Editor / librarian software

[JacksonP]

This really makes me pissed off: Almost all the lower level VAs have their editor softwares and also new analogs (like DSI Mopho and Tetra), but no, no Origin..

There're so many things which would be so much faster, easier, illustrative and so on. Templates like JP8 or MM (or more complex like CS-80) would be just so much nicer to see with bigger screen. I think this would be nice those guys too, who would like to still use Origin's knobs. Whatever you do, 22 inch screen is nicer to watch than one with Origin.

Librarian features: With Origin connection you can do something but this is FAR from a good librarian software. I'd really like to edit my presets (with this computer editor!) and then save them to my computer-library together with categories: Author, Type, so on...

Ok, maybe at least some of you share my thoughts... Question is, have Arturia time to make this or what? I have to be little skeptical about it, they are so busy with SEM and Spark. One option might be to give this task to some third party developer who would sell it to us. At least I would pay 50 euros for it, if it coves what it is supposed to do. I have put it over 2000 euros, so here 50e is nothing. But still Arturia is missing here one good point: Good computer integration software would make Origin much more interesting product!

I just bought a little Xmas present for myself: AKAI miniak (289e). This little thing is quite known to be very difficult to program because of its VERY small display and just few knobs. It even hasn't USB midi so you might expect that there's no editor. Wrong. Company called Hypersynth has done at least nice looking editor for it. If you like, check those screen shots:

http://www.hypersynth.com/miniak-editor.html

Maybe Arturia should co-operate here, cause they haven't time (which they should have!)...?

[tomoe97]

I couldn't agree more. It's time Arturia started treating Origin like the flagship synth it is. Korg Kronos, Mg Voyager, Yamaha Motif, etc., all have their own editors. If Arturia can create such an elegant editor for Spark, why not Origin? If they wish to charge for it, fine. Most companies provide the editor at no extra cost, but some (like Mg) charge a modest additional fee. I have no problem with that.

[bigbrass]

 
I'd like to have the editor too, but with arturia's resources being so widely spread out at the moment, I'd rather have them focus on the next firmware update.
I think, eventually there will be an editor for origin. Either by arturia, or third party.

@JacksonP

How do you like your akai miniak ?

I have alesis micron, which is basically the same thing in a different box, without all the mod wheels...
To my ears, after origin, this is possibly the most analog sounding va out there.
Alesis micron was designed by Bret Victor (a very smart fellow - google him up, if interested). Originally, Bret coded the dsp engine for alesis ion. The hardware was done by some other folks. Eventually, ion went out of production, and Brent designed micron in its entirety. It was stripped down like that, probably to keep the mfg costs to minimum. A year or to ago, numark, a parent company to alesis and akai thought that the latter should reenter the synth market and the miniak was born.
They basically grabbed the guts from micron and put it in their own package with more mod wheels and without sliders. Rather than use one hefty dsp chip (like tigersharc for example) for all the processing, these va's use smaller alesis/wavefront AL3101 dsp chip for each voice, plus one for effects. Each chip can do ~ 50mps. These chips were originally used in alesis effects, but clever Bret figured out a way to make a great sounding synth out of them and Alesis has made a good chunk of money selling them. Anyway, I'm somewhat familiar with these chips (they're fixed point dsp's btw), and I'm just amazed how much one guy was able to squeeze out of them by top notch coding.
Like I said earlier, it's no origin, but imho, at ~ $300 you can't get a better va for the money.

leo

[simchris]

You might contact soundtower and ask them to create an editor/librarian.

Frankly, most of us have bought the Origin to use in modular fashion, in place of having or in addition to an analog modular ... that is the workflow and GUI for this device, being able to choose modules, routing etc. from the panel, then adjust with the controls.

I would much rather see the SEM voices in the next update, and in 1.5 the holy grail for me is the CS80 template. That and the SEM are my #1 wants, as the CS80 is the ONE keyboard I do not already own in some form or another.

:_)

[DrJustice]

Normal VA's can't be compared to the origin, which is the only modular synth of the bunch (not counting the discontinued and unsupported Clavias). Making an editor for the Origin is immensely more complicated than for fixed architecture synths. That is not to say it can't be done, but it's an order of magnitude more work, or so...

DJ
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[Philippe]

Well, the largest part by far of the work would be to port the Origin GUI to Mac and PC. The managing of the numerous parameters could be handled using MIDI sysex which is flexible enough even in a modular environment like Origin.

[JacksonP]

Hi,

I must say that as much as I would like to have complete Editor solution for Origin, at the moment I would suggest improving this librarian part. As said in another thread of mine, sound managing can be painful. And if it isn't, still it's much more difficult than it is in my two Korgs (Radias and Microkorg XL) for example.

Maybe it would be helpful to think a little about how they did it in Korg. In Korg editor you can open kind of a preset-matrix which is a set of a) all the current presets in your synth, b) some backup of it or c) some special soundbank (set a you'll get from synth itself, b & c are loadable from computer HD).
     Now, if you press any of those presets in this matrix, this preset will be immediately transport to synth and you can check it right away. It'll overwrite the current preset but this won't do it permanently. (If you choose "write" in synth then it'll be there.) This simple way makes everything in much better order. I can easily have all the sound banks in front of me, play them without messing my synths limited set presets, choose best ones to some memory location etc.
      Some difference is there which is something only Philippe can answer. Why does it take so long to transport presets (computer <--> Origin)? In Radias and Microkorg it takes about 1 second to transport a preset from Mac/PC to synth. Anyway IMO even if it took much longer time, Radias-kind of functionality would be much more useful in Origin too. In Origin if you check some sound bank, you'll have to do everything by hand: transport some sound to empty memory location (and also all those step seq presets) and then check it and then erase it if was not what did you expect and so on... And if your Origin is already full of presets this is even more difficult.

 

[DrJustice]

Well, the largest part by far of the work would be to port the Origin GUI to Mac and PC.

That's what I'm thinking about. I reckon the GUI would have to be much better, i.e. more 'free form', like a schematic editor as found in other PC/Mac based modulars, if there should be any point at all in doing it. A GUI similar to the one on the Origin would be completely pointless IMO.

With the slight positive (at least not completely negative ) flavour of your posting, are you considering an editor? Personally, I'd like the Origin budget to go towards stability and synthesis features before anything else.

DJ
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