Just addressing Carson's comments about the Tempest petition since he 'locked' the other topic:
The description in the campaign is interesting, though somewhat misleading. The vast majority of Tempest owners are happily making music with it...
Um, evidently there are more than a trivial number of Tempest owners out there to whom this matters, Carson.
Most importantly, if anybody had contacted us directly at DSI support to ask whether we have quit development on the Tempest, we would have told them no. We do intend to continue, and finish, development of the Tempest.
Oh, but we
have contacted DSI, repeatedly in fact, only to be patronized. Besides which, this campaign isn't about what you
say you're going to do; it's about what you've actually done. Many of these bugs have allegedly been "on your list" for years now. And make no mistake about it, that's what this is about.
Separately, the campaign appears to be an inaccurate representation of Tempest users since there’s no way to qualify who is an owner and who is not.
That's right, Carson, we're making all of this up. The petition signees, the entire conversation at Synthtopia, the 32 thousand posts on the other DSI forum... All persons and opinions fabricated by an insignificant group of malcontents with a hate-on for DSI. Whatever helps you sleep at night, man.
As the Tempest currently stands (OS 1.4), there are some valid and somewhat annoying bugs that are present. Most everything listed on the campaign is on our bug list of items to consider for fixing/implementation.
How much longer are these "annoying bugs" to be under consideration exactly? I can tell you how long they've been annoying me!
The Tempest is a mature product (Shoot! 5 years is long enough for humans), and there have been many improvements made and features added which were not explicitly called out for implementation when the product was released. Because we are a small company and constantly produce new instruments, we have to rotate between updates for all instruments. I will reiterate, we DO intend to release another update for it.
Okay... When? And can I have my money back to hold in trust until that happens?
If users are actually unable to back up their work, please contact us directly at DSI support. This would be a serious problem, but I am unaware of any users contacting us in this regard.
What good is a successful back-up if there are still issues with loading older projects and sound files?
1. Tempest not being able to discern between note 'velocity' and pad 'pressure'...
Velocity and pressure are derived from the same sensor, a force sensing resistor. That means that when a pad is played, velocity is the near instantaneous change in resistance from off to on. The question is, when should the continuous change in resistance start acting as pressure? How long do we wait before interpreting the sensor data as pressure? Adding a small fixed delay to onset of pressure might help, though I can imagine situations where you would also want pressure to react immediately.
Velocity and pad pressure should be separate and will get looked into. There is already a timeout because the pads don't rise to the correct velocity immediately, I just need to tune the timeout for the aftertouch response.
You see, Carson, we are listening, so I suggest you get your stories straight.
2. Note sustain without a duration limit...
This is a feature request, not a bug. The duration of a step must be held in memory so it can be saved/reloaded etc. Memory is not infinite.
Note sustain without a duration limit causes a problem with the automatic voice allocation behavior. I do consider it a bug, but due to the way everything is integrated it's not simple to change. I tried it a while back and it led to some more annoying bugs so it's on the back burner right now.
So now it's a memory thing is it?
3. "MIDI sequencer sound" prevents the corresponding internal sound from triggering, yet the 'OFF' setting remains broken...
This is on our bug list.
This is a bug and is fixed in my latest beta.
That was two official operating systems ago, so what happened to this fix?
4. Adding swing to the 'ROLL/ARP' function...
Not really a bug, more of a worklfow/feature request. It's on our request list for consideration.
I'll be adding a flag so the sound roll will swing, that's about done.
That's funny, according your chief programmer, it's been done for two years already. So where is it, Carson, since you think we're all just wining?
5. The missing "Env Shape" parameter as seen on page 16. of Operation Manual 1.0...
When the 1.0 manual and 1.0 Tempest was released, it was explicitly stated that the unit was not complete and that it and the manual was subject to change. Most of these changes (all the way to 1.4) were welcome additions and fixes. I was not with the company officially when the Tempest was released, though I would imagine that "env shape" was removed as a design/navigation consideration.
