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Rotterdam

We recently put some news on the Nerdsynth Webpage, check it out as it contains also a photo of a mockup to show how it could look like:

http://www.nerdsynth.com/autumn-update/

After playing some live concerts and showcases it’s time to give some information about the development progress again. We are very busy getting the new prototype ready which will contain all features we decided on for version 1.0. Hopefully there will be enough time to draw the PCB and get it to the manufacturer before the end of the year. Then we can solder and build a new prototype in early 2015. Jan and Thomas will do their best to achieve this. Our new team member Bram will redesign the Nerdsynth website in the meantime so it doesn’t look so boring.

These are our plans about new stuff that the Nerdsynth will be able to do (or at least what we want it to do..)

-Portable Digital Hardware Tracker music tool with 6 Tracks (Channels)
-There will be 2 fixed tracks used by the Nerdsynth itself.
Track 1: Our very own Nerdsynth Soundchip (which will be feature rich and very cool!! Draw your own waveforms on the touchscreen, crazy wavetables etc…a work in progress)

Track 6: Sample track. Here you can play (multiple) samples, change their pitch, add FX, just as you know it from mod-trackers. Perfect for drums and voices….or maybe a special sampled instrument. The aim is to have most probably 4 ‘sub’-tracks here. It will also be possible to create advanced rhythm patterns here, not just 4 by 4.

Track 2..5: User Tracks. Here you can assign 4 Soundchip Modules ( we call them NSA … Nerdsynth Sound Adapter ) to the 4 tracks. Those modules will be ‘adapters’ to old and new soundchips. Soundchips we want to support are SID6581/8580, YM/AY, ATMegatron, Pokey, Speakjet/Soundgin, OPL-3, Analogue sound modules, CV/Gate out and some more. There will be a list of soundchips we want to support and a progressbar to show their state. Those NSA’s will be in the form of Cartridges as you know them from old consoles/homecomputers. You insert 4 of them in the Nerdsynth and it will recognize which Soundchip is installed on which Track and enables its specific features in the Tracker.

- 6 free assignable (via effect commands or global) Rotary encoders. Cool while playing live!

- PC Keyboard Input for happy editing ala Fasttracker2

- VGA output to connect a monitor and edit your songs there instead of the tiny display
BUT: There will be more to the VGA output. Instead of cloning the display output to the monitor a 7th track can be used to ‘track’ some Video stuff->Make your own visuals!! Think of a tracker like interface, but instead of inserting Notes and Effects you insert commands like ‘draw line from coordinate A to coordinate B’… and many more commands and graphic effects. Tracked graphics!

- Simple usability without triple or quadruple functions per button.

- Stereo output with line and Headphone out

- Mono output of each soundchip channel

- Special ability to direct access all soundchip registers directly in the effect column (also in tables)

- VU Meter/ Equalizer for each track

…and much more stuff. A full feature list will be posted when the new website is ready

We plan to produce the Nerdsynth but that will take at least 1 or 2 more years until it is ready for that. Now we will concentrate on implementing and testing the basic features and hopefully all our hardware ideas will also work as expected in the new prototype.

Until then, check out the mockup and stay tuned for new information.

Nerdsynth on Web, Facebook and Twitter:
http://www.nerdsynth.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nerdsynt … 1512985343
https://twitter.com/NerdSynth


cheers
Thomas firestARTer

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Detroit, MI
Payday wrote:

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!

i-i hope its not a lot of money :X

› Show Spoiler

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Rotterdam

We really want to make it affordable. But anyway you got enough time to save some money for it!  ;-)

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United States

So by default the soundchip you would get is the nerdsynth one?

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Rotterdam
IceWolf wrote:

So by default the soundchip you would get is the nerdsynth one?

One soundchip (Track) will be the Nerdsynth one by default.
One Track will be sample based.
And there are 4 slots for cartridges where you can put in any soundchip adapter you want, that are the other 4 tracks.

In complete 6 tracks.

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United States

So standard it's limited to only playing 2 channels?

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Rotterdam
IceWolf wrote:

So standard it's limited to only playing 2 channels?

I would say, standard you would get a nerdsynth with 4 cartridges of your choice anyway.
So all channels are always filled. And of course you can get other cartridges too to use other soundchips/sounds.

Thats at least the idea. Because different soundchips got different needs in communication and power, we need to make modules. Thats why we decided to make cartridges.

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United States

How easy are those soundchips to come by (outside of the SID one because I know those are pretty rare and expensive now)? I assume I'd have to un-solder the soundchips from the machines in order to put them in the cartridges for the nerdsynth (would be time to get a soldering iron then XD)? Any plans to support gameboy and NES soundchips?

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I'm more than happy to sacrifice my time for you guys testing whether it works in Tokyo.

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Most of those chips are available un-soldered. Pokeys are socketed and the rest can be bought NOS.

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United States
herr_prof wrote:

Most of those chips are available un-soldered. Pokeys are socketed and the rest can be bought NOS.

Cool, so would I just search for the soundchip online or should I buy the machines?

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Aside from sids, its probably cheaper to just buy the loose chips.

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Rotterdam

I just added effects to the table screen.

So now all soundchip effects can be changed through the tables.

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i would like to second multiple outputs, 4 if possible smile

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West Yorks, UK

hehe. i cant wait. purely because Firestarter has been in the biz longer than everyone here. Id say, take a good look a LGPT for the sample channel, but it needs not saying! Just shut up and take my money, plz.

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Piggy synth voice would rule!