I've seen some people mentioning how chain mode doesn't actually offer true 8-voice polyphony, that there is some voice stealing that occurs in some not-so-rare situations.
Can somebody explain to me what the issue is? Does it affect all boutiques with chain mode, like the SH-01a and the SE-02? I know it was an issue for the first wave of boutiques (JU-06, JP-08, JX-03).
Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?
Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?
As an example, take the following tone in mind: staccato notes with long release.
Now press 6 keys, 4 notes will be played on the master, 2 on the slave, which still has 2 empty voices left.
Now release, the notes have a long release, and press again 6 keys. Since the master has no knowledge of what is played on the slave (as excessive notes are just spilled over), it will re-use all 4 of its internal voices again as they were released and available. This will cut those 4 notes off and replay new notes. The 2 extra new notes will be spilled over to the slave. If the slave is clever enough it will use the other empty voices for these new 2 notes, thus the other two on the slave will continue to sound. This last thing cannot happen on the master as all 4 voices were used anyway.
Now press 6 keys, 4 notes will be played on the master, 2 on the slave, which still has 2 empty voices left.
Now release, the notes have a long release, and press again 6 keys. Since the master has no knowledge of what is played on the slave (as excessive notes are just spilled over), it will re-use all 4 of its internal voices again as they were released and available. This will cut those 4 notes off and replay new notes. The 2 extra new notes will be spilled over to the slave. If the slave is clever enough it will use the other empty voices for these new 2 notes, thus the other two on the slave will continue to sound. This last thing cannot happen on the master as all 4 voices were used anyway.
Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?
Maybe I'm not really understanding this. What is the expected behavior? If you have 2 JUs in chain mode then you have 8 voices in total to work with. If you play 6 notes with long releases then 6 voices will be occupied until the notes release. If you play another 6 notes before the previous 6 have been released, then wouldn't you expect for some notes to be cut off.... unless you had 12 voices to work with (3 JUs)?
- cloudburst
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Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?
Comparing 8 voices vs 4+4 voices chained:
- there is a difference between the period a key is held and the period a voice is “in use”
- it is more difficult to determine which voice is not “in use” when voices are split between two synths by a MIDI interface.
CB
- there is a difference between the period a key is held and the period a voice is “in use”
- it is more difficult to determine which voice is not “in use” when voices are split between two synths by a MIDI interface.
CB
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Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?
A simple and easy solution against this issue would have been to program the Boutiques to send every second note to its chained module. Ex: note 1 played by A, note 2 sent to B, note 3 played by A, note 4 sent to B, etc...
Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
- cloudburst
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Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?
A bit unpredictable if the second module wasn't on the same patch, or wasn't there at all ... no? I probably missed some irony though. LOLtomatoKetchup wrote:A simple and easy solution against this issue would have been to program the Boutiques to send every second note to its chained module. Ex: note 1 played by A, note 2 sent to B, note 3 played by A, note 4 sent to B, etc...
Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
CB
Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?
If the second module wasn't on the same patch or not there at all, that defeats all polychaining solutions :)cloudburst wrote:A bit unpredictable if the second module wasn't on the same patch, or wasn't there at all ... no? I probably missed some irony though. LOLtomatoKetchup wrote:A simple and easy solution against this issue would have been to program the Boutiques to send every second note to its chained module. Ex: note 1 played by A, note 2 sent to B, note 3 played by A, note 4 sent to B, etc...
Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
CB
I think that "every second note" solution is a great idea! A great variation of the "round robin" approach.
If you set the polychaining for 3 Boutiques (12 voice poly), then it would be every 2nd note to unit 2 and every 3rd note to unit 3.
- cloudburst
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Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?
How many times have you thought to yourself ...... “Is chain mode turned on?” ...... usually followed closely by ...... “Which buttons do I need to press to check and turn it off, aargh need to open the manual again” .....raymond wrote:If the second module wasn't on the same patch or not there at all, that defeats all polychaining solutions :)cloudburst wrote:A bit unpredictable if the second module wasn't on the same patch, or wasn't there at all ... no? I probably missed some irony though. LOLtomatoKetchup wrote:A simple and easy solution against this issue would have been to program the Boutiques to send every second note to its chained module. Ex: note 1 played by A, note 2 sent to B, note 3 played by A, note 4 sent to B, etc...
Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
CB
I think that "every second note" solution is a great idea! A great variation of the "round robin" approach.
If you set the polychaining for 3 Boutiques (12 voice poly), then it would be every 2nd note to unit 2 and every 3rd note to unit 3.
CB