The envelope shape can be modulated via the mod matrix or using the pitch and aux envelops to change its shape.
Yes, but why should we have to waste a mod slot for every envelope we want to shape, when the parameter we need is right there in the original manual? You know, the manual you kept encouraging us to read; the one we used to educate our purchase back when all these promises were still on the table.
6. Basic file management...
You already have basic file management. You can save/copy/rename files into a series of directories. It sounds like you want more "organization" functionality which is quite different than stating the Tempest lacks "Basic file management"...
Oh, right, I guess we should have stated more specifically that: when we save one of our 500 sounds 'WE'D LIKE TO KNOW WHERE IT WENT!'
7. The envelope/LFO bug that causes the digital oscillators to quit or otherwise not trigger when modulated to, from, or through a relative 'level' of zero...
Just set the envelope amount value to 1.
This doesn't work if you want to use negative envelope amounts or when using an LFO for that matter. And... It's a BUG!
8. Tempest not remembering the folder-of-origin when saving...
I cannot speak to the reason for this as I have not spoken with Chris about it.
Well, I have, and allegedly it's one of those "easy" fixes that Dave Smith just can't be bothered to allot him the time to fix.
9. 'Key Follow OFF' not working for the digital osc's...
on our list. Not sure if possible due to the SAM chip itself.
10. Glide not working for the digital osc's...
See #9 .
11. Pitch Bend not working for the digital oscillators...
See #9 .
Okay, so, all of the above are both in the manual and have been present in every incarnation of the operating system to date. Of course, they have never worked. And now we're supposed to believe that you embarked on this without actually knowing whether or not the chip could be programmed to do these tasks... Seriously?
12. The ever-present but still not functional Glide/Legato modes...
It’s on our list. I'm not personally aware of the reasons for this.
Okay, but Chris does, and it still needs to be implemented. Again, there it is in the manual and in the operating system, doing nothing. This one was a real selling point too!
13. The 'Playlist' crash bug...
I'm not sure I'm familiar with this one specifically. If it has been reported to support and reproduced, then it should be on our list. If nobody has reported it, please open a support ticket.
Okay. Could someone please report this... Again (sigh)?
14. Using the 'ROLL' function to record a part causes other pads to randomly trigger...
I've seen this before and believe it's related to a strange issue where the sound initialization procedure and/or file corruption issue. If I had to guess, it could be related to files saved on specific (non official) operating system releases or by users changing the initialize settings in the debug menu. Does this happen on the official 1.4 OS with a newly created file?
Yes, it happens with newly created files in OS 1.4. It's related to the ARP, and Chris allegedly has it isolated, but again... When will it be fixed?
I fixed the bug where roll is causing problems when the erase was on. It was specifically tied to the arp. The behavior didn't occur when it was doing retrigger normally. I figure this will help me narrow it down and find out what's causing the inconsistency, I'll let you know when I find it.
See, we listen!
15. Using the 'ROLL' function to record in '16 Levels' mode fails to record the correct velocities: i.e. it only repeats the velocity of the lowest pad pressed...
It’s on our list.
16. Recording a 'ROLL' with a sound assigned to a voice results in the pad lighting up as if it is being triggered, yet there is no sound...
It’s on our list.
Yes, yes, they're all "on your list"... Precisely our point really. And so they're going to be fixed when exactly?
17. There is an advanced bug that causes the pad names to randomly change when auditioning sounds; it happens most predictably when you have auditioned a sound from one pad and then try to audition a sound from another pad. When this happens the available sound folder also changes, not just the pad name: i.e. the 'Kick' pad, for instance, will suddenly become a 'Snare' pad - *which instantly loads a snare sound by the way (devastating!) - after which you can no longer access the kick folder from that pad at all, unless you "revert" the sound...
Not an advanced bug at all and certainly does not block access to any sound. The description is a bit overblown, however, it’s on our list.
