Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

I know we can calculate the number of polyphony voices used by the
XX-X units but as I build up a complex piece with dynamically active
notes and long decay time, I am beginning to notice some note cut-offs
probably due to maxing the 128 (hard to see how when you first look at
it but I'm sure it adds up fast).

Wish there was/does anyone know of a way to look at maybe some screen
or indication on the XX-X to see how close you are to maxing the
polyphony?

Bob
Corona/Riverside, CA

I've never seen such a feature. I imagine the overhead to track and 
display # of voices in use in realtime would cut into the box's 
performance. 

I assume you know ways to cut down on the number of voices being used 
(get rid of unneeded chorus, get rid of 12-pole filters, make use 
unused layers have 000:none as instruments, etc.). Others interested in 
this might search the archives for "MOP"--Maxed Out Polyphony. (I seem 
to remember some discussions.)

BTW, I am wondering if the 128 BPM limit is a hardware or software [OS] 
issue. Anyone know? 

--- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "bob_at_work_2000" <tttsystems@...> wrote:

>
> I know we can calculate the number of polyphony voices used by the
> XX-X units but as I build up a complex piece with dynamically active
> notes and long decay time, I am beginning to notice some note cut-offs
> probably due to maxing the 128 (hard to see how when you first look at
> it but I'm sure it adds up fast).
> 
> Wish there was/does anyone know of a way to look at maybe some screen
> or indication on the XX-X to see how close you are to maxing the
> polyphony?
> 
> Bob
> Corona/Riverside, CA
>

Correction: Don't search for MOP; that turns up MOPhatt. Use "maxed".

> Others interested in this might search the archives for "MOP"--
> Maxed Out Polyphony. (I seem to remember some discussions.)

Thanks Steve for replying.  It made me also remember the filter order....jut when I increased the filter order of one of the voices last night....I need to verify I didn't loose any nearby notes.  

BTW, the 128 number I gave was the max. simple/advertised polyphony of the XX-7 (not the bpm I am using)..... 

I will re-review the old discussions to see how I can save some voices.....

Bob
Corona/Riverside, CA

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: steve_the_composer 
  To: xl7@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 1:24 AM
  Subject: [xl7] Re: Maybe a retorical question on polyphony utilization


  I've never seen such a feature. I imagine the overhead to track and 
  display # of voices in use in realtime would cut into the box's 
  performance. 

  I assume you know ways to cut down on the number of voices being used 
  (get rid of unneeded chorus, get rid of 12-pole filters, make use 
  unused layers have 000:none as instruments, etc.). Others interested in 
  this might search the archives for "MOP"--Maxed Out Polyphony. (I seem 
  to remember some discussions.)

  BTW, I am wondering if the 128 BPM limit is a hardware or software [OS] 
  issue. Anyone know? 

  --- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "bob_at_work_2000" <tttsystems@...> wrote:
  >
  > I know we can calculate the number of polyphony voices used by the
  > XX-X units but as I build up a complex piece with dynamically active
  > notes and long decay time, I am beginning to notice some note cut-offs
  > probably due to maxing the 128 (hard to see how when you first look at
  > it but I'm sure it adds up fast).
  > 
  > Wish there was/does anyone know of a way to look at maybe some screen
  > or indication on the XX-X to see how close you are to maxing the
  > polyphony?
  > 
  > Bob
  > Corona/Riverside, CA
  >







   
  Yahoo! Groups Links



   



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The 128 limit is a hardware one.  The XL-7 has sound generation ASICs
and filter ASICs and an FX ASIC.  There are 128 pitch shift units (64
in each of the 2 chips), 128 6-pole filter units (32 in each of the 4
chips), and two effects processors in the FX chip.  Stereo voices use
two channels of generation and filtering.  12th order filters work by
chaining two filter sections, so each of those use twice the polyphony
(2 for mono, 4 for stereo).  Each instrument is a mono or stereo voice
(mostly mono), and a preset can have up to 12 instruments at a time.

As far as the original question, no, there's no screen to view
polyphony.  There is in the E4, but not the P2k/XL-7 series.  If I
remember right, there's a sysex command to enable output of a cc that
would follow channel count, but I don't know if that was in release
code or just debugging stuff.  I'll dig around...

-Aaron

--- "Bob S." <tttsystems@...> wrote:

> Thanks Steve for replying.  It made me also remember the filter
> order....jut when I increased the filter order of one of the voices
> last night....I need to verify I didn't loose any nearby notes.  
> 
> BTW, the 128 number I gave was the max. simple/advertised polyphony
> of the XX-7 (not the bpm I am using)..... 
> 
> I will re-review the old discussions to see how I can save some
> voices.....
> 
> Bob
> Corona/Riverside, CA
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: steve_the_composer 
>   To: xl7@yahoogroups.com 
>   Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 1:24 AM
>   Subject: [xl7] Re: Maybe a retorical question on polyphony
> utilization
> 
> 
>   I've never seen such a feature. I imagine the overhead to track and
> 
>   display # of voices in use in realtime would cut into the box's 
>   performance. 
> 
>   I assume you know ways to cut down on the number of voices being
> used 
>   (get rid of unneeded chorus, get rid of 12-pole filters, make use 
>   unused layers have 000:none as instruments, etc.). Others
> interested in 
>   this might search the archives for "MOP"--Maxed Out Polyphony. (I
> seem 
>   to remember some discussions.)
> 
>   BTW, I am wondering if the 128 BPM limit is a hardware or software
> [OS] 
>   issue. Anyone know? 
> 
>   --- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, "bob_at_work_2000" <tttsystems@...>
> wrote:
>   >
>   > I know we can calculate the number of polyphony voices used by
> the
>   > XX-X units but as I build up a complex piece with dynamically
> active
>   > notes and long decay time, I am beginning to notice some note
> cut-offs
>   > probably due to maxing the 128 (hard to see how when you first
> look at
>   > it but I'm sure it adds up fast).
>   > 
>   > Wish there was/does anyone know of a way to look at maybe some
> screen
>   > or indication on the XX-X to see how close you are to maxing the
>   > polyphony?
>   > 
>   > Bob
>   > Corona/Riverside, CA
>   >
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>    
>   Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>    
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 


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>>The 128 limit is a hardware one.....there's no screen to view
polyphony.  There is in the E4, but not the P2k/XL-7 series.  If I
remember right, there's a sysex command to enable output of a cc that
would follow channel count, but I don't know if that was in release
code or just debugging stuff.  I'll dig around...<<

I would be interested in that too. I remember staring at the screen of
my esi32's in abject horror at how the polyphony just drained away...
especially if you stuck some "chorus" on summat. these days I tend to
leave that function off on the proteus boxes & find more
predictable/controllable ways to fatten the sound up. it's a pity the
proteus chassis didn't have an overflow option where you could
daisy-chain them to add to the available voices.

duncan.

Aaron, thanks for the explanation of the hardware basis for the 128 
voice limit. 

> If I remember
> right, there's a sysex command to enable output of a cc that
> would follow channel count, but I don't know if that was in release
> code or just debugging stuff.  I'll dig around...

I'd be very interested in knowing about this and other little known 
sysex commands that might be accessible.

--Steve

> --- "Bob S." <tttsystems@...> wrote:
> 
> > Thanks Steve for replying.  It made me also remember the filter
> > order....jut when I increased the filter order of one of the
> > voices last night....I need to verify I didn't loose any nearby
> > notes.  

I love the effects of some of the 12-pole filters, but they can be 
costly in terms of polyphony.  (I wonder if that was indeed the 
problem in this case.)

--Steve