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Announcements & Updates / RayBlaster 3.0 released

« Last post by Markus Krause on October 31, 2023, 11:08:32 AM »

RayBlaster 3.0

RayBlaster unveils a completely new dimension of sounds, impossible with other synths. The revolutionary Impulse Modeling Synthesis is not just a marketing buzzword, but a radically different approach to synthetic sound generation.

website: https://www.tone2.com/rayblaster.html
free demo download link: https://www.tone2.com/download.html

New features:

- GUI with 22 different sizes (with and without keys).
- Native support for WQHD, 4K, 5K and 8K UHD displays.
- You can now drag & drop wav files on the wave displays to import them.
- Support for hardware-acceleration.
- Ultrasharp graphics with enhanced HiDpi and Retina Display support.
- Automatic detection of the ideal GUI size.
- GUI can be scaled from 100% up to 450% by clicking in the lower right corner.
- Patch browser can now also be opened by clicking on 'Browser' or the display on the upper left.

Higher sound-quality:

- More transparent and clear over-all sound.
- The synth 'sits better in the mix', especially when it is combined with other instruments.
- The audio-engine now uses 64-bit precision instead of 32-bit, which results in a higher sound-quality.
- Enhanced sound of the automatic micro-tuning.
- More precise pitch calculation.
- Higher quality resampling in 44 and 88 kHz sample-rate.
- More linear frequency-response for certain configurations.
- Enhanced sound of the Reverb Large. It has a more transparent tail and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanned sound of Reverb Huge. It has a more transparent tail and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb Small. It sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb Ultra. It has a more transparent tail and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb Big. It has a more transparent tail and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb Infinite. It has a more transparent tail and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb Trance. It has a more transparent tail.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb Band. It sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb Glass. It sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb Spring. It sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Delay. It has a more precise interpolation and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Delay Band. It has a more precise interpolation and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of PingPong. It has a more precise interpolation and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Delay Fat. It has a more precise interpolation.
- Enhanced sound of Delay Diffuse. It has a more precise interpolation and sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Delay Dual. It sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Tape Delay. It sounds less detuned.
- Enhanced sound of Chorus. It has a more precise interpolation now.
- Enhanced sound of Hypersaw. It has a more precise interpolation now.
- Enhanced sound of Chorus2. It has a more precise interpolation now.

Enhancements:

- Higher performance.
- Reworked and enhanced graphics.
- Smoother animations and more responisve controls.
- Several small enhancemets for the patch-selector and patch-browser.
- Completely rewritten GUI code.
- More contrast for the LCD displays.
- Several small enhancements for the VST3 and AU version.
- Reworked some tool-tips.
- More beautiful sectors for knob-modulation.
- Fine-tuned some coordinates in the interface.
- Re-sizing the VST3, Standalone and Audiounit works more reliable.
- Enhanced stability.
- Smarter installer.
- Re-renderd the background bitpmap skin with a higher resulution.
- More beautiful font for the patch-browser for certain configurations.
- Fine-tuned some colors.
- Added Color bleeding for the glowing displays on the main screen.
- The installers come with a Microsoft/Apple approved certificate.
- Lots of further small enhancements.

Changes:

- Removed the demo-version timeout and added a voice-over.

Fixes:

- Some DAWs could show the VST3 version on PC with an incorrect size when Windows scaling was used.

A radically different sound generation

- Revolutionary, new synthesis method
- Unique signature sound
- Over 1100 inspiring sounds created by professional designers
- Discover a completely new sonic territory
- High-end sound quality
- Huge sonic range and high flexibility
- GUI with 22 sizes and High-DPI support
- Native support for Retina, WQHD, 4K, 5K and 8K UHD displays
- Easy to use & fun to play
- Powerful sound engine with true stereo architecture
- Create distinctive sounds that are impossible to produce with other synthesizers
- Quickly catches your audiences' attention and makes your music to stand out from the crowd
- Comfortable patch browser and flexible preset management
- Modular effect section with 44 effect types
- Drag & drop modulation
- Expandability

What is Impulse-Modeling-Synthesis (IMS)?

This innovative approach to sound generation goes far beyond traditional forms of synthesis. It offers a whole new world of sounds and enormous potential for producing creative modern music.
Many conventional synthesizers use a technique that is known as 'subtractive synthesis': An oscillator plays a looped waveform that is passed through a filter to shape the sound. In contrast, RayBlaster uses an entirely new approach to synthesis. It creates its distinctive sound with a convolution-based synthesis technique: Many short samples containing impulse responses are overlapped to create a complex sound. We named this innovative technique 'Impulse Modeling Synthesis' (IMS).
IMS can be considered a superset of granular synthesis. However, it does not suffer from its weaknesses like detuning, poor sound quality or many musically unusable sounds.

Sounds

RayBlaster's radically different approach to synthesis makes it possible to create unique signature sounds that are absolutely impossible with other synthesizers.
The pychoacoustic model of IMS resembles the way our human brain perceives sounds. As a result, these sounds seem enormously immersive or even completely pychedelic.
RayBlaster ships with an inspiring library of over 1100 presets created by the world's top sound designers. Many complex sounds such as arpeggios, vocals or drumloops automatically synchronize with the BPM-rate of your track.
For quick and easy access to a specific sound, we've carefully organized them into logical categories. A comfortable patch browser gives you instant access to a huge sound library with ready-to-use patches.

Modulation

Spice up your tracks with exciting movement! Do you want to use the LFO to wobble your sound? Simply drop it to a knob and you've got it. Modulation can be as simple or complex as you want. You can use drag&drop or the modulation matrix to connect dozens of sources to all important sound parameters. Modulate almost any parameter with audio-rate speed, from internal modulation sources like LFOs, punchy envelopes, step sequencers, and a wide variety of MIDI signals. We've also included midi-learn, so assigning CC's is as simple as a right-click.

Effects

RayBlaster comes with a huge variety of effects that were developed and fine-tuned to complement RayBlaster's Impulse-Modeling-Synthesis. 44 different stereo effects are included, all carefully crafted to offer the highest quality possible: We have included a large variety of Reverbs, Delays, Chorus, Ensemble, Phaser, Flanger, Rotary, Compressor, Amp-Sim, Equalizer, Surround-Encode, TranceGate, Resonator, Hypersaw and so on.

Waveforms, Samples & Resynthesis

In addition to importing filter characteristics into RayBlaster's oscillators, you can also import the waveform of any other synthesizer. This gives you an unlimited number of possible waveshapes, all of which are capable of being morphed in real-time. You can re-synthesize short samples like a drumloop or a vocal phrase. RayBlaster also offers many possibilities to synchronize complex sounds to your track's BPM as well as providing the ability to manipulate the pitch, timing and the timbre of all your sounds in real-time.

System requirements:

PC: Windows 7 / 8 / 10 / 11 or Linux with WINE; Plugin formats: 64-bit VSTi, VST3, Standalone
Mac: macOS 10.12 or higher including macOS Sonoma; Plugin formats: VSTi, Audio Unit (AUi), VST3, Standalone, Universal Binary; Native support for M1 and M2 and Intel

RayBlaster / RayBlaster 3.0

« Last post by Markus Krause on October 31, 2023, 11:01:49 AM »

Icarus / Re: General question about the Ranking.rnk file

« Last post by jonetsu on October 23, 2023, 09:22:32 PM »

Hello Markus,

Thanks for the reply. I tend not to dislike sounds and tag them as such. From experience it happened several times that a disliked sound becomes a good one a year or two later in a different context. If I tag it negatively I could very well not hear it anymore, always ignoring it when browsing. So in this way a sound, a patch that has no score is one that's still 'open' for any kind of project, which might be different from year to year.

OK then, I'll edit the ranking files with emacs and use a macro to replace the number 3 with a 0.

