Endorphines 6HP

[target_destroyed]

In the product description for Milky Way, it references "T.F.D." firmware. What is it?

TFD (Total Fucking Darkness) combines the fx banks from the Grand Terminal and Blck_Noir (Airways & Darkwaves). It just means that it has both fx banks available.

[JeebsFat]

Here's am email correspondence I just had with endorphin.es:

Me:
Hello!

I love your designs!!!

Any chance squawk dirty will get a firmware update similar to the one that milky way got addressing the noise issue?

Cheers and thanks


Them:
Hi,

thanks for the kudos.
Yes, we are currently working on the update for teh SD firmware.

All the best

Moritz

[freerider197]

Not sure if "completely silent" is something that will ever apply to any modules out there but definitely nothing close to what was before, by a long shot. Definitely a good end of chain effect now.
Also, the 1kHz peak is much much lower, I can only hear it if I crank my output volume from modular and input gain on my Soundcard and play no sound at all. As soon as I play some sounds is masked by other frequency and even if you try and focus on it is still almost unnoticeable. Probably best to try for yourself as I noticed many people were "OK" with the noise floor before the update which makes me think we all have very different expectations in terms of signal to noise ration in eurorack modules.

I installed the new noise fix firmware and found it hard to notice much of a difference. But for me its not really a big problem if I am using louder/brighter waves like saws or folded sines, in this case the waves are louder and I don't need to turn up my output volume to the point where the noise is noticeable. The problem for me is that I like to use a lot of pure sine waves and softer sounds, in this case I have to turn up the output volume more, especially for lower frequencies. This of course could be countered with some EQing (anyone know of a decent stereo EQ module?).

Did you notice any difference in the distortion effect? To me this effect is unusable due to the fact that the noise is incredibly boosted. With no sound going to the input, the output is just pure white noise. I was considering going for the Happy Nerding FX Aid as a replacement for the Milkyway but now I am not sure if I will ever have silence in my 'low frequency sine wave' use case. I'm hoping the stage 2 update will come along soon!

I am not really using the distortion algo at all. For me Milky Way is mainly Reverb and or Delay, and I amusing in via Aux Send/return on my Befaco Hexmix System. My main issue before was the noise floor level especially in the Ping Pong Delay algo. The noise floor was clearly not at the same level between all of them with some reverbs being much quieter than the delays. Since this update I find the algos to have pretty much the same noise floor and it being at an acceptable level (while before was barely usable unless in busy busy mix, definitely not with very few sounds)
I kind of expect distortion to add some noise to a sound or at least, this is a rather common characteristics od distortions and saturators.

[Wubz]

Wanted to delete my post as I figured out what my problem was. Could on;y figure out how to edit it. How do you delete a post?

[Gringo Starr]

They should really offer a gold option for the people who went that route.

[Midiot]

I just received two Milky Ways, and have to say the reverb and delay FX are quite useful and sound great.
(serial # 555 and 556)
Plus they are easy to engage by long or short presses of the wide buttons.

Yes, just on the "distortion" setting, I do hear a residual "whizzo,whizzo,whizzo.... " background noise, with nothing else playing.
Not an issue with me, as I didn't think I was buying a distortion unit....I was buying a reverb and delay unit.

Sure, it will never be quite as good as my outboard Strymon Time Line, but maybe I'm not looking for that kind of menu-diving functionality.
I like an easy basic reverb and delay...to add FX to quick or serious mixes....and this seems to work well. It has more FX options than the famous Erica Pico DSP. (I have one)

[sparsepix]

I also just got my Squawk Dirty and it sounds great. Comb Filter adds a lot of functionality to my modular rack and added HPF and VCA are great performance tools. But as mentioned before, the noise is bad - but at least it's killed by the VCA. But the high pitched squeal persists and is simply unbearable. Hope they can fix the issue before the return window runs out as I'd be sad to have to send it back :(

[j259]

Yeah, some of the algorithms on the Grand Terminal have a little whine too (but not Room or Ping Pong for example), and the noise floor is pretty high.

