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@Mitch won’t pin you down to these kind of statements…
But it seems like we’re back at the situation before the ’Polyend week of updates’ notifications. Two separate feature betas, which are still not integrated into one beta release that builds upon the latest stable release.
With Step released (that does contain software) and another Synth beta announced it seems we are ‘back’ in line… or will Play / Play+ users see their new betas arrive ‘soon’, too? So, simply asking for a bit more transparency here.
I just made an unlisted video where I’m adressing a chord pack edit button bug.
The button of ch edit is not appearing when using chord packs. But sometimes it is…
Am I doing something wrong?
Sure, I guess I was unclear there sorry. I meant Play should see a beta before Tracker. So Play will receive a new beta before Tracker. Again, sorry, but I can’t give a timeline. It isn’t the same team doing updates for Synth and Play, so it really isn’t about moving anyone to the back of the line.
Step updates - the first update will be pretty basic and the firmware at launch is very stable, so this could happen even before Tracker updates. The Step isn’t going to take away from Play updates, many features could be added across both devices.
This is quite a significant update, thank you!
It makes Program Change almost usable Almost because Synth no longer has critical issues when using PC (as reported here and here) but the defect with samples not reloading for WAVS and GRAIN engine presets is still there. I described the details and recorded the video here.
It’s a pity that we lost the ability to preview presets in PC mapping but if that’s the price for a stable device then I’m okay with that. Is it a temporary solution or it’s going to stay like that for good?
Lol when did this 1.2.0 beta sneak out? I just seen it now!
I got email confirming there was a new firmware and video, yet this post says it’s 10 days old. I am confused, but either way thanks polyend team Nice improvements!
Yesterday I had my first go to and so far so good!
About this:
Why not do the same than the Play/Play+ have, for consistency and because it works (and maybe you can even reuse some code)?
Grid brightness
* High
* Medium
* Low
It’s not just for wording consistency. High / Medium / Low gives you three options where Dim mode on/off gives only two.
Yesterday I enabled it and it was already a big improvement but… in a dark studio (imagine just some RGB leds on) and on a session creating sounds, I ended up with a slight headache. You are staring at those pads all the time.
There is an important detail with the Synth compared to the Play/Play+: while the grid surface is fairly equivalent, in the Synth the pads are always on, while in the Plays you can count on half of the pads or more turned off in regular sessions. That means double the brightness or more for the Synth even when Play and Synth pads have individually equivalent brightness. The bigger size of the pads in the Step might play a role too, but I’m not a scientist and I can’t prove it.
No matter what you do, please offer a setup that is comfortable for rather dark situations.
I think there might be some technical limitations to doing a Low mode like this or any lower implementation - i think with non-root notes off the brightness varies based on how bright other colors would be - basically it wouldn’t be uniform, look like some lights are on and some aren’t and add confusion.
Mmmok. The root notes are in regular patterns, the “turned off” pads would turn on when pressed, and the user would be the one selecting this mode, but ok.
If you keep this Dim Mode alone, or add a third, I suggest dimming the highlighted pads a bit more. Staring at these for long periods with dimmed lights doesn’t feel good (to me). There is room for contrast with the default pads, which have an ok brightness.
And… I realize I might start sounding obnoxious, so I’ll leave it here. Thank you for reading.
Okay, but 0 brightness, or maybe even 10-20% brightness, will not actually be 0 brightness because it bleeds from the other pads, so you get some default pads that look lit and some that don’t.
Sounds beautiful! The reason to propose this “Low” mode isn’t aesthetic, so aesthetic perfection is not a goal. Bleeding light from neighbor pads won’t bother your eyes in dim light, and this is what matters.
Besides, checking the Play+ and also running a test with the Synth, it doesn’t even seem that much light would bleed, but if it does, no problem. (What test with the Synth, I hear you ask? In Dim Mode, pick a low-brightness pad and press the 8 surrounding pads so that all of them produce bright light. Check how much brighter the surrounded pad looks compared to the rest. Subjective and distorted, I know, but good enough and cheap to test.)
@here we just officially released Synth Firmware 1.2.0
It’s identical firmware, so those of you running this beta — you don’t need to update.
Once again, thanks for your support!
Almost because Synth no longer has critical issues when using PC (as reported 
Nice improvements!
