ALM Squid Salmple - 8 channel CV and audio sampler

[1n]

Just started playing with my new Squid - and disappointed that the 'Env' button is sticky and unresponsive. No satisfying click like the other blue buttons. I'm returning the unit for a replacement. The first module I've ever received with a fault.

It's easy to get started with, at least as far as I was able to go. I can see why it's so popular.

[ALM]

Can somebody confirm it doesn't recognise the thumb drive when powering on while being plugged in? Seems such a weird behaviour to me. So I know the unit is ok or not, I just got it.

Yep it should be recognised. It could be an issue with the key or perhaps an older f/w or some odd power related issue. First thing to try would be a different usb key and/or email support via help @ busy.

I must say that for loops, the speed setting doesn't have enough resolution. Which is very weird... i.e. very UNlike early rack samplers. Our an I missing something? If some of you guys are doing early house, you can't do without synced loops, I imagine?

Hold 'func' whilst you adjust speed and it'll give you extra resolution iirc.

[ALM]

After a few more weeks performing I've realized the only way to switch sounds in a live context is with the cue sets.

-Load1 causes non loaded tracks to glitch out during load. IE Not respond to v/oct and make crackling sounds.
-Load will cause some crackling and pops even if no gates are being sent to the unit.

I never had an s1000 or any rack sampler, so I'm not sure if the load/save behavior is supposed to be part of the vibe. (Save basically makes the unit inoperable during the save and takes a while to complete.)

25 pages, and I don't really see anyone else bothered by it, am I outside of the expected use case?

Just to note you are loading in a new set of samples whilst playing an entirely different set ? i.e swapping out in place ? Assuming so this is always going to be hard to get it to sound non glitchy because of such a big complete change is taking place. Also I really like the way it sounds when you swap out a bank whilst playing in that it sounds unexpected and morphs in a really nice way unique to Squid. I wouldn't want to change it. Infact early demo videos showed this off a lot even.

The 'load 1' thing I agree should work better (without side effects) - its not something been requested before but have added to the todo.

I love the UI, physical layout, and the resample workflow. I'm having tons of fun coming up with great sounding samples, but as I dig in I'm pressing up against the weird lofi glitchiness, and not loving it. (quantization noise using CV over LEVEL, inescapable aliasing, clicks when sounds and envelopes retrigger, clipping induced by changing the filter cutoff when res is 0) Is this what comes with the territory of a rack sampler? I'm really not even clear on what parts of the Squid are supposed to be a recreation.

Its difficult to say which of these issues are due to the source samples or how there set up, h/w or s/w limitations or actual bugs. If you think something really is a bug (or a really big annoyance) then please report it to help @ busy and it'll get fixed in upcoming firmwares.

[ALM]

Just started playing with my new Squid - and disappointed that the 'Env' button is sticky and unresponsive. No satisfying click like the other blue buttons. I'm returning the unit for a replacement. The first module I've ever received with a fault.

Arg apologies :( If you've not yet physically returned shoot help @ busy an email and may well be able to get it sorted simply without replacing.

[1n]

Just started playing with my new Squid - and disappointed that the 'Env' button is sticky and unresponsive. No satisfying click like the other blue buttons. I'm returning the unit for a replacement. The first module I've ever received with a fault.

Arg apologies :( If you've not yet physically returned shoot help @ busy an email and may well be able to get it sorted simply without replacing.

:-)

[c0rpse]

Just to note you are loading in a new set of samples whilst playing an entirely different set ? i.e swapping out in place ? Assuming so this is always going to be hard to get it to sound non glitchy because of such a big complete change is taking place. Also I really like the way it sounds when you swap out a bank whilst playing in that it sounds unexpected and morphs in a really nice way unique to Squid. I wouldn't want to change it. Infact early demo videos showed this off a lot even.

I don't have any fancy solutions for swapping the buffers either. Agreed that it's the nature of the beast. What feels more glitchy to me is the v/oct playing 0V and not responding to CV while it's loading. I haven't used the assignable CV's a ton, and don't have an opinion for that scenario, but the fixed v/oct CV's seem like they should always work unless the unit is saving.

I love the UI, physical layout, and the resample workflow. I'm having tons of fun coming up with great sounding samples, but as I dig in I'm pressing up against the weird lofi glitchiness, and not loving it. (quantization noise using CV over LEVEL, inescapable aliasing, clicks when sounds and envelopes retrigger, clipping induced by changing the filter cutoff when res is 0) Is this what comes with the territory of a rack sampler? I'm really not even clear on what parts of the Squid are supposed to be a recreation.

Its difficult to say which of these issues are due to the source samples or how there set up, h/w or s/w limitations or actual bugs. If you think something really is a bug (or a really big annoyance) then please report it to help @ busy and it'll get fixed in upcoming firmwares.

I don't think any of them are bugs, just little things I'm wondering if other people are running into.

