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Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:28 pm
by james
Major Voluum firmware update.

There is a new Voluum firmware and editor update for beta testing. There are no known issues with this release, but we would like your feedback on the new features in case there are any issues we have missed, or any improvements that need to be done before this becomes an official release.

Voluum Desktop Editor Version 1.3.1 (includes firmware update 1.3.1, so it will ask you to update when you connect your Voluum. You must do this firmware update for the new editor features to work).

Changes in this version

() One of the biggest change is the addition of a new setlist feature (there is a new tab on the editor dedicated to this). Setlists allow you to choose which presets you want to be available for a particular gig (or "set", hence the name). Once you have chosen these presets, activating the LOCK on the Voluum will only let you access those presets. This makes it much simpler and safer to jump between presets when playing live.

You can also select which MIDI program change number to use to select presets, if you want to automate the selection process.

The setlist feature is an extension of the "demo mode" that was added to the Wahoo recently. This video shows how to enable demo mode on the unit itself. The procedure is similar on the Voluum. The same procedure lets you select which setlist to use when you don't have access to the editor:
https://youtu.be/k_thtrNoeuk

Editing of which presets are in the setlist can only be done using the editor.

When a setlist is active the normal preset numbering can be used (i.e., it will show "F01", "P16", etc). Or you can choose to list simply by the index in the setlist ("L01", "L02", "L03", etc). This can be useful to focus on which song has which preset, rather than worrying about which preset number is which.

() Major updates to MIDI functionality of the Voluum

* LFO can now send MIDI clock (enabled on midi page)

* a new "midi clock freerun" option has been added on the midi page. Previously, the Voluum LFO would use the MIDI clock whenever it was received, but this caused problems with LFO phase -- it couldn't be phase aligned to a sequence. This was changed so that midi "continue" was required before syncing to MIDI clock, thus LFO phase can now be correctly aligned to beats in a sequence. However, if you are using a MIDI clock generator that doesn't send the continue message, you are screwed! This new option revers the behaviour back to the previous mode so all you need is MIDI clock to drive the LFO. The only downside is that the LFO can't be phase-aligned to MIDI sequences when this is enabled.

* Normally the expression pedal will send a 14-bit MIDI controller (a combination of the LSB and MSB controllers) when a 14-bit "MSB" controller is selected. This is great for high-resolution MIDI control, but can cause problems on old MIDI gear (buffer overflows), or get in the way if you only want a single 7-bit message to be sent rather than the full resolution (2 messages). A new option "send only 7-bit controller" will prevent any 14-bit controllers being sent -- in other words all the 128 MIDI controllers are treated as individual 7-bit controllers.

* A curve can be selected on the expression pedal MIDI controller -- rather than the default linear setting that was the only option previously.

* A preset can now override the global MIDI settings, allowing you to send on a different MIDI channel, use a different controller for the expression pedal, and even set the range limit of the expression pedal. Now when you change presets the expression pedal can send different MIDI data to control other gear.

* LFOs can now send a MIDI controller to send the waveform to an external MIDI device. Each LFO (LFO1 and LFO2) can send separate controllers, or they can be combined to create a more complex waveform (set them to use the same controller).

* Volume effect can also now send a MIDI controller; useful for sending fades for example. ADSR mode also lets an ADSR MIDI waveform be sent.

() Other LFO enhancements

* There was a bug in tap-tempo, causing tapped tempo to run at the wrong bpm. This has now been fixed.

* Slow tempos were not accurate. This has been made much more precise, so very slow tempos are now correct.

* a new "fast" mode has been added, which increases all the LFO divisions by 16x. This allows very fast LFOs (up to 2kHz) to give ring-mod type effects. In fast mode, waveforms with sharp edges (e.g., square) may create clicks at slow tempos. This is normal and is a result of the very fast gain change at a fast edge. Thus for slow tempos, it's better not to use fast mode. With sine waveforms there are no such problems.

(NOTE: if "optical" mode is used with "fast" mode the LFOs won't be able to run fast, but the fade-out you get as the speed increases can create interesting effects).

() External Footswitches

The Voluum has the option to add 2 external footswitches connected to the MIDI-Out socket (see Voluum user manual). The footswitches allow you to do preset-up and preset-down more easily. This update extends the functionality of these switches, so either switch can now do: preset-up, preset-down, tuner on/off, tap-tempo, send MIDI controller.

The MIDI controller sent by footswitches can be configured on the midi page.

