fm operator modules

i cant seems to find info about the fm operator module, regarding modulating each other.

The question here is, how many fm operator modules can be

modulated / connected ?.

I can only connect four fm operator max.

If the maxium is four, then it would be nice to be able to connect up to six or eight fm operators (feature request).

Comments

  • edited October 2021

    How did you get to this limitation?

    You can chain as many FM Operators as you like, as long as your CPU power permits.

    Just make sure the connections between the modules are correct.

  • i am connecting fm operators modules like this, below.

    connect fm operator 4 to 3

    connect fm operator 3 to 2

    connect fm operator 2 to 1

    so all four fm operator is connecting in a series going from

    right to left.

    But if i connect more than four operators, usally the first one , wont affect the other fm modules, when changing first modules with ratio, feedback etc….

    I just wanna know what the limits is , when connecting fm operators and how many you can connect.

    The fm operators modules are in FM modes not phase, becuase i believe the Dx7 didnt have a phase modulating option.

    Maybe i am missing something, but atleast i was able to

    make a decent couple of pathes thats is similar to dx7 rhodes, plus basses.


    Atleast something i am doing right!.

  • I know somtimes , when chaining fm operators, some fm operators wont affect the result much, because due to, its modulating the other operator or ir could be that the modulating signal is not audible, due to incorect settings.

    Looking at Dexed apps, you cant just copy the parametre and clones patches, becauese it is two different things.

    And FM synthesis is not that easy to understand.

  • Indeed FM is very sensitive to value changes. Also note that the first FM operator will require some input signal (a sinewave in the simplest case) if you expect its FM index knob to have any effect.

  • I know this is very OT but when SunVox 2.0 drops it will cover my FM needs more than enough...

    Even the current SunVox 2OP FM is very good.(I can't make the Drambo FM sound as 'meaty' no matter what I do).

    For DX7 presets I'm all in for KQ Dixie, no need to build anything and saves both time and frustration.

    Cheers!

  • wow, sunVox is looking great, sounds great too, is there a release date for sunVox ??.

    What is KQ Dixie ??.

    I have dexed for pc. (Dexed is a clone of the dx7 with 6 operators and 32 algorithm, you can even load dx7 sysex patches into dexed)

    dexed is available for pc and ios, i think mac too ?.

    i have’nt really touched the dexed when it comes to fm programming, thats the next thing i would like to learn, to dig deep into fm programming using dexed and synclavier go.

    One thing i wish thought, is, if you could modulate the fm module ratio button in drambo, buts thats not possible.

    I am trying to clone many dx7 patches , basses , rhodes, so far, my drambo patches sounds pretty ok, but it is damn diffcult to simluate perfect dx7 patches.

  • KQ Dixie is App/AUv3 which is based on the DX7, it can load DX7 SysEX files (so the DEXED_Cart.zip file can be used for browsing parches).

    No ETA on SunVox 2 yet, it's done when it's done 😎

  • @samu Just curious...where do people get Patches for SunVox these days? The synth engine in the app is pretty flexible and powerful.

  • edited October 2021

    I was just using Dixie last night. Its a steal at $4 USD just to load/tweak DX7 patches. One of the best AUv3s for sure.

    I'd love to see this plugin come to iOS https://plogue.com/products/chipsynth-ops7.html . Accurate classic FM synth emulation is an awesome feat. On the flipside this not being available gives me more reason to keep my old FM synths around.

    Drambo FM is definitely usable but not the easiest to work with. Half the problem for me is just not having presets to start from. Tweaking FM patches from scratch is no small feat. I could see the appeal of 4/6 operator Drambo module (IAP?) mainly because we'd have something stable to create presets ontop of. But I'm fine just loading up Dixie (and mapping its AUv3 params).

  • There's some patch/meta-module exchange happening over at the SunVox forum.

    Most of the time it's easy enough to patch together a patch for a specific purposes.

    SunVox ships with a LOT of presets/meta-modules/instruments (500+) have can easily be loaded.

    And a load of effect preset. They need to be 'loaded' into either a meta-module or the 'patch grid'.

    It can also load FastTracker presets (*.xi) which of there are plenty (mostly samples with envelope and modulation data).

    As long as there's an idea on what needs to be done, break it down to modules and patch.

    It's very easy to create a multi-timbral sampler as an example.

    Just load 16 'samplers' and assign them to unique midi-channels, need to 'layer' sounds, add a multi-module and connect it to other samplers.

    It really is worth the effort to dig into.

    Cheers!

  • Dexed for ios can load dx7 patches, allso dexed comes with many original and free sysx libraries, infact dexed contains over 20.000 dx7 patches.

  • Ok, sunvox has the tracker sequencer, but i dont need the

    tracker, instead , i would like to use ipad with midiinterface with my roland xp30 midi keyboard synthesizer, then use

    cubasis 3 with sunvox au, playing sunvox patches on my xp30.

  • I'd strongly recommend looking at KQ Dixie for digging in to DX7 FM synthesis. The main screen shows all the parameters for all the operators, with numbers, not knobs. To adjust values, you tap on a zone and it opens a larger view with easy-to-operate controls. You can download huge numbers of syx cartridge files and load them straight into Dixie.

  • edited October 2021

    KQ Dixie looks good, much better gui than the terrible

    dexed gui, which makes it very confusing to use dexed, execpt that dexed sound emulation is quite good, properly little better than KQ Dixie, but offcourse a real dx7 is much better.

    Sunvox is allso good, but i cant use it, i have been playing keyboard for many years, i cant express myself muscially with a tracker, its not my thing.

    Its reminds me in the good old amiga days with protracker,

    which i used to love in the amiga days, until i got tired of using trackers and desidet to buy a midi keyboard many years ago.

  • Not sure about the differences in sound emulation between Dixie, dexed, and actual DX7. DX7 was a digital synth, really just a computer, so as long as the algorithms are correct, the audio results should be the same. And remember that the DX7 had no effects, so be careful with those added by the computer emulations.

  • There was a fixed analog filter on the outputs... so not completely digital actually. I know this from tweaking an fb-01. But definitely pretty emulatable. There's also emulating the DAC itself. Some of the idiosyncrasies of the old digital synth algorithms aren't captured by most implementations (see my ops7 link above).

    That being said, I don't think the cleaner fm implementations are bad or anything! Especially for bass, I like the smoother sound that can then be crunched up.

  • “be careful with those added by the computer emulations.”

    Actually i dont, this guy on youtube does , link here.


    Anyway, i remember back in 1988, when my sister bought here first synth, a dx7, wow it did sound really great, but

    this was because she allso had a alesis reverb, other effects hardware rack, which offcourse made the dx7 much better.

    I allso remember my sister complain about some patches on dx7 had a metallic artificial sound, not to mention the string on dx7, which to my opinion sounds awfull.

    Even with dexed, it doesent sound much, unless you spice up sound with fx.

  • Yes i know the dx7 was a digital synth.

  • Actually i think i will buy dixie.

  • If you plan to do some sound design, also consider having a look at the NFM app from Nikolozi.

    While KQ Dixie works great with DX7 banks, NFM has that beautiful operator matrix like in Native Instruments FM7 and FM8 that allow for much more and easier to handle operator combinations.

    For playing DX7 presets, Dixie is totally fine but I prefer using NFM for FM sound design.

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