Quantization noise using CV over LEVEL - This is pronounced on clean low frequency material, like sub oscillators with an external envelope. Sounds similar to aliasing noise when the CV moves. I assumed from hysteresis or low bit depth on the CV's combined with the dc characteristics of low frequency material. Fixed by: Don't use level over LF material.

Inescapable aliasing - It's in the copy. I just didn't know how much it would bother me. Less resonance on the LP filter and an option to track the pitch would solve my problems. Fixed by: Set the low pass to the lowest acceptable value.

Clicks when sounds and envelopes retrigger- This is also with low frequency material, and the nature of the beast unless a fast fade to 0 was implemented on a retrigger. If I'm running a sub bass tone, in gated loop mode, using the internal envelope, placing two triggers too close to each other will cause pops, even if there is attack set on the envelope. Basically any time the channel cuts off the sound that's already playing, it clicks.
Fixed by: Adjusting sequences and setting envelope decay to the shortest acceptable value. Masking by other sounds.

Clipping induced by changing the filter cutoff when res is 0- It's already been stated previously in the thread, the filters still have resonance even when the value is 0. This means sounds near the clipping point can be sent over by enabling or moving the low pass filter.
Fixed by: Testing sounds with the LP filter before the performance. Don't try it on the the fly.

Apparently more people need to buy this thing so we can get some deep workflow discussions going. If you are thinking about it, do it

For this week's stream I pulled all oscillators out of my euro case. It's all squid and a weird feedback patch.
There isn't any variation in the sound because I'm still working on my Squid only set building workflow. Either way, these samples sound beefy to me, and that's where the Squid shines. Resampling to Oizo level beef is always easy and fun.


Last week's stream used Squid for sub bass, kick, hats, and clap. It has a lot more variation that last night. It also shows loading in a live context, relying on other modules to take over during the load.

[1n]

Just started playing with my new Squid - and disappointed that the 'Env' button is sticky and unresponsive. No satisfying click like the other blue buttons. I'm returning the unit for a replacement. The first module I've ever received with a fault.

Arg apologies :( If you've not yet physically returned shoot help @ busy an email and may well be able to get it sorted simply without replacing.

:-)

Great service from Busy Circuits

[ALM]

Big thanks for all this, its really helpful.

Quantization noise using CV over LEVEL - This is pronounced on clean low frequency material, like sub oscillators with an external envelope. Sounds similar to aliasing noise when the CV moves. I assumed from hysteresis or low bit depth on the CV's combined with the dc characteristics of low frequency material. Fixed by: Don't use level over LF material.

Will look into this.

Inescapable aliasing - It's in the copy. I just didn't know how much it would bother me. Less resonance on the LP filter and an option to track the pitch would solve my problems. Fixed by: Set the low pass to the lowest acceptable value.

The pitch aliasing and extremes are really deliberate and by design. It can sound great on drums etc not so great on a clean sine wave for example .. as you say filters can help a bit here if you need to avoid.

Clicks when sounds and envelopes retrigger- This is also with low frequency material, and the nature of the beast unless a fast fade to 0 was implemented on a retrigger. If I'm running a sub bass tone, in gated loop mode, using the internal envelope, placing two triggers too close to each other will cause pops, even if there is attack set on the envelope. Basically any time the channel cuts off the sound that's already playing, it clicks.
Fixed by: Adjusting sequences and setting envelope decay to the shortest acceptable value. Masking by other sounds.

A small quick fade out or some kind of zero crossing wait may indeed help but could do at the expense of adding latency to the newly triggered sample. Will investigate.

H/W doesn't have the juice to start triggering everything polyphonically. Another workaround could be to dupe the same sample across 2 or 3 (or more) channels and trigger round robin style by means of a sequential switch.

Clipping induced by changing the filter cutoff when res is 0- It's already been stated previously in the thread, the filters still have resonance even when the value is 0. This means sounds near the clipping point can be sent over by enabling or moving the low pass filter.
Fixed by: Testing sounds with the LP filter before the performance. Don't try it on the the fly.

The basic filters will color the sound once enabled and Im not sure if its actually resonance or just the filters nature. But if clipping is occurring then it would make sense its somehow resonance If you could share (pls email or ref any included camps) any samples which exhibit this behaviour badly it would be a help in investigating what / why is happening and hopefully improving. Infact sharing any samples for any of above issues would be very helpful.

Also note there is an imminent firmware update coming which is now frozen so pls don't expect any of above to be addressed in that but perhaps one after!

[Dob]

Just started playing with my new Squid - and disappointed that the 'Env' button is sticky and unresponsive. No satisfying click like the other blue buttons. I'm returning the unit for a replacement. The first module I've ever received with a fault.

I've got 2 buttons that also don't really click well, and not always respond. I've tried pulling them out (very carefully!) and back in, but I don't think that really helped a lot.

About the drive, I just use the one that came with the unit.
It doesn't show any error, just when I hit USB button, it says "no key!" whereas the key is in. Have to pull it out and put it back in to have it work.

