Audiobus: Use your music apps together.

What is Audiobus?Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.

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Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Patch Base & Sysex Base - Any users out there?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/patch-base/id1070270299?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sysex-base/id1004689966?mt=8

Was curious about a couple of apps by developer "Coffeeshopped" (great name, by the way): Patch Base (Free; but $19.99 each for device specific IAP's) & Sysex Base ($9.99).

I have a Korg Volca FM arriving...someday...and was looking into different mobile and desktop options for both editing DX7 patches and transferring them to the Volca FM. While I'm still learning about this, my understanding is that the DX7 patches are in "sysex" form, which can be transmitted over a MIDI cable and interpreted as a stream of data, which the Volca FM assembles as the parameters of a patch. (Audibly, it sounds kind of like the screeching noise of a fax machine while it's being sent over).

On desktop, there is a free VST called "Dexed". It's actually quite good, and I got pretty comfortable accessing the libraries of 1000's of free DX7 files you can find online from over the past 30 years. But it isn''t always ideal for me to hook up my computer to music hardware, so I was wondering if there was an iPad app that could do the same.

Has anyone used Patch Base for either Volca FM or any of the other device it supports. I've seen videos that are fairly impressive, but am wondering how it handles file management, etc. For example, if I have some libraries of DX7/sysex files and want to import them to Patch Base on my iPad to send to a Volca FM, how well is that handled?

I know there were some complaints that you couldn't make live tweaks to the FM parameters without the audio cutting out, but that isn't a concern of mine. I just want to be able to swap patches in and out and maybe make some minor adjustments on the iPad. This isn't for live play or performance.

Thanks!

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Comments

  • I got my Volca FM today and got Sysex Base for it. It seems to be working, although I haven't had much time to try it yet. I emailed sysex files to my iPad and could open them in Sysex base.

  • I've tried the Patch Base with the Volca FM and also some other hardware synths, you can try them free but not all functions work. Works well but I'm waiting for a sale as it's quite expensive, especially since I want more than a few of the editors. Not sure if it can import libraries though, annoying if it can't.

  • edited August 2016

    Patch Base looks like the best solution to me for the Volca FM. I also tried Dexed but was unable to send a single patch, for reasons I don't know. Patch Base allows you to change single parameters while listening to the edited sound! You need to retrigger the note, but you have instant results.

    For me, Patch Base is for my Volca FM what the name says, the patch library. The downloaded and own patches are archived in that app, the synth is only the sound generator, and occasionally (motion) sequencer and arpeggiator.

    Sadly the Yamaha bluetooth-DIN-MIDI adapter doesn't work with the Volca FM, because this adaptor needs to be plugged in to both MIDI in and out at the same time. Tried to plug the MIDI in to another device to give the adaptor power, but no luck. But there are other even better (cabled) solutions available like those MFI MIDI interfaces.

  • You can send patches to the Volca FM from Dexed, but you often have to change the algorithm on the volca to get the sound and not all patches work.

  • @Carnbot said:
    You can send patches to the Volca FM from Dexed, but you often have to change the algorithm on the volca to get the sound and not all patches work.

    thank you, this will keep me off trying to use Dexed for patching Volca FM. You know that probably, but for general information, Patch Base does instantly change the algorithm.

  • @Carnbot said:
    I've tried the Patch Base with the Volca FM and also some other hardware synths, you can try them free but not all functions work. Works well but I'm waiting for a sale as it's quite expensive, especially since I want more than a few of the editors. Not sure if it can import libraries though, annoying if it can't.

    Great responses so far, thanks! I wondered the same thing about libraries. Not sure how libraries are handled by the Volca, either. In Dexed, i was importing libraries that had like 16/32 individual sound patches. I assume the Volca only receives and saves one of those at a time?

  • @StormJH1 said:
    Great responses so far, thanks! I wondered the same thing about libraries. Not sure how libraries are handled by the Volca, either. In Dexed, i was importing libraries that had like 16/32 individual sound patches. I assume the Volca only receives and saves one of those at a time?

    I've only sent complete banks of 32 sounds to the Volca so far. These are the 4404 byte sysex dumps you find online everywhere. But I seem to recall that Nick Batt (Sonic Lab review) was sending individual sounds to the FM using Dexed.

    I've not seen any sysex files for single sounds. Would be interested in finding those rather than full dumps.

    Semi-Offtopic: this is a fun little box. But does anyone else find that this is the first Volca that really needs external effects to sound good? A lick of reverb really brings this machine to life, but without it it can sound a tad unpolished. Anyway.. First impressions etc.