This addition makes it easy to add 2 MIDI control pedals to your system, or to give faster access to features in the Voluum: for example using one as "preset-up" and one as "tap-tempo" makes it very fast to go through presets (especially in set list mode) and gives a dedicated tap-tempo button that doesn't interfere with any other operation.


Downloads

The installer for the Windows editor (including firmware) is here: http://www.sonuus.com/downloads/softwar ... 1_beta.msi

The zip file for the OSX editor (including firmware) is here: http://www.sonuus.com/downloads/softwar ... 1_beta.zip

Please post comments and questions in reply to this forum topic.

Thank you all for your help and continued suggestions!

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 9:10 pm
by canbaz
Hi James,

Thank you very much for this update. While I don't have the right equipment to test MIDI functions, I was able to test the other improvements. Below are my comments:

1) Tap tempo and slow tempo LFO work perfectly fine. Great!! :D

2) While the fast LFO mode is super fun, I hear an oscillation even if the guitar is not plugged in. Is this caused by the LFO leaking into the audio path? If so, why is it pitching up and down again? Try sweeping the tempo from 10 BPM x 256 to 999 BPM x 256. Oscillation starts at B and sweeps up to 1 octave high, then drops immediately to the lower B, then go up again and drops back again.

3) Setlist is very cool. Is there a way to alter between setlists on the pedal without using the editor (e.g. change setlist from A to B)?

4) The new editor reacts slower to selecting between presets and discarding changes of a preset, than the older version. While I could not use the new editor for a long time to check every function, I encountered a freezing problem while editing the LFO tempo in a preset. I waited around 20-30 seconds, then it came back to normal. I'm on Mac OS X 10.6.8. Maybe my archaic OS version is causing the issue :mrgreen:. However, I have never had any issues with the previous editors.

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 9:20 am
by james
Thanks for checking this. Here's my answers:

(1) :-)

(2) The control signal will bleed into the audio path. That's always a problem with VCAs. The amount of bleed depends on frequency. At low modulation speeds the bleed is so small it can be ignored, as the frequency increases it may become a problem. I'm not surprised this happens as you get to high modulation speeds.

The modulation is limited to a rate of 2kHz. But rather than limit this to the maximum (i.e., 2kHz), if the rate is too high it will divide it by 2 until it is within range. The idea is that if you get too high, it will always still be musically related to what you are trying to achieve (in a lower octave) rather than being limited to an arbitrary rate that may not work musically.

(3) Of course. The Wahoo "demo mode" video shows how to do this. The Voluum is the same when you get into custom settings. Go to "SEt" them choose the setlist you want: off, demo, A, B, C, D, E, F.

(4) When you change presets, it is gathering more data from the Voluum. That may be why it is slower. But I will check it again in case there is something causing it to take longer than it should. It shouldn't be different on OSX compared to Windows (where all the development is done). Most of the code is common between platforms.

I haven't seen problems like you describe with long freezes (20-30 seconds). Is this reproducible? Has anyone else seen it?

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 1:31 pm
by canbaz
Thank you for the answers.

2) I think the LFO bleeding cannot be filtered by software, because Voluum has 100% analog audio path. Anyways, this will give some character to the sound :D.

You mean that some LFO settings will be identical even though they seem different mathematically? e.g. 400 BPM x 256 and 800 BPM x 256 will give the same sound effect? If so, IMHO this is confusing, and it's better to limit the maximum division to 120 (for 2khz) or 128 (if 2,13 kHz is possible). I did not understand how it is musically related.

4) I tried to reproduce it but couldn't do it. I will tell you if I encounter the same issue again. You could check the new editor on a Mac OS X to see whether there is a difference or not. Maybe my system creates the issue :mrgreen:.

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:35 pm
by james
(2) Yes, it's analogue and is a "feature" of the VCA. The only way to completely remove it is to filter it in hardware, but then the speed is limited to be too slow

I will look at the maximum speed; maybe in fast mode it can limit instead of being "musical".

(4) I didn't notice any problems on OSX, but I will check it again.

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:24 pm
by canbaz
Hi James,

I am confused by your definition. Can you elaborate what you mean by "musical"? I am trying to figure out if I'm missing something, a good feature of the fast mode. As far as I understand from the very few minutes of testing, on fast mode the control signal is at a fixed rate (when there is no pedal or envelope modification), and it is not harmonically related to what you play. Am I right? In addition, as I told above 400 BPM x 256 and 800 BPM x 256 will give exactly the same result, right?

