What is Cyclone?
Sonic Charge Cyclone is a free software emulation of the Yamaha TX16W sampler from 1988. It was written to celebrate that 20 years have passed since the first release of Typhoon for TX16W. Typhoon is an alternative operating system for the TX16W and offers lots of improvements over the original Yamaha operating system. Typhoon was developed by Magnus Lidström who later formed Sonic Charge. The last version of Typhoon is the free Typhoon 2000 and this is the version that runs in Cyclone.
How does it work?
Cyclone is a true hardware emulator. It simulates all the important circuits of the Yamaha TX16W, including the main 68000 CPU, the DSP circuits, the DACs, the ADC and the floppy drive. Much effort has been made to create authentic simulations of all sound generating circuits. You can expect Cyclone to sound 99.9% identical to a real hardware TX16W and it runs the exact same software as a real hardware TX16W.
Where do I find sounds?
Except for the demo sounds on the Typhoon disk we have chosen not to distribute any sounds with the Cyclone installation. You should be able to find links to sound archives in other posts on this forum.
How do I load sounds?
Unless the sounds that you have found are in .fxb or .aupreset format you need to load them manually from disk image files.
Follow these steps to load disk images that contain Typhoon sounds:
Notice that some disk images do not have Performances. Some don't even have Voices, just Waves. Furthermore, [Load *] and [Import] do not automatically clear the memory before loading the new sounds. To empty the TX16W entirely, use [System Setup] [Utility] [4.Items] [Delete] [2=All] [Go] or simply click the power button to reboot the TX16W.
I have a zip file containing TX16W files, how can I load them?
Typhoon cannot access files on your computer directly. You need to create a disk image with the files you want to load. Here is one way:
Why is this so complicated?
Remember that we are emulating a piece of music machinery from 1988 that runs an operating system that was written between 1991 and 1993 (with some final changes in 1999). All the restrictions of the original machine are there and the software (Typhoon 2000) has not been modified in any way to benefit from almost 20 years of technology advances. Regard Cyclone as a time travel portal to an era from the past. An era of monster dinosaur samplers.
Why is loading so slow?
The emulated floppy drive is "infinitely" fast, but the emulated 68000 CPU (that runs Typhoon) is not. It runs at a fixed rate of 8Mhz to ensure stability and correct audio. The downside to this is that it restricts the transfer rate from the floppy drive too. Notice that you can save the entire state of the machine including all sounds currently in memory to .fxb or .aupreset files. These files load "infinitely" fast.
Can the software be improved?
It depends on what sort of improvements we are talking about. Typhoon 2000 is the last version of Typhoon and in practice it can not be updated. The last time it was compiled was in 1999, using a home made build environment on a Mac that was already old at the time. Recreating this build environment on a modern machine would be a huge, if not impossible task. The emulator (Cyclone) on the other hand can of course be updated.
Can I use the computer keyboard?
Yes. In most hosts you can use the numerical keys, enter, -, cursor up / down (for +1 / -1), cursor left, right and F1 to F8 (for the function buttons beneath the display). Sometimes you need to click the plug-in window to activate it before the keys work.
Can it sample?
Yes, provided that your DAW can route audio to an instrument plug-in. The sampling quality is very close to an original TX16W. Don't forget to turn up the input gain knob on the front panel.
What does the black button next to Voice Edit do?
This button says Filter Edit on a real TX16W, but it does not serve any purpose in Typhoon.
Is there a standalone version?
Not with this release, sorry. Only VST (and AU on Mac). But I can recommend VST Host for PC (http://hermannseib.com/english/) and VSTLord for Mac (http://arne.knup.de/).
Can it run original Yamaha OS?
Sorry, no. The emulator is complete enough to run Typhoon 2000 only. Running the original Yamaha OS would require including ROM that is copyrighted. Typhoon includes an import function that can load original Yamaha sound disks.
So, how do I use this thing, really?
The place to go for answers is the original Typhoon user guide and the Typhoon 2000 update addendum. If these documents do not help, feel free to post your question here on the forum.
Wow! I purchased Typhoon 20 years ago! :D
So cool that you've released this for the world to enjoy!
