Differences when importing P'08 programs

Differences when importing P'08 programs
« on: July 06, 2018, 05:02:49 AM »
Finally upgraded to a Rev2 in the studio. :)  First thing I did once I had updated the OS and calibrated was to copy over the two banks of sounds from my much-loved P'08.

Many of the programs sound near-enough identical on the two synths.  However, a few are noticeably different... so I started looking into why that is.

First off, everything numerically seems to copy over accurately.  The values for each parameter are the same on both on the Rev2 and the P'08, with the exception of the 'slop' parameter which is doubled on the Rev2.  So far so good.

The first program I tried that sounded off was down to a spot of user error, or rather that I had accidentally left an LFO sweeping PW on an oscillator that was set to Triangle.  Of course, on the P'08 this didn't do anything but on the Rev2 it is sweeping the Shape Mod.

The next program that sounded different was a pad that had a soft layer of noise running through it and a clock synced LFO modulating Audio Mod.  For a start, I couldn't hear the noise at all.  Both synths showed a value of 18 for the noise, which is quite prominent on the P'08 and near-silent on the Rev2.  What I then found was that doubling the noise value on the Rev2 to 36 got it sounding very close to the level of noise on the P'08 at 18.  I'm guessing that this adjustment in sensitivity to the noise parameter might be intentional, to make it easier to dial in more subtle amounts of noise.

The LFO was set to a frequency of 6 steps on both synths.  For some reason it cycled twice as fast on the Rev2.  Both programs were set to the same BPM of 105 and there was no incoming MIDI clock.  Manually adjusting MIDI clock on both synths caused the LFO to speed up and slow down as expected.  However, manually adjusting Clock Divide on the Rev 2 also affects the LFO speed, whereas Clock Divide makes no difference to the LFO speed on the P'08.  By adjusting the Rev2's Clock Divide to 'Quarter' I could get it to match the LFO speed of the P'08.  As the LFO frequency is stated as 'steps', I'm thinking that the Rev2's implementation is probably the more accurate.

In summary...
1. Noise is quieter on the Rev2 and needs to be increased/doubled to sound like P'08
2. Clock synced LFOs are affected by Clock Divide on the Rev2.  Set Clock Divide to 'Quarter' to match the P'08.

If anyone here has found any other quirks to the conversion process when importing P'08 programs, please post in this thread.  If I find any more I'll add them here too.

I'd also love to know if DSI could shed any light on these differences and any more that I'm yet to encounter.

Finally, I should add this isn't about which is better - P'08 or Rev2.  It's just about ways to rectify any differences between imported programs and their P'08 originals.  :)