Oscillator phases

ER-301
#1

i’m wondering about this… how are oscillator’s phases internally handled?

what i’ve done:

  1. (see image) created a pulsewave / gate by running two saws at the same frequency (1Hz), one of them inverted
  2. saved this chain and placed it on a second track
  3. fed both pulsewaves (track 1 + 2) to VCAs to hear them clearly

what i observed
after fiddling around with track 2 a little (adding effects behind one of the saws, altering their frequency (but returning to 1Hz), there was a noticeable offset from the pulsewave on track 1

some random thoughts

  • if i understand correctly what is happening, there’s currently no way to phase-sync oscillators (to e.g. a master). this may be handy for clocking tasks (as above)?
  • (see video) furthermore – it’s not possible to really fine-tune the frequency-values. some floating-point numbers are skipped (even when in "fine-"mode), especially in the higher frequency-ranges. this may be a disadvantage not only for control / clocking tasks, but considering you might want to tune an oscillator precisely to a C ( / something like ~261,63 Hz).

not meaning to bug-report – just trying to understand what’s going on :slight_smile:
thanks!

Screen Shot 2017-06-21 at 18.56.44.png1456×552 27 KB

1 Like
#2

+1 from me!

This is why I’ve ended up using sample players as oscillators a lot.

Fine tuning would also be a huge boon for FM synthesis too, as discussed previously.

I am pretty sure all these things are coming :heart_eyes_cat:

1 Like
#3

I thought you were using the sample players because they have linear FM?

#4

Yes that too - actually loads of reasons to use them, but the phase sync is definitely a bonus too!

#5

I’m surprised you expected an oscillator to stay in sync after adjusting its frequency. I wonder where that expectation came from?

By the way the oscillator units do have sync inputs.

#6

I’m confused. How does the player have phase syncing advantages over the oscillator units?

#7

Sample retrigger?

#8

Oh weird - I had it in my head that the OSC Units didn’t have sync, but I just looked and they do!!

My mistake and apologies :slight_smile:

#9

Phew! I thought I was going crazy. It is way past my bedtime after all.

1 Like
#10

Hehe oops… sorry!

I feel really silly because I’ve not been loading them up when I needed a synced sine or whatever because I thought this :blush:

This changes things for me, it’s like an automatic upgrade!! Thank you once again :smiley:

#11

hehe… well… mh… thinking about it a little, maybe it doesn’t make sense.

Pulse Wave Unit