At 8:46 AM -0500 10/15/02, Paul Schreiber wrote:
>
>The behind-the-scenes R&D activity continues with the MOTM-650
>4-ch MIDI-CV converter.
oh boy...
>So, I guess what I'm asking is:
>
>a) what features do you want to see
>b) would you buy one?
I don't think I would buy one because I already own a Kenton Pro-4. Btw, I
bought it before I had ever heard of Encore.
>a) fits in 2U panel
Are you sure it's MOTM?? ;)
>b) has 4 character, LED alpha-numeric display ("British flag")
This display should indicate MIDI received and MIDI Timing Clock (F8).
Checking those two things is the most frequent reason I look at my Pro-4.
>d) 4 channels (ie 4 notes at a time polyphony) with multiple voice
>>assignments
Settings for Note-priority, mono/poly, and legato modes are all useful.
Responding to CC# 68 is important for playing pads and chords.
Portamento is very desirable. In addition to front panel options, it
should also be able to receive CC #05 and #65.
Pitch Bend is another very practical feature.
>e) MIDI In on the front. There is a MIDI Out on the pcb that is used
>∗only∗ >if you SysEx a new OS
If should have a Thru (especially for live use). It should also send MIDI
Clock out if it has an "Arpeggiator Clock In".
>There are 4 AUX outs, with Aux #4 also sharing Arpeggiator Clock In. The
>>AUX's are like on a Kenton Pro-2000, you can select from a FEW (not 45
>>different ones) MIDI controllers to 'intercept' such as Aftertouch.
>g) AUX #3 can be programmed to be MIDI Clock out, and you can divide it
>>down, too. May be able to clock ∗multiply∗ it as well
Having a non-MIDI clock input would be a unique feature, but it would be
much less useful without a MIDI Clock out. I use both the arpeggiator and
DIN Sync outputs of my Pro-4 all the time. An arpeggiator output is almost
useless it can be divided down (F8 is System Real Time so MIDI sequencers
can only generate one clock for all the channels).
Given the extreme importance of clocks, these connections should not
sacrifice the aux outputs.
Also, the aux outs should be assignable to polyphonic aftertouch.
>> Trigger out? Guess you could derive one from the gate using
>> another module, but would be very nice to have right there on the panel
>>>> and not have to tie something else up to produce it....
>
>What would this drive? You really don't use Trig much for the ADSRs.
Well, there is this company in Texas that makes EG's with both gate and
trigger inputs :) I would also consider how useful this device would be
with synthesizers besides MOTM. How about using TRS jacks?? Putting note
and velocity on the same jacks will free up four jacks for other features.
>> The number one feature I would like on a MIDI-2-CV converter that no
>> one has is the ability to transform the normal MIDI notes to unusual
>> tunings during the conversion. However, no one has that, and I can
>> understand why.
>>
>There is a MIDI Microtuning Dump Standard. As far as I know, it has never
>>been implemented by anyone. Certainly, that's a secondary tier function.
Isn't tuning standard part of universal SysEx?? Afaik, no MIDI-->CV
converter uses it, and it might require more than a 4 character LED
alpha-numeric display to implement properly. However a number of synths
(including my Korg Prophecy and Emu UltraProteus) can play different
tunings, and even user-defined scales. It would be great to be able to do
that with CV without using an unquantized step sequencer.