discoDSP updates Vertigo additive synth to v5.3 and Retromulator to v1.4

By sampler  On  

discoDSP has updated Vertigo to v5.3 and Retromulator to v1.4.

Changes in Vertigo 5.3

The Vertigo update brings a new FX preset system with full 8-FX chain recall, an envelope preset menu with proportional Alt+drag scaling, quick-value popup menus on the main LCDs, and double-click numeric input on operator and envelope value boxes.

FX Presets

  • Per-Slot FX Presets: Right-click or Shift+click on any FX active LED button or its label to store the current FX as a preset or recall a saved one.
  • Full Chain Recall: Right-click or Shift+click on the global FX active LED button or its label to store or recall the full 8-FX chain.
  • XML Storage: Presets and chain presets are stored as XML for easy backup and sharing.

Envelope

  • Envelope Preset Menu: Right-click or Shift+click on the Reset label or anywhere on the envelope canvas to pick from a list of presets tailored to the selected envelope (Filter A/B, Pitch, Amp, Morph, Stretch).
  • Proportional Scaling: Alt+drag on the envelope canvas proportionally scales the envelope on the time or value axis.
  • Bezier-Accurate Playhead: Envelope playhead matches the drawn Bezier, with tracer paint fast paths.
  • Optimised Repaints: Smooth envelope and spectral playhead with snapshotted positions and dirty-region repaints.

Interface

  • Quick-Value Popup Menus: Click on the Volume, Voices, Pitch Env Range, Pitch Bend Range, Tuning or Partial Amount LCD box to pick from a list of common values. Click and drag on the same LCD still adjusts the value continuously.
  • Numeric Input Dialogs: Double-click on operator and spectral value boxes (Phase, Amplitude, Frequency, Pan, Time Frame) and on envelope point boxes (Delta, Value, Slope) to type values directly.

Changes in Retromulator 1.4

Retromulator v1.4 adds a new Commodore 64 SID hardware core with cycle-accurate reSID emulation, full GoatTracker bank loading, live MIDI CC control of SID parameters, and a number of fixes across the DX7, OpenWurli and resampler paths.

New Hardware Core: Commodore 64 SID

  • Cycle-Accurate Emulation: SID 6581 / 8580 via reSID by Dag Lem, with 3-voice polyphony, oldest-voice stealing, and RESAMPLE high-quality sampling.
  • Macro Playback Engine: Full 50 Hz macro playback driving wavetable, pulsetable, filtertable and speedtable per voice.
  • GoatTracker Bank Loading: .sng files (formats GTS3/4/5) appear in the Bank dropdown with every instrument exposed in the Patch dropdown. Standalone .ins files (GTI3/4/5) load as single-patch banks.
  • PSID/RSID Bank Loading: Extracts instruments and macro tables from .sid files packed by GoatTracker 2’s exporter, with automatic detection of per-export feature flags (nopulse, nofilter, noinstrvib, fixedparams).

SID Live MIDI Control

  • CC 1: Vibrato depth (6 Hz LFO scaled by mod wheel).
  • CC 22: Pitch bend range (1 to 48 semitones).
  • CC 64: Sustain pedal.
  • CC 71: Filter resonance (auto-routes all 3 voices through the filter).
  • CC 74: Filter cutoff (full 11-bit, auto-arms low-pass mode).
  • CC 75: 12-bit pulse width on all 3 voices.
  • CC Override Semantics: Touching cutoff, resonance or pulse width suspends the corresponding patch macro for the rest of the note so DAW automation isn’t overwritten by the 50 Hz frame ticker. Cleared on next note-on (per voice for PW, globally on all-notes-off / program change for filter).
  • State Persistence: Bank file path and selected instrument are restored on project reload.

Bug Fixes

  • SID Patch Names: Fixed the SID program combo showing only the index (e.g. “001”) with no instrument name after bank load. The patch-name update path was clearing the authoritative name from the bank file.
  • DX7 Master Tuning: Fixed the firmware booting with cleared battery RAM, which caused the EGS pitch register to compute ~1.25 semitones (107 freq-units) sharp. Now compensated in updateFrequency to keep A4 at 440 Hz.
  • DX7 Tuning After Bulk Dump: Fixed tuning loss after bulk dump on Logic AU reload. Master tune is now re-applied after the firmware reloads its parameter set.
  • Resampler on Synth Swap: Fixed stale rate on synth swap. Plugin:setDevice now re-resolves the device samplerate so the resampler reconfigures correctly when switching to a synth with a different native rate (e.g. DX7’s fixed 49096 Hz).
  • OpenWurli Tremolo Curve: Fixed depth/swing curve being non-monotonic at high settings. Depth=1.0 produced less modulation than depth=0.75 because the 50kΩ vibrato pot was double-counted into both the LED drive path and the feedback shunt path.
  • OpenWurli noteOff Range: Fixed noteOff not clamping to the valid MIDI range like noteOn did. Out-of-range notes could become unreleasable.

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