I really want to sample something, if I can figure out how to route audio into it with Cubase. :angry: :D
Thanks for purchasing Borialis! Without you and the others who bought Typhoon back in the days, I might not be here today.
- Borialis wrote:
I really want to sample something, if I can figure out how to route audio into it with Cubase. :angry: :D
I wish I knew how to do this, but I am a Cubase noob. Perhaps it is not even possible. Will check into this when I have some more time. I know how to do it in Live and Logic.
It is actually possible to configure Cyclone to show up as an effect instead. You just need to put a special config file next to the DLL. That would enable sampling for sure, but I am not sure how useful it is to have Cyclone as an effect in Cubase.
Certainly welcome! it made the TX16W, a whole new machine back then. Sounded great!
I'm using Cubase 7.5 on Mac OS 10.8.4.
Making it also an effect could definitely work. (receives input from sends) Especially if it still receives midi input of course.
I have a few things I'm going to try. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)
One is a way to side-chain some stubborn compressors with quad inputs etc.
I haven't done that trick in a while, mostly because I use Cubase side-chain friendly plugs, but I'll try a few things
to see if I can get to Cyclone's audio input.
Hey Magnus!
Thanks for the free download. I am very new to this type of plug in/hardware installation so could you give me some insight on how to use it?
Where would I find samples and what exactly does the cyclone unit do?
Thanks!
Markos
what a nice gift! seems to be working well, about to try sampling.
Hi Magnus,
Thanks very much for the free download. Sounding good so far!
Looks like it's not hard to find TX16W files. I found this site http://www.dompselaar.org/Yamaha/TX16W/files/ which has quite a few. So far have tested loading the JUPITER4 files using your method above. All good.
Happy New Year!
Jack
Left Cubase and had a total out of body, time traveling experience, in Logic. :D
Works fine there because the AU plugin could side chain a bus, hardware i/o, etc.
All you have to do is put the side chain on the VST and the next version will be perfect to sample within Cubase. :D
That's been my main DAW, even before I purchased the TX16W, so I'd love to see that, hopefully, get sorted out if possible.
Man, I forgot how engrossed you can get Sampling, setting up Groups and The Performances in this thing. LOL
Tricky, but once you start back at it, it's like old hat for the most part.
Amazed how it sounds. Almost IDENTICAL to the unit. That really shocked me. True hardware grit all the way! Kudos!
Well old friend, I'm off to mess around with Cyclone (in Logic) some more before bed and hope to really get productive with it in Cubase, sometime soon maybe? ;)
Thanks Magnus, and congratulations on Sonic Charge as well! You rock my friend! Have been that way for decades! ;)
MAG THANK U WOW!
cant wait to try this out and sample everything!
(any remote possiblity of converting REX files to the neccessary specs needed to load up the cyclone?) imagine that!
I was able to work out how to sample from another channel in Ableton Live, but I can't figure out how to create new voices or performances from the wave. Voice edit and Perform edit just indicate that there aren't any, and I can't make sense of how to create them. Any tips?
Really nice, thanks! It would be interesting to see what kind of sound or video examples.
grazie !
fantastic audio sampler
(...please clone the akai 950 and SP1200 in the same mode !! :D )
No 32 bit version for now?
This is an AWESOME gift! What a blast from the past! Thanks Magnus for this precious gift.
- deastman wrote:
I was able to work out how to sample from another channel in Ableton Live, but I can't figure out how to create new voices or performances from the wave. Voice edit and Perform edit just indicate that there aren't any, and I can't make sense of how to create them. Any tips?
[Voice Edit] or [Perform Edit] and [Utility] [7.New]
Also [8.Add] under Voice Edit Utility is useful for building voices from waves.
I can recommend browsing through the original Typhoon User Guide. It is installed under /Applications/Sonic Charge (Mac) or \Program FIles\Sonic Charge\ (Win).
- Ant9 wrote:
Really nice, thanks! It would be interesting to see what kind of sound or video examples.
I'll try to make some after the weekend is over.
- Espen wrote:
No 32 bit version for now?
