QasarBeach CMI IIz

Hello

I just stumbled across this the other day. Ive really been enjoying messing with it, but when I was reading through the manual/cookbook I noticed that there are some things that are different. can't find the reverb other than the FX reverb. Is there a command that switches the LFO levels to the reverb controls, or even an updated guide?

Hi Adam,

I think one of the key reasons for the exceptional sound quality of the CMI, and the Synclavier, and the Emulator-II for that matter, is that all these units tuned and modulated their sample pitches in hardware by varying the playback clock rates of a separate DAC per voice, then mixing the results analog. There's a lot of talk about how their lo-fi sampling artifacts defined their sound, but there's definitely more to the story.

That said, I think replicating that sample playback architecture in a digital emulation is exceedingly difficult due to the asynchronous sample rate conversion. Doing that with high quality requires a ton of processor resources, and doing it fast enough for something like a sampler tends to involve compromises, which affect the sound and don't exist on the real hardware units.

After playing with the QasarBeach recreation a bit, one thing I've noticed is that these artifacts appear to be quite audible. For example, I hear the levels and relative frequencies of aliasing tones change from note to note, which certainly would not happen with a hardware CMI, because all it's doing is varying the playback clock. And you can also hear the aliasing tones change dynamically when pitch modulation is applied to a sound.

I'm wondering if you've considered trying to do something innovative with the ASRC in the playback engine in order to try to approach the sound quality of the hardware units more closely.

Regards,

Dan

Hallo Adam

I‘ve the same problem like some other user here (see foto). I run the software on win10 on my Laptop but on my desktop Computer it does not work. Unable to install it. I installed OpenGL but that did not solved the problems. Did you found a solution yet?

And my congratulation for your work and this amazing Fairlight. In the nearly Future I plan to start a workshop how to use it, course I know from my work the some Fairlights are still in use in several important Studios arround the world. I think we should bring this really great and still up to Date Instrument cloeser to the user

best regards

Tom

I have a strange question: how do I place an entire song inside qasarbeach and play it with x and then save it?

Hello Adam,

I’ve had Qasarbeach for a while now and it is the most fun “DAW” I’ve used! The UI is a work of art. It's great being able to customise it and I regularly switch between Green and Grey, and both Color and TV Output. The black bars are a top addition and now a permanent fixture.

These are by no means bugs, but a couple of tweaks that, for me, would really improve usability…

Text: "1" and "7" appear to be in bold. Not sure if this carries over from the Fairlight, but they really jump out which ever page they’re on.  

Page 7 Stereo Mix: possibility of setting "1" as default value. I experience phase issues (always sounds louder in right channel!) at 128 and it’s an extra parameter that needs setting every time a sample is loaded. 

Page 2: Button Menu still appears on Page 2, even when switched off in Settings.

Page R: possibility of removing “D” and “G” from Start Voice when View is set to 8. Maybe the essential channels of “1” “A” and “I” would help to simplify this part of the UI even further? Or even using the same format as “Pattern:” and “Time:” where the Voice number/letter can be entered in a box? That would give equal access to select all Voices as well as staying in keeping with the two parameters to the left. 

Appreciate some or all of these may not be possible to implement, so no worries if they can’t. 

Lastly, thank you for making Qasarbeach and keeping it updated! 😎👍

Hello Adam I just wanted to know how many gigabytes will this take up on my Windows 7 & does it work on 32 bit? is what I most importantly would like to know, thanks Adam 🙏

Hello Adam! I'm extremely interested in learning how to use this program, it seems like an excellent way to use samples for music, but I wanted to know if there are any guides on how to use it? There are some youtube tutorials but they aren't too good, so I wanted to ask!

Thank you for your work and I'm very excited to experiment with this program :))

Hi Adam! First of all, A HUGE THANKS FOR YOUR WORK!! Some 13 years ago I was really obsessed with the CMI, and prayed that someday this would come along. Although I had never expected anyone to recreate the whole system in software. I went as far as to convert the whole IIx library to 16 bit .wav, by manually ripping each one from the .bin files, -this was before I got the tools that dumped them automatically, haha. 

Meanwhile I got my Fairlight sequencing fix from the Roland S-330 and its Director-S. Although that had some timing issues with busy patterns. In 2012 I bought an ipad mini to get the Fairlight app, and rarely have I been so disappointed in a program. I had it promptly refunded, and deleted. It is safe to say, for a CMI enthusiast, QuasarBeach is pure gold! Finally I have the original interface, Page-R, everything! And I love the stereo enhancement implemented, it really fattens stuff up and makes my output sound great. I get nice results from liberal use of the reverb type delay, but seeing as one can load samples with reverb I don't view it as essential. 

On my music laptop the program is rock solid, timing and all. But it still sees only the onboard audio "Realtek Speakers Out". I would love to be able to use WASAPI, as that yields very low latency on other programs, that or ASIO. Is that something that could be done? Sometimes, the sounds are also given a "note-off" command it seems, and the sound cuts, even though I am holding it on the midi-keyboard. It seems to occur less on the dedicated music PC, but I just wanted to mention it. 

Anyway, super grateful for this program, and your continous updating of it :)

I'll let Thomas Leer sum up the feeling I get from QuasarBeach :D

Hi 

Brillant work, very close to the real deal !

However, I have many issues:

-sound is sometimes choppy, like an undersized audio buffer (Arturia audiofuse interface or basic windows driver)

- love the resynthesis features like on the actual FAIRLIGHT but sometimes after a successful analysis, sounds become all of sudden utter garbage like a second analysis had been launched.

-or without reason sound becomes distorted

- echo and reverb sound bad, very metallic. Like a broken spring reverb

And one last thing : the soft really needs separate audio outputs for a professional use.

Thanks !

This is an amazing piece of software. I am having some trouble with getting polyphony to work, however - when I try to play two notes, or one immediately after the other, the sound gets cut off.

Can I has 32bit windows build?

for some reason ever when i open the program appears this error, i tried to search something about it but nothing at the moment

Hello. This software, although complex, is wonderful. The program, however, keeps switching off when using Page R. It will work for a while but eventually will shut off. I'm running v1.42 on a Mac using Ventura 13.4

Hey there - been working with the CMI for a bit and noticed that when you save sequences, with samples mapped to various voice slots etc, when the sequences are reloaded, all the sequencer parts come back intact but the voices do not. I am saving a .RS file which I assume to be a "realtime sequencer" file and then loading that file back into the CMI - is there something further one needs to do to get the voice mappings saved with the rest of the project??
 

I love this software youve made, but i have massive timing issues when triggering via midi or using page R, i literally cant get 4 kick drum quarter note samples to play in time in a loop, this is a such a great thing but i cant actually use it, im using  a mac and ive tried this on a couple of different macs, im running on mojave mostly, ive run both versions you've made and still have the timing errors. I used to own a fairlight IIX and the sequencer was absolutely perfect, ive read on here youve had a few issues with timing some years ago, is there a platform that this software works best on ?

Thanks in advance
Chris

I tried to boot it up and I got an error that said: Wonkey Runtime Error. Something about failing to compile a shader.

Hello,

I discovered the program this evening, and I have to say that I am enjoying it quite a bit. I'm not writing to report any bugs, everything's been working very well; however, I can't seem to find any 'Attack' control on Page 7. Is there any chance that can be incorporated in future updates?

Cheers.

When I run the software, I get a "Wonkey Runtime Error"  "SIGNAL: Memory access violation GC state=IDLE"

If one is using the original extracted 46 IMG .VC format Fairlight sample library with Qasarbeach should not the original loop points and control data be present 
in those files and is QB capable of using that data when asked to playback those samples?? Please correct my misconceptions of what that original sample data contains as I 'm getting this from forums and snippets about the original sample library of the IIx...

Also I am wondering how to get a clean sustained sound out the fairlight with the samples provided...

Thanks in advance

This is great. I was surprised that it works on my Mac, which is a 2012 Mac Mini running a patched copy of Big Sur - it crashes with Big Sur 11.6.2 (something about a graphics problem) but works fine with 11.6.8.

My question - I know you can do envelopes with the function page, but is there an equivalent of the Release step in an ADSR envelope? The Fairlight seems to stop sounds the moment you release a key, which makes a click noise. Is there a way to have a smooth key release?

Hi, I am wondering if it is currently possible to control QasarBeach CMI via MIDI by Logic Pro. Currently, QB sees my MIDI controller but cannot see any Logic MIDI inputs or outputs, and viceversa. I thought there must be a way to setup a virtual MIDI device that QasarBeach CMI can see and respond to. I have another similar app which is actually an IOS app and not a VST or AU (Vogel CMI) which is visible to Logic without any intervention on my part, so I was not sure if I am missing something obvious. I'm not super experienced with Mac virtual routings, etc

Thanks for your consideration

Hi Adam,

I’ve been using quasarbeach on my pc a while ago, I noticed the newest version so I downloaded it. But somehow it doesn’t start up. I see the program icon in the dock but the program doesn’t show at all. Can I somehow reset all preferences or something to get it back and start from scratch?

Thank you!

Hey–sorry but I'm afraid I have another problem with this.
Whenever I use the Page R Sequencer, and try adding musical notes to the sequencer, nothing happens. Am I doing something wrong?

Hi Adam Strange,

I have just downloaded QasarBeach. I am using a 16" M1 Max Macbook, and am using MacOS Monterey Version 12.4.

I really admire the work that went into the emulation here–everything I am looking at looks EXACTLY like the real thing, as far as I can tell.
I really would like to compose music on this...but there's one little problem. No sound whatsoever is coming out of it.

I think the Page R sequencer seems straightforward enough. But, I do not know how to get any sound to come out of it...Do I have to manually supply my own sound files for it to play back?

Also–I am someone who regularly uses Logic Pro X. Is there any way I can integrate this plugin with my DAW? It would be a great help for composing music!

Hello Adam simon Australia.. I Have a real question? how much money would I have to donate to encourage you to go back to the quasar beach app and open the audio outputs to be selectable individually for the likes of the sunflower 64 channel drive? or alternatively any multi channel sound card? also inclusive of this request midi clock sync so I can lock it to to a daw like Logic? this is a serious question and if I can fund this project I will.. now currently as is I do love it but for the stereo out.. midi clock is not such a big deal.. however I have the UVI dark light which is nice but nothing compared to your emulation..its not really a series 2x at all.. but still a nice piece of software.. I also have the Arturia cmi..this is nice but again no watch and most disappointing is the pattern sequencer only offer 8 patterns!! I hear of running the cmi software in MAME but haven't tried ..still though I do love all that yours offers..so yea How much? maybe everyone here can chip in to realise this request? take care simon 

this looks insane!!!!.

 how do you make the ui of this tool.

Are there any forums where users can compare notes or share tips?  I have been trying to get the Linux version running, and I can get some sounds with the virtual keyboard, but it does not find my MIDI interface, so I can't use with my MIDI keyboard, and when I have JACK running it starts two JACK ports and automatically connects to system out, but I never get any audio through the JACK connection.  I also see terminal messages indicating that it was attempting to start at 44.1k even when JACK was already running at 48K (tried with jack running at 44.1k and 48k, did not get any sound out even when running at 44.1k).

I would love to try this out, it looks like a lot of fun, but playing a few notes from my computer keyboard isn't going to work, I need to find  out how to get MIDI working (and preferably JACK output so I can send the output to my DAW).

Hey ! Amazing work. I have very choppy and laggy audio on windows 10, with a RME soundcard. Any clues ?
Thanks !

Hey, I'm having an issue with MIDI. I assigned my midi as a keyboard and when i press the keys it reflects down at the bottom, but when i leave that menu I cant play samples with the midi anymore, only with the computer keyboard. I tried turning off virtual keyboard but nothing is different. Im using Windows 10, an alesis VI 61 midi and 1.36 QasarBeach

I am having trouble with NPHONY. I've gotten it to work only a couple of times. Most of the time, when start with a single sound on channel 1, then go to page 3 and set nphony (to 4 for example), it shows the refs on the subsequent channels, and the source sample shows that it is mapped to channels 1234. But, it still only plays as a monophonic instrument. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I'm running 1.35b