Anouncing Play 1.6.0 / Play+ 1.2.0

[Mitch]

RELEASE NOTES

This is the Play OG 1.6.0 & Play+ 1.2.0 release. It merges the MIDI performance and Finger Drumming features and includes crucial bug fixes. It includes additional fixes added after the beta #3 firmware updates. It is a recommened update for anyone using beta or non-beta firmware.

FEATURES

• WISH: Perform FX in MIDI tracks
  • Includes refinements and bug fixes after Beta #3
• WISH: Finger drumming mode
  • Includes bug fixes after Beta #3

FIXES

• Play Chain no longer skips Patterns
• Out of memory indication while loading some of the Play+ demo projects
• Live rec: Bipolar Synth Macros are set to -63 instead of 0
• MIDI: when Note was set to the lowest octave or No Note, Rnd Note could trigger notes below C0
• Sample Pool folders will no longer occasionally disappear
• View Keyboard: Notes no longer hang when playing an octave out of the range of the currently selected steps
• Freeze (Red screen) was possible when editing Synth engines
• Synth: Patch Macro values could load incorrectly after reboot
• Previewing / changing synth patches could lead to corrupted USB Audio

Download Firmware:
Play :https://polyend.com/downloads/play-downloads/
Play+: https://polyend.com/downloads/play-plus-downloads/

INSTALLATION GUIDE

1. Download and extract the firmware file above.
2. Copy the .ppf firmware file to your Play SD card > Firmware folder
3. Optional: save your current project to avoid any potential data loss
4. In Play navigate to Settings > Firmware > Update Firmware > .ppf file
5. Click the encoder and confirm with Yes
6. After the update, create a new project to initialize the config settings.

[Origami_Poltergeist]

Awesome! Cant wait to get jamming with this update!

[cynewskidts]

Hi! So excited to try this stuff out!

Quick question:
In fingerdrumming mode, can the pads be triggered by an external device? This is specifically a question about the Play, not the Play+.

Thanks!

[sebastien.barre]

Thanks Mitch, I just tested both, works nicely for me.

Minor things:

• The manuals seem to have been re-uploaded to reflect the 1.2 version, but I don’t think they were actually updated. Neither the “Play+ Essentials” nor the “Play+ Manual” PDF files mention the finger drumming mode.
• Furthermore, “Play+ Essentials” says: “When perform mode is used in either the Audio track page or the MIDI / Synth page, the Delay, Reverb, and Loop will be applied to audio tracks.” – that doesn’t seem to be the case (thankfully), I can hear these effects affecting both audio and MIDI tracks.
• Finally “Play+ Manual” says “Perform mode is only available for Audio tracks and is not available in MIDI Mode.” which is no longer the case now, thanks to this update

Unrelated, but I might as well ask, and forgive me for the dumb question, but why is Panning not something available for the synths on the Play+? I really like separating instruments that way.

Thanks

[Patrick]

@sebastien.barre

Unrelated, but I might as well ask, and forgive me for the dumb question, but why is Panning not something available in MIDI mode? I really like separating instruments that way. Is this really a MIDI limitation at this point?

Panning for midi is a cc value. Every midi device has a different config. Usually cc8 or 10 but it could be anything, there’s no standard.

[sebastien.barre]

@Patrick

Panning for midi is a cc value. Every midi device has a different config. Usually cc8 or 10 but it could be anything, there’s no standard.

Sorry, I misspoke (and updated my original question accordingly). I meant for the synths on the Play+. Since the audio is generated on the device itself, why can’t we pan synths?

Ooops nevermind, after some searching, it appears that panning is a setting of the synth itself. Not super intuitive, and unfortunately not something that can be set per step. It seems the corresponding feature request was shot down in Allow panning of synths per step - Feature Requests / Archive - Polyend Backstage.