Cheers,

Al

Icarus / Re: General question about the Ranking.rnk file

« Last post by Markus Krause on October 23, 2023, 09:44:50 AM »

Hello jonetsu,

if you delete a .rnk file the ranking is reset for the category of the same name (=directory that contains the fxp files). A reset means an average ranking of 3 stars.

The whole idea behind the ranking system is this:
- The default ranking is always 3 stars. This is intended to be an 'average' ranking.
- If you dislike a sound you can set it to 1 star.
- If you love a sound you can use 5 stars.

You can change the number of stars with the patch browser.
You can also edit the .rnk files with a text editor like Windows notepad.

Best Regards,
Markus

Icarus / General question about the Ranking.rnk file

« Last post by jonetsu on October 21, 2023, 05:48:06 PM »

Hello,

I would like to reset all preset ranking to 1 (or 0 if possible at all) in one operation for every synth. Is it possible by editing the Ranking.rnk file ? Currently in this file there's a single column of number '3' without anything else. Replacing these 3 with 1 (or 0) using a macro in a text editor would be very quick. Will it achieve the desired result ? I prefer to ask before editing the file.

Thanks,

Al

Off topic / macOS 14 Sonoma compatibilty

« Last post by Markus Krause on October 18, 2023, 10:03:46 AM »

These products work with macOS 12 and macOS 13 and macOS14 (Sonoma):

Icarus2.5 or later, Icarus3
Electra3
Nemesis3
RayBlaster3
Warlock
Saurus4
Gladiator4
UltraSpace
Akustix

These products are discontinued on the Mac and not compatible. Sadly it is not possible to port them with reasonable effort:

FilterBank
BiFilter
Warmverb Multi-FX

Icarus / Re: FM and AM modulation sources in morph modes

« Last post by Deepbass on October 14, 2023, 08:28:12 AM »

Thanks for taking the feature request into consideration! In my case all 3 Osc's have different waveforms so the standard modes won't work because the FM and AM modulations have to be with these 3 different waveforms (which differ for every new sound/patch). The purpose is to emulate another synth which is quite special but limited. I chose Icarus for that because I would have a lot more possibilities to further tweak the sound especially with Icarus' many filter options and routings.

A nice weekend for you too!
Andreas

Icarus / Re: FM and AM modulation sources in morph modes

« Last post by Markus Krause on October 13, 2023, 04:47:30 PM »

Hello Deepbass,

so far no other users have asked for this. It can be implemented if there is significant demand for it. I noted your feature-request for future updates.

Icarus currently offers many different ways to do FM modulation. You can choose from these modes:

◦ FM Sine - The wavetable is FM modulated with a sine wave oscillator.
TIP: Use the FM Sine modes together with a sine wave or another dark waveform. Use the
LFO2 knob to modulate.
Note that the FM modes in Icarus are real freqtuency modulation, not PM (phase
modulation). Nearly all conventional 'FM' synthesizers (except Tone2 Nemesis) in fact do
only PM, which is more easy to process, but doesn't give musically useful sounds on
complex waveforms.

◦ FM Sine 2x - The wavetable is FM modulated with a sine wave oscillator with double
freqtuency. It has a hollow sound.

◦ FM Sine 3x - The wavetable is FM modulated with a sine wave oscillator with triple
freqtuency. It has a bell-like sound.

◦ FM Square - The wavetable is FM modulated with a sqtuare wave oscillator.

◦ FM Saw - The wavetable is FM modulated with a saw wave oscillator.

◦ FM FM<-Osi3 - FM (PM) between Icarus' own oscillators.

Select FM←Osc1 inside of oscillator2's Morphmode menu to modulate Osc2 with Osc1.
Or FM←OSC3 inside of oscillator1's Morphmode menu to modulate Osc1 with Osc3

Have a nice weekend!
Markus

Icarus / FM and AM modulation sources in morph modes

« Last post by Deepbass on October 12, 2023, 01:08:06 PM »

If I want to choose Osc2 as an FM/AM modulator for Osc1 that's not possible, at least I don?t see how. I can only choose Osc3 as modulator. Since there are 3 Osc's in total, why can't I choose one of the two other for modulating? It would be nice if Osc1 has the option to use Osc2 or 3 as modulation source for FM and AM. Osc2 would of course have Osc1 or 3 as sources. Will that be implemented in a future version?

