KV331 Synthmaster Update

KV331 Audio has updated SynthMaster to v2.6.19 which now allows you to assign envelopes/LFOs or even MIDI velocity to effect parameters (such as the EQ).
Other fixes/updates include:

• NEW: <MyDocuments>/SynthMaster/Presets folder is now added to preset search folders list upon startup.
• FIX: Changing the HP cutoff frequency of the EQ effect generates noise/out of range values.
• FIX: Sampling rate is set to 44.1 kHz for all SynthMaster AAX instances.
• FIX: When importing MIDI sequences to the arpeggiator, rests in between notes are not recognized correctly.
• FIX: When number of loops is set to 0 for multistage/2D envelopes, they don't work as "one shot" envelopes.

Thanx for the add on Meshy!!!

Mitch_I
And still no note-allocation method? That means that if you run out of polyphony, new notes just don't play. Doesn't work for me.
 
Mitch I.

A poor reason not to use such a great and beautiful sounding synth. Did you know you can set the polyphony of the instrument and it can be set up to 64 voices which is quite a lot. I have produced a million soundtracks with a Kurzweil K2000 which only has 24 notes of polyphony and in all that time I never heard any notes dropping or not being played. If you can do it with 24 voices you can certainly do it with 64 voices.
 
You are probably playing too may notes in your chord voicings. Chords sound better when you start dropping out unnecessary notes and just use the real important ones left behind. (in Jazz for example nearly every chord can be represented with a single bass tonic note and three chord tones above.)
 
Yes I agree when you start layering things up to make deep complex sounds then you can use up your voices but usually when you start doing this it is only one or two notes max you need to play in real life with such a dense layer.
 
Synthmaster rocks and sounds excellent. One of the nicest and fattest analog synth sounding VST's out there as well.

The note-allocation scheme is my interpretation of the problem. Here's a reply from KV331 on KVRAudio last year:

"The poly mode in SynthMaster works like this:
If a note is ON, it wont be stolen. It would be stolen only if it was OFF or in RELEASE state.
Maybe I should introduce other poly modes."
 
It's possible that I don't really understand what's happening. But what I'm experiencing is that I can't play fast chords (with pedal or without) without a lot of notes cutting out.
 
I've played a K2000 and dealt with its polyphony limitation. And I have several high-quality soft synths. Synthmaster is the only synth I've ever played that has this problem. I'd appreciate any help in understanding it.
 
Mitch I.

Hi Mitch. Interesting. Firstly, any fast chordal playing with pedal down is not an option. Every synth will run out of voices pretty quick under those conditions. So we will rule that one out thanks.
 
I constructed a test. I selected a nice shortish type sound (Note: for fast playing the sound really should be ended by the time the next note comes along otherwise it is still trying to sound the previous note while playing a new one. Hence a recipe for running out of voices also) and I generated chords (5 notes) on 16th notes for 4 bars. So we have 16 chords to the bar now. It played back perfectly (pedal up) at every tempo right up to and well over 200 BPM. (you or I would never be able to play this fast) Not a single note dropped anywhere so not sure what you are hearing here.
 
Maybe it is something else. Or it is you maybe making unrealistic demands on the synth. But if you are hearing it with fast live chordal playing then it might be worth looking into. What have you set your polyphony to as well.
 
Update:
I just ran a live test. I selected a sound that was even a little longer than the note spacing I was using. I played for quite a long time fast repeated extended chords interleaved with fast single monophonic lines all at once and it never flinched either spitting out everything I was playing and not dropping a note anywhere.

Kroneborge
I think I need to give this a look.  Looks very promising.  How does it compare do other do everything synths like Alchemy or Zebra?

That's not a question that can be answered easily.  There is some overlap in both cases, but there are things that both Alchemy and Zebra do that most other synths don't.  SynthMaster, on the other hand, does a *great* many things, but none of them too far out like Alchemhy's additive/spectral stuff or Zebra's (somewhat incomprehensible) wave shaping.  Download the documentation and read through what it says about SynthMaster's oscillators.  I think you'll start to see what I mean.
 
Another attractive aspect of SynthMaster is the add-on sound libraries.  There are a number of them that pay homage to historic synth sounds - very good stuff, and not too expensive, especially since they are frequently discounted.