John Bowen Synth Design

I agree that it would be fine to charge for updates, especially updates that add features but also smaller charges for bug fixes. I just don’t know what price to put on it. Probably $200 or $250 would be fine but it really depends on what is added. Multitimbral capability is a big one and might cost...

I’m not sure if you came across this thread but I brought up the same thing a while back. I took it to be a rather lukewarm response overall. But I’m still working on that editor. I think there are, at least, ways that software could complement the Solaris UI rather than replace it. However, the Sol...

1. Using the More button, go to the Output page and set the S/P-DIF output to FXChan1. 2. Go to the System page and set LoadOuts to Off. This will prevent the S/P-DIF setting from changing each time you load a new preset. The LoadOuts setting can be saved in the Global settings so it will stay that ...

I was spending some time with the arpeggiator settings and I wanted to confirm whether some behavior is as designed. I noticed that when you select a pattern number 1, 2, 3, etc., it will load that pattern from the file on the card. (The numbering is different so pattern 1 is file arp0.pat) Then whe...

I'm wondering what the state of samples is. I've written a GUI program for Windows that can convert various sample formats to Solaris pool/raw format and manage the pools (*). But samples don't seem quite usable to me on the Solaris right now. I wanted to experiment to try to characterize the specif...

When I read that the Solaris could do both exponential and linear FM I was also hoping (even expecting?) that it could do Yamaha style FM, whether you want to call that phase modulation or not. So it would be great if that could be added/fixed in the future.

Sorry if this was already mentioned but I didn't see it. O/S version 1.2.6. I'm using the DIN MIDI out port connected to my computer. When I go to the MIDI page and turn MIDICtrl On, the Solaris starts to send out channel aftertouch messages without me touching anything. They all have data value of ...

The BPM is another example of a value you cannot type. It's only multiples of 10. So 1 = 10, 12=120. But the thing is typing is a fast way of getting to an EXACT value so this means there is no way of typing 123. As you may have already figured out by now (and as I just discovered) you can get the ...

Solaris #249 has arrived in California! What can I say that hasn't already been said? It's all true. The Solaris sounds big and clear. Sounds I don't get from any of my other keyboards. Many of the presets are inspiring. Build quality is excellent. Coincidentally my Solaris was delivered within an h...

Yeah, modules don't need to be shown if they don't play a part in the sound. Also, modules can be collapsed so that only the rows with connections are shown. Modules and connecting wires can be added, removed, dragged, etc. I realize one could just print out a text list of what's active in a preset,...

The traffic is kind of slow so I thought I'd throw up a picture of something I've been working on while I'm waiting for my Solaris (production #4). I thought it might be useful to have a way to see what's connected to what in a preset. It might make it easier to see how other people's presets work, ...

One strength of the Solaris is the UI with all the knobs and displays. I was thinking it's a shame that the UI is a significant expense that only gets used for one sound source. Although the knobs could output MIDI values to control other synths, the displays don't get reused. So I thought it would ...

What I would want in Solaris is more mod destination slots for oscillators. I often consume most of them while creating my custom drift / vibrato function. I may be wrong or just misunderstanding this---I don't have my Solaris yet. But if you have a spare Mixer, can you use that to mix modulators a...

Thanks for the demo. It's nice to hear more sounds while I'm waiting. I particularly liked the Solaris sounds at:
55:00
1:00:30
1:38:45

A software editor/librarian would be fantastic! (See the Moog Voyager SE plugin as an excellent example of how to integrate hardware with a DAW) I would also like to devote some development effort to the Solaris if possible. But as far I know there's no sysex implementation so anything like an edit...