Take 5 Firmware Update - Feature Requests

[JensMelhede]

Maybe a FW update that allows for user driven FW reset, if it's stuck on the TAKE5 logo - like mine is today.....

[soulgolem]

i would love to see an adjustment to how velocity responds, i find that the black keys on the Take 5 are a bit too sensitive compared to the white keys which makes it hard to play certain passages which has me turn off velocity off altogether.

It's a nice feeling keybed so that would make it more usable IMO.

[Encephalitislethargi]

this is the best synth i've ever used. it could benefit a great deal from either a fw update, or even a rev2 version. all it needs is a 3rd looping envelope, 3rd Osc, 2nd SVF,AM/VCA modulation options, more mod slots. just combine the sound of the T5 with the versatility of the best parts of the P12 (mostly modulation stuff) & the features of the Pro 3 (filter, 3rd osc, seq?, 3rd env)

i believe this will one day be recognized as one of the best synths in the world. it is severely underrated for some reason, but i still wish we could get some more features because i cannot switch now that i have heard the gorgeous sound of the Take-5, but i also dont want to feel limited by the sound design options. make it more expensive, i dont know. we need a mk2. is this even a possibility now that dave is gone (rip)? will novation be able to take it further, maybe even by adding some cool peal stuff to this perfect voice engine/vco/filter?

[Xenox.AFL]

A lot of improvement idea for the best synth you ever used! 😀

As i already wrote down some pages before, i think there will be no update, there are small things to be updated first but since the release, no single update.

Strange!

[donkey]

Maybe there is already a way to do this, but it sure would be swell if you could change the initialized patch parameters.

[happyrat1]

Bug fix request
Even if MIDI Param Send is set to Off, the volume pot keeps sending cc messages.

So if you turn down the volume of the T5 to use the keys with a module, also the volume of the module is turned down...

Plus 1 Million.

You have no idea how annoying it is to forget to initialize volume in a Cakewalk track and listen to your speakers pop.

[petersjacket]

+1 to fixing the Volume knob sending CC messages when MIDI Param Send is set to off

Two other feature requests for the screen:
1. an oscilloscope would be really neat!
2. being able to see the numerical value of a parameter on the screen somewhere when you change it would be handy.

[lewisfrancis]

Just picked up a T5 yesterday and am stunned by its sound and capabilities. I'm also pleasantly surprised to find a beta update in the works, and one feature I've always liked that appears not currently present is a way to allow velocity to control envelope attack times. My dominant use case would be higher velocity values = faster attack time. Thanks!

[Quatschmacher]

Just picked up a T5 yesterday and am stunned by its sound and capabilities. I'm also pleasantly surprised to find a beta update in the works, and one feature I've always liked that appears not currently present is a way to allow velocity to control envelope attack times. My dominant use case would be higher velocity values = faster attack time. Thanks!

That should easily be possible via the mod matrix.

[lewisfrancis]

Just picked up a T5 yesterday and am stunned by its sound and capabilities. I'm also pleasantly surprised to find a beta update in the works, and one feature I've always liked that appears not currently present is a way to allow velocity to control envelope attack times. My dominant use case would be higher velocity values = faster attack time. Thanks!

That should easily be possible via the mod matrix.

Thanks, I'll look into that!

[blasteroid]

From the beta changelog:
New Feature: LFO rate displayed on-screen when frequency updated and LFO sync active.

Very nice! Could we also get this on the FX "TIME" knob? Great for setting delays to a specific division faster.

[meister_philipp]

It would be great if the envelopes retriggered while using the sustain pedal. On the OB-6 and Prophet 6 you can activate this via Key Mode, and it works like a charm.

Yes I need that too! Would be great to turn on/off retriggering envelopes in program menu!

[dunc_tee]

just another request for some visual feedback... would make life easier on stage

[ElecStraTake]

1. An option for on screen parameter values. Values only would be fine if that's what's possible, but parameter names for the effects section would be helpful to me.

+1 for on screen parameter value and also for the name for each effect parameter.

[CyberGene]

I was about to purchase a Take 5 but luckily I found this thread and realized it’s not possible to see on the display both current and saved values (as two numbers) when turning knobs. That’s a big no go for me. Hopefully it can be implemented through a firmware update which would make the Take 5 a guaranteed purchase for me.

[Elric]

I was about to purchase a Take 5 but luckily I found this thread and realized it’s not possible to see on the display both current and saved values (as two numbers) when turning knobs. That’s a big no go for me. Hopefully it can be implemented through a firmware update which would make the Take 5 a guaranteed purchase for me.

I'm pretty sure this is a "feature".
  On the Pro3 the values update live with the knobs, so the menus flip around as you change anything. This is great, but I wished they had warned us (in the manual?) that this can cause the values to update "late". This drove me crazy when I first got my Pro3!  If I had known what was up I could have worked with it earlier without complaining so much.

  Say you are editing a patch (on a Pro3), and you use the "Show" feature and move the big, high-res Cutoff knob* to check the Filter value (say it says 957), and you leave the knob just under half way up, where it would be, say, 483. - Then you turn off "Show" and go back to editing something else. - A little bit later the Cutoff pot might "update late"** and pop to 482!
  If this happens when you are spinning an encoder (the "notched dials") above the display screen, the menu switches and you are now changing a different parameter! Which can sometimes drastically change your patch. And if you don't know what the value was, it can be hard to find the previous value.

