Serial Parallel Effects Mixer is in the shop

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fanatek
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06 Jul 2017

Hi,

This is Stephane from Bcase audio.

I'm very happy to announce you that our first SPEM (Serial Parallel Effects Mixer) Rack Extension is now available on the Propellerhead shop.

SPEM is like few products in one :

4 channel Serial Effects Mixer,
4 channel Parallel Effects Mixer,
4 channel Instruments Mixer,
with Peak or RMS Metering.

SPEM helps you to control input/output volume however SPEM can also help your creativity, with a simple switch you can change the routing connections from Serial to Parallel or Parallel to Serial. There is a channel selector that can be CV controlled, you can choose one channel at a time, be adventurous and put an LFO on it and continuously switch between the channels.

The user interface has been optimized to have all necessary functionalities in a 1U rack, even when folded, key controls are still available.

You can see more details here




I hope you will find this tool very useful for your workflow.

Stephane
Last edited by fanatek on 06 Jul 2017, edited 1 time in total.
http://www.bcase.fr - Orleans FR - Ableton Live 11 Suite, Reason 11 Suite, Nektar P4

Heater
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06 Jul 2017

I miss read the title and nearly spat out my coffee

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fanatek
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06 Jul 2017

Read it as S.P.E.M, bad boy ! :)
http://www.bcase.fr - Orleans FR - Ableton Live 11 Suite, Reason 11 Suite, Nektar P4

Abstrax
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06 Jul 2017

That's a pretty creative RE. I can envision a thousand ways it could be useful. Too bad there's no intro price though. I'll have to give a spin later tonight.

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Loque
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06 Jul 2017

Gratulations for your first RE release. Hope to see more :-)
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challism
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06 Jul 2017

Yes, congrats on this RE. It's really a useful device and I hope it sells well for you. I know I am enjoying mine! I look forward to more REs from you. :)
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Ostermilk
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06 Jul 2017

There's a lot of convenience pre-built into this device and some really nice touches, particularly for automation purposes.

From the earlier response I guess the cheap gag crowd (who me?) would have preferred it being named Serial Parallel Effect Routing Mixer it seems. ;)

Congratulations on the release.

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fanatek
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06 Jul 2017

Ostermilk wrote:
06 Jul 2017
From the earlier response I guess the cheap gag crowd (who me?) would have preferred it being named Serial Parallel Effect Routing Mixer it seems. ;)
You kill me ! :mrgreen:

Advertising : With SPEM, you can engender many small, charming effects! :D
http://www.bcase.fr - Orleans FR - Ableton Live 11 Suite, Reason 11 Suite, Nektar P4

Ostermilk
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06 Jul 2017

fanatek wrote:
06 Jul 2017
Ostermilk wrote:
06 Jul 2017
From the earlier response I guess the cheap gag crowd (who me?) would have preferred it being named Serial Parallel Effect Routing Mixer it seems. ;)
You kill me ! :mrgreen:

Advertising : With SPEM, you can engender many small, charming effects! :D
Ignore me. It has been suggested before that I might have something to do with a Direct Input Control Knob which is something I can neither confirm nor deny.

:P

Seriousness aside though I am intrigued by this new device of yours as I do most of my parallel routing within a combinator already and this looks super helpful.

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Carly(Poohbear)
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17 Jul 2017

Nektar P series Mapping is available for SPEM, I don't usually do mappings for Utils however this RE is so handy and I'm using it lot, I had to do a mapping for it..

More details can be found here..
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7491466&p=343976#p343976


PoohBear
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jonheal
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02 Aug 2017

Stephane,

I don't know if it can be done, but is it possible to suppress the pop that is often heard when you plug a cable into a Return jack or press a Mute button? Maybe encapsulate those actions in a slight fade? If so, it would be a perfect device! :puf_smile:
Jon Heal:reason: :re: :refill:Do not click this link!

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fanatek
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02 Aug 2017

Hi Jon,

The mute action is already in a slight fade of about 10 ms, but not the plug one.
Have you compared to the line mixer 6 mute button ?
At what sample rate do you work ? With ASIO ?
http://www.bcase.fr - Orleans FR - Ableton Live 11 Suite, Reason 11 Suite, Nektar P4

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Carly(Poohbear)
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02 Aug 2017

jonheal wrote:
02 Aug 2017
Stephane,

I don't know if it can be done, but is it possible to suppress the pop that is often heard when you plug a cable into a Return jack or press a Mute button? Maybe encapsulate those actions in a slight fade? If so, it would be a perfect device! :puf_smile:
Hi Jon,

Out of interest do you still get the click\pop if you render the file out?
I had this with one device and I use to add silly workarounds and then one day I realised it was only happening live, when rendered no clicks or pops.
Last edited by Carly(Poohbear) on 02 Aug 2017, edited 1 time in total.

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jonheal
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02 Aug 2017

Carly,

The "happening live" part is what I hope can be fixed. That is how I wish to use this device — adding or removing serial effects seamlessly during a live tweaking session.

Worst case, I'll need to do a little extra thinking up front to decide which effects I might want employ in a particular session, but it would be great to be able to throw an effect into the mix on-the-fly without the jarring pop.
Last edited by jonheal on 02 Aug 2017, edited 1 time in total.
Jon Heal:reason: :re: :refill:Do not click this link!

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jonheal
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02 Aug 2017

fanatek wrote:
02 Aug 2017
Hi Jon,

The mute action is already in a slight fade of about 10 ms, but not the plug one.
Have you compared to the line mixer 6 mute button ?
At what sample rate do you work ? With ASIO ?
Sorry, Stephane, I didn't notice your answer before I answered Carly. I am using an ASIO driver (PreSonus) set at 24bit/48k. I will try other resolutions and bitrates to see if it makes a difference.
Jon Heal:reason: :re: :refill:Do not click this link!