Edit:
I have tested the setlist feature. Although it is not at all important, I found something. If the selected setlist is empty, the pedal shows factory presets from F00 to F39 while user presets don't show up. By several turns of the effect knob clockwise, or many presses on the up button, F39 passes to F00.

I will test the pedal more and report back if I find out anything.

Thanks :)

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 10:11 am
by james
I am confused by your definition. Can you elaborate what you mean by "musical"? I am trying to figure out if I'm missing something, a good feature of the fast mode. As far as I understand from the very few minutes of testing, on fast mode the control signal is at a fixed rate (when there is no pedal or envelope modification), and it is not harmonically related to what you play. Am I right? In addition, as I told above 400 BPM x 256 and 800 BPM x 256 will give exactly the same result, right?
By "musical" I mean the speed will divide by 2 if it gets too high. The reason for this is if you control the speed, particularly the division using the pedal, if the speed gets too high rather than limiting at a value that might not be related to the tempo, it limits to a speed that is a multiple of the tempo. This was more important when the maximum speed was lower.
I have tested the setlist feature. Although it is not at all important, I found something. If the selected setlist is empty, the pedal shows factory presets from F00 to F39 while user presets don't show up. By several turns of the effect knob clockwise, or many presses on the up button, F39 passes to F00.
This is by design. If entries in the setlist are empty, they will be skipped when setlist mode is active (this makes it easy to add and remove entries without having to manually fill in the gaps). If a setlist is empty, we don't want it to select "no preset" when locked, so it falls back to a safe mode when you can only select the factory presets -- indeed this might be useful if you want to hide all the user presets for any reason.

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 12:30 pm
by canbaz
OK it is now clear thanks. Maybe an option is to multiply the LFO divisions by 8 instead of 16, when the fast mode is active. Thus, we can avoid duplicating effects at different settings. However, 16x8x999 BPM should be around 2,13 kHz :mrgreen: . If you could increase the LFO up to 2,13 kHz without any issue, I think this would be the perfect solution. Or we just simply live with the fixed rate between 128x 937-999 BPM at 2kHz.

Regarding the MIDI ADSR and LFO, is it possible to use them even if they are not active? e.g. Only the compressor is active on Voluum while sending MIDI ADSR and/or LFO to Wahoo in order to control the filters.

In addition, maybe gate infortmation could be shared between Wahoo and Voluum. Therefore, if Voluum is placed after Wahoo, it does not listen the output of Wahoo but listens the input. I do not have a Wahoo yet. But I want to have one soon. I am not sure if this input gate sharing would sound better. You can tell me :D .

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 1:02 pm
by james
OK it is now clear thanks. Maybe an option is to multiply the LFO divisions by 8 instead of 16, when the fast mode is active. Thus, we can avoid duplicating effects at different settings. However, 16x8x999 BPM should be around 2,13 kHz :mrgreen: . If you could increase the LFO up to 2,13 kHz without any issue, I think this would be the perfect solution. Or we just simply live with the fixed rate between 128x 937-999 BPM at 2kHz.
Yes, I will look at this.
Regarding the MIDI ADSR and LFO, is it possible to use them even if they are not active? e.g. Only the compressor is active on Voluum while sending MIDI ADSR and/or LFO to Wahoo in order to control the filters.
Yes, this is possible. The LFO and Volume effects need to be active, but the volume (dB) modulation of these can be set to 0dB. For example, set the LFO depth to 0dB means it won't affect the signal, but the MIDI controllers will still be sent (the dB doesn't affect the MIDI control values).
In addition, maybe gate infortmation could be shared between Wahoo and Voluum. Therefore, if Voluum is placed after Wahoo, it does not listen the output of Wahoo but listens the input. I do not have a Wahoo yet. But I want to have one soon. I am not sure if this input gate sharing would sound better. You can tell me :D .
I am not sure how this could be achieved easily!

Re: Voluum Version 1.3.1 (pre-release testing)

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 1:29 pm
by james
A new update is now available that adds some more features and addresses some problems: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1578

In particular, the LFO maximum speed is now faster - you can go 999bpm x16 x16.

Also the speed to update the editor may be slightly improved (some information was being retrieved unnecessarily).

Regarding the speed problem you reported, I have been able to reproduce this (on Windows, not OSX) and it was very strange. On one particular USB port the problem occurs where the USB speed is 10x slower than it should be, so starting the editor and switching between presets is slow. We haven't found the cause for this yet, but it's not just limited to the Voluum, other HID devices show this so it may just be a weird USB driver issue.... if you get this again, try using a different USB port, or try using a USB hub on the port (this seems to help!).