It should be both 64-bit and 32-bit. Are you running Mac or PC?
Oldschool but wicked! Nice present :) Thanks, Magnus!! :)
Oh wow what a treat! I said to myself just to check the email and then straight to bed. That was at least 2 hours ago.I thought I fantasied a bit after way too much booze to celebrate the new year, but I was correct, and now I'm producing a new hiphop beat that will be shared with my crew to spit some dope rhymes upon. Thank's a lot Sonic Charge from Southside Hybrids, Stockholm Sweden!
I would so totally love to see this as a rack extension. I know it is a tad bit much to ask for, but hope never dies. :D
There is a bug you might wanna dive into: When saving a project in FL Studio the audio stutters like crazy, even if I have low latency on.
Thanks Magnus. Happy New Year!!! :)
- Magnus Lidström wrote:
[Voice Edit] or [Perform Edit] and [Utility] [7.New]
Also [8.Add] under Voice Edit Utility is useful for building voices from waves.
I can recommend browsing through the original Typhoon User Guide. It is installed under /Applications/Sonic Charge (Mac) or \Program FIles\Sonic Charge\ (Win).
Thank you. I have it all sorted out now.
- Johan Brodd wrote:
I would so totally love to see this as a rack extension. I know it is a tad bit much to ask for, but hope never dies. :D
Although nothing actually prevents virtual machines from running in RE, the SDK has other restrictions that would make things problematic. E.g. it would not be possible to use external floppy images. In theory we could convert those to the rack extension patch format. But then there is also the issue of the GUI, e.g. the operating system (Typhoon) generates custom characters for the 80x2 LCD display. Also, we only have a few fixed fonts to choose from so the display wouldn't look anything like a real TX. I am afraid that doing a full RE port would require a lot of work and would not end up being cool enough anyhow.
- Johan Brodd wrote:
There is a bug you might wanna dive into: When saving a project in FL Studio the audio stutters like crazy, even if I have low latency on.
Ah, I can see why that happens. Saving the state of Cyclone requires the virtual machine to halt until the entire machine, incl. CPU state, 6MB wave memory etc has been frozen into a persistent binary format. While this is happening I cannot allow the machine to run or the saved state could be corrupt (this is called a "race condition" in computer terms). For this particular product I could not find any other solution but to halt the audio thread during this operation.
I'll have a look if it is possible to speed up the "freezing" process so that the halt will be short enough not to interrupt audio. Might be.
- Borialis wrote:
Making it also an effect could definitely work. (receives input from sends) Especially if it still receives midi input of course.
I forgot to write about this in the FAQ. You can put a config file next to the .dll / .vst / .component. You call it "Cyclone Config.txt" and it should look something like this:
enableInputs: true
registerAsEffect: true
// bootImage: MyTyphoon.img
If you duplicate and / or rename the plug-in you should change the name of the config file too. E.g. create a "Cyclone FX.dll" and a "Cyclone FX Config.txt".
Thank you and Happy New Year!
I'm a Reaper user, use Cyclone to sample my drum samples. works well.
I'm 'creating my personal libraries of drum, whenever possible I will share' the bank
Question 1: be enough to save your own sounds via presets. FXB
and use a temporary Blank Floppy without saving over it?
because you did not create a folder where you can find samples in wav format ?
[c progrm :/ / VST / Cyclone / SampleUser]
upload / download counters fxb and 'limit.
I have to render every time the sample desired .. (so true analog ehhh)
Question 2
in mode [Wave Edit ] + [Utility] [7 Dump sample - MIDI ]
Cyclone send real the sample via midi on a another sampler ( es. mi akai 950) ???
Thank you for creating this Sampler :)
- Magnus Lidström wrote:
It should be both 64-bit and 32-bit. Are you running Mac or PC?
OK, did some more testing.
I'm on a PC running Windows 7. After I ran the installer Cyclone.dll is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugIns\Sonic Charge (along with Bitspeek.dll, Microtonic.dll and Permut8.dll).
Renoise 32 bit finds the Cyclone VST instrument, Cubase 32 bit does not. Bitspeek, Microtonic and Permut8 all work in both DAWs.
