Expert Sleepers Disting mk4 User manual

disting mk4
Firmware v4.4
User Manual
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Copyright © 2017 Expert Sleepers Ltd. All rights reserved.
This man al, as well as the hardware and software described in it, is f rnished nder licence and
may be sed or copied only in accordance with the terms of s ch licence. The content of this
man al is f rnished for informational se only, is s bject to change witho t notice, and sho ld not
be constr ed as a commitment by Expert Sleepers Ltd. Expert Sleepers Ltd ass mes no
responsibility or liability for any errors or inacc racies that may appear in this doc ment.
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Table of Contents
Introd ction..........................................................................................................................................6
Installation............................................................................................................................................6
Power req irements.........................................................................................................................6
Inp ts, O tp ts and Controls................................................................................................................6
Inserting a MicroSD card.....................................................................................................................6
Start p...................................................................................................................................................7
The encoder & men system................................................................................................................7
Selecting an algorithm..........................................................................................................................7
Settings.................................................................................................................................................8
Help......................................................................................................................................................8
Parameters............................................................................................................................................9
Knob Recorder......................................................................................................................................9
Tap Tempo..........................................................................................................................................10
Favo rites...........................................................................................................................................10
Presets.................................................................................................................................................10
Preset 0...........................................................................................................................................11
Select B s...........................................................................................................................................11
SD Card Playback...............................................................................................................................11
S pported MicroSD cards..............................................................................................................11
S pported a dio files.....................................................................................................................12
S pported MIDI files.....................................................................................................................12
File naming & Playlists..................................................................................................................12
A dio Playlist Format....................................................................................................................12
MIDI Playlist Format.....................................................................................................................14
Example Files................................................................................................................................15
MIDI/CV conversion.....................................................................................................................15
Scala S pport......................................................................................................................................15
Organising the files on the card.....................................................................................................15
Example Files................................................................................................................................15
Scale Playlist Format.....................................................................................................................16
Possible So rces of Error...............................................................................................................16
Algorithm Overview...........................................................................................................................17
A-1 Precision Adder......................................................................................................................18
A-2 Fo r Q adrant M ltiplier........................................................................................................18
A-3 F ll-wave Rectifier.................................................................................................................19
A-4 Minim m/maxim m...............................................................................................................19
A-5 Linear/Exponential Converter................................................................................................19
A-6 Q antizer................................................................................................................................20
A-7 Comparator.............................................................................................................................21
A-8 D al Waveshaper....................................................................................................................21
B-1 Sample and Hold.....................................................................................................................22
B-2 Slew Rate Limiter...................................................................................................................22
B-3 Pitch and Envelope Tracker....................................................................................................22
B-4 Clockable Delay/Echo............................................................................................................23
B-5 LFO.........................................................................................................................................24
B-6 Clockable LFO........................................................................................................................25
B-7 VCO with linear FM...............................................................................................................25
B-8 VCO with waveshaping..........................................................................................................26
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C-1 Precision Adder (fractional offsets)........................................................................................26
C-2 Voltage Controlled Delay Line...............................................................................................27
C-3 Clockable Ping Pong Delay (Z feedback)...............................................................................27
C-4 Clockable Ping Pong Delay (Z inp t pan)..............................................................................28
C-5 Resonator................................................................................................................................28
C-6 Vocoder...................................................................................................................................29
C-7 Phaser......................................................................................................................................30
C-8 Bit Cr sher..............................................................................................................................30
D-2 Tape Delay..............................................................................................................................32
D-3 Waveform Animator...............................................................................................................32
D-4 State Variable Filter................................................................................................................33
D-5 LP/HP Filter............................................................................................................................34
D-6 LP/BP Filter............................................................................................................................34
D-7 BP/HP Filter...........................................................................................................................34
D-8 BP/Notch Filter.......................................................................................................................35
E-1 AR Envelope...........................................................................................................................35
E-2 AR Envelope (with p sh)........................................................................................................36
E-3 AR Envelope & VCA.............................................................................................................36
E-4 AR Envelope & VCA (with p sh)..........................................................................................37
E-5 D al AR Envelope..................................................................................................................38
E-6 D al AR Envelope (with p sh)...............................................................................................38
