Dune 2 - I'm speechless, what have they done

[nutrinoland]

Can it only use sine waves for Fm ? It has nice wavetables..would be great to be able to use them for FM

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by nutrinoland

Can it only use sine waves for Fm ? It has nice wavetables..would be great to be able to use them for FM

Long answer first...

You have two "oscillator stacks" total (actually 3 but the third stack is more of a single sub osc than a stack, that doesn't have to be a sub osc, it can be a white noise or many other things but it does not have other complex features like FM, only the first two stacks do).

So, in each of those stacks you can have up to 32 voices (think about hypersaw detuning on the Virus and you get the idea). Those voices have a bunch of different options for changing how they detune (linear/Gaussian/random etc). If you set an osc stack type to FM, you now have a classic 3-operator FM panel for that stack (A-B-C) (and can change the algorithm, like A feedback into itself or A+B modulate C directly with B feeding back into itself, feedback adjustable on either of course).

So, figure in Unison possibility, (32 voices * 2 stacks * 8 unison * 3 operators) and you have 1536, or if you can live with only 768 operators on a single stack, you can use the other two stacks to use wavetables or virtual analog at the same time. (Actually this gives the illusion that you only have the granularity of 768 vs. 1536, but it's not like that at all, each of the 8 unison voices has its own stacks, own filter settings, etc so it can be as granular as you want).

I'm typing all that mostly to try to illustrate how it makes manipulation of so many FM operators so useful and easy to get great sounds. You're really only controlling 3 operators for any given stack and voice at one time, but that's still like controlling up to 24 separate sets of operator parameters if you need that kind of complexity. It also let's you work with multiple voices as if they are the same one if you want. That's part of the beauty of Dune 2 I think, other than just the sound. The way they workflow is designed. It's just so fast to work with.

Short answer next ...

Each of the A-B-C operators are fundamentally sine waves, but you end up with a range of sounds that's as good (better in many cases) than other FM synths and it's dead easy to get there. And a modulated sine isn't really a sine anymore

[nutrinoland]

I tried the demo a while ago...What I like about its Unison is that it is so much more than the average unison, which are usually things like Pitch detuning, Pan spread, phase, generalized envelope randomness for all the Voices etc..With Dune2, YOu can also make all sorts of variations between all the voices, like Cutoff, LFO, ARP etc...every synthesis function really...
Dune 1 had a way to do similar things, from the Mod Matrix...

Overall I liked Dune 2..JUst wish there was a possibility to use the wavetables as FM carriers and Modulators...Dune 1 could use a variety of waveforms for FM..I feel that Dune 2 is lacking in that aspect...could have been quite simple to implement, I am guessing.