Is the Origin the one for me?

[Gith]

One thing that has stopped me in the past from venturing into soft synths is the ever present possibility of drop-outs, glitches, pops and crackles.  Sound Quality and reliability is my first priority.  I know however that things have come a long way in the last 5 or 10 years and am wondering whether the Origin is way to go..

I want a modular synth that I can use live and Origin seems to tick most of the boxes... I've got a few questions however:

1.  With dedicated DSP and no windows/PC stuff cloggin up resources will the Origin sounds be 100% reliable?

2.  I've noticed in a review on music radar that the analog emulation is most obvious with 'zippering' when the resonance is set up high and the cutoff is swept - is this likely to be improved/resolved in future updates?

3.  Can you patch a modulation source to multiple destinations (like using a multiple on a modular)

4.  Can you mix multiple control souces to one destination (like a cv mixer on a modular)

5.  The manual says that you can have a maximum of 20 modules in 1 patch.. as the screen has 24 slots it seems logical to allow upto 24 modules for complicated patches even if losing some polyphony is more likely.. As even a relatively simple patch can use 12-13 modules I would welcome this improvement... can this be done??

6.  The lack of midi control is very off-putting (see message in technical questions section) - Is full midi control a feature that _will_ be implemented?  This would vastly improve the functionality of the instrument and seems strange that its been left out although I can understand you want to release the product as soon as possible..

With money burning a hole in my pocket I like the Origin but may go for the Voyager + Modular V software if my fears aren't put to rest... 

Any answers much appreciated...

Gith

[MindPoP_]

iM NOT SHURE ABOUT THE REVIEW BUT i HAVE NOT NOTICED THIS IN THE AUDIO.. tHE ORIGIN IS ONE OF A KIND. tHERE ARE NO DROPOUTS, OR INHERINT ISSUES KNOWN TO BE FOUND IN SOFT SYNTHS. tHIS IS A REAL HARDWARE SYNTH LIKE vIRUS, OR NORD. vIRTUAL ANALOG, BACKED BUT PROPRIITARY SYSTEMS FOR THE SOUND ENGINE, AND AS SUCH THE ORIGIN IS PERFECT.iT IS TRUELY MODULAR AND YES YOU CAN MULTI ROUTE IN AND OUT OF ALL THE MODULES AND THERE ARE COUNTLESS CONECTIONS POSSIBLE.tHERE IS NO OTHER HARDWARE LIKE THIS THAT i KNOW OF. gO FOR IT AND BUY IT IF THE CASH IS TRULTY BURNING YOU UP AT THE POCKET. iT IS WORTH IT BY FAR

[Philippe]

1.  With dedicated DSP and no windows/PC stuff cloggin up resources will the Origin sounds be 100% reliable?

We're working for that. A "maintenance" update should be available soon and others will follow later on along with "enhancement and new features" upgrades..

2.  I've noticed in a review on music radar that the analog emulation is most obvious with 'zippering' when the resonance is set up high and the cutoff is swept - is this likely to be improved/resolved in future updates?

We'll keep trying to improve the emulation quality.

3.  Can you patch a modulation source to multiple destinations (like using a multiple on a modular)

Yes. Each individual connection has a set of 2 parameters: a gain (-1.0 to +1.0) and a polarity attribute (Unipolar/Bipolar). There's however a restriction for AUDIO signal connections. Only 1 source and 1 destination, and no polarity attribute.

4.  Can you mix multiple control souces to one destination (like a cv mixer on a modular)

Yes. The mix is automatically done according the polarity attribute and the amount value.

5.  The manual says that you can have a maximum of 20 modules in 1 patch.. as the screen has 24 slots it seems logical to allow upto 24 modules for complicated patches even if losing some polyphony is more likely.. As even a relatively simple patch can use 12-13 modules I would welcome this improvement... can this be done??

The number of (graphic) cells is 24 in the RACK window and 30 in the PATCH window. The limit of 20 modules is the result of a compromise between features and DSP memory constraints. However, we've recently made some changes to the (internal software) architecture that should allow us to increase the number of modules in a PATCH (ie at VOICE level). 24 is likely to be the number of available modules. This will be added to the next major firmware upgrade.

6.  The lack of midi control is very off-putting (see message in technical questions section) - Is full midi control a feature that _will_ be implemented?  This would vastly improve the functionality of the instrument and seems strange that its been left out although I can understand you want to release the product as soon as possible..

There's probably a misunderstanding here. What is not available in the release 1.0 is the possibility to configure Origin as a (master) MIDI Controller. What is readily available is a mapping of different MIDI CCs to a unique module parameter. What we plan to add to a future upgrade is the MIDI Controller feature, and maybe the possibility to map 1 CC to a set of parameters.

Any answers much appreciated...

Done  

[Philippe]

There's however a restriction for AUDIO signal connections. Only 1 source and 1 destination, and no polarity attribute.

Oooops, a small error here    You can connect the same AUDIO source to several AUDIO inputs but you can connect only one source to a given AUDIO input.

[Gith]

Much thanks for the quick responses with this...

suitably exited again a few more things have come to mind...

1.  re: the limit of one audio source to one input - I take it this is where the mini-mixer module comes in... you could say link the encoders to the minimixer and mix (and automate) differently processed ocillators to a ring modulator or fm input for example??