I think they took this feature off of the Take5, as to not have this issue of flipping menus and values.
 - But I do think it should be a choice (Wishlist!^) as to which way you want the interface to work.
On both the Pro3 and the Take5!  (I would choose the live-update version now, even with it's issues.)

  I have gotten used to usually fixing this before it happens by... (say, in the above example), get out of "Show" mode, and immediately re-set/put the cutoff value back up to 957. - Then, even if it "pops", later, to a different pot contact(?) it should only be one or two digits off (956, 958...).
  Also, don't use the encoders above the display screen much. (Which is impossible when you are editing some/most sequence parameters.)
  And Save Often! Especially if you are getting a really good patch.

*I think the Cutoff knob is the biggest culprit for this because it is such a high resolution potentiometer knob, but other knobs can also switch / "update late". (Amp and Filter Envelope pots, ShapeMod, Level... (?))

**An energy particle flies thru the universe, and your synth, and then a pot jumps to a different contact that it's still partially on/over, changing the parameter value.

[Xenox.AFL]

For me, after working over a year with the Take5 and only one real update, i decided to sell it because there are things which are going on my nerved, the synth sounds good and i had a lot of fun with it but all in all it looks to me, the synth isn't really finished...!!!

Frank

[CyberGene]

Say you are editing a patch (on a Pro3), and you use the "Show" feature and move the big, high-res Cutoff knob to check the Filter value (say it says 957), and you leave the knob just under half way up, where it would be, say, 483. - Then you turn off "Show" and go back to editing something else. - A little bit later the Cutoff pot might "update late" and pop to 482!

That's annoying indeed. However (as a software engineer myself) I immediately see many solutions here which can also be configurable options:

- Do not show the pop-up screen when a value changes by only 1 or 2 digits (especially for the cut-off)
- Do not allow the encoders to change the value when the pop-up screen appears (after all that screen presumably appeared because you turned a pot, so why allow encoder operation for that parameter?)
- Allow for automatic disappearing of the pop-up screen (as on Novation Peak/Summit). I don't have a Pro 3, so if I got it right from your description that pop-up "Show" screen doesn't disappear by itself but needs to be explicitly closed?
- Display the "Show" pop-up screen only when you are holding, say, "compare" and at the same time turn a pot. Also, the pop-up will disappear when you release the "compare" button. Thus you can selectively invoke the "show" functionality on demand for values that you need to compare against the saved one, or just to check the actual value.

----

Also, I understand that there's a very rudimentary functionality to show whether a pot you are turning matches the saved value by showing a dot in the three-digit LED display. I think this should be enhanced:

Assuming there are three dots on that display for each digit, use all three dots in combinations to to guide you in what direction you need to turn the pot to match the stored value:

_ _ . (right dot) you need to turn counter-clockwise to match the stored value
_ . . (center/right dots) you are very close to the stored value, keep turning counter-clockwise slowly
_ . _ (center dot) you have matched the stored value
. . _ (center/left dots) you are very close to the stored value, keep turning clockwise slowly
. _ _ (left dot) you need to turn clockwise to match the stored value


The current value can actually be shown temporarily on the three-digit display (and then disappear and return to the patch number after a short while. You will know that you are seeing a pot value when there are dots on the display, and patch number otherwise). Or, as with my other suggestion above, this can be shown only through button + pot combination, e.g. "compare" + pot-turn. Once you release the "compare" button the dots disappear and the display returns from showing the pot value to to the patch number.

There are basically so many ways to solve the problem and that second suggestion with the three-digit display and the dots would be almost trivial to implement since it already works in a similar, albeit simplified, way, as far as I understand.

P.S. I looked in the manual to see what the "compare" button does but I don't see it explained at all, that's funny. Anyway, I'm not sure if it's a momentary button that you need to hold to hear the stored patch or is an on/off button. I assume it's the latter. In that case holding it + turning a pot would be an intuitive way to match pot values against stored values, that's actually a "compare" functionality, so it stays true to the button name.

[Elric]

>>
- Do not allow the encoders to change the value when the pop-up screen appears (after all that screen presumably appeared because you turned a pot, so why allow encoder operation for that parameter?)
<<

I often use the encoders above the screen to fine tune the value though, down to the last 1 or few digits.
Unless you delay any new updates to the parameter until the next dial turn(?). - Then maybe that gets too complicated?

I do see the problem, but the solutions seem complex. (But, I'm not a programmer.)
How do the Novation synths deal with this? ...

(Oh, again, I'm on a Pro3.)

[CyberGene]

OK, let's forget about the other complications and focus on my second proposal which I believe is clean and easy to implement:

Whenever a knob is turned, the actual value will be briefly shown on the three-digit display. After a few seconds it will resume to show the patch number. Also, use more dots in the three-digit display to visualize whether the knob value is higher or lower than the stored one.

As simple as that. Here's an example. You're currently on program 1 0 1 which is shown on the three-digit display. You start turning a knob, e.g. the filter cut-off. Let's assume the stored value is 500.

If the current cut-off value is 800, then the three-digit display will show the value and a dot on the right:
8 0 0.

If you are within close range of the stored value, two dots will be shown on the right:
5 2.0.

When you are within 1-2 digits, three dots are shown:
5.0.1.

When you are at the exact position, a middle dot is shown:
5 0. 0

Conversely:
4.9.9.
4.8.5
1.0 0

And when you stop turning the filter knob, after a few seconds the three-digit display resumes to showing the patch number 1 0 1

No dots on the display: you're seeing a patch number
One or more dots on the display: you're seeing a knob value (which will disappear in a while and resume to showing the patch number)