Penge

I'm wondering if Kx drivers are for me. Kx's FAQ says it has "unlimited signal routing" what does signal routing mean? The FAQ also says there's "complete control over hardware" and goes on saying Creative drivers have "limitations." Besides unlimited signal routing, what might those be? I know Kx drivers don't have all the features of Creative drivers, such as no EAX, but i can live without that. However, i need the following:

1.Ability to load > 32 MB of soundfont data at any time without dropped voices. (These days, it's an absolute must, as my Audigy 2 ZS can load a 200+ meg sf2 fine)

2. Playback of sustaining loops in Vienna 2.3 (I hope this was a bug that's fixed by now...)

3. Soundfont 2.1 support: Needed for modulator routings, although i could never get them to work in my sequencer, Sonar (Ideally, Soundfont 2.4 would be perfect so i can use 24-bit samples)

4. A program like SoundFont Bank Manager, unless SFBM actually works with Kx drivers.

Some help would be appreciated.

Maddogg6

'Unlimited' signal routing.... *could* be misleading... there are DSP resources that does limit what you can do... (that staement indicates - *you* can determine precisely what routing you want, not simply choose from a preset template like CL does)
But for instance - last I knew with CL drivers for my A2ZS... I could use ONLY reverb and chorus- or reverb and delay (2 SF Synth effects at any one time) with kx - I have a DSP config that uses Reverb(CC#91), Chorus(CC#93), 2 types of delays (CC#16/17), and phasor(CC#18) - and room for yet one more (CC#19)... not possible with CL - and I think is above and beyond the SF V2.01 spec. But AFAIK - the extra modulator routings as found in Vienna 2.4 wont work with kX, but I havent played with them much.

1) While I can 'allocate' more than 32MB of sound fonts, only 32MB is accessable at any one time (dynamic allocation) - I *thought this was a hardware limit, but I could be wrong??
2) I dont find a problem with sustained loops in veinna 2.3 - BUT, i can not play the loop in the loop editor - I have to edit it - then audtion as an instrument/preset. I think the loop editor is not compatable with kX - but maybe its a problem with winXP ??
Did you try Vienna 2.4 with CL drivers? - with kX/WinXP - there are bugs also (Vienna.exe never unloads, and will persist in win task manager process tab (exiting doesnt unload completely)
3) kX fully supports SF V2.01 (not to be confused, like I did with V2.1)
4) I find a bank manager useless - as I always have prefered Sonars SF manager (loads sound font bands on a per project basis) - Tho, maybe SFBM works with kX...?? I cant say, tho I have some doubts, I guess it is possible if SFMAN.dll

Penge

Such as?

But, AFAIK, you can make your own effects by adding/removing effects and changing the parameters and save it as an 'environment' preset in the EAX Control Panel of the AudioHQ program.

That's right, actually, i can only have 1 SF Synth effect at any one time. I recall my Live! could have 2. What drivers do have for your Audigy 2 ZS?


That was only Live! and Audigy cards, Audigy 2 and above do NOT have that limitation, AFAIK. I played a dense midi file and could not hear any dropped voices on a 200+ meg sf2.

That's a problem for me then.


Overall, i'm better off sticking with CL drivers. If you could tell me what you did to map 2 effects to a MIDI CC on your A2ZS, that'd be great....

Maddogg6

Well, I already indicated - DSP resources are finite and a limitation 10K2 chips have more than 10K1 chip (iTram, Registers, Total Instructions) - all equate to how many effects can be used at one time - the kx DSP applet lets you add and make use of *only* that what you would make use of - kX allows us to 'trim the fat' if you will - optimize the use of all those resources.



When I used Audio HQ - I could not use more than 2 MIDI send effects at 1 time... ???



I use kX of course...




perhaps kX synth implementation is weaker than CL's ...??? but honestly, I am moving toward using SW synths, becuase theres a trend moving away from hardware accelerated audio in Vista anyway... say hello to the future..'VSTi' ...



Perhaps CL is better for you and your case then... ??


I created my own custom DSP config with the kX DSP applet. - I can load and save as many of these configs as I like (I have some for just one project even...)

Penge

I was just indicating the CL drivers DO allow you to make your own effects and save them.



Well, i thought you had CL drivers with the Audigy 2 ZS. If you ever did, were you able to map 2 effects to MIDI CCs?

Maddogg6

Well unless CL drivers had a drastic change - you could *choose* which effects (ala - 'template') - and adjust *some* parameters - with kX - theres is *soooooooo* much more possible.
Theres a lot more effects available in kX
I will post some screen shots to give you an idea...

