The S/H generates a modulation signal, which is (in Origin at least) different from a trigger signal or an audio signal. So it can modulate the level of the VCA, the frequency of a filter or an oscillator, the times of an envelope, etc.. But it can't trigger an envelope itself!
So the new firmware cannot do more stuff "without keyboard" than before!
But if you want to use it without keyboard, I can give you a little "trick", using the "Audio IN auto start" feature. This feature triggers automatically a voice when the program is loaded, if the Audio input is connected to something in the patch. This feature was introduced for the cases when you want to use Origin as an effect unit: in this case you want to have at least one voice to process the input signal, without having to play a note on the keyboard to trigger it.
So you can use this feature to "simulate" a modular synth without keyboard:
- connect the AudioIn (left or right) to some useless input (like an input of a mixer with zero gain)
- In the Settings / System2 page, enable the "Audio IN auto start" option
- Set the "sequence start tune" option to the note you want to be played
- save the program and reload it
Now each time you load this program, or any program with the audio in connected, a note will be generated automatically!
There is also the "Sequencer auto-start" option which does the same thing, but with programs that have the sequencer activated instead of the programs which have the audio in connected.
