So, I’m new to this whole synth thing! Literally. Just got my sub 37 at Christmas, and have been playing w/ sounds and learning the basics of synthesis.
I have also been interested in the Librarian because while downloading patches can be cool, I need to learn by turning knobs and filters and such!
SO, updating my firmware… step one…
observations:
It would be helpful in the readme pdf to say first “use the auto updater first, you don’t need to manually use sysex.” THIS would have been helpful. I didn’t know you could one click install!
Going through the files in the manual updating, my sub 37 didn’t do what the readme said it would do, so I restarted my sub 37… and AGH! the screen was completely blank, all the lights were lit! AHH!!! In the phone rooting/rom-ing world, it would be like bricking my phone! (fortunately, something i’ve NEVER done. Only BOOTLOOPED It… (anyone out there know what i’m talking about? Cyanogenmod, Paranoid Android, Nexus, ANdroid, baby!))
WELL, if that happens, don’t freak out! (what I did.)
If that happens, just restart the process and continue it, no matter what! I manually pushed all of the files through w/ Sysex. OR, I guess I could have used the auto one-button Updater. You live you learn.
GIL IS THE MAN! He helped me through cuz I thought I bricked my $1000+ keyboard.
Well, I guess any user should probably know something about firmware upgrades before deciding to have his/her equipment upgraded. In the past, that kind of process used to only be done in service centers. Also, please remember it’s (still) a beta, which is the reason why we are all here I do encourage anyone who is not confident enough with this kind of situations not to install or use any beta versions, and to patiently wait for the final release
Hey, I’m glad you got everything back on track. Sorry for the tense moments!
In the course of the beta process, we’ve had a few different kinds of file-sets to download.
Ideally, everything (editor, firmware updaters, instructions) comes packed together with a README_FIRST file, which you should read first of course… and also a set of instructions for the manual firmware update process if needed, and a manual for the editor.
So the README_FIRST doc definitely says to use the one-click updater first, and then if (and only if) you have any problems with the updater app, to go to the “Manual Update” folder and read the instructions there for sending sysex / recovering from any errors.
Finally, the editor comes with some documentation to explain how to use it.
However, when we’ve done small/quick updates to the editor or the firmware, we’ve offered those downloads by themselves and they may not have all the relevant instructions packed with them. Here’s a link to the various documents in case you missed them:
thanks! I read the email you had sent me, those directions, assuming they were the same as the readme file in the download. my mistake! BUT, it’s working now, so i’ll live to recount that story as a “When I was younger” wild crazy moment.
THanks, just plug in my keyboard via usb and then turn on the editor w/o anything else? okay!
Can you use the Librarian w/o plugging in your sub 37?
You’ll want the Sub 37 connected the first time you run the Editor, because the editor wants to get all the presets from the hardware. But, once you have done that, you can bring up the editor other times without needing the Sub 37 connected.
For some operations you’ll need to be connected, but editing and viewing the patches, editing sequences – all those can be done off-line.
There is no like, memory in the Editor program, is there? to store patches and stuff?
The editor manages files that contain presets from the hardware. So… how much disk space do you have? You can store lots of presets and let the editor maintain them.
Got it, thanks! Is there a way to hear the sounds I make? Is there a way to hear a sound on the computer without plugging in my sub 37? When I plugged in my headphones into the sub 37, it didn’t make a song. The headphones might be broken, of course. Should I be able to hear sound?
The Sub37 Editor running on your computer only controls the synthesizer. It makes no sound of its own, and there is no audio signal going between the synthesizer and your computer – it’s only MIDI messages. To hear the sounds of the Sub 37 synthesizer, you’ll have to plug headphones into the Sub 37, or connect the audio output of the synth to the sound-card input of the computer, or use the main output of the synth and connect it to an external amp and speakers, or …
To make sounds, either play the keys on the Sub 37, or use some other software on your computer to send MIDI messages to the Sub 37. Double-check two things: 1) the main volume control is turned up, 2) the headphone volume control is also turned up. The headphone volume control comes after the main volume control, so if the main volume is turned all the way down, you won’t get anything out of the headphones. So, maybe they aren’t broken after all!
I didn’t know you could one click install!
I do encourage anyone who is not confident enough with this kind of situations not to install or use any beta versions, and to patiently wait for the final release