Did I say "advanced"? Sorry, I was just trying to distinguish it from the other
two pad name bugs that Chris and I have been going back and forth on for months. But since it's so pedestrian, Carson, it shouldn't take much in the way of time and resources to fix it, right?
18. If the Tempest receives a RAM sound dump via USB, while also receiving note-on/off data on the MIDI DIN input, then USB MIDI sys-ex is not received correctly half of the time: i.e. it just stands there waiting for MIDI data in those cases.
It is not advised to use USB and MIDI at the same time for MIDI input. This is true for all of our instruments.
Chris publicly acknowledged this as a bug in this very forum, and repeatedly promised 'Razmo' (who brought this to our attention) that it could be and indeed
would be fixed. Hell, if I remember correctly, he even said it
was fixed and would be in the release of OS 1.4. So who are we to believe if not the guy writing the code? And by the way, it works in the Evolver!
20. When switching beats on-the-fly, the first step of the sequencer-out is consistently late; so if you're triggering a sample loop on the one, every time you switch beats on the Tempest, it will be out of sync for the first pass...
I would guess that this initial latency is due to higher priority tasks being performed when changing beats. There's a whole lot of data to load very quickly on a beat change and keeping the internal sound engine in time and performing as expected is certainly It's also worth noting that the "sequencer out" parameter was added by Chris on his own accord. Sequencing external instruments from the Tempest was never stated as a feature when the Tempest was released.
Internal latency indeed! But you're right, Carson, this feature was never supposed to be in the operating system; yet we
still can't shut it 'OFF' so we can use that pad for our internal sounds, as was intended by design when we purchased the Tempest. See #3
21. Pad names need to be added for all the sound folders, and vice versa. And many of the existing pad names need to be properly linked to their respective parent folders, so "Tamb" doesn't default to "Shaker", etc. when auditioning sounds (not to be confused with point 17. which is a completely different bug)...
This is half feature request and half bug, and fairly low priority in the scheme of things. It falls into the “nice to have” category.
So half-fix it then! At any rate, I happen to know that it's already fixed; but then, Chris would have to be given the time to compile a proper update now wouldn't he?
Right, that's the sound type bug I just fixed. It was setting the pad kit sound to the default for the directory you were auditioning sounds in.
22. When triggered via MIDI, sustained ADSR sounds hang whenever the bank those sounds are from is not the currently selected bank...
It’s on our list.
So fix it!
23. The Tempest's timing drifts in 'Slave' mode when using the MIDI DIN input, gradually losing sync with the 'Master' clock source; and this behavior is further exacerbated with use of the 'ROLL' function...
I cannot speak to the accuracy of this statement. I have no information regarding the performed tests, loaded OS versions, settings, and overall method. We have an Innerclock System in the office that we can use to verify this is true. Whoever is experiencing this drift, please open a support ticket with us and provide detailed step-by-step instructions for reproducing this and we will look into it.
Sometime this decade then?
For all current and prospective Tempest owners out there, please understand that we are aware of your concerns and appreciate your perspective. We have not abandoned the Tempest OS. Between pushing forward with new designs and refining existing products, there is never a point in time at which we are idle here at DSI. It's a complex balancing act with many variables. We will be revisiting the Tempest OS, and hopefully soon, but the Change.org petition has no bearing on our timeframe, and we can't specifically guarantee when will dive back in.
This will remain our definitive statement on this matter. Thank you for your continued patronage and support.
So there you have it, straight from the proverbial horse's mouth: DSI is happy to take your money; but if you want them to fix the instrument that you paid for, they are simply not concerned with whatever you may think is a reasonable timeframe... Period. And that, folks, is why this petition exist in the first place!
So let's just keep the pressure on and see how this weathers in the real world, where the good people part with their hard-earned to keep the employees at DSI in a job (doing whatever the hell they want apparently).
https://www.change.org/p/dave-smith-help-make-the-tempest-a-priority-for-dave-smith-instruments?recruiter=2593925&utm_source=share_for_starters&utm_medium=copyLinkCheers!