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jonheal
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02 Aug 2017

Stephane,

I placed a Line Mixer 6 in serial before the SPEM so I could observe its Mute button behavior. The Line Mixer's Mute does not pop audibly, but to me, it also seems like it might fade more slowly, but that might be my imagination. I tried operating a 41.1k sample rate, but SPEM's Mute button still pops (as do Return cable inserts). (I can't figure out how to reduce my interface to 16bit resolution.) At 41.1k with the Mute on, the popping is suppressed when you plug in a cable to a Return jack.

Maybe add a few more milliseconds fade on the Mute button?

I bought it, by the way, so I am not just a whining trialer, if it makes you feel any better. :puf_smile:

EDIT: Strangely, with the Mute on, the popping still occurs the first time you plug in a cable to a Return jack (at least with the Scream device). But then if you unplug it and plug it in again while the Mute button is still depressed, no pop.
Jon Heal:reason: :re: :refill:Do not click this link!

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fanatek
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02 Aug 2017

Thank you Jon for your feedback, I'm going to take a look on that.
It sounds strange because for me Line Mixer 6 pops and not SPEM.

Can you send me one Reason sample file that has the issue for you and can you MP your Reason account name so this way I could give you some beta versions to test ?
Thanks for your help.
http://www.bcase.fr - Orleans FR - Ableton Live 11 Suite, Reason 11 Suite, Nektar P4

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jonheal
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02 Aug 2017

Stephane,

A sample file is attached. I use a template with a lot of stuff in it, but I stripped out all of the extra junk just to make sure something else wasn't compounding the effect. Anyway, this file still pops for me when I click the Mute button or insert a Return cable. It will be interesting to see if you hear the pop, or not

Again, Reason was running on my end at 41.1k/24bit.
Test.zip
(144.54 KiB) Downloaded 94 times
Jon Heal:reason: :re: :refill:Do not click this link!

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fanatek
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02 Aug 2017

Ok I've got it.
It is due to the serial mode latency management.
In serial mode the global latency of SPEM depends on the number of activated channels.
So in your sample file, when all channels are muted, the latency equals 0 sample and when you unmute one channel the latency becomes 64 samples, and you can add 64 samples latency for each unmuted channel.
This is the reason why you've got the pop even with mixer set to 0%.
There is a very small fade for this between the memory buffer and the output, but it is only on 64 samples, so at 44,1 kHz, only about 1ms (and less at 48 kHz).

You should not have these pops in parallel mode.

I'm going to try to find a solution for that, but it is not simple so I need time.
http://www.bcase.fr - Orleans FR - Ableton Live 11 Suite, Reason 11 Suite, Nektar P4

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Carly(Poohbear)
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02 Aug 2017

jonheal wrote:
02 Aug 2017
Stephane,

A sample file is attached. I use a template with a lot of stuff in it, but I stripped out all of the extra junk just to make sure something else wasn't compounding the effect. Anyway, this file still pops for me when I click the Mute button or insert a Return cable. It will be interesting to see if you hear the pop, or not

Again, Reason was running on my end at 41.1k/24bit.

Test.zip
I can also confirm that I'm hearing a pop on mute and adding removing a cable however it is a lot less noticeable with the mute in parallel mode.

Oh, just seen Fanatek's reply...

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jonheal
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02 Aug 2017

OK, thanks, Stephane. Best of luck with the 1s and 0s. :puf_smile:
Jon Heal:reason: :re: :refill:Do not click this link!

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fanatek
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02 Sep 2017

Hi,

Some news about the next version 1.1.5 of SPEM.

SPEM engine has been almost entirely rewritten.

The global latency is now fixed to 4x64 samples, so no more depending on routing mode or plugged channels count.
This avoids pops. Now you can plug or unplug a muted channel without any pop.
Mute and unmute processes are now managed to fade out/fade in all cases with "intelligent" behavior for combined actions.
You will never ear a pop when you mute or solo or pre or select or phase or all that at the same time !

The parallel behavior has changed when there is no plugged channel inputs, it lets bypass the sound so now the default mix value is full wet. I hope you will like that too.

Despite all the tests I've done, it is possible that some bugs are still there.
This is the reason why I call beta testers for this new version 1.1.5 (please send me MP if you want to join, the beta version is a new product so you keep the current version).

This update will be free when released.
And the hypothetical 1.2 version will be too, but this is another dynamic range story ;)
http://www.bcase.fr - Orleans FR - Ableton Live 11 Suite, Reason 11 Suite, Nektar P4

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fanatek
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28 Sep 2017

Version 1.1.5 is in the shop as a free update of course.

Enjoy !
http://www.bcase.fr - Orleans FR - Ableton Live 11 Suite, Reason 11 Suite, Nektar P4

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Carly(Poohbear)
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28 Sep 2017

fanatek wrote:
02 Sep 2017
but this is another dynamic range story ;)
:thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :lol: :lol: :lol: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up:

Thanks for all your hard work on this great handy little device...

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Bumbum
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29 Sep 2017

fanatek wrote:
28 Sep 2017
Version 1.1.5 is in the shop as a free update of course.

Enjoy !
I have feature request, for serial mode.
Could it be possible to change order of signal chain with simple switch etc,this would allow more experimental results.
for example, from 1-2-3-4 to 3-2-1-4 or 4-1-3-2 ...
Something like signal chain matrix in battleaxe https://shop.propellerheads.se/product/ ... destroyer/
I hate it when i have to manually change cables to do this.

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