I also noticed TX16w.dll in C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins. Copying this dll to C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugIns\Sonic Charge did not seem to help.
Nice freebie! Much appreciated Magnus. Happy New Year!
Well then Magnus, feel free to use the track as a demo. :)
- Magnus Lidström wrote:
I forgot to write about this in the FAQ. You can put a config file next to the .dll / .vst / .component. You call it "Cyclone Config.txt" and it should look something like this:
If you duplicate and / or rename the plug-in you should change the name of the config file too. E.g. create a "Cyclone FX.dll" and a "Cyclone FX Config.txt".
Thanks Magnus. I'll see if I can do something with that info on Mac OS, we don't use .dll's, but I get the point and will see if I can make a config that can work. ;)
The FX workaround is a success!
Opened Cubase 7 and BAM! "Cyclone FX" is there!
Used two test signals.
A Test Generator and Mic, and it receives audio input from the sends just fine!
The unit's gain is like the old piece of gear as well. LOL I digress.
I created a MIDI track and connect the MIDI out to the "Cyclone FX MIDI in.
MIDI triggered test samples no problem.
The only drawbacks, is there is no access to the multi outs as an FX VST Plugin.
So, you'll need to sample, save to an .img, and open on an "Instrument or Rack" instance for multi out needs.
That's the gist.
Thanks a ton Magnus and if you're looking for good Betas holla!
Hi,
Thank you very much for Cyclone ! it sounds really great.
Yesterday i spend some times sampling drums and trying to get a good groove.
I used the sample trim function, etc...
But no matter what i tried, there's a 3 to 4ms latency when boucing or exporting
anything that come from Cyclone.
Is this due to the hardware emulation ? or it is something that can be reduced or nulled ?
thank you very much again for this gift !
- Jazzy Pidjay wrote:
But no matter what i tried, there's a 3 to 4ms latency when boucing or exporting
anything that come from Cyclone.
Is this due to the hardware emulation ? or it is something that can be reduced or nulled ?
That is correct. For the operating system to receive MIDI properly without data loss and with sort of consistent timing, I am simulating a classic serial MIDI port with 31250 bps. This means it takes a few ms just for the MIDI data to get transmitted (and the more simultaneous notes and CC messages, the slower). Also, Typhoon requires a little processor time to trigger the notes, but I believe the MIDI transfer rate is the main problem.
Which host are you using?
Hi- Thanks for this! I have been using Typhoon since original, and my TX gets used a bit. I never thought this would become reality :)
I have a Korg Monopoly voice to share, in FXB format, saved from Cyclone. I have more, also.
Where is there to share with you?
Thanks!
Hi Magnus,
Thank you for the answer.
I'm using Ableton Live 9 (32bits) running in Windows 7 64bits.
So i believe, there's no way to reduce this latency, it's "part of" the design.
I'm a drummer and i worked a lot on my timing and sense of pulse, but this may not be a problem for most users !
- bobby wrote:
I have a Korg Monopoly voice to share, in FXB format, saved from Cyclone. I have more, also.
Cool! Monopoly is one of my all-time favs. Please zip it and upload as an attachment to this post: http://soniccharge.com/forum/index.php?/topic/601-tx16w-sounds-for-cyclone/
I believe the forum should be able to handle big files. If not, let me know and I'll try to sort it out.
- Jazzy Pidjay wrote:
So i believe, there's no way to reduce this latency, it's "part of" the design.
I'm a drummer and i worked a lot on my timing and sense of pulse, but this may not be a problem for most users !
I am afraid there is not much I can do about real-time latency. Playback latency on the other hand is adjustable on a track-by-track basis in Live. Click the small (D) button on the right-hand side of the mixer.
- Matteo Nolli wrote:
grazie !
fantastic audio sampler
(...please clone the akai 950 and SP1200 in the same mode !! :D )
Amazing!!!
YES YES!!!
