So one big thing I am starting to run into is the lack of space and organization for samples and sample packs on the OP-Z. For example. I use the SFX track for most of my imported and recorded samples that I use in my music. (I like keeping the kick, snare, and HH tracks relegated to such). Only having 8 plugs loaded on the OP-Z at one time is getting challenging especially when you start accumulating multiple songs on the device.
I would recommend that the sample management system be moved to a similar system to the way the OP-Z’s stock sound plugs are handled. Instead of having individual folders for each track. Have a master folder for ALL sample plugs be installed and then use the OP-Z app to determine which plugs are active in each track/number. Also, it would be great if each “Project” could have a different combination of plugs. This would allow a larger selection of samples to choose from without having to remove a sample plug that is in use on another “Pattern” or “Project.”
Thoughts? From those of you use programming experience, do you think this would be difficult to achieve?
That is true. I am very hopeful about the IOS 13 solution, and I’ve been wanting a “memory/cpu module” for a little while. However, it still doesn’t solve the issue of not having enough active sample plugs overall. Being limited to 10 sounds is more than enough for one songs or even a few songs, but when you get into the territory of having 10+ songs spread out across the 10 “projects,” it get’s limiting in the amount of space you have to load samples/presets.
The problem with your idea is memory management. The app can move the plugs around like that because the stock sounds are on the device permanently. So you can duplicate the sounds without them taking up space. Adding sounds starts to use space and it fills up very fast. But similarly to the stock sounds, if you take the same sample pack and put it on two tracks. The op-z will keep one, and link to it similarly to how it links to the stock sounds.
I try to limit myself to a song per project, like how the demo songs are layed out. I like to challenge myself make a progression I can jam with over a couple patterns. Then I try to keep some of the elements and make new “remixes” of the song. this gives me allot of room to jam and change between patterns in a project. Each jam with a project is slightly different.
I find that if I try to make different songs in a project then it gets messy for me quickly. I end up making a new pattern and want to change the BPM or a different LFO and inadvertently mess up my previous work.
Exactly. I think it would be great if all sound/samples pack operated like the synth plugs. They’d all be stored in one central folder, and then assigned to specific plugs using the reference files (and editable via the app).
My main desire in this idea is the management of samples once they are on the device itself. Memory would be (is) a problem regardless and could be solved by a SD card module; however, I think just being able manage plugs/samples using the app AND be able to have a different configuration of plugs/samples per project would be amazing. That way you could load only the plugs you needed for a given project and hide the other plugs away without actually having to remove them from the device.
I don’t know if 1gb is accurate but it could be to maintain lifespan of the Flash storage because the of the real time editing. Every time you change any parameter on the machine is a write operation so eventually the cells wear out and it will use a different part of the chip.
The flash chip is the Micron MT29F8G08ADBDAH4. It has 1GB with 10 years retention and an endurance of 100000 program cycles, i.e., more than 25 times every day for 10 years.
I guess they just added that amount of flash to support some functionality like the OP-1 album that was not implemented (yet?).
The OP-Z RAM on the other hand has only 64MB. Maybe it loads all samples to RAM for performance reasons, which would explain the current 32MB limit.
Exactly. So the cells are rated reliable for 100,000 write/erase cycles. That sounds like a lot, and it’s at the higher end but as the OP-Z writes changes in real time* (unless you turn that off), if it used the same 24mb area or whatever you could actually get there. So having more storage than is needed is a strategy to extend that lifespan enough that it would never be an issue.
They may open some of it up for other uses, but that’ll be part of it. And there probably wouldn’t be much of a saving with a smaller capacity part anyway.
This could be partly buffered in RAM, obviously I can’t know exactly how they implement this.
It probably only writes the sample state on power off, there is no way it is constantly saving to memory… that is just not how this stuff works, it would constantly throttle and choke.