Hi folks,

I've been trying and trying to get a SYX patch (Syncom8 from Factory bank 1) into my Xpander.

What 'ENABLES' are needed on the MIDI page?

Thanks,

Jeremy.

envia94 wrote:

The working links are under here:

with titles "Xpander_Demo_vintagesynth.mp3" and "xpander_with_JD-800_Theo.mp3".

I was expecting a .SYX patch to send to the Xpander. Also, this demo is 3 years old and we need new uploads.

Can someone upload a decent Xpander patch so people can upload MP3s and compare?

Cheers,

Jeremy.

The working links are under here:

with titles "Xpander_Demo_vintagesynth.mp3" and "xpander_with_JD-800_Theo.mp3".

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

>>>

Am 08.09.2010 12:05, schrieb envia94:

?

To tell my opinion, Xpander random bass sound seldom if ever sound the best on the market, but the good thing is that you can always improve it and it can sound really unique.

Here is an expert's opinion and a "moody demo song made with an Oberheim Xpander only. Recorded with multitracker to show off the possibilities for doing percussive sounds, which is often said that the Xpander can`t do this. Sure used some Delay in mixing process. Note: Even the drums & percussions are made with this synth!!"

Well, that?s absolutely excellent sounding and congrats to the great hi-hat programming ! That grooves !

I like this especially well too:



And, the latter is an example how stacking Xpander with and an other good synth can give you a marvellous synthesis as a result. I experiensed this once really strongly, when playing Xpander together with the Solina String Ensamble. I had just a simple Xpader bass sound and when I took a chord from Solina over it, something marvellous happened when the sounds combined together. It sounded very deep up and down, when a Leslie kind of effect attached to the bass sound, too. It felt like magic!

Also great sounding !

IMO, layering old analog synths w/ something from the digital domain (JD-800 in your case if that?s right in the mp3?s title) is always good if both patches are adjusted to fit perfectly.

I often did this w/ the D-550 but layering the Xpander w/ FM is what I like most ?cause it completes the Xpander?s sonic quality w/ the percussivity and low end FM is able to produce.

OTOH, layering can cause phasing issues you might not want for a direct in the face punchy bass, especially if there are faster runs, phrases rather a bass w/ sustained notes, in that case, the Xpander isn?t a choice,- but a (my) Minimoog D playing only one OSC is.

Tiitu

PeWe

Let me start a new discussion under this title, referring to a previous message:

"Someone who is good at patching, come up with a great bass patch (and some others), and record a few notes of that patch.

Upload the patch, notes text file, and audio file to the Yahoo site.

Then we can all download the patch, listen to the audio file and compare it to the sound on our own boxes.

Of course, there will be some differences due to the audio playback on each system, but it would still be an interesting experiment.

I never though the bass sounded good on my Xpander.

What do the rest of you think??"


... I think it is a fact that waves' rise times are not the fastest and we have discussed about replacing old op's (operational amplifiers) with better and faster new ones. However, the original sound is good just as it is, in my opinion.

The idea of sound patches for comparison is strongly supported!

Please, add your patches with documentation in Files - Patch Banks and/or audio to Demos. Good audio files can already be listened under the Files - Demos menu.

To tell my opinion, Xpander random bass sound seldom if ever sound the best on the market, but the good thing is that you can always improve it and it can sound really unique.

Here is an expert's opinion and a "moody demo song made with an Oberheim Xpander only. Recorded with multitracker to show off the possibilities for doing percussive sounds, which is often said that the Xpander can`t do this. Sure used some Delay in mixing process. Note: Even the drums & percussions are made with this synth!!"



I like this especially well too:



And, the latter is an example how stacking Xpander with and an other good synth can give you a marvellous synthesis as a result. I experiensed this once really strongly, when playing Xpander together with the Solina String Ensamble. I had just a simple Xpader bass sound and when I took a chord from Solina over it, something marvellous happened when the sounds combined together. It sounded very deep up and down, when a Leslie kind of effect attached to the bass sound, too. It felt like magic!

Tiitu

Jeremy Wrote:

I have a question which can anyone answer?

My Xpander shows all tuning tests as 'SUCCESS', no failures. But the
voices sound a bit 'parpy' and tinny.
Is it possible for tuning to succeed, yet the voice chips are still
faulty? Or do the tests mean my Xpander is fine.
Thanks,
Jeremy.

Hi Jeremy,

Is it on all voices, or the stereo outs?? If it's the stereo outs, there is
a?TLO72 opamp ( U1) which drives the output ?jacks.

You could try replacing this. It's in a socket so it's easy to do. ( and cheap)
If you open it up, and look at the potentiometer board attached to the front
panal. It is right next to the volume pot.? Aside from that, the panning circuit

is after the tuning circuits and could cause a low bass response problem. In
this case there are 6 4051 analog switches that could be replaced.

If the problem is on all voices, PeWe's advice is solid, and recapping all the
capacitors on the voice board is wise.? Actually for a 20+ year old synth it is
probobly a good thing to do anyway.
However it seems strange to me, that all the voices would?fail?the same way.
???
Also I have to agree with Tony that the Xpander /M12 is not the best at bass
sounds. Usually I need to stack a couple of voices up when I need a deep bass
tone.

Best regards

Karl Schmeer

Tony Cappellini wrote:

Here's something that may be interesting to some.
Someone who is good at patching, come up with a great bass patch (and some others),
and record a few notes of that patch.
Upload the patch, notes text file, and audio file to the Yahoo site.
Then we can all download the patch, listen to the audio file and compare it to the sound on our own boxes.
Of course, there will be some differences due to the audio playback on each system, but it would still be an interesting experiment.
I never though the bass sounded good on my Xpander.
What do the rest of you think??