  • Volca FM arrived this morning! Holy crap do I love this thing! I think all of the Volcas have their virtues and are a great value, but none of them were as immediately useful and inspiring as this one. Part of that is that I spent literally months debating whether I should pre-order, then researching how to use the darn thing and thumbing around with Patch Base before the Volca even arrived.

    So, I want to clear a few things up, because @brambos ' comments were helpful, but also left me with a few more questions. Here's some initial impressions of using the Volca with Patch Base:

    • Patch Base is a free app, and it WILL work with the Volca as a limited editor for free. However, they built in limitations to the freemium version, so I quickly opted from the $19.99 IAP once I verified that it worked.
    • To be clear, the Volca FM can store 32 "programs" (what we would call patches/presets in many iOS synths). It ships with 32 default sounds, so you need to overwrite one of these to store a new one.
    • If you open a .sysex file in Patch Base (or Dexed or whatever), it's actually a sysex "bank" of a variety of sounds (up to 32 I think). After reading @brambos ' post, I thought that maybe you could only send ALL 32 programs from a bank to the Volca FM at once. But it's actually much easier than this. You pick the individual sound you want in Patch Base ("Lately Bass", "E Piano", etc.) and it sends a MIDI data blast to the Volca. The name of the patch now appears on the Volca and you can continue editing on either the app or the Volca. You then click the "SAVE" button on the Volca, and it flashes the name of the slot you want to overwrite (they fixed this in firmware 1.02). Hit save again and it saves all the parameters! They literally could not make it much easier to use with Patch Base.
    • Limitations of the free version: No Init Patch; no random program generator (cool feature!); and the big one is that it will load sysex banks and allow you transfer programs, but only the first three in that bank. So if you want store libraries and have the full ability to move patches on and off the Volca, it's worth the $20 download (IMO anyway).

    I did not try creating a patch on the Volca and sending it to Patch Base, but this isn't likely to be how I use it anyway. This is really the first Volca that has "presets", and while 32 of them isn't a lot, my concerns were lessened after I saw how easy it is to import new ones from an iPad. We have a ton micro-key synths, both digital and analog, and a bunch of them store 100+ presets. But this is something the size of a Monotribe that you can load with 32 great sounds and swap on and off quite easily. It's a pretty awesome little sound module that also includes a ribbon keyboard and a pretty cool sequencer.

    Let me know if anyone happens across this thread and has more questions about Patch Base. I'm no "power user", but that's the whole point - I'm pretty new to these concepts and got it up and running within minutes.

  • Sounds like Patch Base is ultimately a bit more useful than Sysex Base. Thanks for the update!

  • thanks for the bank handling details...
    I'm actually using the Patch Base predecessor CZ Touch with a Casio CZ1000 and it's one-shot only without any organisational features (just saves all patches as a long list)
    Yet it's a cool app that brings the synth (worn out buttons) to useabilty again - let alone tweaking is extremely convenient now. B)

  • Wanted to follow up on my thread because I really, REALLY like the Volca FM and have used Patch Base and now Sysex Base quite a bit. (Actually am kind of strangely addicted to tracking down all the free DX7 programs I can find and trying out sounds).

    I grabbed Sysex Base a few days ago, but I probably should have read @brambos ' comments a little more closely because while it does work in sending sysex banks to the Volca FM (and is universal, so it works on iPhone), it can only send the entire 32-sound bank to the Volca in a single - and very fast - dump. I didn't realize this and unwittingly wiped out the 32 sounds I had loaded to the device by overwriting them. Wasn't a huge deal - I transferred most of them back from Patch Base anyway, but they were all over the place.

    Sysex Base is actually more stable for me as a Sysex "library"- it's not crashing when importing patches or doing basic things like moving files into new folders. Patch Base really needs an update in that regard, as it's a pretty slow process to try and organize things when the app crashes every 3rd action or so.

    One thing I have not tried is seeing if there's a way to create and save my own Sysex banks with collections of my favorite sounds. For example, if I can figure out how to save the 32 sounds I have right now, then I would see value in using Sysex Base to back things up. Or maybe have special banks with all bass sounds, percussion, etc. This should be possible with the clone feature of the Volca FM, but I haven't tried it yet.

  • edited September 2016

    @StormJH1 said:
    Wanted to follow up on my thread because I really, REALLY like the Volca FM and have used Patch Base and now Sysex Base quite a bit. (Actually am kind of strangely addicted to tracking down all the free DX7 programs I can find and trying out sounds).

