I was wondering if anyone has any idea if the processing power of Syntakt would be capable of running the digital models of open source mutable instruments modules?
It would be cool to have things like Plaits and Braids as machines!
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Mutable instruments algorithms were built to run on STM32 chips. That is what the digital mutable modules use, what the microfreak uses, and I assume what the mini freak uses. Mutable use floating point arithmetic in the DSP (since 2014), as opposed to fixed point. Fixed point takes more work but is more resource efficient, whereas floating point is a quicker and easier to implement. I don’t know for a fact but judging by the age of elektron’s coldfire processor as well as the sheer number of things the devices do in parallel, I suspect that they used fixed point algorithms. If elektron use fixed point, it would be very difficult to port the mutable algorithms, probably needing to rewrite them from the ground up, just taking the same controls and functionality. I think it’s pretty unlikely to happen for a variety of reasons.
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Hey thanks for the technical analysis! I was wondering the same thing as OP.
Coldfire has had an FPU since 2000 or so. It is 64 bit as opposed to 80, is that what you mean ?
I might well be talking out my ass with the fixed point thing, it just seems to me that elektron’s devices do a ton more than mutable instruments modules with an older chip.
Your analysis is good, and this is an important point. This is a difficult question, and usually with this sort of question, you dive in and see how it works. Then you patch up the holes, if there are any, and if you can.
My hunch, if Elektron opened the box ( they never will, but … ) to others to do a port, someone would figure out ways to make it work, or damn near.
I’ve done a lot of fixed point, back in the day, got damn good at it, on god awful processors, but the demand for that sort of tuning is mostly gone.
Nice thing too is the compiler tools make porting a lot easier now too.
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