You can hear it in DivKid videos on the quiet parts, and he doesn't use a switching supply, I don't think.


Well, guitar amps are a lot noisier, so it's not the end of the world in a mix.

[Midiot]

Small note..... the newer PDF manuals are problematic to print, as the background color is a medium/dark gray with white print...and then are hard to read (but usually only 2-3 pages each module).
This also means it will suck the black ink from your printer.
Also I had to set the printed size as "to fit", making the type so small, it's unreadable even with a magnifying glass.

I don't know if there is a setting in free Acrobat Reader to invert the values/shades, or break-up the document into larger/more pages to make them readable if printed.
I suppose I could capture the PDF pages in Photoshop....invert them, resize them and save to new images....then save to a new PDF.
~~~~~~~~~~
I love printed manuals....I am in the process of printing the manuals of all my more complicated euro modules, and storing them in a physical file box for easy reading access and reference..... on paper.

[MikeLeeBirds]

I have Squawk Dirty. Worked great on drums, but with regular oscillators there is immense distortion and boost to the signal.
Waiting for Endorphins‘ answer, but I’m afraid I‘ll have to return it..

[MikeLeeBirds]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ZMpmEBGW5 ... 67oqdb9f7j

Squawk Dirty on drums with resonant LPG (4th mode).
Pretty nice!

[psienide]

I rather like the low end gain on the SQWK. Gives it a character of it's own.
Still waiting on the noise fix though. That character isn't welcome.

[man_hands]

I'm a little unclear on how self-modulation FM on the Godspeed works...maybe someone can clue me in.

The manual states:

Normalled to pure sine wave to create self modulation when nothing is plugged into ‘fm in’ jack.

What determines the frequency of the normalled sine wave? Is it the same frequency as the carrier? A fixed frequency? Or a fixed distance from the carrier's frequency?

[LDT]

I have Squawk Dirty. Worked great on drums, but with regular oscillators there is immense distortion and boost to the signal.
Waiting for Endorphins‘ answer, but I’m afraid I‘ll have to return it..

Have you tried reducing input volume using the trimmers on the backside?

Does anybody know what the “blue led mode” is on Squawk? Hold down button for 5 sec, and led goes blue. My guess is, that the filters are set to serial routing, but not sure. Weird that they don’t mention it in the manual.

[MikeLeeBirds]

I have Squawk Dirty. Worked great on drums, but with regular oscillators there is immense distortion and boost to the signal.
Waiting for Endorphins‘ answer, but I’m afraid I‘ll have to return it..

Have you tried reducing input volume using the trimmers on the backside?

Does anybody know what the “blue led mode” is on Squawk? Hold down button for 5 sec, and led goes blue. My guess is, that the filters are set to serial routing, but not sure. Weird that they don’t mention it in the manual.

Didn’t know there was a trimmer for input volume. Will check. When I attenuate the incoming signal it does not distort so maybe the trimmer will have the same effect.

I think what you mention is meta mode where you can scan through all filter types with CV.

[LunaticSound]

Don't you maybe want to change the title to correct the spelling? I know it doesnt really matter but it would bug me, if I was part of Endrophines...

[cackland]

Don't you maybe want to change the title to correct the spelling? I know it doesnt really matter but it would bug me, if I was part of Endrophines...

I already mentioned this way back in the beginning of this thread, yet here we are ...

[fruitsnake]

After my first recording session using Milky Way as my main bus effects unit, I'd say that it's definitely got a far lower noise floor than my SPX1000 that I usually use for the same purpose. I'm using a Meng Qi Please Exist for the I/O to line level, and it sounds fantastic. The plate reverb is brilliant for a spaced-out guitar track, and the stereo spread feature on the room is great for adding stereo ambiance to a mono signal.

[mkok]

I just got the Milky Way. I did read the comments about noise issues before making a purchase, but I also trusted that the firmware update would fix the issues. Well, it didn't. Here is a comparison including initial firmware, noise fix update and in the last part MW is bypassed. For me this module is unusable and I will have it returned.