Clone all that Beasts Akai 1000, CASIO FZ-1, Prophet-2000. Korg DSS-1, EMU III, EMAX, ENSONIQ ASR-10
:D :D :D :wub: :wub: :wub:
hey hey,
unfortunately the installer is not working with my system,
i am on osx 10.7.4.
i get a strange message during the process saying something like "other installations
have to be finished first".....
WHAT?
;)
- dkatran wrote:
Amazing!!!
YES YES!!!
Clone all that Beasts Akai 1000, CASIO FZ-1, Prophet-2000. Korg DSS-1, EMU III, EMAX, ENSONIQ ASR-10
:D :D :D :wub: :wub: :wub:
Hehe, don't get your hopes up too high. This is likely a one off thing for me. Although I admit this was more fun to develop than I had expected. Remember that I own the copyright to the operating system (Typhoon) and I knew most of the hardware already through this project. Cloning another digital machine with a true software emulator would require cooperation with the manufacturer.
A dream app for emulator fanatics would a modular environment with simulations of both analog and digital circuits and a possibility to upload ROM code and then connect everything like lego blocks to replicate any existing machine. I am not going to develop that though. :)
- JH wrote:
unfortunately the installer is not working with my system,
i am on osx 10.7.4.
i get a strange message during the process saying something like "other installations
have to be finished first".....
Oh. Not good. Another fun Package Maker problem then. Yay. I am not sure if we have tested this particular installer on 10.7.4, but it is based on the same build script as our other products. Have you tried to install Microtonic for instance? Does it work?
yes, microtonic works perfect, so does synplant...
do you have any clue what the problem could be?
all the best
Juste to let you know a was able to run cyclone on SM PRO Vmachine. All the sound data are save with the preset. it's amazing .
It's like a second real TX16W for me ;)
All the best
Hi,
Don't laugh too hard, but i have an aged G5 ppc quad core, and running 10.5.8, and Logic Pro 8. I can see the Cyclone in my Audio Plug in's folder in the library, but Logic isn't seeing it at all.
Have i missed something, or is my computer just too old school, for this old school bit of sampler maddness?
Cheers,
Iain
wow, thank you!
so.... what about virtual circuit bending? :) i know some people over clock their sega megadrives to remove lag, but under clocking produces good results on a lot of stuff.
i guess i can run permut8 "on top". :) ... adding a lo-fi sampler would be a neat feature in permut8 2. ;) which BTW my software of the year. so good!
Hi Magnus-
The link you provided for my monopoly upload won't allow me to reply, so I am giving it here :)
please enjoy!
Also, here is one of my favorites from yamaha- mallets vers 2. I will upload more, if nobody objects.
B
- iain wrote:
Have i missed something, or is my computer just too old school, for this old school bit of sampler maddness?
You are not the only one. I have a friend who has the same problem: his Mac is PPC. At first I just thought "good luck, I can't even compile for PPC anymore", but to my big surprise I managed to build a PPC version after just a few minutes of messing around with XCode. Sent a binary to him, and he claims it works (at least the vst version), although I haven't been able to try it myself.
Here is a PPC Audio Unit version: CyclonePPC.component.zip(4.02MB, 2174 downloads)
No guarantees whatsoever. If it works, yay! If not, too bad. Let me know.
- bobby wrote:
The link you provided for my monopoly upload won't allow me to reply, so I am giving it here :)
Sorry about this. We forgot that the forum wasn't configured appropriately for a free product. Users that didn't own one of our commercial products could not upload or download to "Product Discussion". We have changed this now so that the forum is fully open to everyone.
Nice sounds! Do not hesitate to upload some more. I am sure a lot of people will appreciate it.
- JH wrote:
yes, microtonic works perfect, so does synplant...
do you have any clue what the problem could be?
Not yet, but we will surely look into this asap. The installer is created the same way as the installer for Microtonic and should work fine.
Here is the .vst without installer. Copy it to /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST and then again to /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components and change the extension from .vst to .component. (Yes, that is enough to make it Audio Units compatible, because of Symbiosis.)
CycloneMacV100.zip(2.82MB, 2755 downloads)
- Espen wrote:
OK, did some more testing.
