PreenFM 2

The Lounge Other Gear
#64

Yeah Preen2 really throws in the kitchen sink, maybe a bit more synth than I need. I was thinking of getting the DAFM for harmonic and more percussive sounds and using the DX7 for leads if I want weird unique sounds, but the whole point of searching for a new FM synth was to replace my heavy-ass DX ><. I need to hear a volca FM in person.

SID+Preen sounds like a cool combo. What did you mean about DAFM lacking unison, could you assign several synth channels to the same midi channel to achieve that effect? I guess itā€™s not quite the same thing. The main thing I was hoping for Kesser to implement was having it respond to program changes. Controlling it with midi CC would also be cool but thatā€™s fine.

#65

Since you know ā€œnothing of coding and the software side of thingsā€ the best way would be to contact Toltekradiation and ask politely if he (?) can provide you a firmware image of it. I guess he welcomes an additional beta tester/user interested in his changes.

And since Xavier (the creator of PreenFM) commented the change with ā€œnice ā€¦ā€ I guess we can expect that the change will become part of the official firmware sooner or later ā€¦

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#66

tbh I just looked at DAFM again and it seems to me that some kind of Unison/detune should be perfectly possible as you say - I just didnā€™t get an answer when I asked, but maybe because it was a stupid question

:wink:

The DAFM looks loads of fun too, there were just a few things that swung me towards the Preen.

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#67

Glide would be great though, I hadnā€™t really considered that. Usually PB is enough for me but a lot of classic vgm tunes have huge glides in there. I better start bugging the kesser dude about that and program changes :smile:

Seriously though, bless folks like him and Xavier making these things for guys like me who donā€™t know the first think about computer programming.

#68

probably worth giving him a shout - when I spoke to him he said that Glide was definitely in the pipeline, but the micro-controller he was using is pretty maxed out, so heā€™s replacing that in newer ones.
He said the green PCBs he currently has for sale already have the new microcontroller, so worth checking if the others do before you order.

Glide is a bit of a deal breaker for me, cos love those elastic detuned square grime basses (amongst other things)

#69

Thanks for the tip, was thinking of a colored PCB but gotta go function over form if I can get glide out of the green one. Iā€™ll email him.

#70

Hi everyone, we are the KASSER synths team.

We have the firm conviction that the YM2612 and YM3438 chips have incredible options to offer and that they need to be accessible to all possible musicians to get their full potential. That is why our mission has always been to make an User Interface that allows you to understand and manipulate the FM synthesis engine that is inside these chips.

We have been reading these threads talking about the DAFM synth and we would like to clarify the topic about the green PCBs.

The DAFM Synth is a product in continuous development and we are always including new features, thanks sometimes to the incalculable feedback of our customers. We are currently working on the inclusion of several features like MIDI CC messages, in order to control all the parameters of the YM2612 / YM3438 chips with the computer. Others like portamento, glide and pitch bend range selection will be included in following firmware reviews.

Until now, all firmware updates could fit in the microcontroller memory and were sent to customers if requested. But for the versions we are working on, a larger capacity microcontroller is necessary.

We have done some tests with a larger capacity microcontroller using green PCBs. Once tested, we have sold the PBCs that we were not going to need. From there come the rumours or messages in the forum about larger capacities of green PCBs.

As there are several users who have told us the same thing, we have decided to do the following until the new firmware version is available. All DAFM Synths sold as of today will be able to be easily updated by the user to the new version if requested. This will be so regardless of the color of the chosen PCB.

If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to contact us in our Tindie Store ( https://www.tindie.com/stores/kassersynths/ ) or Instagram ( https://www.instagram.com/kassersynths/ )

5 Likes
#72

Hi
Can anyone tell me, is the sound in this recording the result of aliasing? Not the main sound of the sine wave tone, but the annoying ā€˜spaceā€™ sound.

Itā€™s a pure sine tone from the PreenFM2, one operator, no modulations. It makes it pretty much unusable, although depending on the patch itā€™s not always noticeable. Itā€™s the SMD version of the PreenFM2.

Before I go searching for solutions, I just wanted to see if this is actually what the effect of aliasing sounds like, or something else.

#73

so all the IM/velocity values are at 0?

it does sound like it might be aliasing.

I found this:

which to me suggests that maybe the answer is just to low pass it somewhere around 19khz (sample rate is supposedly 38khz). Iā€™m old so I wouldnā€™t hear that anyway :wink:
The seems to be about the V1, so not sure if that still applies.

and this:

and also 4.4. in the Preen Manual, not sure if theyā€™re applicable if itā€™s really just one operator playing a Sine wave though tbhā€¦

might be worth asking here too:

https://ixox.fr/forum/index.php

itā€™s quite slow, but you might get a reply from the developer eventuallyā€¦

1 Like
#74

thanks for the links. The plot spectrum suggests itā€™s not a very ā€˜pureā€™ sine wave, but there isnā€™t much above 2kHz that would be audible.

Yes, Iā€™ve been thinking of making an account on the forum, but every time I go to register my browser tells me itā€™s not a secure site.

1 Like
#75

^ For those that are wondering, in this video heā€™s selecting 4 descriptors and then generate a FM patch from it. Kinda magical, almost like having an infinite patch bank :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#76

I love my preenfm2ā€¦ almost had it a year and itā€™s so versatile!

#77

Jut got a Plexiglas preenFM2. Sounds great !
Anyone here have any experience with the editor / plugins ?
I cannot seem to get a MIDI input to the editor, even though I chose the correct MIDI source. Also cannot seem to open the AU or VST plugin. I managed to update the firmware to 2.12 OK
Mac OS 10.15.7

#78

Now Iā€™m preparing my own sound bank. Iā€™ll post it to the public soon.
While there is a preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_DgF79-veI

You can also listen to some demos here. Šžnly PreenFM2 plays here, including drums - one Combo at a time (4 instruments/parts).

3 Likes
#79

Say hello to my (new) little friend

937AF14A-2E98-4F5D-AF95-53D45F4EEAB5
937AF14A-2E98-4F5D-AF95-53D45F4EEAB54032Ɨ3024 1.96 MB

1 Like
#80

How are you liking it? Been really close to buying one for a while nowā€¦ that randomizer functionality is really interesting.

1 Like
#81

May be worth going for the preenfm3 now the firmware is stableā€¦ but both are great

727-modular_preenfm3

2 Likes
#82

Where did you get yours?

#83

The pcbs came from Xavier (the designer)

#84

So you build them? Might be hitting you up in the future :slight_smile: