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Here's what these updates offer...
New Format Support
Akai S9x (floppy and SCSI), Roland S5x (floppy and SCSI), Emu Emax I and II (floppy and SCSI), DecentSampler, Apple EXSIII, Waldorf Quantum, SCI Prophet X, Emulator II, Ensoniq Mirage, Korg DSS-1 (DS1/DMS-type), Roland Fantom (new).
Specific Attention To Low Memory Requirements
One of the things we recognized when developing for floppy image formats was incoming instruments could easily overwhelm the memory/sample space limits. Our previous experience was Ensoniq DS/DD disks, but that was about 1mb of space. But with the others, you are looking at half or 2/3's that. Of course, it's 8 or 12-bit storage, but the problem still exists. Plus the EPS has 2mb of memory, so you can split the disks. Not so the others.
We have implemented three strategies - all work hand-in-hand - to manage incoming formats to be fully represented within these micro-formats. All have some level of optional control to them.
Maximum Destination Size: Although this exists as a long-implemented Translator feature (see Preferences-Data Processing), it has been fixed into these micro-formats. When an incoming format is larger than what the destination can handle, the samples are truncated in a strategic way as to make them fit. Loops are attempted to be preserved.
Velocity Split / Key Range Reduction: Velocity splits are cut down to a maximum 2, or you can choose to only take the top split and make it full-range. If 2, you can choose which incoming split represents the low split. Key Ranges by default are limited to an octave span (exception: single-key drum/perc kits) .
Layer Merging: Man incoming sounds may have 3 (or more) sounds layered together. Translator will take those sounds are merge them into one single sample, thus giving a savings of 66% or more. It will attempt to take into account the relative levels of each sounds, and of course the pitch/samplerate. If there is looping involved, it will reloop it using a user-setting plus optional crossfading.
Through extensive testing, we have found this gives exceptional results into sending multiple-megabyte patches into these micro-formats. We see this as a revolutionary breakthrough for Vintage Samplers.
PLUS this helps long-implemented formats that have severe structure limitations, such as NI Reaktor MAP, Fairlight CMI Voices, Roland Fantom-S/X/G, and many more.
Floppy Image Redesign
Under the hood, 7.1 treats floppy image files (almost always IMG) as regular "bank" type files, accessible anywhere, rather than as small Virtual Drives that need to be in the images folder. Also, and more importantly, they are code with an abstraction layer that permits us to isolate the strangeness of their sector-design from just straight-ahead editing. it also improves performance ten-fold.
BTW, it should be noted that the wide-spread acceptance of Gotek floppy emulators is a major reason for us revising how we deal with floppy images, and that it opens up all these older sampler to conversion. And we aren't done - future builds of Version 7.1 will include floppy image formats such as Korg DSS-1/DSM-1 and Prophet 2000/2002.
OS Features and Compatibility, plus Dark Mode
Although Translator is not native Apple Silicon yet, v7.1 has Cocoa and 64-bit features in a more robust and compatible package. Graphically it is fully compatible with Dark Mode, and also on Windows. v7.1 has many Windows 10 and 11 updated features and compatibility, plus both platforms are built with the very latest compilers.
Special note on Dark Mode: we kind of fell in love wtih it here. We now use it on all our workstations. Now it bothers us when an app doesn't have it implemented!
More SCSI2SD-specific Features Under The Hood
Along with an improved SCSI2SD Map preference dialog, Translator now auto-detects SCSI2SD'ified SD cards, making it less mandatory to fill out the configuration within the Map dialog.
Continual Massaging of the Conversion Engine
Having 100,000 users and growing has it's benefits. One of them is that inevitably, no matter how hidden, a fault or bug will be reported by one of our users. From a tricky error in converting Yamaha Montage files, to a adjustment in downgrading NKI files, to adding Akai MPC60 SET file conversion (all just really occurred), we're always learning. Translator does an amazing amount of things under the hood, and we're keeping up.
Specific Attention To Low Memory Requirements
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