E-7 E ro to B chla Converter.......................................................................................................39
E-8 B chla to E ro Converter.......................................................................................................39
F-1 Clockable AD Envelope (with m te)......................................................................................40
F-2 Clockable AD Envelope (with gate).......................................................................................40
F-3 Clockable AD Envelope (with trigger)...................................................................................41
F-4 Clockable AD Envelope & VCA............................................................................................41
F-5 Shift Register Random CVs....................................................................................................42
F-6 Shift Register Random Q antized CVs...................................................................................43
F-7 Shift Register Random Triggers..............................................................................................44
F-8 Shift Register Random D al Triggers.....................................................................................44
G-1 ES-1 Em lation.......................................................................................................................45
G-2 ES-2 Em lation.......................................................................................................................45
G-3 Pitch Reference.......................................................................................................................46
G-4 Freq ency Reference..............................................................................................................46
G-5 T ner.......................................................................................................................................47
G-6 MIDI Clock.............................................................................................................................47
G-7 MIDI/CV................................................................................................................................49
G-8 CV/MIDI................................................................................................................................49
H-1 Crossfade/Pan.........................................................................................................................50
H-2 D al Sample and Hold............................................................................................................50
H-3 D al Q antizer (Z scale).........................................................................................................51
H-4 D al Q antizer........................................................................................................................52
H-5 D al E clidean Patterns..........................................................................................................53
H-6 D al Delayed P lse Generator...............................................................................................53
H-7 Noise.......................................................................................................................................54
I-1 A dio Playback........................................................................................................................55
I-2 Clocked A dio Playback..........................................................................................................55
I-3 A dio Playback with V/Oct.....................................................................................................56
I-4 A dio Playback with Z Speed..................................................................................................56
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J-1 MIDI File Playback (Clocked).................................................................................................57
J-3 MIDI File Playback (Free R nning)........................................................................................57
J-4 A dio Playback with End CV..................................................................................................58
J-5 A dio Recorder........................................................................................................................58
K-1 Wavetable VCO......................................................................................................................59
Loading wavetables...................................................................................................................59
K-5 Programmable Q antizer........................................................................................................61
L-1 Stereo Reverb..........................................................................................................................62
L-2 Mono-to-Stereo Reverb...........................................................................................................62
L-3 D al Reverb............................................................................................................................63
L-5 Stereo Chor s..........................................................................................................................64
L-6 Mono Chor s...........................................................................................................................64
MIDI I/O.............................................................................................................................................66
Introd ction....................................................................................................................................66
Connections...................................................................................................................................66
Breako t mod le............................................................................................................................66
MIDI "Low-Voltage Signaling"....................................................................................................66
Controlling the disting mk4 via MIDI...........................................................................................67
MIDI Thr ......................................................................................................................................67
Calibration..........................................................................................................................................68
Calibration Proced re....................................................................................................................68
Calibration Data.............................................................................................................................68
Firmware Updates..............................................................................................................................70
Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................................71
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Introduction
Congrat lations on yo r p rchase of an Expert Sleepers disting mk4. Please read this ser man al
before operating yo r new mod le.
Installation
Ho se the mod le in a E rorack case of yo r choosing. The power connector is Doepfer standard. If
sing the power cable s pplied with the mod le, the red edge of the cable is nearest the bottom of
the PCB, and carries -12V. ("-12V" is marked on the PCB itself next to this end of the connector.)
Be s re to connect the other end of the power cable correctly, again so -12V corresponds to the red
stripe on the cable.
Power requirements
The disting mk4 draws 51mA on the +12V rail, and 19mA on the -12V rail.
It does not se the 5V rail.
Inputs, Outputs and Controls
From top to bottom, the disting has
•A rotary encoder/p sh b tton, named 'S'.
•A dot matrix display.
•A MicroSD card slot.
•A knob, referred to as the 'Z' control, which controls some
aspect of the algorithm. This knob also has a p sh b tton
f nction.
•Three inp t sockets.
◦The top inp t is the 'Z' CV inp t, which controls the
same thing as the 'Z' knob. The two are added
together.
◦The other two inp ts are 'X' and 'Y', and their f nction
depends on the c rrent algorithm.
•Two o tp t sockets, named 'A' and 'B'.
The sockets are ill minated to reflect the voltage at the socket (or in the case of 'Z', the combined
voltage of the inp t and the knob). Red indicates a positive voltage; bl e indicates a negative
voltage.
Inserting a MicroSD card
The disting's MicroSD card slot is to the left of the display.
The exposed contacts of the card sho ld face towards the display; the angled side of the card itself
points p.
The slot is of the "p sh-p sh" type - to remove the card, p sh it in slightly and it will spring o t.
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Startup
Video
When the mod le powers p it first r ns thro gh some patterns on its display. The seq ence is as
follows:
•Each of the seven col mns in t rn, from left to right.
•Each of the five rows in t rn, from bottom to top.
It then shows the bootloader version (e.g. "b1") and the c rrent firmware version (e.g. "v4.0").
If after the above the disting shows the message "Uncalibrated", then the calibration data in flash is
missing or corr pt. A defa lt calibration will be sed, b t for acc rate res lts, please recalibrate the
mod le (see below).
The encoder & menu system
Video
Pressing the encoder ('S') enters the disting's men system, which is indicated by the display
blinking.
At this time the men s are partic larly simple, there being only fo r men items to choose from,
only one of which yo will normally need. In general, the men system works like this:
•Press the encoder to enter men mode.
•T rn the encoder to select the men item, and press to select.
•At this point the behavio r depends on the chosen men item.
Pressing 'Z' at any time cancels and exits the men s.
The men items are:
•Algorithm - select algorithm
•Help - access help
•Settings - change settings
•Calibrate - begin calibration
◦If yo accidentally enter this mode, press the Z knob to cancel
Selecting an algorithm
Video
There is a single list of algorithms, named A1 p to P8 (i.e. A1, A2, ... p to A8, then B1, B2 etc.).