Kind regards
Andreas

100

Announcements & Updates / Gladiator 4.0 released

« Last post by Markus Krause on August 31, 2023, 10:59:14 AM »

Gladiator 4.0

Product page: https://www.tone2.com/gladiator.html

Download link (free demo & upgrade): https://www.tone2.com/download.html

Downward compatibility:
Gladiator4 is fully downward compatible with all previous versions. All existing song-projects and patches can be loaded without any further steps necessary. They will benfit from the enhanced sound quality.

New features:

- GUI with 14 different sizes (with and without parameter-editor).
- Native support for WQHD, 4K, 5K and 8K UHD displays.
- Support for hardware-acceleration.
- Now all parameters can be automated in all DAWs.
- The current HCM morph-position is shown with a vertical line.
- The mousewheel can be used to quick-select patches.
- It is now possible to export waveforms or wavetables on PC and Mac as a .wav file.
- Arpeggiator-position is shown in the GUI.
- Ultrasharp graphics with enhanced HiDpi and Retina Display support.
- GUI can be scaled from 66% up to 200% by clicking in the lower right corner.
- Automatic detection of the ideal GUI size.
- Lots of other small stuff.

Higher sound-quality:

- More transparent and clear over-all sound.
- The synth 'sits better in the mix', especially when it is combined with other instruments.
- The audio-engine now uses 64-bit precision instead of 32-bit, which results in a higher sound-quality.
- The timing-resolution of the modulation is now twice as precise.
- Enhanced sound of the automatic micro-tuning. Chords can not longer get too much out-of-tune.
- More precise pitch-calculation.
- All sounds with the quality setting "very high" have a more precise and fast modulation.
- More linear frequency-response for certain configurations.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb large. It has a more transparent tail.
- Enhnaced sound of Reverb small. It has a more transparent tail.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb predelay. It has a more transparent tail.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb predelay. It has a more transparent tail.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb trance. It has a more transparent tail.
- Enhanced sound of Reverb old. It has a more transparent tail.
- Enhanced sound of Super Strings. It has a higher precision rendering.
- Enhanced sound of formant-scaling.
- Higher resolution mixing.
- Sounds with quality setting "very high" have more accurate envelopes.
- Lots of other subtle enhancements.

Enhancements:

- Higher performance.
- Completely rewritten GUI code.
- Reworked big parts of the audio-code.
- Reworked and enhanced graphics.
- Several small enhancemets for the patch-selector and patch-browser.
- Smoother animations and more responisve controls.
- The spectrum-displays show more details.
- The skin has some color-bleeding around the displays.
- More contrast for the spectrum-display and the filter-frequency-response.
- More contrast for the LCD displays.
- Several small enhancements for the VST3 and AU version.
- Fine-tuned some coordinates in the interface.
- The LFO waveforms are drawn with a continous line.
- The automatic screen-size detection is smarter.
- Smarter installer.
- Reworked tool-tips.
- Re-sizing the VST3, Standalone and Audiounit works more reliable in various DAWs.
- More beautiful font for the patch-browser for certain configurations.
- Fine-tuned some colors.
- The animations are faster and smoother.
- Enhanced stability.
- A warning message is shown when the installation is damaged.
- A warning is shown when the user accidently selects a gui-size that is too large for the screen.
- The installers come with a Microsoft/Apple approved certificate.
- Lots of other small improvements.

Changes:

- Removed the demo-version timeout and added a voice-over.

Fixes:

- Some DAWs could show the VST3 version on PC with an incorrect size when Windows scaling was used.

Upgrade:

The update to v4.0 is a major update. The upgrade is free for anyone who bought Gladiator directly from tone2.com after April 2023. All others can upgrade with a big discount ($39).

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