I'll send an email to ALM 'bout that. Will also try and see if I need a firmware update.

So far the unit has been great fun. Did some bank management yesterday, loading/replacing samples, very intuitive, no manual needed. Navigation is a breeze.

I patched up a fake sidechain FX, i.e. ducking the volume of my synth line at all the kickdrum hits by mixing an inverted envelope in the synth VCA cv. I never really did beats with my modular (although I love them) and Salmple is very good for rhythms.

What are your guys triggering it with? I was thinking about getting a Steppy. Now I'm mainly using O/c's hemisphere trigger sequencers. But I'm out of channels pretty quickly. Good thing the trigger 16 has 2 channels, b being the inversion of a.

[Dob]

I must say that for loops, the speed setting doesn't have enough resolution. Which is very weird... i.e. very UNlike early rack samplers. Our an I missing something? If some of you guys are doing early house, you can't do without synced loops, I imagine?

Hold 'func' whilst you adjust speed and it'll give you extra resolution iirc.

I think I tried that, intuitively. Glad to know at least it's possible! Will have to give it another shot. Didn't find anything about it in the manual.

[Cfcarter]

For triggering I got Roboux LL8, 8 trigger outs. But I also got sq-64 so will investigate if it can replace LL8. It's a nice quick trigger seq although a bit of the simplest kind..

[1n]

Hemispheres is the trigger seq I use. Could probably use something a bit more playable.

[pmarchitect]

Yeah the filter res set at 0 is way too high, I mentioned before if it would be possible to lose res (as in no res when at 0) that’d be a massive help to me.

[wavefold]

small thing I probably always missed on the manual, but I just want to be sure: when you plug a cable into the individual dual channel outs, where does the previewed sample audio come from? does it come out of the associated channel out? because sometimes I just can't hear it

[Dob]

For triggering I got Roboux LL8, 8 trigger outs.

Interesting module, thnx!

[c0rpse]

small thing I probably always missed on the manual, but I just want to be sure: when you plug a cable into the individual dual channel outs, where does the previewed sample audio come from? does it come out of the associated channel out? because sometimes I just can't hear it

It always comes out of 7+8, same with monitoring the sample input.

[1n]

I wasn't thinking about CV recording/sequencing when I bought my Squid. But it's got me thinking...

Has anyone replaced or supplemented their CV sequencer(s) with a Squid, for performance?

In this respect it seems to be competing for space with my Voltage Block.

[wavefold]

small thing I probably always missed on the manual, but I just want to be sure: when you plug a cable into the individual dual channel outs, where does the previewed sample audio come from? does it come out of the associated channel out? because sometimes I just can't hear it

It always comes out of 7+8, same with monitoring the sample input.

ace, thanks

[thetwlo]

Also I really like the way it sounds when you swap out a bank whilst playing in that it sounds unexpected and morphs in a really nice way unique to Squid. I wouldn't want to change it. Infact early demo videos showed this off a lot even.

heh! on the Emax II. I used to mix floppy disk sets.So, if it took 4 disks, as long as the disk # was right it would/will connect them as a bank. odd glitchy fun.

[Gringo Starr]

Last week's stream used Squid for sub bass, kick, hats, and clap. It has a lot more variation that last night. It also shows loading in a live context, relying on other modules to take over during the load.

You must be supplying the beer.

[1n]

Quick service from ALM re: fixing a sluggish Squid button.

Very happy with this module.

Anyone want to buy a Bitbox Micro with the screen protector still stuck on?

[MrShifter]

Seen some comments here about buttons being sticky, thought I may have had this problem myself? Hmm, but on further inspection it may be that when I have cue sets that are being modulated by the random function (next to step) that the buttons can become unresponsive, I'm noticing this mostly with the cue, loop and channel buttons? Also when switching modes the screen redraw can seem a bit laggy? Anyone else noticed this or are my buttons just knackered?
Cheers

[1n]

Seen some comments here about buttons being sticky, thought I may have had this problem myself? Hmm, but on further inspection it may be that when I have cue sets that are being modulated by the random function (next to step) that the buttons can become unresponsive, I'm noticing this mostly with the cue, loop and channel buttons? Also when switching modes the screen redraw can seem a bit laggy? Anyone else noticed this or are my buttons just knackered?
Cheers

The 'Env' button was sticky and not engaging every time, all others fine. Fixed now.

Screen seems okay - no lag that I've noticed.

[MrShifter]

Thanks for your reply, what about the random cue sets part of my question, have you tried this and noticed any weirdness? Anybody else reading this post could you test this for me? Doing my head in
Cheers.

[pmarchitect]

Thanks for your reply, what about the random cue sets part of my question, have you tried this and noticed any weirdness? Anybody else reading this post could you test this for me? Doing my head in
Cheers.

I haven’t noticed this. Are you using a bunch of massive samples? I only use short drum hits for random.