Count me in!

Thanks,

Jeremy.

Here's something that may be interesting to some.

Someone who is good at patching, come up with a great bass patch (and some others),
and record a few notes of that patch.

Upload the patch, notes text file, and audio file to the Yahoo site.

Then we can all download the patch, listen to the audio file and compare it to the sound on our own boxes.

Of course, there will be some differences due to the audio playback on each system, but it would still be an interesting experiment.

I never though the bass sounded good on my Xpander.

What do the rest of you think??

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

I buyed my Xpander new mid 80th, never a CEM 3374 failed,- but I buyed 1 pc as a replacement if it will ever happen.
CEM 3372 is easier to blow because the signal created by the OSC (CEM 3374) goes thru the CEM 3372 (Filter/signal generator), but also,- only one failed here within all the decades.

1st take care of the PSU,- outgoing voltages should be stable.
If this isn?t the case, there?s a overhaul necessary.

If you lose bass response, replace all the 2.2uF elecrlytic capacitors you find on the voiceboard and pull chips out, clean sockets and eventually legs of chips and put ?em back into their sockets.
Doing this fixes all probs, incl. voices fail in autotune procedure, in most cases and it?s much cheaper than buying super expensive rare chips today.

The test means nothing in real world,- a voice showing tunig failure might be caused by a bad cap which is responsible for reporting the condition of a voice to the processor,- that?s all.

Voice "fail" can mean a lot of probs, not only the chips are dead or such and is just only a routine of the OS switching voices to "off"? which show "fail".
Dirty switches w/ contact probs and being active in the tuning page can cause "fail" too.
I have that since ages I have to press "tune all" twice and then all voices say "pass" ... :-)
No damaged voice in my Xpander,- it tunes fine and keeps stable,- also sounds great.

To the ebay buyers,- if you see pics showing all voices "pass" in autotune page,- that doesn?t mean the Xpander is great or works flawlessly !

I?ll recap my Xpander this autumn or winter BEFORE chips fail.

PeWe



Am 07.09.2010 23:37, schrieb Jeremy Smith BSc (Hons):

envia94 wrote:

There is sometimes one CEM3374 or so for sale at www.ebay.com, www.ebay.co.uk, or www.ebay.de. In an extremely desperate situation, you may also try to ask me again.

I have a question which can anyone answer?

My Xpander shows all tuning tests as 'SUCCESS', no failures. But the voices sound a bit 'parpy' and tinny.

Is it possible for tuning to succeed, yet the voice chips are still faulty? Or do the tests mean my Xpander is fine.

Thanks,

Jeremy.

There is sometimes one CEM3374 or so for sale at www.ebay.com, www.ebay.co.uk, or www.ebay.de. In an extremely desperate situation, you may also try to ask me again.

Hi,

Please, you can contact Doug directly in his email address. But, be aware that a CEM3374 is one of the most rare vintage synth chips! Therefore, you should buy them as many as you can afford or is available. I would take a pair as a minimum. But, in any case, you just need to change that chip, which is not working. Take all the precautions against the static electricity, which can break this and many other ships, if you are careless. Have you also tried to push the chips back to their places? They have the tendency to come up after many years of use. Or, remove the assumably problematic chip and then push it carefully and tightly back to its place. This could well be enough to fix the problem. An other as important work is to replace all condensators, which tend to dry during the years. This is very typically done also just as a precaution.

Good luck!

Hi, I have a few CEM3374s and CEM3372s for your Xpander/Matrix-12 in stock now. All chips are tested and guaranteed working.

Thanks,
Doug
synthparts.com

It is possible, and easy todo:

Let's take the cutoff example:
- first send a page/subpage select to say to the xpander you want to edit a parameter from this page.
F0 10 02 0B 22 00 F7 // Page and subpage select , 22 for VCF/VCA, subpage 0.
- now increment VCF Cutoff as if you were turning the first rotary encoder
F0 10 02 0A 00 18 00 01 00 00 00 F7 // Page edit follows, 18= rotary encoder, 01: increment.
- to decrease the value:
F0 10 02 0A 00 18 00 7F 01 00 00 F7

You can use MIDI-OX and set MIDI Sysex Echo into the Xpander to get all the message when tweaking the parameters.
Just don't forget to send the page/subpage if your parameter is in a different page.

Do you mean a single value- such as Osc Freq, or Filter cutoff?
I can't do this from work- but you can easily do this yourself.

Get the free program such as Midiox (Windows Only). If you're on a Mac, there's Bomes, but it's not free. I think it has a free eval period though. There must be some free systex utils for the Mac though.

Enable the appropriate Midi In ports, enable Sysex in Midiox.

Make sure the Xpander is set to transmit sysex.

Once you have everything set correctly, turn the knob of the parameter you want to change.

You should see the sysex string in the Midiox window.

The Xpander/M12 have an option to echo every (or darn near every) parameter change to the Midiout connector.

It's just a matter of having a program to catch & display this.

Does anyone know if it is possible to change a single parameter value on the
Xpander via sysex? If yes, I would appreciate an example string. Thanks!

James R. Coplin

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Well, it?s good idea, but I never had probs to edit my gear from their surfaces UI, so also not the Xpander.
In the end, much of success will depend on how effective a software editor is in a DAW environment.
The biggest drawback might come up when the last 8x8 MIDI interface dies and/ or 64Bit drivers aren?t available and you upgrade to a 64Bit system, which most will near future.
That will be the moment outboard MIDI gear cannot be connected to a PC anymore except it has USB.
Sad but true.

Am 18.08.2010 17:03, schrieb envia94: