herdriver's Recent Posts
Thanks for adding a scroll direction option, Randy. What input device(s) are you using where the current setup is preferable?
Interesting that the presets should be similar in CPU load with the same voice setting. I checked both problem presets and they are set to 4 voices.
Unrelated feature idea: What do you think about making the hitbox (not sure that's the correct term) for all outputs like amp, pitch, noise etc. larger? Currently, one has to click exactly on a node to draw a cable. I could imagine extending the area to the sites and the top in an invisible rectangle or something like that to the extent of the text dimensions. Then one could click the node itself or anywhere around it including the text (e.g. "amp") to draw the cable. Could be especially helpful to quickly zip through the interface without pinpoint accuracy when when the GUI is small. This might also help improve accessibility for people with motor or visual impairments.
Hi Randy,
I looked into my clipping and performance issues.
Clipping/level: I couldn't reproduce any above 0 dBFS peaks with "clip" engaged. However, some presets could use lower level or clip enabled (bassix, nice pluck, rubicon, gliding cowbell, space ghosts, voices bubbles) since they peak above 0 dBFS. Occasionally, I noticed clipping up to a few dB over full scale when switching presets while Sumu is playing.
Performance: Sumu runs better in Cubase 14 than in Reaper. Two presets overtax my CPU: "inaudible knoll" and "no beef," the latter being unplayable even at a 2048 buffer (48 kHz). It appears all or most of the CPU load is concentrated on one core. In Reaper, it’s almost always unplayable. In Cubase, I experienced this once or twice, but reloading Sumu and the preset resolved it. All Cubase tests used a buffer size of 512.
Regarding your question, opening or closing the plugin window has no impact on performance.
Hey Randy, I'm demoing Sumu 1.0 and especially in combination with Vutu it is a very intriguing instrument—just a bit more complex than my beloved Aalto. Exploring it is a great adventure. Also, the SPACE visualization is so beautiful, and the grey high-contrast GUI is fantastic.
Here are some observations I’d like to share.
Feature request: I’d love to see FLAC support added to Vutu.
Bug: Mouse scrolling is inverted when navigating through presets—scrolling down moves up the preset/list, and scrolling up moves it down.
Preset browsing: It feels a bit "looser" than in Aalto/Kaivo. The clickable areas for left and right navigation arrows [ ] are very small, making them easy to miss. When that happens, the preset list often opens instead. This never happens in Aalto, where the visual distinction between the arrows < > and the preset name field helps a lot, I think.
Preset volume: Some presets exceed 0 dBFS, even when "clip" is enabled. This happens occasionally, even without playing 3- or 4-note chords.
Performance issues: Sumu has been behaving inconsistently. Initially, in Reaper, it didn’t respond to modwheel or pitchbend, although other synths did. Later, it worked fine. However, I noticed crackles in many presets until I increased my buffer size to 1024 or even 2048. For example, the "inaudible knoll" patch produced significant crackles and was almost unplayable at anything below 2048. This happened in both Reaper and Cubase. Now, back in Cubase with my buffer at 512, everything, including "inaudible knoll," seems to be working fine without me making any noticeable changes (not even restarting my system). I'm running a 10900k, Win 10 Pro. Should I be able to run Sumu smoothly or is my CPU getting too old?
I'm on Windows so I can't try it yet. Is FLAC import supported? If not, would you consider adding it?
Latest newsletter brought me here. Always excited to receive news from you. Count me among the people that are eagerly anticipating Sumo. Very interesting description and I love the grey color scheme.
"learn" can only be for midi learn functionality, right? Please add that to Aalto and the others as well in the future :-)
I'm so happy there is gonna be a v2 of Aalto and equally as happy about the midi mapping!!! Really fantastic news. Also excited for what Sumo will be.
Always very happy to get an new Aalto version in my hands and ears - even without Midi Learn, but I'm optimistic ;-)
Though I didn't get an email notification for this update but found out about it on Synthopia. Nothing in my spam folder too.
I would like to suggest
1) Sequencer's Width getting a signal input.
2) Sequencer's Range getting a signal input.
3) Option to trigger the sequencer via Aftertouch (while Key Trig is off)...
3a) Different Aftertouch trigger modes:
Trigger and run normally
Trigger but stop when Aftertouch is no longer pressed
4) Option to flip the sequencer's steps horizontally (left/right)...
5) Envelope 2's Release getting a signal input.
6) An option to sync the LFO to host tempo.
7) LFO Noise getting a signal input.
8) Aalto getting the output limiter feature from Kaivo.
9) A simple LPF and HPF either in front of the Reverb for the audio that's going in, or for the wet Reverb signal itself.
The filters could be stepped and have fixed frequencies. This wouldn't limit their usefulness but would avoid the necessity of a number display.
Think something like 5 stepped positions, for example Off, 40, 100, 200, 400 Hz for the HPF and Off, 18, 12, 6 and 1 kHz for the LPF.
10) Adjustable pre-delay for the Reverb (like Envelope 2's delay). Maybe with signal input.
TL;DR – I've concocted a gui mock-up, brutally cramming in all of my suggestions: http://i60.tinypic.com/2up72ao.jpg
The dedicated trigger in Kaivo is great. I wasn't aware of it because I haven't spent very much time with the demo yet.
I like the panel idea for less important or one-time setup type parameters very much.
Great. If the CPU increase only occurs while a signal is actually connected, I don't think anybody would mind more CPU usage. One can always pull the plug if necessary :-)
Hello Randy, it would be great if the LPG's Decay would get a dedicated modulation input.
On a related note:
I think maybe it would be a good idea if you consolidated all feature requests for Aalto and Kaivo in a single thread each.
It would get rid of a bunch of (redundant?) threads and make the forum tidier and it would make keeping up with the requests for you and the users much easier.
Some DAWs (I know Reaper does) have the option to auto-mute the output at a chosen level which can be helpful for situations like this.
And besides a limiter or clipper, the free Ice9 Automute plugin is another option: http://www.cerberusaudio.com/Software/Products/Ice9/
"Aalto does not have internal MIDI learn."
...Yet. That's what you meant to say, right? ;-)
Re: Midi Learn Aalto/Kaivo
Cool, thanks for taking the time to reply. That's good news!
I've just discovered that you already mention the plan of adding "basic MIDI controller functionality" in the Aalto manual's FAQ section. I really hope it's going to be complete Midi Learn for every knob, slider and button in Aalto in the end.
From what I've experienced, Midi Learn seems to be handled in two different ways:
Some plugins store the Midi Learn settings only with the current session, so if you start a new session, you'll have to reassign all the controls. While it's better than nothing, I don't think that is perfect.
Other plugins save the Midi Learn settings globally, so that whenever you open an instance of the plugin in a new session, your standard controller layout is ready to go. To me that is the perfect solution.
A nice bonus feature would be the ability to load/save different Midi Mappings in the plugin on the fly.
Hello Randy, is it possible for you to implement Midi Learn?
I'm currently in Cubase 6.5 as my main DAW and it doesn't feature great and easy Midi Learn capabilities like for example Live does.
In short, in Cubase I'm practically confined to a lousy 8 controls :-(
Having Aalto-native Midi Learn would make my life so much easier and my time with Aalto especially in Cubase so much more enjoyable than it already is.
Apart from the Cubase issue, I generally prefer when plugins have their own Midi Learn functionality.
Please let me know your thoughts on that issue and what bribes it would need to make you consider adding Midi learn ;-)
PS. Of course I'm also interested if Kaivo will have Midi Learn.