    I grabbed Sysex Base a few days ago, but I probably should have read @brambos ' comments a little more closely because while it does work in sending sysex banks to the Volca FM (and is universal, so it works on iPhone), it can only send the entire 32-sound bank to the Volca in a single - and very fast - dump. I didn't realize this and unwittingly wiped out the 32 sounds I had loaded to the device by overwriting them. Wasn't a huge deal - I transferred most of them back from Patch Base anyway, but they were all over the place.

    Sysex Base is actually more stable for me as a Sysex "library"- it's not crashing when importing patches or doing basic things like moving files into new folders. Patch Base really needs an update in that regard, as it's a pretty slow process to try and organize things when the app crashes every 3rd action or so.

    One thing I have not tried is seeing if there's a way to create and save my own Sysex banks with collections of my favorite sounds. For example, if I can figure out how to save the 32 sounds I have right now, then I would see value in using Sysex Base to back things up. Or maybe have special banks with all bass sounds, percussion, etc. This should be possible with the clone feature of the Volca FM, but I haven't tried it yet.

    Does the VolcaFM have midi in and out?

  • edited September 2016

    @knewspeak said:
    Does the VolcaFM have midi in and out?

    Only midi-in, and sync in/out.

    @StormJH1 said:
    This should be possible with the clone feature of the Volca FM, but I haven't tried it yet.

    Probably not, because as far as I know the clone feature does not use sysex but audio-encoded data (unless you've done the midi out mod on your FM).

  • @brambos said:

    @knewspeak said:
    Does the VolcaFM have midi in and out?

    Only midi-in, and sync in/out.

    @StormJH1 said:
    This should be possible with the clone feature of the Volca FM, but I haven't tried it yet.

    Probably not, because as far as I know the clone feature does not use sysex but audio-encoded data (unless you've done the midi out mod on your FM).

    Thanks, so you can record your patch data in a DAW via audio and does it have the circuit board pins for the midi out like other volcas

  • @knewspeak said:

    Does the VolcaFM have midi in and out?

    Mine has midi in and out, because I did the mod on the circuit board. Unfortunately the midi out is limited and only transmits CCs and the keyboard and unfortunately not the arp. unless there's another way of modding the Volca and I couldn't get it to transmit the patch either.

    They are worth modding because they make very portable controllers for ipad synths.

  • @Carnbot said:

    @knewspeak said:

    Does the VolcaFM have midi in and out?

    Mine has midi in and out, because I did the mod on the circuit board. Unfortunately the midi out is limited and only transmits CCs and the keyboard and unfortunately not the arp. unless there's another way of modding the Volca and I couldn't get it to transmit the patch either.

    They are worth modding because they make very portable controllers for ipad synths.

    Thanks for the info, I take it sending a request dump message to the VolcaFM doesn't work.

  • edited September 2016

    @knewspeak said:

    @Carnbot said:

    @knewspeak said:

    Does the VolcaFM have midi in and out?

    Mine has midi in and out, because I did the mod on the circuit board. Unfortunately the midi out is limited and only transmits CCs and the keyboard and unfortunately not the arp. unless there's another way of modding the Volca and I couldn't get it to transmit the patch either.

    They are worth modding because they make very portable controllers for ipad synths.

    Thanks for the info, I take it sending a request dump message to the VolcaFM doesn't work.

    according to this it does actually work with the mod :) https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/4ntlhk/korg_volca_fm_sysexpatch_dump_works/

    So maybe I didn't try hard enough in my testing. I haven't used the midi out much since I have lots of other controllers. I also remember now that the keyboard doesn't work on the Volca FM midi out unlike the other volcas.

  • @Carnbot said:

    @knewspeak said:

    @Carnbot said:

    @knewspeak said:

    Does the VolcaFM have midi in and out?

    Mine has midi in and out, because I did the mod on the circuit board. Unfortunately the midi out is limited and only transmits CCs and the keyboard and unfortunately not the arp. unless there's another way of modding the Volca and I couldn't get it to transmit the patch either.

    They are worth modding because they make very portable controllers for ipad synths.

    Thanks for the info, I take it sending a request dump message to the VolcaFM doesn't work.

    according to this it does actually work with the mod :) https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/4ntlhk/korg_volca_fm_sysexpatch_dump_works/

    So maybe I didn't try hard enough in my testing. I haven't used the midi out much since I have lots of other controllers. I also remember now that the keyboard doesn't work on the Volca FM midi out unlike the other volcas.

    Thanks, again, that would make modding the VolcaFM even more worthwhile, tweaking patches then re-saving, excellent.

