TTS 1

[Tony Foden]

Hello.  I have a suggestion, although it may be too late to implement.  In TTS-1, at the bottom of each channel is a "preview" button, allowing the user to listen to the selected instrument.  However,  the sound of the instrument only last as long as the mouse is kept depressed.  As soon as the mouse is released, the sound stops.  It would have been much better if clicking on this preview started the sound to begin in a continuous loop, which would allow the user to make any adjustments deemed necessary, "on the fly".  Once the user is satisfied,  the preview button is clicked again to stop the loop. As it is, the user must make a change, then listen to the preview, then make adjustment to that change, and listen again to the preview, etc.  This is a tedious process.  It would not take much of a programming exercise to correct this.

Tony Foden

[abacab]

Glad you interested in improving the product, but TTS-1 is no longer being developed. It was created many years ago when Cakewalk was owned by Roland, and was based on their Sound Canvas.

[Terry Kelley]

Too bad, it still has value when it works. An MT32 on steroids.

 

[abacab]

TTS-1 has value when it works!

Its rare qualities are that as a plugin instrument it is both General MIDI (GM) compatible, and 16-part multi-timbral.

But I only use it to open pre-recorded GM song files. It is very useful for that. When you open a GM file in Cakewalk you will have the song opened up with all parts assigned in a single instance of the TTS-1 plugin and ready to go.

Then I save the song as a Cakewalk standard project in '.cwp' format. And then replace the instrument sounds with other VST instruments to eliminate TTS-1 from the project.

TTS-1 is old tech and is a 64-bit DXi plugin, not a VST. Problems can be encountered when trying to build a Cakewalk project around TTS-1, so I would recommend limiting its use. I have experienced unexplained crashes, and so have others when trying to push it with larger projects. If it works great for you, then enjoy! YMMV. ?

Edited April 17, 2021 by abacab

[Terry Kelley]

Oh it varies all right ...

[Jim Fogle]

On 4/18/2021 at 6:21 PM, Terry Kelley said:

Oh it varies all right ...

@Terry Kelley,

Gosh Terry, What did TTS-1 ever do to give you the snarks against it?  Not just in this thread but this one too!  C'mon man, lighten up!

[abacab]

1 hour ago, Jim Fogle said:

@Terry Kelley,

Gosh Terry, What did TTS-1 ever do to give you the snarks against it?  Not just in this thread but this one too!  C'mon man, lighten up!

Well for one thing, it starts crashing when pushed...

[Terry Kelley]

17 hours ago, Jim Fogle said:

@Terry Kelley,

Gosh Terry, What did TTS-1 ever do to give you the snarks against it?  Not just in this thread but this one too!  C'mon man, lighten up!

It was a bully in high school!

I don't think I'm hurting its feelings. I love TTS and wish it worked better.  I get that it's old and can't be fix but when people post asking why it's going stupid, well, you know ... But I will point out that their frustrations are valid and it requires finesse to use it. And finish with snark.

Use it early, use it a lot, freeze and get out.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Terry Kelley

[abacab]

14 minutes ago, Terry Kelley said:

Use it early, use it a lot, freeze and get out.

Great advice! ?

[Starship Krupa]

You may also acquire a more modern, capable, and less crash-prone ROMpler for next to nothing:

AIR Music Technology XPand!2 for $9.99 at PluginBoutique.

[user 905133]

Maybe someone can figure out why TTS-1 has worked flawlessly as intended for some of us over the years?  Perhaps there's something about it that makes it not work properly on newer computers with CPUs and other chips/devices built past a certain date?

Toward that end, I'm willing to test drive on my PC a few TTS-1 only *.cwp files known to crash on other systems. 

Edited April 30, 2021 by User 905133
To withdraw my offer. It works for me. Enough said!

[Magic Russ]

On 4/17/2021 at 11:19 AM, abacab said:

But I only use it to open pre-recorded GM song files. It is very useful for that. When you open a GM file in Cakewalk you will have the song opened up with all parts assigned in a single instance of the TTS-1 plugin and ready to go.

Then I save the song as a Cakewalk standard project in '.cwp' format. And then replace the instrument sounds with other VST instruments to eliminate TTS-1 from the project.

I prefer the way Studio One handles midi import better.  It loads up an instance of its sampler for each track.   That way you simply replace the instruments on the tracks as desired.  With TTS1 loaded, you have the extra steps of redirecting your midi tracks or moving them from one track to another.

[abacab]

1 hour ago, Magic Russ said:

I prefer the way Studio One handles midi import better.  It loads up an instance of its sampler for each track.   That way you simply replace the instruments on the tracks as desired.  With TTS1 loaded, you have the extra steps of redirecting your midi tracks or moving them from one track to another.

I find this more work in Studio One. Always wished that Presence was multi-timbral! >

Quote

It loads up an instance of its sampler for each track.   That way you simply replace the instruments on the tracks as desired. 

Easy peasy >

Quote

With TTS1 loaded, you have the extra steps of redirecting your midi tracks or moving them from one track to another.

YMMV...

[abacab]

1 hour ago, User 905133 said:

Maybe someone can figure out why TTS-1 has worked flawlessly as intended for some of us over the years?  Perhaps there's something about it that makes it not work properly on newer computers with CPUs and other chips/devices built past a certain date?

Toward that end, I'm willing to test drive on my PC a few TTS-1 only *.cwp files known to crash on other systems. 

I always seem to run into trouble when I use a single instance of TTS-1,  and I start assigning the multiple audio outs in TTS-1. Like say if you wanted to add TH-3 or Amplitube to a TTS-1 guitar track in Cakewalk, but wanted to separate its audio from your bass and drums in TTS-1.

[Terry Kelley]

On 4/29/2021 at 8:06 AM, User 905133 said:

Maybe someone can figure out why TTS-1 has worked flawlessly as intended for some of us over the years?  Perhaps there's something about it that makes it not work properly on newer computers with CPUs and other chips/devices built past a certain date?

Toward that end, I'm willing to test drive on my PC a few TTS-1 only *.cwp files known to crash on other systems. 

Actually it hasn't. If you do a search on the internet you can find people battling it back as a far as 2006.

I've done a ton of experimenting trying to nail down what breaks it and what fixes it after it breaking. At a minimum I've  discovered that once broken (freezes, crashes with C0000000005, just closes Cakewalk with no error, etc.) it will never work again. You can't back out tracks, move stuff, remove and add it again - nothing.

It does appear to be related to the amount of memory you are using. If you start a project with it, it works. Now start adding other stuff. At some point it's likely to stop working even thought you didn't touch TTS-1 directly. I have a couple of crash files I test with when a new version of Cakewalk comes out wondering if it might start working. It never does.

And to be clear it's not CbB's fault or their product. They would likely fix if they could considering they fix CW bugs within a month while adding new features.

Edited April 30, 2021 by Terry Kelley

[abacab]

The current version of TTS-1 was written in 2004. Back when Cakewalk was owned by Roland. Before Gibson. Before BandLab... I imagine that a lot has changed in Windows OS architecture since those days. In human years that's a long time ago. But in computer or dog years, that's ancient history!

All software generally needs ongoing maintenance for bug fix & compatibility reasons. Because without it you never know what random bugs might appear.

I'm sure that CbB is making the TTS-1 synth available on a best effort and a "as-is" basis for compatibility with old Cakewalk projects. But surely most folks would benefit by sticking to modern plugins for their DAW when creating any new projects.

[user 905133]

On 4/29/2021 at 11:06 AM, User 905133 said:

Maybe someone can figure out why TTS-1 has worked flawlessly as intended for some of us over the years? 

4 hours ago, Terry Kelley said:

Actually it hasn't. If you do a search on the internet you can find people battling it back as a far as 2006.

Please notice what I wrote: esp. "for some of us."  I did not say "for everyone." 

Please understand that not everyone has the same experiences. 

You can contradict me, but that doesn't make you right. 

Also, doing an internet search and finding "people battling it as far back as 2006" does not disprove that, "TTS-1 has worked flawlessly as intended for some of us over the years."

I have seen people talk about issues with TTS-1.  I never doubted their experiences.  We all have different experiences. We all have different preferences. We all have different workflows.

Obviously my experiences are not the same as yours.

I stand by what I wrote.

 

[user 905133]

On 4/29/2021 at 12:41 PM, abacab said:

I always seem to run into trouble when I use a single instance of TTS-1,  and I start assigning the multiple audio outs in TTS-1. Like say if you wanted to add TH-3 or Amplitube to a TTS-1 guitar track in Cakewalk, but wanted to separate its audio from your bass and drums in TTS-1.

Yesterday I started to try this.  However, with my current audio interface and settings I cannot hear the four different outputs simultaneously.  I was able to do that previously, with a different interface that had a more flexible ASIO channel routing system.  Maybe someday I will change my setup.  

Edited April 30, 2021 by User 905133

[Terry Kelley]

24 minutes ago, User 905133 said:

Please notice what I wrote: esp. "for some of us."  I did not say "for everyone." 

Please understand that not everyone has the same experiences. 

You can contradict me, but that doesn't make you right. 

Also, doing an internet search and finding "people battling it as far back as 2006" does not disprove that, "TTS-1 has worked flawlessly as intended for some of us over the years."

I have seen people talk about issues with TTS-1.  I never doubted their experiences.  We all have different experiences. We all have different preferences. We all have different workflows.

Obviously my experiences are not the same as yours.

I stand by what I wrote.

 

Ok.

[abacab]

56 minutes ago, User 905133 said:

Yesterday I started to try this.  However, with my current audio interface and settings I cannot hear the four different outputs simultaneously.  I was able to do that previously, with a different interface that had a more flexible ASIO channel routing system.  Maybe someday I will change my setup.  

I think you misunderstood what I meant. I was only talking about the ability to route 4 discrete stereo audio channels from TTS-1 into Cakewalk's mixer from a single instance of TTS-1, so that you can have select TTS-1 instruments in 4 different groups routing to 4 different mixer channels. Almost like having 4 instances of TTS-1.

That way you can set up insert FX or FX busses on the Cakewalk mixer side. The 4 channel audio would then get mixed as one would ordinarily do so down to the 2-channel Master bus that feeds your audio hardware.

I wasn't referring to routing the 4 audio channels from TTS-1 directly to your audio hardware. Sorry I wasn't more clear in that regard.

Edited April 30, 2021 by abacab