Sunday, December 15, 2013

Dexed; DX7 software plugin emulator

I've bought NI FM7 and then FM8 but it never sounded like the original DX7.  Back then, the closest "real" implementation (to my opinion) was the Nord G2 (https://github.com/msg/g2ools); and it required a Nord G2 device. Then came this project and SynprezFM that actually worked on the DX envelopes and stuff... To me as a musician, I needed a real plugin version to work and load it with a DAW.

This is why I made it a "port" that uses JUCE as a host plugin format with (music-synthesizer-for-android) code base...

Call this as a "Sprint 1".

16 comments:

spankous said...

Hi there!
I managed to use Dexed on my macbook in ableton. after i had to reinstall my osx i tried to reinstall Juce and Dexed. only i can`t remember how i did it anymore.... is there any installation instruction somewhere as to how to install it on a mac if you are not that fit with software? btw i love its sound as long as i used it. congrats!

Unknown said...

hi! I can not find a user manual for this gret synth. can you help me in this, please? thanx, indeed!

kissanko@gmail.com

chiron08 said...

i try to use it wirh the jellinghaus dx programmer but i cant chanche para,eters wirh it. why?

Unknown said...

I was about to haul my old DX7 into my already crowded studio. Then I found this. Simply said, you nailed it. I found and loaded the factory presets, and called up E.Piano 1. Sounds just like my DX7. Thanks!

Frank Sheeran said...
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Frank Sheeran said...
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DARIO said...

Hi, I have a TX 802, does the DEXED work fine with it? Another question: aside from the VST plugin presets, can I use the DEXED to move an internal patch from the TX 802 tweak/save and send it back to the TX?

Let me know,
Thanks

The organ dude said...

i'm a huge fan of this plugin and have been paying tribute to it on my youtube channel. I've done a tutorial, demo tracks and a head-2-head comparison with my original DX7. You will be amazed how close it sounds to the real thing. Thank you for this superb program!
https://www.youtube.com/c/woodypianoshack

Unknown said...

DEXED – irregular frequencies in the FM/PM spectrum


A heartly “Hello” and big “Thank you” for DEXED!
But now my problem/question.
According to the maths of FM/PM of a sine wave by another sine wave there can´t be any frequency lower than the carrier´s frequency in the resulting spectrum, if the modulator´s frequency is twice the carrier´s or higher.
But - given certain circumstances – there are lower frequencies with the described constellation. For example with the carrier´s frequency at 750 Hz and the modulator´s frequency at 30xfC and a modulation strength (output of the modulating oscillator) at 75% there are even 2 lower frequencies in the spectrum. Or – to point at another extreme constellation - with fC=6,000 Hz, fM=7xfC and modulation strength at 75% there are 4 irregular partials. And a last example – returning to more “normal” situations – with fC=1,000 Hz and fM=5xfC and a modulation strength of 88% there is already 1 of these “unexplainable” partials. I´ve made a series of measuring and found, that the higher the carrier´s frequency at constant modulation strength and constant C:M ratio, the more of these “irregular” frequencies occur.
Or with the carrier´s frequency and the modulation strength being constant: the higher the modulator´s frequency the more of these low irregular partials.
Or – I was on the brink of saying “of course” - with both frequencies (carrier and modulator) being constant: the stronger the modulation, the more irregular frequencies.
I´ve made more than 5,000 measurings and I´ve set up the resulting sheets with DEXED, but also with: NI´s FM8, ImageLine´s Sytrus and u-he´s Bazille and the hardware synth Korg Volca FM. The results are very similar and the resulting graphs (number of irregular partials against the other mentioned parameters) are similar as well.

My question at least: Have I overlooked something in the maths? Is there possibly anything different between FM and PM that causes the phenomenon of the “forbidden” partials (I can´t imagine as both are angle modulations)? Or is it a question/problem of coding/programming FM/PM?
I´m doing a workshop about FM/PM, a workshop for musicians and sound designer, not math freaks (well, I am such a freak, but not the participants). There are some hundreds of regular visitors of the workshop and I have to find a kind of explanation for the phenomenon, which satisfies at least the “non-mathematical” intentions of my participants.

So, I appologise for this long email and I say thank you very much indeed for the answer I am hoping to get and which I am looking forward to.

Have a great day and a good time.
Rolf Kasten

Frank Sheeran said...

I thought I responded yesterday but don't see my response.

In short, Rolf, I'd suggest to check your graphing methodology. While I attempted to reproduce your results with my own synth software, I was getting sub-fundamental harmonics on my graph too... but it turned out that I was not syncing my software oscilloscope properly, and so on.

My software is a formula-based modular-style synth and available for free download at http://moselle-synth.com . It is stand-alone, which means it doesn't work as a DAW plug-in (yet). You can just download it and run it, you don't need anything extra. Once you start it, put this patch in the patch window and look at the oscilloscope window, which shows you the harmonic spectrum.

This patch is designed to show you FM with the damper pedal up, and PM with the damper pedal down. Either way the harmonic spectrum is exactly the same of course. The correction factor of 2pi * 5 simply adjusts the strength of the PM to produce the same effect as FM. The 2pi factor is due to Moselle putting oscillator phase on a 0-to-1 basis instead of using radians.


[OscCarrier]
Frequency = 750 * IF( DamperPdl, 1 + .88 * OscModulator:Control, 1 )
PhaseIn = IF( DamperPdl, 0, .88/ 3.14/2/5 * OscModulator:Control )
Waveform = Sine

[OscModulator]
Frequency = 750 * 5
Waveform = Sine

[Voice]
Result = OscCarrier:Control

# Because OscCarrier will be shoved back and forth across phase 0 by the modulator,
# OscCarrier:SyncOut will be chaotic and meaningless. So, we make another oscillator here,
# solely to drive the syncs for the oscilloscope.

[OscTimer]
Frequency = OscCarrier:Frequency

[Scope]
SyncIn = OscTimer:SyncOut
Probe1 = Voice:Result

Unknown said...

Hello Frank!
Thank you for your detailed answer. I´ll check it according to your suggestions and I´m looking forward to look at your software in detail. But - I have to say - I´m a bit doubtful about this graphing thing, as in some cases you can even hear the sub-fundamental partials.
But, I´ll see.
Again: thank you very much indeed.
Have a great day and a good time!
Rolf

Alek Vila said...
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Alek Vila said...
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Alek Vila said...

Hi Pascal,

I was having some trouble, but it turned out to be user error. I love your Dexed plug-in! Huge thanks!! It is making my life so much easier. I just bought a TX-802 rack module and being able to send and edit patches via SysEx is a Godsend. Thank you!

Kind regards,
~ Alek

42 said...

Hi,
DEXED is really great work.
I compiled it on Linux.
Is there a place for this binary or not interested.
Kind regards
Harald

Unknown said...

Just found this great DX7 plugin. I was able to get it to load in Windows 10 but I'm not able to get it to work on my Mac OSX 10.13.3 High Sierra. Has anyone been able to get it to work on the Mac?