John Bowen Synth Design

Hi,

I'm currently on the waiting list for the Solaris and was wondering what the general feeling among users was about the current state of the Solaris OS. I've heard that some people have encountered stability issues (freezes and such) or bugs and wanted to know how frequent these kind of issues come up during normal use of the instrument.

Also, what is the current status of the development of the OS? I'm aware that the multi-timbrality along with other features that have been mooted have yet to be implemented, and I'm okay with those things being absent for the moment, but if there are other issues impacting normal use of the Solaris of functions as described in the manual then I'd like some reassurance that those things are actively being dealt with.

Thanks.

I"ve used it live for 3 years now and never had a single issue except stuck MIDI notes when using glissandos with my index finger, but that was fixed by using MIDI Solutions Pedals and customizing the data to and from Solaris.

The only annoying issues i have are midi stuck or midi sync problems, so i don't use midi anymore and wait for an OS update, i know those things are on the list.

Hey Patate.
I had problems integrating hardware synths MIDI with software DAWs and MIDI forever, just getting some MIDI Solutions Pedals and using the software programming tool you can customize the MIDI workflow and Filtering however you want.
Recently started using Solaris MIDI In and Out simultaneously for Polyphonic After Touch modulation and my entire rig had the MIDI Blues, not anymore though.

I have many, but current rig needs a Router (shown above the synth with Solaris AES/EBU converter next to it)
A Foot Pedal Controller as I use 3 x Exp. 2 Ftsw and a single Sutain.
And the beast that ties it all together is the Quadra Merge shown next to the QuNexus MIDI Expander.

For 20 years I have struggled with DAWs and hardware being integrated during a performance, and it's always the same story, got it fix it yourself with custom tools.


post a picture

HI Dawman,

Strangely, i own the quadra merge midi solutions, i'll try thru that if it can solve my problem but i doubt the sync issue can
be fixed with a merger, perhaps the stucks note.
I don't have the Qu NExus box, wich can perhaps be the solution.
But i don't want to buy another tool because the solaris is the only synth i own wich give me midi problems.
I put here a little video of very simple stucks notes i obtain with the solaris and Ableton Live.
I'm not in USB connection but with midi cable thru an Edirol UA 101 and thru the quadra merge ( wich obviously is not the solution )

http://youtu.be/o9LUjNA_-wM

The exact same connections with a Kronos, a SY77, a Receptor2, a modular system and the exact same sequence, nothing else than the UA101 into Synth, and only the Solaris give me stucks notes.

So probably your solution is a good one but for the while i only use Solaris without a DAW.

Tell me if you have a SYNC problem when you try to SYNC Solaris arpeggiator for example with anything else thru midi ?

I try with my µDAW, with a tempest, with a modular system and i always have the same problem, Solaris is a little bit too slow compare to the SYNC.

Thank you for your help anyway.

I normally don't perform in that way but I am starting to use QuNexus to launch audio clips from Bidule and considering getting Live as the Max 4 Live stuff is really interesting me lately.
I will try and see if I can Sync up with the Arp. and if not try the Seq.
Give me a little while as I normally don't operate in this way.

We know there is a verified MIDI sync problem, as already noted, so I don't think any external gear will help. Don't know about the stuck notes, however. I don't experience those.

john b.

Yes there are a few bugs and i can confirm that currently working with a daw is sometimes cumbersome. I experience the sync issues, occasional stuck and dropped notes and occasional midi lag and lost USB connection issues. Most of these issues are usb related I guess but haven't tested it thoroughly (I am a new owner also). These next to a freeze at boot now and then (restart fixes that) and (rare) scrambled displays on the top left or right and a small dead spot in the first 10 degrees of the volume pot. These last few don't bother me that much but they are there nonetheless. I have found ways to workaround these issues and am willing to accept them for now since the solaris is such a great instrument. But I too am eager to see dev continue.
Os dev stood still for quit some time but it seems a break through is imminent. There were some setbacks john had to deal with but I trust dev will continue eventually because he is motivated and dedicated.

I'm thinking about buying a tool wich could avoid those drop and stuck but i'm not sure of is efficiancy.
An AL-88 from Alyseum, i have an MS 812 of the same constuctor in my modular and it's a sort of miracle.
In fact the Solaris stuck and drop only with my daw, never with my master keyboard. And my Daw have problem only with the Solaris.
So, perhaps if i put the AL 88 between the DAW and the Solaris then problems could disappear.

Personally, I have not had any MIDI issues. But, most of the time, I am playing SOLARIS through a KURZWEIL MIDI BOARD routed with MIDI conversion through ABLETON (so I can have channel based on mono per channel polyphonic aftertouch). Works for me. I am feel bad to have not yet posted a video but time seems to keep slipping ... I will get to it. My only desire is to get access to the sources so I can make some contributions: I don't know if John can put an SDK or get something out but I would add a few features that I personally think are important - like keyboard intelligence to modulation control (when you play violin-like sounds versus sax like sounds you want a certain kind of modulation in key transition - that can be done but I cannot do it unless someone gives me code access - or I take the code of the card and use IDA-PRO to reverse it ... not the best way). Well, I am open to ideas.

Very good news for those who have midi issues : Drop and/or stuck with their Solaris and DAW.
I have bought a little box wich seems to perfectly fix the problem :
Alyseum : AL 88c.
http://www.alyseum.com/al-88c.html
A sequence is turning on Ableton since one hour and i experience no problem.
The good thing is that solution is not overprice and in the same time it has 8 midi in and 8 midi out you can assign as you want.

Thank you very much DAWMAN your solution has made my week.

I am starting to look into the SOLARIS from a software coding point of view.

I notice a few things;

1) No other manufacturers, expect Symbolic Sound (Kyma/Pacarana) provides hardware with a software that is accessible. I am a registered owner of two Kyma systems but these are deep and not really user friendly in the same way as SOLARIS. However, it seems that it should be feasible to write an external SHARC BLACKFIN editor for the MAC or PC so that folks could completely re-configure their hardware.

I will be reaching out to learn more about what makes the SOLARIS tick and will update on this forum as I discover various possibilities.

2) SOLARIS is a dedicated hardware and I would say that the software is at a Revision-01. What we can ask for is a bug fix update and some basic updates: what updates is it that people would most like to see?

3) I thinks we should ask John and let him know what we are willing to pay for an actual real upgrade. What features, bug fixes, if we want an editor or a developer kit made accessible.

I look forward to anyone's comments so I can get a good idea of what you would like!

Thanks

Just to pile on, I'm having plenty of sync issues too. Over MIDI DIN, the solaris registers the right tempo most of the time, but is often too slow, so riffs etc programmed on the Solaris sequencer are not in time.

I thought I could get round this by turning sequencer to key step mode, and using logic's arp to trigger it. But, hey held notes everywhere as soon as the clock starts to run. Fine when it isn't. Just goes wrong when you want to actually record! Amazing heh. EDIT: actually not fine when the clock isn't running either now...

I'll keep trawling the forum to see if anyone has detailed how they got this to work...but if anyone can point me to a post that doesn't require another gear purchase i'd appreciate it!

Glad to see the DAW vrs. Hardware MIDI stuff got fixed.
Hardware w/ software mapping is really what has always worked for me.
The software programming tool by MIDI Solutions can filter out what ever you want including SYs Ex, but the routing of the AL-88 series gadgets looks awesome, I think I might get the 1U just for general purposes.
One of the best MIDI Controllers I ever owned is the BCF 2000.
I can hit a hardware MIDI Panic button anytime I want and between that and the Pedals, MIDI is my servant. It does exactly what I want and when I want.
When it disobeys it is punished by the hardware panic button.