haQ attaQ host Jakob Haq shared this video, taking a look at the new Audiokit Synth One, a free and open-source software synth for iOS.
Synth One is available as a free download from the App Store.
In the video, Haq demos Synth One and discusses an ‘Easter Egg’ settings panel that he found. Synth One co-developer Matthew Fecher has subsequently nicknamed the screen the ‘hacker panel’ or ‘HaQ Panel’.
Synth One co-developer Marcus Hobbs shared these details on the functions of the hacker panel:
There are 3 compressors on the panel:
1) Reverb input compressor,
2) Compressor on 100% wet reverb output before mixing,
3) The final final master compressor (default settings are more like a limiter).
We’ve carefully set the defaults to minimize distortion and provide a baseline loudness…note that all the sound designers who created the bundled presets used these default settings. Users can change these but it can be a rabbit hole.
DelFCut: We have a low-pass butterworth filter on the delay input that tracks the oscillator filter cutoff. It defaults to 0.75. If your oscillator cutoff is 10_000HZ the delay input cutoff will be 7_500HZ. This way the input to the delay will always have a lower cutoff frequency than the oscillator’s cutoff frequency. It gives a beautiful separation between the oscillators and delay.
DelFRes: Doesn’t have an effect because we currently have the resonance of the delay input filter set to 0.
PreGain: The gain on the input to the final master compressor.
DSPParamHalftime: Almost all dsp parameters are “smoothed” to reduce artifacts when switching presets, or zippering when consuming UI events. You can make this a fast or sllloooooowwww smooth with this parameter.
Settings (stored in settings, not saved with presets):
LockArpRate: OFF by default. When enabled: loading a preset will ignore the preset’s tempo. This is great for when you want to jam at a constant tempo and blaze through presets. When we add tempo sync (i.e., Ableton Link) we might have to change how this works.
LockReverb: OFF by default: When enabled: Loading a preset will ignore the preset’s reverb settings. I like to use this when I want to record a dry signal.
LockDelay: OFF by default: When enabled: Loading a preset will ignore the preset’s delay settings
Check it out, and if you’re a Synth One user, let us know what you think of it!
Been using this quite a bit since its release and love it. Thanks Jakob for the video.
Another feature that is important to me and my extensive use of bpm and millesecond durations in my sound design is that you can take bpm all the way down to 1. Very cool. Even Audiobus only goes down to 20, so love this ability, I just wish there was a global tempo lock but for $0.00 this app rocks.
Strictly speaking Synth One doesn’t have DCO’s; not in the traditional sense at least. Many analogue synths have DCO’s, they’re still analogue oscillators, only they’re under digital control for stability.