  • edited September 2016

    Yep, that's me being uninformed on MIDI/sysex - hadn't occurred to me that would require a MIDI Out, which stock Volcas don't have (though almost all of them seem to have an area on the board where you can patch a MIDI out jack pretty easily - I just don't have the interest/need to do that).

    I've seen it suggested you could take like an audio recording of the audio sysex dump, and then play it back into the Volca like you are doing the clone thing between 2 Volcas. But I've also heard that's a bit finnicky.

    Anyway, it's a good thing Patch Base works at least as well as it does - I'm at least able to move patches into the app and then into the Volca pretty easily. Patch Base also has an Init patch and randomize features - these are like "extra" features to me, but they seemed pretty important to a lot of people (especially if you have any interest in actually trying to program FM, which I really don't). Randomize is a feature I've used in a lot of iOS synths with some success, but with FM, it seems like 90% of the results are some type of "digitized bell".

    The algorithm knob on the device itself is sort of like a randomize feature in and of itself - you can really get a dramatic variety of sounds based of a single program, even if you have no clue what you're doing.

  • @brambos said:
    Semi-Offtopic: this is a fun little box. But does anyone else find that this is the first Volca that really needs external effects to sound good? A lick of reverb really brings this machine to life, but without it it can sound a tad unpolished. Anyway.. First impressions etc.

    Yes, though it very much depends on the sound. Noisier low end sounds are generally glorious as is. The rest... I miss the delay from the Volca keys.

    Thanks for this thread. Currently wondering about Patchbase. $20 isn't all that much money but that and perhaps the special Volca MIDI cable and this other little thing and that other little thing and suddenly the VFM isn't nearly as inexpensive as it appears!

  • You should, theoretically anyway, be able to use something like Audioshare for backing up the VFM. Use it just like you would an old cassette deck for patch back up. Dump via the sync out to AS and play it back in via the Sync in later. Same steps as syncing to VFMs.

  • @syrupcore said:
    You should, theoretically anyway, be able to use something like Audioshare for backing up the VFM. Use it just like you would an old cassette deck for patch back up. Dump via the sync out to AS and play it back in via the Sync in later. Same steps as syncing to VFMs.

    I kinda want to try this just to see if it works.

  • Replacing the meh factory presets with a great bass+leads bank I accidentally found has turned my 'like' into 'love' for this little box.

  • Sysex Base is not transmitting patch dumps to my Korg Z1 at the moment, well they transmit but the Z1 reports that the data is corrupt, all was fine before the last update to Sysex Base, has anybody noticed any problems since updating.

  • it's cool for old Casio stuff B)

  • Thanks for the checking @Telefunky but after messing around with the settings in Sysex Base, I'm still getting the same error on the Z1, was hoping to copy some sound banks to my newly acquired PCMCIA memory card, guess I'll send the developer an email, hopefully that will get it sorted again, may even try to send them via PC, in the meantime.

  • @knewspeak - Wish I could help, but I only really use Patch Base with my Volca FM, and I don't have any other hardware.

    Sysex Base is for more old-school hardware and was a bit of a sunk cost for me, as I didn't want to replace ALL 32 programs in my FM bank at once. (Patch Base allows you to send over just an individual program, which you then click save on the Volca).

    I need to check again because I haven't used it since some of the last updates, but there was a big U.I. overhaul that had me excited because Patch Base had previously been such a sluggish crash-fest. But I had trouble figuring out how to do some of the things I had done before in the new version. I kind of preferred the old library/file system, but with improved performance. I will have to check it out to see if it improved - my Volcas badly need attention.

  • Not sure if this was covered in another post, but Coffeeshopped updated Patch Base this past week and, mercifully, they changed the pricing structure. It used to be $20 per synth editor, or like $50 or $60 to unlock ALL editors. I might have actually paid the $20 twice because there was little incentive to pay anything more than that for hardware synths I don't have. But then I got a few more affordable synths later, and they kept adding editors, to the point where it would have made more sense to have the whole package.

    Now, I think they reduced it so if you've already bought one of them, you can unlock the rest for just one payment of $0.99. THANK YOU. I don't actually use it all the time because better alternatives have arisen for Volca FM, but I could see using it for some other synths in the future.

    2.10.1 - Feb 12, 2018
    Discount pricing for All Access upgrades now available to people who've bought single editors in the past.
    Also, some bug fixes, and a nicer MIDI settings screen.

  • Is anyone else getting crashes when trying to open a purchased editor on Patchbase? It just disappears for me every time I try to open the microkorg editor.

  • End of December there was a message by the developer that IOS 14.3 fixes crashes experienced in 14.2.
    The Microkorg editor has been overhauled a couple if days ago.
    (you may have received those emails, too)

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