I finally started to explore my Gills. When browsing through the user patches, I realized the output volume is VERY low. Is it normal?
Not really, it should be line level, unless certain patches have a low output volume to begin with?
I have a low output issue on my Gills, but have not had the time to properly troubleshoot.
However, I have noticed that my headphone level is unaffected, do you get decent level from headphones?
Initially I had thought it was an issue with the codec object, which had tripped me up in the past.
Here is a list of helpful troubleshooting ideas that Ksoloti suggested:
Though not likely related, here are some usual pitfalls:
Software/Firmware:
- controller object set in the preferences but forgot about it (never, never happened to me I assure you)
- audio/inconfig and audio/outconfig placed at some point (those reconfigure the hardware codec and have always been a bit⌠odd. Though they do not configure the left and right outputs independently)
- upload empty patch to flash as startup, or to SD card as startup (this has solved a corrupted patch case before)
- reflash firmware (Board > Firmware > Flash), make sure Axoloti legacy mode is not enabled
Hardware:
- a small particle or solder bead got stuck somewhere near the audio pins
- a wire running close to an audio pin or jack
- a part got loose (bigger audio caps C55, C57, C58? small cap C20?) (Though this would usually kill the signal altogether)
- no-clean solder flux creating capacitance between pads or pins
This is all I can think of at this point.
If it is a hardware problem we may have to start measuring resistance
How much quieter is the perceived signal? Like half as loud but still clean, or noisy or distorted/filtered?
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Itâs like ~4x more quiet. Itâs totally clean, no noise or anything. Just incredibly quiet. Itâs normally not a big deal but I am trying to produce tracks and record audio directly from Ksoloti Gills. So the loudness becomes a big issue.
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Weird, let me investigate if this could be a firmware setup bug⌠also weird that only a few devices seem to have this problem.
Does the output volume knob work as expected?
Could you check out the below test patch:
test_playback_line_output.axp (2.0 KB)
I tentatively changed the LEFT channel setting. If the left channel volume has improved while the RIGHT channel is the same (problematic) low volume, we found a bug!
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Yes, it sounds about right like this in this test patch! I donât have to crank up the volume of my audio interface to hear it.
Interesting, didnât expect this change to make a difference!
Just to confirm, the left line out channel is louder than the right channel in this patch?
@reubenfinger possible fix?
OK I see what you mean now. Sorry for the confusion. Let me summarize. Now, I realize some patches have very low output themselves. BUT, here is a patch I made very quick and this is incredibly quiet:
If I donât crank up math/*c, itâs literally no sound. When I set it to 64.00, I still have to go like 4-5X higher volume in my audio interface compared to for example the test patch you provided. What am I doing wrong? Or am I doing something wrong?
math/*c is an attenuator and at 64.00 the gain is 1x.
Place a scope anywhere in the signal chain and check the signal⌠Try a math/gain anywhere you need to recover some gain.
Looks okay so far!
You may also check what velocity range youâre sending via MIDI and scale the range using something like a tsg/math/map if required:
untitled.axp (4.4 KB)
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some of my patches have a âgainâ object or an âoutconfigâ object to compensate the low volume. i usually check the tiny VU meter on the âaudio outâ object to check my levels and get the volume I want.
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Thanks for the suggestions!
Here is an example I have tonight. The patch is âfun
-_with_delaysâ
I run Softpop 2 through Gills and I can see Audio In (see the screenshot below) but I get nothing out. See the screenshot.
What do you do for patches like these?
There is a wall of midi/in objects at the top, which gives us a hint that MIDI is required to pass the sound.
Opening one of the subpatches confirms this: rec-gate has to be high for any audio to be passed.
It looks like playing the respective MIDI note for ârec-gateâ will turn on the gate and record the sound into the delay buffer, and playing the respective MIDI note for ârec-eraseâ will clear that delay buffer (or the current area in it).
For Gills, for example, you could modify this patch to only use 4 delays and make each button turn it on using single-click, and erase using double-click:
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Interesting. Thanks. I will play around with this. I am very interested in using Gills as an FX box for my Softpop 2. I am still too new to understand how to make patches except the basic things I can see in Community patches and in the book. So, looking at these more complicated stuff is mind-blowing so far. Patches in patchesâŚwow.
You can also see the black squares with âCâ next to the knobs, this means the creator was using some MIDI controller to control this patch (âMIDI Continuous Controlâ or âCCâ) âŚ
fun_with_delays_gills.axp (70.9 KB)
This is a quick Gills replug:
4 stereo delays
Pots 1-4 control delay times
Pots 6-10 control delay feedback
Pots 5 and 10 left and right control output volume.
Press S1 to toggle record for delay 1
Press S2 to toggle record for delay 2
and so on
The four LEDs will show record state.
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