-------------------------------------   DROID Newsletter #06 - Primo May 2001   ------------------------------------- -Welcome- Welcome to all our new subscribers from the Elektron mailing list. It is a very exciting time for us now that the interest has almost exploded and we try hard to live up to everyone's expectations (and our schedule). N e w s f l a s h (since newsletter 5) иииииииииииииииии Homepage updates Х New demos @    http://www.droid.dk/files/demos/droid3_wars.mp3    http://www.droid.dk/files/demos/droid3_sequence.mp3    http://www.droid.dk/files/demos/droid3_reso.mp3    http://www.droid.dk/files/demos/droid3_sync.mp3    http://www.droid.dk/files/demos/droid3_daroid.mp3 Х DROID-3 review by the preset programmer @    http://www.droid.dk/main.phtml?link=info/reviews Х Specifications and F.A.Q. is now completed Х DroidEdit - beta v1.1 beta 6 now has MIDI file export    http://www.droid.dk/main.phtml?link=files/editor Х Preset sounds are now available @    http://www.droid.dk/main.phtml?link=files/patches S t a t u s иииииииииии Right now, our preset programmer Sune M. Pedersen is working hard. He will have ready for you more than 300 preset sounds ranging from opera singers, crazy effects, digital flutes and crispy dance organs through dirty sync leads, groovy wave sequences, techno basedrums, snappy zaps and vintage percussions to fat basses and... well, you get the idea. You can read a bit about Sune and his DROID-3 review here: http://www.droid.dk/main.phtml?link=info/reviews I'm personally working on the last bits of info on the web site, testing the MIDI editor, writing the manual and looking into delivery and payment methods. -Orders- For those of you who have pre-ordered several months ago, the parts for the first shipment of 15 units have arrived. Except for half of the amount of LCDs which are out of stock. The first six completed DROIDs have already been sold, and we are working closely with the new DROID-owners to catch any last-minute bugs before we start shipping abroad (second batch). -Next batch- We hope to be ready to start shipping the next batch at some point in June 2001 - I will keep you informed. I have had my eyes on Paypal.com but I hope we can offer other ways of payment as well. The price for shipment to USA should not exceed $25. Third batch is scheduled to be ready in August 2001 - all new orders will be added to this batch. -Hardware- "Everything is proceeding as I have forseen..." and tests on the new print show a significant improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio - probably due to an added ground layer. I guess nobody really cares if a rough and dirty DROID-sound effect is a little noisy or not, but anyway, we are talking approx. 80 dB (using the new mode for disabling the LEDs - see below). The cases turned out pretty well and we have had positive feeback from the new owners. An assembled unit is pleasantly heavy and rests firmly in your hand or on your desk. -Firmware- Since newsletter 5, the firmware has been closed for anything other than bugfixes. The last features that have been added are: Х Zero-snap (Zsn)   - a new distortion mode that mutes an overloading DCO     (thus e.g. a 6 dB overloading Saw will be muted half     of its wave cycle). Х Envelope 2 free run   - loop mode for Env2 that ignores keytrigs and keeps     looping just like an LFO. Х Slave Sync changed a little   - now the sync slave retrigs the waveforms each time     the master waveform crosses zero. This means that     not only will the sync master's frequency control     the retrig rate - which is how it usually works -     but the sync master's waveform will in fact have     an effect on the sync "frequency". Quite unique. Х Disable LEDs or LCD off mode   - If you hold down the Enter button while turning on     the power, the LEDs are turned off to minimize     output noise.   - If you hold down the Escape button while turning     on the power, the LCD backlight is turned off to     ehm... well... for fun really. Х DROID-2/MIDI only mode   - If you hold down both the Escape and the Enter     button while switching on the unit, the LCD output,     LCD backlight and LEDs will be disabled on the     hardware side. On the software side, the envelopes,     the filters and DCO2 output will be disabled. This     mode is called DROID-2 mode since the features     resemble those of the simpler (never released)     DROID-2 and allows for a higher samplerate. -Editor- The MIDI editor for Windows(tm) has been in the beta phase for some time now and it seems there are no more bugs left. It will be renamed to just v1.1 very soon. Actually we did not plan MIDI export at this point but thanks to Erik S. Andersen we were able to skip v1.0 and go right ahead and release v1.1 including the MIDI export feature. Droidful regards David Filskov DROID coordinator If you have any questions or comments or want to unsubscribe from this newsletter, don't hesitate to reply to this mail. "Lesson about life and synth programming: Limitations challenge us - thus creativity grows. Limitations are our reasons to evolve."