Sync & Modulate Hardware Synthesizers With The MP 3244 Plugin

Working with hardware Synthesizers (desktop or modular) in your DAW is always a challenge. Sync or modulate parameters is often only possible with obstacles. The German developer Dialog Audio has released in the past the MP3244 Modulation Processor, a plugin specially designed for working easily with digital modulation in hardware Synthesizers. Just before Christmas, the developer announced a major v.2 update that takes this entire concept to another level.

Same as the v1, focus the new version on synchronizing and modulation hardware Synthesizer parameters with a DAW.

New Features

First, the plugin formats were significantly expanded. AUi and AU MIDI FX for macOs are now included in the bundle. Than it includes SysEx checksum calculation, a new X-Fader module for crossfading between signals, load & save functionality within the plugin, a new sequencer module that integrate the upcoming SQ4 sequence processor and much more.

What The Company Have To Say

Launched last year to widespread critical acclaim — “MP3244 is the missing link to synchronise all of your analogue and modular synthesizers to a host application,” announced a suitably impressed commentator, the modular structure of the plug-in question allows adventurous users to create miscellaneous modulations that can then be sent to any synthesizer parameter or other audio hardware. However, depending on any given user’s audio hardware setup, several connection possibilities are available when working with MP3244 — MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) input-endowed equipment can be controlled via MIDI CC (Continuous Controller) messages or MIDI SysEx (System Exclusive) messages, while an audio interface (if DC-coupled) or a MIDI-to- CV converter can be pressed into play for audio gear that can be controlled via CV (control voltage).

The modular structure of MP3244 allows users to precisely tailor modulation signals to specific hardware setups, giving owners of those setups the freedom to flawlessly integrate their classic or modular synths into their DAW environment — with all the convenience of tempo and host synchronisation that is now expected from plug-ins, in other words, while MP3244 can also be used to modulate software synthesizers and audio plug-ins directly within a DAW to provide extended modulation possibilities.

To partly paraphrase another popular song — one that has been named one of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century by National Public Radio — that has stood the test of time, MP3244’s raison d’être remains… same as it ever was — but better! Indeed, it has come a long way since starting out as a novel way of fulfilling a very specific need: “Needing to get a filter to modulate synchronised via SysEx from a host application was the basic idea behind its development,” divulges Dialog Audio founder Julian McDole.

New In The MP 3244 Plugin V.2

AU (Audio Unit) instrument format added.
AU MIDI FX format added (for Apple Logic users to easily load the plug-in within an external modulation track to modulate MIDI CC and SysEx gear).
MIDI CC and SysEx value output range can be set manually (to fit the value range of the receiving device — from 0 to 100, for example).
Support for SysEx checksum calculation added (to control synthesizers requiring a checksum to handle messages via one of three methods — normal, which sends the seven least significant bits of the calculated sum; complement, which subtracts the seven least significant bits of the sum from 128 for use with some Roland synths, for example; and XOR, a bitwise Exclusive OR on all parts of the sum).
Save and load presets from directly within MP3244.
LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) Ratio option added for custom RATE control (such as 7/8).
New X-FADER module added (allows users to mix and fade between two signals, the output of which can be controlled via a control signal).
Advanced integration with Sequencer Processor (SQ4) — Dialog Audio’s upcoming tool for modulating audio gear parameters with a sequencer approach, as implied by name — to load the partner plug-in within MP3244 to enable even more modulation signal options.
General UI (user interface) improvements.