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An EXTREME, and IMO, possible dangerous volume level is produced if you turn off InsA for the AN-X 'Theremin by MW & SK' performance. This occurs immediately and does NOT require you to press any keys or use any controllers.
Even if the front panel master volume is at the 1st (lowest) tick mark the volume will be extremely high if you turn off the insert.
With the master volume at the 2nd, or even higher, tick it can literally shock the ears. I was lucky that I wasn't using headphones and was sitting just over 10' away from HS5 monitors. I was unlucky in that my master volume was at the 4th tick.
When I turned off InsA for the one, and only, part it shocked, and scared the heck out of me it was so loud.
This was on an M8X. Before trying to reproduce this make sure your front panel master volume is at the one tick mark or even lower. You can actually hear the sound with the master volume at minimum.
1. I had some time so was Auditioning some AN-X presets from the Category Search screen.
2. Happened across the 'Theremin by MW & SK' performance and it sounded very well done.
3. Decided to see what it sounded like when I play notes.
4. Loaded the perf but there was no sound at all no matter what keys or controllers I tried.
5. Examined Osc 1, Osc 2 and Osc 3 and all three output levels were at 0
6. In the past that usually meant the levels would be controlled by an effect, arp, motion sequence or control assignment
7. I navigated to the 'Effect -> Routing' screen for part1 (the only part) and noticed InsA was enabled and 'VCM Mini Filter' had been assigned
8. InsB was also enabled and 'VCM Mini Booster' was assigned
9. I toggled the InsB ON/OFF to OFF and it immediately triggered an extremely loud sound that was, literally, unbearable.
10. Immediately turned InsB back to ON and the sound echoed out to zero in a couple of seconds.
I'm not an alarmist. But the sound level produced is deafening and potentially dangerous so I have had my boss contact Yamaha Support.
You don't have to press any keys at all - just turning InsB to OFF causes the issue. Then toggling InsA to OFF stops the sound but toggling InsA back to ON (with InsB still OFF) restores the sound.
1. turn both InsA and InsB to OFF
2. turn the master volume back up some to a typically usuable value
3. press a key and increase any Osc 1, Osc 2 or Osc 3 output level above 0 and each Osc will sound as you would expect.
So I haven't figured out just what the root cause is but, being AN-X that uses oscillators, it is suggestive of self-oscillation.
As for the initial Osc output levels being zero the only control assignment for output level is for InsB for the Mod Wheel so perhaps the MIDI for the audition has a lot of programmed Mod Wheel manipulation to simulate what a persons fingers do when playing a Theremin.
Posted : 31/08/2024 10:51 pm
Topic starter
Correction - InsB - don't turn it off.
Posted : 01/09/2024 1:09 am
Topic starter
But wait! There's more!
Further testing shows the sound is ready to go when you load the perf.
If the Mod Wheel value is NOT at minimum after perf load you will immediately get a very loud sound even with the Master Volume at the 4th tick.
Then, whatever you do, don't turn off InsB or you will blow your ears out.
Whether you get an immediate sound (without touching any keys or controllers) depends on:
1. the setting of the 'Utility -> Settings -> MIDI I/O -> Controller -> Hold / Reset' parameter
2. the physical position of the Mod Wheel
If the parm is A) set to 'Hold' and B) the Mod Wheel is NOT at minimum you will get an immediate sound as soon as the performance is selected. That is the case even if you just move to the performance in the category search window.
If the parm is A) set to 'Reset' then the logical position of the Mod Wheel will be 0 when you load the performance. But as soon as you even nudge the Mod Wheel you will immediately get sound.
AND if the physical Mod Wheel position is actually at Maximum when you nudge it then the sync happens and the logical position jumps to maximum and you get a very loud sound with Master Volume at the 4th tick.
The above describes what happens with the current default settings of the perf.
I mentioned earlier that there is a control assignment (destination 2) for 'InsB Output'. It is using a standard curve, Uni, Ratio +60 and Param 1 is 3.
So at load time the X value for the curve is 0 (for a controller 'Reset' value) but the Mod Wheel may not be at physical minimum so won't be synced.
The least impact is if the Mod Wheel is at physical minimum when you load the perf. Then when you nudge the wheel you will start getting a sound. But because of the shape of the standard curve (Param 3) it will be fairly gentle.
If you change the curve to ANY shape that has a positive Y value at the X=0 (far left side) position you will get a corresponding sound as soon as you select the performance.
WARNING - I haven't found any way to actually turn the sound production OFF. You can lower it by moving the Mod Wheel towards minimum or by using the Master Volume control but it seems the sound is ALWAYS being produced for this performance whether you can hear it or not.
If anyone knows how to turn such a sound off please post the solution.
Even selecting another sound won't work if the new sound uses SSS. You either have to select a sound that doesn't use SSS or you have to select two more sounds to get SSS out of the way.
This is the weirdest preset I've come across yet in terms of trying to understand and manage it.
Posted : 01/09/2024 2:40 am