See below for details.
The algorithm can be chosen via men 1 "Algorithm". Press the encoder twice (to enter the men ,
and to select "Algorithm"). Then t rn the encoder to select the algorithm. Finally, press the encoder
again to switch to the chosen algorithm.
Alternatively, yo can switch between algorithms by p shing and holding the S knob while t rning
it, tho gh this does visit every algorithm yo pass thro gh, rather than j mping directly to the
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chosen one, as is the case when sing the men .
Settings
Video
The disting has a n mber of settings, which are stored in flash memory. They are accessed by men
4 "Settings". Once yo 've entered the Settings men , t rn the encoder to select the setting to
change.
The settings are:
•Brightness – set the display brightness
•Recall enable – enable/disable recall from the Select B s (see below)
•In MIDI ch – the inp t MIDI channel
•Out MIDI ch – the o tp t MIDI channel
•Thru MIDI – enables a soft MIDI thr
•Pgm Chng Alg – controls whether MIDI program change messages select the c rrent
algorithm (1) or load a preset (0)
Once yo 've chosen the setting to change, press the encoder to select it, at which point the setting's
c rrent val e will be shown. T rn the encoder to change the val e. Then press the encoder to accept
and store the val e into flash, or press Z to leave the men witho t storing the val e.
Help
Video
Accessing 'Help' from the men displays algorithm-specific information. The help is loaded from
the MicroSD card, if present (else the message "No card" is displayed), and scrolled across the
display. To exit the help f nction, press Z.
The help text is a simple plain text file on the card, so it can be freely edited (e.g. to p t yo r own
choice of information first, or to translate it into a different lang age).
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The defa lt set of help files can be downloaded from the firmware pdate page here. Simply nzip
the file onto yo r MicroSD card. The file str ct re sho ld look something like this:
i.e. the 'help' folder is at the root level of the card, and inside is a file per algorithm, named
'hXXX.txt', where XXX is the algorithm n mber, starting from zero for algorithm A1.
Parameters
Video
In addition to the control provided on the Z knob, each algorithm may have p to six 'parameters',
offering f rther control over the algorithm's operation.
Unlike the Z control, which is sampled at the same high rate as the X & Y inp ts, parameters sho ld
be considered coarse, non-real-time adj stments to the algorithm. They may ca se glitching in the
o tp ts when changed.
Parameters are adj sted via the S knob. When changed, the parameter val e is displayed for a
co ple of seconds.
If an algorithm has more than one parameter, pressing the Z knob cycles thro gh them. The c rrent
parameter n mber is displayed briefly followed by its name.
nob Recorder
Video
In many algorithms which do not se a Z knob press for another p rpose, pressing Z offers a 'knob
recorder' f nction.
When this is available, holding Z down while t rning it ca ses the Z val e changes to be recorded.
As soon as the knob is released, the recording is played back in a loop. To end playback, t rn the Z
knob slightly to regain man al control.
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The maxim m d ration of knob recording is a little nder 14 seconds.
Tap Tempo
Video
Some algorithms (notably the Clockable LFO and Clockable Delay/Echo) se a press of the Z knob
as a 'tap tempo' f nction. In these modes, pressing Z has the same effect as sending a clock p lse
into the clock inp t. For example, pressing Z twice will set the delay time/LFO period to the time
between the two b tton presses.
Note that if the algorithm is dividing down the clocked freq ency, pressing Z twice will not set the
o tp t to the division of the time between the two presses; rather, it will be the time between a
corresponding n mber of b tton presses. E.g. if the Clockable LFO is set to 1/4 (divide by 4), the
LFO time will be set by pressing the Z b tton 5 times, and it will only change on the 5th press.
Favourites
Yo can define yo r own list of 16 'favo rite' algorithms, via a text file on the MicroSD card.
The favo rites are accessed as algorithms O1-P8. If no favo rites are defined, or if there are empty
slots, the disting r ns algorithm A1, the Precision Adder.
The favo rites are read from the SD card, if present, at power on. They are then stored in the
disting's flash memory, and so persist even after the card is removed.
The favo rites file is a simple text file which m st be named 'favo rites.txt' and placed in the root of
the SD card (not inside any folder). The contents look something like this:
disting favourites v2
B8 VCO
a1
C5 resonator
I4 SD z speed
b5 LFO
e dual AR w/ push
The first line m st be "disting favo rites v2". S bseq ent lines specify an algorithm to add to the
list of favo rites. After 16 algorithms, any f rther lines are ignored.
Each algorithm is specified as its two character name (a letter followed by a n mber). Any f rther
text after the algorithm n mber is ignored, so yo can add a descriptive string (as in the example
above) to help yo remember what's what.
Presets
Video
The disting can store its c rrent state to flash memory as a preset. The contents of a preset are
•the chosen algorithm, and
•the parameter val es.
Anything controlled by the Z knob/CV is not stored – its val e is always defined by the knob
position and CV inp t.
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