Shame, it showed a lot of potential and the effects sounds great.

[klick]

from the video, I tend to think this, please tell me if I missed an obvious point :

- Each module, as a noise floor, even if low.
- Your input signal level, looks very low compared to the noise.

Looking at a lot of video, for yours, I have to strongly adjust the volume to hear something.

It all look that you signal isn't hot enough.

What's your sound source ? which module I is it hot ?

If you are sending line input into it, I strongly advise to check on the back for the amplifier.

With this, I would expect a MUCH better result.

Can you also confirm how the VCA is set ? 100% ? or bigger than 50% at least ? Because really, the signal we can hear is way loud enough.

As soon as the signal will be louder, by definition, the signal/noise ratio will be strongly better, expect a noise floor at least 4 to 5 time lower than what you have currently !

So all this, is gain staging, and this advice apply to any module.

Tell me if I missed a point and made wrong assumptions

Hope I'm all correct, and you'll end with a nice modular session without noise !

[psienide]

Gain staging helped me a lot with the SQWK DIRTY. But it's still pretty noisy.

Still waiting on the noise fix for the SQWK. One day...

[j259]

So all this, is gain staging, and this advice apply to any module.

Yes, but some of their algorithms also have whine in the Grand Terminal. This is noticeable in the DivKid video. Not sure if this applies here. There should be more ability to control master gain on their modules, in any case.

[tvparcable]

If anyone is wondering about the Milky Way noise issues before making a purchase: I've successfully updated my Milky Way to the latest firmware update (did it twice just to be certain) and I can confirm that the noise issue is not fixed by the latest firmware.
I did notice a slight noise reduction, but to me it almost sounds like the high noise frequencies are simply EQ'd out, and I'm not even sure it's not a hardware problem. I compared two signals and ran them through a spectrum analyzer: one through the MW fully dry (no effect applied) and one directly out of my VCO: the dry MW signals filters out some high frequencies, even on a completely dry setting. I am past my return period with the seller, so I can't really do much about it unfortunately. They've accepted to have a look at my unit on the basis that Endorphin.es has at least publicly acknowledged the issue, but my concern is that they will compare it to a new unit, notice the same behaviour, conclude that there is no issue with mine and charge me for the return.

If anyone is waiting for a second firmware update fix, I think it's quite unlikely to happen: I have e-mail Endorphin.es and their answer was that another firmware update "may" be released, but "not too soon".

Pretty bummed about the whole situation, especially since MW really was the ideal module to me: small HP, stereo in + good reverb algo. Still waiting for the ideal stereo reverb to show up in the world of Eurorack - hopefully the next Qu-bit and Noise Engineering products will be a solution!

[fruitsnake]

I wonder if maybe there's some issue with a wide tolerance on some of the components in the MW or something to do with being finicky with power supplies...? Because after seeing all these posts about the noise problem, I tried to replicate the issue with my MW, but I really am not getting it. Now, I never tried using the module with the original firmware for comparison, but it's honestly pretty much silent, even with the reverbs at quite high settings.

I have a 60w Meanwell power brick that powers two uZeus power modules, one of which powers my MW. Maybe that could be a significant factor?

I suspect something to do with power supply compatibility only because the tones that I hear in the above examples sound like the background tones that you get when you run 90's Digitech pedals with a PSU that they don't like - even when the specs are identical to the original - they're just extra special like that. I never really understood what's going on there, but maybe it's similar to the MW problem.

[indigogogo]

PROBLEM: Squawk Dirty was giving static-y output and sounded all fucked up.
SOLUTION: On the back are 2 square blue trimmer pots. I used a screwdriver to turn those all the way CCW and everything sounds better now.