2.  can you control the effects parameters by midi cc? (a nice feature on my lexicon mpx1)

3.  can you put the effects signals in the module signal chain (like on a modular), or are they tacked on the end like insert effects?

4.  From my memory of reading the manual the other day there are 4 vcas always running... do these count towards your total of 20 modules??

5.  I'm interested in the Origin as a modular, not only the synth emulations..  you just have to look at the doepfer a-100 range or the now retired nord modular to see the possibilities for future modules - are you (Arturia) going to develop more interesting modules to push what the Origin is capable of?

6.  Things I'd like to see are: More 'cv' processors , Envelopes you can retrigger and use as funky oscillators... PWM of other waveform types (even if only on the Origin oscillator module) - I see you've already got this for some of the LFO shapes, so why not the oscillators??... Vocoder module would be great too... any chance these might be implemented?

7.  I take it since the Origin is your new baby any improvements made to the soft synth side of things will be transferred over to the origin too?

8.  Do you have any plans to send an Origin to the folks at Sound on Sound any time soon?...

Thanks again...

[Philippe]

1.  re: the limit of one audio source to one input - I take it this is where the mini-mixer module comes in... you could say link the encoders to the minimixer and mix (and automate) differently processed ocillators to a ring modulator or fm input for example??

Yes

2.  can you control the effects parameters by midi cc? (a nice feature on my lexicon mpx1)

Not with 1.0. Maybe in the future. For now you can assign CC to parameters of MONO (ie PROGRAM) modules LFO1, 2, Sequencer, Galaxy and some parameters of the FXMixer and of course to any POLY (ie VOICE) module parameters.

3.  can you put the effects signals in the module signal chain (like on a modular), or are they tacked on the end like insert effects?

Like insert FX but with more sophisticated ways of mixing these effects (parallel and serial modes) and the possibility to individually set the send level of each VCA.

4.  From my memory of reading the manual the other day there are 4 vcas always running... do these count towards your total of 20 modules??

VCAs are running only when they are connected to an FXMixer input slice whic is automatically done when a VCA is added in a patch. 1 VCA counts for 1 module among the 20 available, 2 VCAs counts for 2...

5.  I'm interested in the Origin as a modular, not only the synth emulations..  you just have to look at the doepfer a-100 range or the now retired nord modular to see the possibilities for future modules - are you (Arturia) going to develop more interesting modules to push what the Origin is capable of?

Yes. Some of these new modules are in their last development stage. Some needs more work. And some exists only in our minds. If you have suggestions, please go on 

6.  Things I'd like to see are: More 'cv' processors , Envelopes you can retrigger and use as funky oscillators...

8 CV processors (CVModulator) isn't enough? Another approach would be to be able to modulate the connection amount by doing some special kind of connections between a control signal and the amount knob.

6. PWM of other waveform types (even if only on the Origin oscillator module) - I see you've already got this for some of the LFO shapes, so why not the oscillators??

We're likely to add a PWM control of the TRI osc output. Are you thinking of something else?

6. Vocoder module would be great too... any chance these might be implemented?

Sure, it would be great 

7.  I take it since the Origin is your new baby any improvements made to the soft synth side of things will be transferred over to the origin too?

We try to do this as much as we can, but design constraints are really different between the 2 worlds. Nonetheless, our soft synth Jupiter8V was built upon the same base code than the one we use for Origin. But because the memory constraint is not so acute in the soft world, J8V provides effects in the VOICE chain, Origin can provides only effects that do not need large amount of memory (such as chorus, delay and reverb)

8.  Do you have any plans to send an Origin to the folks at Sound on Sound any time soon?...

Yes but expect a couple of month maybe before reading it.

[Gith]

5.  I'm interested in the Origin as a modular, not only the synth emulations..  you just have to look at the doepfer a-100 range or the now retired nord modular to see the possibilities for future modules - are you (Arturia) going to develop more interesting modules to push what the Origin is capable of?

Yes. Some of these new modules are in their last development stage. Some needs more work. And some exists only in our minds. If you have suggestions, please go on 

I'll spare you my synth ramblings for now.. If I do go for the Origin, once I get used to it, rest assured you will be the first to know of my ideas... 

6. PWM of other waveform types (even if only on the Origin oscillator module) - I see you've already got this for some of the LFO shapes, so why not the oscillators??

We're likely to add a PWM control of the TRI osc output. Are you thinking of something else?

There is a company called analogue systems (UK based modulars) - their oscillator module has shape controls for all their waveforms, you can also apply cv's to sine wave to further mutate the shape.  I've not seen this ability on any other synths... If the origin had this it would greatly increase the pallete of sounds it was capable of..

8.  Do you have any plans to send an Origin to the folks at Sound on Sound any time soon?...

Yes but expect a couple of month maybe before reading it.

I'm not sure I can wait that long!... The powers that be in the UK government in their infinite wisdom are reducing VAT (tax) on monday so I might just have to do the world economy a favour and get myself an Origin!  

[Philippe]

I'm not sure I can wait that long!...  The powers that be in the UK government in their infinite wisdom are reducing VAT (tax) on monday so I might just have to do the world economy a favour and get myself an Origin! 

And the world - which we belong to - will be very grateful to you