My Radias Gets Me Laid

ahuramusic · Post by **ahuramusic** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:07 am

I've recently been using my Radias and making my own patches. I discovered tho that when I create a patch with 4 timbres, the polyphony lowers. I have it hooked up to FL Studio, and when I get 4 Timbres on 1 patch going, I can only get 3 or less keys at a time playing. And if I deselect one of the timbres, (so im now at 3 timbres) I get maybe 1 or 2 more keys I can play at the same time. Does this happen to all radias's? I was a little dissapointed that the more timbres you use the less polyphonic the radias gets.

Don't get me wrong, I love the radias!

Another thing, would it be possible to add another saw wave or wave shapes into the radias? I like the saw wave on the radias but sometimes I can't quite get certain sounds out of the radias using the saw + a billlion other tricks. Am i going to have to accept the fact that the Radias can't make certain sounds? or is it possible in the future that the radias will have updates to make a wider range of sounds on?

Like I said, I love the Radias, I'm just trying to squeeze every ounce of juice out of this thing that I can.

SynthAntonius · Post by **SynthAntonius** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:37 am

Sure... Radias can't make every sound!
It may try to simulate something, with all the same parameters - but it still will sound different.
Radias has it's own unique sound, just like all other synths.

I like it's unison saw, but now I'm looking for Jp8000, just to get the original jp supersaws...

It's possible that polyphony decreases with increasing parts - more parts = more load op CPU = less polyphony. But there are also other factors, that you just don't notice.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:05 am

Do you have both midi in and out hooked up to your computer at the same time? Try it with the Radias midi in disconnected.

I've noticed on my R3 that polyphony seems greatly reduced if the midi out is echoed and returned on the midi in port. It could be a midi feedback loop, but you won't hear any indication that its happening, except that polyphony is reduced when every note you play gets instantly retriggered automatically.

Another thing that seems to limit polyphony is high unison modes within a timbre, like a value of 3 or 4. Often you can't even hear the difference between a unison of 2 or 4, so lowering the value or setting it to zero might bring back the full poly. If you have an extra FX slot available, you could use a chorus FX instead.

I wouldn't be surprised if a patch that uses 4 timbres could be greatly reduced in number while maintaining the same sound if it were redesigned to make full use of the synth engine. I can get rather complex sounds using just a single timbre on the R3, which has much more limited poly than the Radias.

meatballfulton · Post by **meatballfulton** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:12 pm

If you read the manual carefully you will see that a number of features can reduce polyphony but for some reason Korg gives no information about how much reduction occurs!

Things that can reduce polyphony:

1. unison

2. using both oscs

3. filter routing and type

4. waveshaping

5. vocoder

6. osc mod

Anyway, as soon as you layer 4 timbres you've already reduced the maximum number of notes to 6 (24/4). Then if you use any of the above you might reduce it further to the point where you'd only have 2-3 notes available.

For a little more info read this.

ahuramusic · Post by **ahuramusic** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:52 pm

yeah 2-3 notes when I have all 4 timbres and loads of other stuff like unison going, the polyphony drops like the stock market. i reaaaaaallly wish i could get a similar saw to the Jp8000 super saws like SynthAntonius was tlaking about. If the radias could make saws like THAT! i would never have another complaint about the radias EVER! god we need to raise a ruckuss about how we want JP Saws on the radias! WHOSE WITH ME?

Timo · Post by **Timo** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:42 pm

Polyphony for the Radias is 24. That's to say that the Radias can output 24 voices of synthesis (or less if various features are used, as meatball highlighted).

Basically just take care in making sure you don't use any polyphony-sapping features unneccesarily. What might sound nice and fat in isolation when using something 3 x unison, for example, might be indistinguishable when compared to 2 x unison when placed into a mix. Or similar.

As for the supersaw thing, it's always something that's interested me, but I've never had a JP80x0 or Virus TI (Hypersaw) to compare.

gdh · Post by **gdh** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:41 pm

I have a JP-8080 and yes the supersaw is great but it does so much more. I find that the Radias and 8080 compliment each other, for my live rig I am running a jd-800, 2 x jd-990, jp 8080, Radias and Voyager through a submixer into a Speakeasy Classic Stereo Tube Pre rack. I luv the Radias and have had it since it first came out but I would not use it as my only synth.

Timo · Post by **Timo** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:06 pm

Any chance you could maybe do a few audio demos, GDH?

Like the raw JP80x0's Supersaw and the raw Radias' Unison Saw individually, slowly increasing the detune, and opening up the filter (perhaps with a little resonance), playing a few notes in sequence, etc., or similar? No further effects or anything, just 100% raw supersaw/unison-saw.

Would be interesting to see how they compared.

Thanks

T

ahuramusic · Post by **ahuramusic** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:55 pm

yeah that would be cool to hear the difference between the two.

gdh · Post by **gdh** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:55 pm

will do, I'll be back in the studio in a week or so but will rig up something from here to suffice over the next day or so.

SynthAntonius · Post by **SynthAntonius** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:41 am

I wish I had jp8000 also!

I have actually no idea how this jp SuperSaw reacts

I just find Radias unisons very satisfying, but how they sound/react in comparison to jp - don't ask me...

gdh · Post by **gdh** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:45 pm

ok folks did a quick and dirty 2.5 min comparison now how do I upload it here?
here it is with a crappy You tube compression (22)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niDEJZ6Psqk

Pecca · Post by **Pecca** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:17 am

gdh wrote:ok folks did a quick and dirty 2.5 min comparison now how do I upload it here?
here it is with a crappy You tube compression (22)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niDEJZ6Psqk

Agree on youtube crap sound... Ok when you shoot a movie+sound (tells a story)... useless for comparing sounds tho

ahuramusic · Post by **ahuramusic** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:26 am

yes i can HEAR IT! the jp has that FATNESS that just plooms out, and the radias has that clean cut sound, less fattening! nice lil JUMP demo at the end

.

hopefully someone else can get a sample of both, maybe even a virus comparison! thanks for the demo. maybe better quality sound tho. but thanks again.

gdh · Post by **gdh** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:25 am

The compression really hurts the sound but at 44 the file was just too big for you tube. As stated in another post hopefully my son will return my recording gear when he gets back from college. Just one more little tid bit he forgot to tell me when he last went back to school. I thought a little bit of jump would make ppl laugh, but since most everyone knows the song so well it works as a comparison. Live and through a good PA the JP really rises above the Radias for the super/unison grit but when layer together they are fantastic.