I'm on a PC running Windows 7. After I ran the installer Cyclone.dll is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugIns\Sonic Charge (along with Bitspeek.dll, Microtonic.dll and Permut8.dll).
Renoise 32 bit finds the Cyclone VST instrument, Cubase 32 bit does not. Bitspeek, Microtonic and Permut8 all work in both DAWs.
I also noticed TX16w.dll in C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins. Copying this dll to C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugIns\Sonic Charge did not seem to help.
Any idea how to proceed to get it to work with Cubase?
- Espen wrote:
Any idea how to proceed to get it to work with Cubase?
Sorry, I forgot to follow up on this. The TX16w.dll has nothing to do with us. It's a different plug-in from a different company (I know, what are the odds? :) ).
I have only tested Cyclone under Cubase 64-bit, but I would be surprised if it did not work in 32-bit as it does with plenty of other hosts. Could it be some strange mixup between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions? When you install Cyclone you get to choose whether to install 32-bit, 64-bit or both and also select paths. What did you choose? Judging from your text it sounds like you are running a 64-bit operating system. Have you tried running Cubase in 64-bit mode?
Would it be too much to ask for keyboard shortcuts to speed up the workflow?
- Johan Brodd wrote:
Would it be too much to ask for keyboard shortcuts to speed up the workflow?
We have included keyboard shortcuts for all the buttons on the panel. (See http://soniccharge.com/forum/index.php?/topic/600-cyclone-faq/) . Unfortunately I know there are some PC hosts that do not forward key presses to plug-ins. I am not sure if there is a foolproof solution. Which host are you using?
thanks for this great xmas/newyears present. a real blast from the past.....
holeee effing shit. thank you for the labor of love!!
haha, you can just crank the mic gain, sample it and loop it!
some questions:
how can i bake a blank floppy to save my samples onto?
"resampling" in the documentation in this case just means changing the sample rate, not internally sampling itself, right? i have to load 2 cyclones to do that. (filters sound cool stacked) :)
- jonah wrote:
how can i bake a blank floppy to save my samples onto?
Just bake an empty floppy (no files). When you mount it into Cyclone you can save to it just like you would with a real floppy. Save a copy of the empty floppy for future use.
- jonah wrote:
"resampling" in the documentation in this case just means changing the sample rate, not internally sampling itself, right? i have to load 2 cyclones to do that. (filters sound cool stacked) :)
Yeah, sorry, only sample rate conversion. The TX16W cannot sample its own output. The CPU is actually 100% busy during sampling.
But at least it's free to create more Cyclones. In the 90's I had to buy another TX16W to do tricks like that. :)
Why haven't you released Cyclone FX, a plugin that plays the incoming audio as if it where sampled on the TX16W?
- Johan Brodd wrote:
Why haven't you released Cyclone FX, a plugin that plays the incoming audio as if it where sampled on the TX16W?
That's a neat idea. I think much of the character comes from the interesting interpolation technique, but I guess one could design an fx plug-in so that you could sample at any arbitrary rate (not just 16, 25, 33, 50) and use the emulated interpolation for the output.
I might just do it, who knows. :) But not until Synplant 2 is done. Nothing else now. :)
Technical rambling: TX16W has a fixed 400khz output sample rate and linear interpolation for pitching whole octaves only. It then holds samples for exact pitch within octaves (essentially changing the length of individual sample points). The output filters are pretty sloppy with only 24dB per octave (18dB for the individual outputs). Sampling filters are much more impressive with eight order Chebychev design. Also, the main output DACs are not linear but use a floating point 16-bit resolution (the individual output DAC is on the other hand 12-bit linear).
(Cyclone FX sounds a bit like this idea: http://www.plogue.com/products/chipcrusher/ . Haven't tried it to be honest, but it looks really cool.)
Hello,
First of all, I would like to thank the developer for putting time and effort into developing this plug-in.
I've stumbled upon it today and after spending some time I haven't managed to make it work for me yet,
Basicaly, I want to sample my own sounds into it (or load them somehow?) and then trigger them via external MIDI controller. I was trying to sample something with Cyclone in both FL Studio and Ableton Live, but without luck.
Any help?
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