something new next month at dave smith instruments!

[man-009]

so i was told by the dsi crew something new hits next month!..i wish the tetra KB but they says no go on that. wondering what it is? more analog is a good thing!

[Stab Frenzy]

Hope it's an all-digital sampling proper-wavetable-having Evolver replacement.

[Alex E]

I'd like to see something digital too. There's plenty of new analog out there already.

[bhrama]

Pym has already stated it will be "large" and this is his post on the subject from the DSI forums

I'll say this...

We learned a lot on the Tempest optimizing for drum sounds. The new voice will have some relation because we learned a lot, but it will not be the same. The DSP is not optimal for anything more than sample playback, which was fine for drums, but would not be for a synth. We have a lot of ideas building on the Evolver/Prophet lines, so both analog and hybrid options are on the table.

Multitimbral code has been done well in the Tempest and would not be hard to move into future products. This does not necessarily mean there will be a separate MIDI channel and/or individual outputs per voice, although that is an option. The real benefit of the new code is that I have granular control over a different program (or multiple programs) per voice. Think about this in terms of stack/split behavior and other interesting combinations. There's some really cool ideas I have related to this that may or may not make it into the next product, but I have no doubt we'll do at some point.

The sequencer code on the Tempest is something I plan on reusing as the backbone of both sequencers and arpeggiators in future products. There is a tremendous amount of flexibility with this that I've barely scratched the surface of in the Tempest. Swing, duration of notes, the Note FX (param locks), etc, etc. Think of that structure confined to an arp... really, really flexible. If we do a 5 (or more) voice synth it would have a big keyboard, as a keyboardist I find there's little value in having a small keyboard with a polyphonic synth. It's just plain annoying. The OLED is a great compromise between cost and functionality. However any type of visual display changes the way you interact with the instrument; I'm always looking at other options to streamline the workflow. I hate touchscreen interfaces for music as they have no tactile feedback. Until it gets to the point where it's cheap enough to have a dedicated touch screen for specific functions I doubt we'll go in that direction.

Scalable voices on the hardware is something we have talked about. There are pros and cons to this and nothing has been decided.

[jaypodesta]

Sounds interesting... But mention of sequencing reminded to check if they have they sorted all the sync/lag problems on the Tempest yet?

I checked the forum but found it difficult to find a definitive answer.

Edit: went back to have another look and it seems as this has been resolved in the latest OS.

[SSquirrel]

They could take the Mopho and Tetra and combine them into the Mophra Yes, I made a Godzilla pun.

[Psy_Free]

Sounds interesting. A big digital wavetable monster would be nice (especially with parameter locks on sequencer/arp).

[GuyaGuy]

Tempest keyboard?
What happened to Linn's version of the Tempest with user samples, etc?

[megamanx]

So multi-timbral, polyphonic, hybrid, fullkeyboard....

[Kidney05]

Could digital mean a lot cheaper? I hope so... If dsi does such cheap analog shouldn't their digitals be dirt cheap?

[CfNorENa]

How about a digital wavetable synth with an analog, multimode filter? I think I'd be opening up my wallet for that...

[Alex E]

Sounds like a direct replacement of the Evolver line, or at least the next generation. Considering how long it's been around (Desktop: 2002, PEK: 2005, MEK: 2006) I'm guessing they're ready for something new. It also sounds like it'll be at least 5 voices, which is welcome compared to the PEK's 4 voices. I'm really looking forward to whatever it is.

[Sir Ruff]

How about a digital wavetable synth with an analog, multimode filter? I think I'd be opening up my wallet for that...

yes, me too.. but only if there was some waldorf-style waveshape modulation... otherwise, it's just a PEK-derivative. And, based on their output so far, static waves seem to be where it's at for them.

[meatballfulton]

What happened to Linn's version of the Tempest with user samples, etc?

Dave and Roger agreed to split it into two products and it would come out under the Linn name...so if it ever arrives, it will be as a Linn instrument, not a DSI.

[GuyaGuy]

What happened to Linn's version of the Tempest with user samples, etc?

Dave and Roger agreed to split it into two products and it would come out under the Linn name...so if it ever arrives, it will be as a Linn instrument, not a DSI.

Yeah I was just asking as an aside because I havent heard any developments since the Tempest was released. It seems like Linn is mostly interested in talking about the LinnStrument.