I’m almost copying here the resume from the staging thread. There were no significant changes in the staging period (obviously!), but a bunch of bugfixes and little improvements were commited:
Pianoteq standalone engine has been improved by implementing the RPC API, what allows loading presets a lot faster than before. It also allow access to more parameters, etc.
New Tempo Screen that allows adjusting bpm, tempo source (internal/MIDI) and metronome.V5 has a dedicated key.
MIDI clock sync Ohhhh yes!! Zynthian now can be slaved to an external MIDI clock. I’m sure this will make happy more than one @zynthianer
Tap Tempo can now be configured to any customizable button/switch. Of course, V5 has a dedicated button for this.
Native MIDI clock generator The MIDI-clock plugin is not needed any more. Zynthian generates natively its own MIDI-clok stream that can be used to sync other zynthian devices, including marks for bar-sync.
Zynthian Step Sequencer has been improved in several ways: native pattern load/save, fancier zynpad look & feel, zynpad MIDI learn, better workflow, many bugfixes, etc.
V5 support has been added, including the new button-based workflow and the supoer-cool RGB-LED feedback logic
New dexed presets have been added, converted from original DX7 voice banks
New loading screen with a nice animated logo and extended info
CV/Gate improvements, including some extra CUIAs for fine-tuning, etc.
Much more …
Mr. @riban is the brain & fingers behind most of these changes, so he deserves all merit and blesses. Really big thanks, @riban!! (BTW, mate, please, complete the list if i missed something important)
For those already running stable, you can try to update, and it probably will work, although it could take some time. If it doesn’t please, don’t complain. Save your snapshots and presets and download the new SD image.
If you are running Staging-2305, you can simply change to stable or testing, depending on your preference.
¿What is next?
Neural Amp Modeller
Device MIDI filtering + mapping, starting with Zynpad & Mixer
“Omni Channels Mode” (select input channels redirected to active chain)
Please do not switch to testing unless you want to experience instability. We are about to embark on a journey across rough seas and only the most hardy will be able to hold on to the contents of their stomach! We will tell you when it is safe to return to the water. If you want to experience bug fixes and feature enhancements early then use the staging branch which will get updates for testing ahead of hot fixes to stable.
For those interested in MIDI sync, here is a bit of detail:
The tempo screen has a parameter that allows Zynthian to either run independently, send MIDI sync or receive MIDI sync. If sending it will send a MIDI clock when sequencer or SMF (.mid) player is running. It will send a MIDI CONTINUE command at each sync point (bar / loop). If receiving, it depends on an external MIDI clock to drive it forward and will resync (e.g. loop, end sequence, etc.) when it receives a MIDI START or CONTINUE command. Other modules, e.g. arpeggiators may sync with the Zynthian clock by setting them to use “Host Sync” (or similar, depending on the plugin). Each implementation may differ so there may be some performance quirks - do let us know.
We have been testing this release for a while and feel confident it is stable but if you do find issues, please report then in the issue tracker.
Thanks to @jofemodo and all of you wonderful zynthianeers for your work on getting us here. It provides solid bedrock on which to build an even better future.
Check the source. There is a Python base class in zyngui with device specific subclasses.
[Edit] I haven’t figured out how the LEDs are physically connected to Zynthian. I can’t find the wiring diagrams in GitHub. Maybe @jofemodo can elucidate.
Installed, looks great and faster.
Just one thing: in my Zynthian touchscreen it seems impossible to bold-push when i’m inside the sequencer so i can’t reach the menus. Bold-pushing and long-pushing kicks me back to the main menu. I’m only able to long-push to edit patterns in piano roll.
@wyleu , V5 and Z2 schemes are carefully customized for these specific devices. Don’t expect they work on any of your custom Zynthians. You should configure your custom hardware starting from scratch or some similar config from the list. I don’t think Z2 or V5 are good starting points, as they are more complex devices with lot of buttons, LEDs and, in the Z2 case, analog encoders too.
This devel branch include some nice new features that i would like to merge in stable ASAP:
Selecting a specific MIDI device for controlling the zynpad. No need for “trigger channel” when using this.
Full integration with “launchpad mini”, including auto-learning, launching/stopping sequences, sequence state LED feedback, variable grid size & scenes. More device integrations should be available very soon!!
If someone have a “launchpad mini”, feel free to test. If you have another launchpad version, please, try to add it to the list. It shouldn’t be much difficult and Novation have published documentation for this. Of course, you can ask me any doubt.
This is ok with my standard V4 kit, and it works well.
With my only touchscreen kit nothing seems to work. I can only reach the pattern edit pianoroll but i can’t reach any of the sequencer or zynpad menus.
Hi, first Case:
I’m using a raspi 4 with 7" hdmi screen, behringer uca222 but without any knobs or encoders and only try to send command from a controller keyboard.
So I have to install a custom kit for hardware.
If I do so, the communication crashes.
another Zynthian V4 Case with official V4 Kit:
I’ve tried to restore my saved Data-Backup - nothing happend
I’ve tried to update the system - Stop Sign - nothing happend
I’ve tried to load my pianoteq-binary - nothing happend
Here i am, i own a Lauchpad mini. Just turned to zynpad_midilearn_idev and connected the Launchpad. Is there a way to select the “specific MIDI device”? I can’t find it.
I can use the Lauchpad just like a normal controller for playing notes but not for using the zynpad. Indeed, the Session button is not activated. What am i doing wrong?
Ok, i wasn’t really into zynpad_midilearn_idev. So i finally went inside and discovered how to select the Launchpad in the menu, and that i can’t use the session mode but only assign a midi note to a pad. I built a custom mode in Novation Components but it won’t work. I can see that midi is sent to the Zynthian pushing the pads but patterns are not activated.
