore · Post by **Unborn Gore** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 5:01 pm

ocs wrote:I order a SQ-1, so that i can test the syncro.

Looks like your SQ-1 tests have been fruitful.

https://vimeo.com/214202355

Unborn Gore · Post by **Unborn Gore** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 5:04 pm

Question:

On your news feed you mention that the MMO-4 evolved to become the MMO-3. Are you still going to release both?

scottmoon · Post by **scottmoon** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 7:36 pm

Looks like a lot of fun in a small package. Curious if those are knob caps on the pot shafts and where you got them? The pots seem similar to some of the Folktek euro modules.

ocs · Post by **ocs** » Wed May 03, 2017 8:23 am

Unborn Gore wrote:
ocs wrote:I order a SQ-1, so that i can test the syncro.
Looks like your SQ-1 tests have been fruitful.

https://vimeo.com/214202355

yes, everything works!
All OCS-2 will now be shipped with the updated code.
sorry I did not had time to post here earlier.

After the release of the MMO-3 (I hope in 2 weeks), I will work on an easy way for a user to update the code.
Currently, you need to install the arduino development environment in order to update the code.

ocs · Post by **ocs** » Wed May 03, 2017 8:26 am

Unborn Gore wrote:Question:

On your news feed you mention that the MMO-4 evolved to become the MMO-3. Are you still going to release both?

The MMO-3 have a wider sound range then the MMO-4, so I started a production batch of the MMO-3 only. If someone wants a MMO-4, I think I can build few of them.

MOD WIGGLER

MOD WIGGLER

New semi-modular synthesizer