PCM Waveform limitations

[atiexpensive]

Hello,

IN osc 1 when using a sine, wave or triangle I can basically do all sort of manipulation to OSC 1. However what are the limitations when I select 1 of the 64 PCM wave form for OSC 1.

[meatballfulton]

Have you read the manual? It states quite clearly:

SynthPCM

Control1: --- has no effect

Control2: Wave Sel (Wave Select) [01…64] Selects the PCM waveform.

[pierreb]

I was looking for a more thorough explanation/discussion and yes I have read the manual. I just wanted to discuss the modulation limitations when selecting a PCM wave for OSC 1. By the looks of it I thing OSC1 Pitch may not be modulated perhaps there is more DESTINATION?

Compared to other synth, is this a standard limitation?

[meatballfulton]

Compared to other synth, is this a standard limitation?

Yes, it's pretty common for there to be modulation limits when the waves are samples (PCM). This is a major reason people buy synths like Radias/R3 with "virtual analog" oscillators. Sampled waves typically cannot be used with ring modulation, pulse width modulation or hard sync. Sometimes aliasing occurs with extreme pitch bending or portamento.

There are exceptions, like the Ensoniq ESQ-1 (from 1986!!!) which had PCM waves but could still do ring mod and hard synch. A more interesting example is the Roland SH-32 (2001) which used PCM waves for 32 note maximum polyphony; hard sync was supported but it reduced the voice count to one and disabled the filter. That gives you an idea of the processing power used up trying to perform hard sync with sampled waves.

[pierreb]

Compared to other synth, is this a standard limitation?

Yes, it's pretty common for there to be modulation limits when the waves are samples (PCM). This is a major reason people buy synths like Radias/R3 with "virtual analog" oscillators. Sampled waves typically cannot be used with ring modulation, pulse width modulation or hard sync. Sometimes aliasing occurs with extreme pitch bending or portamento.

There are exceptions, like the Ensoniq ESQ-1 (from 1986!!!) which had PCM waves but could still do ring mod and hard synch. A more interesting example is the Roland SH-32 (2001) which used PCM waves for 32 note maximum polyphony; hard sync was supported but it reduced the voice count to one and disabled the filter. That gives you an idea of the processing power used up trying to perform hard sync with sampled waves.

Thank you for the clarification. Are you familiar with wavetable synthesis with pros and cons?

[meatballfulton]

[ Are you familiar with wavetable synthesis with pros and cons?

Yes, I'm familiar with wavetable synthesis but I'm not sure what you want to know.

[X-Trade]

I was looking for a more thorough explanation/discussion and yes I have read the manual. I just wanted to discuss the modulation limitations when selecting a PCM wave for OSC 1. By the looks of it I thing OSC1 Pitch may not be modulated perhaps there is more DESTINATION?

Compared to other synth, is this a standard limitation?

When you select PCM Wave as your OSC1 type, you will not be able to use the OSC1 virtual unison mode, VPM, or cross modulation, essentially you will be stuck in the OSC1 'waveform' setting which gives you control#1 doing nothing, control knob #2 choosing the waveform.
In V2.0 of the operating system you can select knob #2 as a modulation destination for virtual patch.

in terms of modulating the pitch. This is the same as with any other wave - you can not DIRECTLY modulate OSC1 pitch. The idea is the same as on the MS2k/MicroKorg previously and I expect several other digital KORG synths which is that you have overall 'pitch' control (the virtual patch destination 'Pitch'), and then ability to detune the two oscillators by controlling 'Osc2 Pitch'.

so the 'pitch' virtual patch destination controls the overall pitch.
Osc2's pitch becomes 'pitch' + 'Osc2 pitch'.