Yes - I could map 2 effects - but I could not adjust them - IIRC - I could only map 1 CC to either effect - and adjust the other effect in audio HQ... but its been a while since I used CL drivers - and then, I think I used them for a month or 2 before using kX... (I used APSLive with my old live card in win98 because the CL drivers were just too limiting)

edit:

Screen shots..
ImageShack - Hosting :: mysonardspdf2.jpg

edit2:
Some of what I have done with kX...
MD6_Music eSnips Folder

Maddogg6

Oh - and I forget to post a sceen of kX automation... kX gives you a whole extra midi out port to map and CC/Note/Aftertouch - to just about any control with in the kX DSP..
For instance - the SENDS in MX8 I have mapped to CC 0-7, Levels etc... to CC 9-28 - delayA time CC 100, DelayB Time CC101...etc etc....

kX = max control

Penge

Well, i took the plunge and installed Kx drivers 3539. One problem i'm having is, after i turn off or restart my pc, Kx won't save any settings (i.e. i have to re-load a soundfont again, or un-check 'Toggle Swap Front and Rear Mode' so i can hear anything) Also, how do i map effects to MIDI CC's? I'm in the Kx DSP window, i see Chorus & reverb, now when i click 'assign' the automation window pops up. Am i doing something wrong?

Maddogg6

Try ; Right Click kX Tray Icon > Settings > Save settings - try using 'default' as the save file name - keep all options (sections of kX to be saved) as they are..

But it is strange the settings are not saved...

Yes - the kX Automation will allow you to use *any* MIDI CC / Note / controller on just about any adjustable effect parameter via the dedicated ** kX CONTROL MIDI Out port **... edit - you need to select a parameter(top right) of the selected effect (left side) - and assign which MIDI controller to affect that parameter (lower right)... most are not assigned by default. /edit

But I suspect you are talking about using CC91/93 - which is sent on the same midi port/channel to adjust the send ammount to those effects....
Assuming you are either using the default DSP config, try adjusting FXMix > FXMix 1 / 2 sliders.... its kinda weird how some Soundfonts are made with the combination of how those effects sends are utilized (is different than CL driver)

You can also try adjusting SENDC/D in kX router for kX Synths too..

Russ

It sounds like you are using a startup manager of some kind, and it disabled kxmixer from starting with windows (or somehow modified its startup command).

The normal startup command line for kxmixer (in the Run key in the registry) is: C:\WINDOWS\system32\kxmixer.exe --startup

(--startup tells kxmixer to restore settings from the registry)

Penge

Kx Automation seems to be a step ahead of what i need. I just wanna "turn on" Reverb or Chorus for MIDI.

That's right, and i do have the default DSP config, but when i adjust the FX1 or FX2 amount of FXmix2, it only affects audio, NOT MIDI. I inserted CC 91 or 93 into a midi, but i hear NO reverb or chorus at all.

What do you mean here?

Tried this, too, but it made NO difference.

I just deleted that startup key from the registry (HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/run) I did this, because starting up kxmixer takes up memory. In fact, it takes up MORE than CL's driver, which uses SbDrvDet.exe, i believe. Is there any other way to make it keep my settings without having to load it up on boot up?

Maddogg6

Ooops I forgot to mention adjusting IN1 of FXMix...

Follow these steps and if you still dont hear reverb/chorus... I dunno whats wrong.

1) Make sure the SEND C/D levels in kX Router are at max.
2) Adjust FXMix In1, FX1, FX2 to 100% - and In0 at 0%
(In0 is for Wave audio, In1 is for kX Synths)
3) play midi with CC91/93 sent with a value of 127 ($7F)

That should work.

use --once instead of --startup

Lex Nahumury

Since all the prefs you've listed are Soundfont related I would suggest to stick to CL drivers,
since Soundfont support is one of kX's weakest points.

kX's strongest points are it's ASIO driver and the DSP.

Penge

Thanks that did it. I immediately noticed the Reverb or Chorus in Vienna. In Sonar, i didn't even need to put CC91 or CC93, either.


But that would still mean i'd have to load kxmixer on startup, right?

I'm still not sure...It may well be a weak spot, but, in some cases, it's better than CL drivers. In XP, i can only load a max 300 meg sf2. But, with Kx i'm able to load 410 meg. Considering i have 1.25 GB RAM, that's not even half, yet it sure beats CL drivers. And SF 2.1 modulators never worked for me (or anyone??) With 410 meg sf2s i played the same midi, and didn't hear any more dropouts than with CL drivers, and I might be able to live with Vienna not playing sustaining loops. Unless, there's a way to add more effects (i.e. Compressor, Expander, limter, etc.) to CL drivers, i may stay with Kx.

Russ

If you want kxmixer to restore settings and then exit, use --startup --once.

BTW: I wouldn't use compressed soundfonts, as that slows down SF loading (and thus kx startup).