Operation Manual V2.
1 Foreword 1.1 Thank You Congratulations on purchasing the SM Pro Audio V-‐Machine. You now own an extraordinary product that offers stand-‐alone playback of VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugins originally designed for operation on the Windows operating system. Getting started with the V-‐Machine is easy.
Contents 1 Foreword ..........................................................................................................................................2 1.1 Thank You ................................................................................................................................2 1.2 Important Notes ........................................................................................................................2 1.3 V-Machine Team ...............
3.4 Memory Architecture..............................................................................................................27 3.5 Power Up the V-Machine .......................................................................................................28 3.6 Using the Left/Right Buttons ..................................................................................................29 3.6.1 Bank Left/Right ...........................................................
.4.1 Active Library..................................................................................................................54 5.4.2 Audio System...................................................................................................................55 5.4.3 MIDI System....................................................................................................................55 5.5 Importing Plugins to the Active VFX Library............................
5.8.8 FX1 & FX2 Channels ......................................................................................................72 5.8.9 Main Stereo Output Channel ...........................................................................................72 5.8.10 BPM Control..................................................................................................................72 5.8.11 Time Signature.......................................................................
2 Overview The V-‐Machine consists of two components: hardware (the V-‐Machine itself) and software (a program called the VFX Application). These two components are designed to work together to give you more ways to make music. They don’t have to be connected to one another or used at the same time, however.
Figure 1 An operational overview of the V-Machine. Hardware connections can be made as shown in the lower area. While loading software plugins into the V-Machine, you’ll use the procedural workflow shown in the upper area. 2.
classic analog synth into a soaring string section, or from a reverb effect to a vocoder. Traditional hardware synthesizers, samplers, and sound modules are great, but many of today’s software instruments have much more to offer – cutting-‐edge synthesis technologies, detailed voicing parameters, and more.
to the Back button to return the machine to its former state. Depending on the size of the Preset you’ve selected, the loading process may take a few seconds. While the loading process is taking place, you’ll see a “Please Wait...” message and a simple animated display that indicates the V-‐Machine’s operating system is busy. 2.
2.8 The VFX Application Software After installing the VFX Application on your computer (see Figure 3), you’ll be able to harness the power of the V-‐Machine by loading a wide variety of freeware and commercial VST instruments and effects plugins into it.
2.9 Software System Requirements 1. Macintosh: Intel-‐based Mac. Recommended is at least a 1.5GHz Intel Core processor, 1GB of RAM, and Mac OS X 10.5 or later. Windows VST plugins. 2. PC: Windows XP, Vista, or 7. At minimum, a 1GHz Pentium or Athlon XP 1.33GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. Recommended is a 2.
contains one or more Presets. A single Preset has 21 slots for VST plugin instruments and effects.
Figure 4 The hierarchy of Banks and Presets in the V-Machine’s memory. 2.12 About VST Plugins Software-‐based instruments and effects have changed music recording and production in ways that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago.
Before you can run a plugin on the V-‐Machine, you’ll need to go through a special process of exporting it, either directly from the computer to the V-‐Machine’s own memory, or to a USB memory device that you can then plug into the V-‐Machine. (The latter is usually faster.
Figure 5 The Import VST Plugin dialog box is where you’ll choose VST plugins to import into the VFX Application, and also locate Wizard Files that will insure they’re compatible with the V-Machine. 5. If you have already installed the plugin in your PC, you can choose it from the drop-‐ down “VST Plugin DLL” list. 6.
Figure 6 The main menu of the VFX Application. 10. The Options box will open (see Figure 7) – again, if you’re using a Mac, you can skip this step. Choose the desired audio driver type (such as ASIO) by clicking on a button in the Audio System area. Then choose your audio device from the Playback drop-‐down menu.
11. Make sure that the MIDI channel field next to the plugin you’ve inserted in slot A says “ALL.” Play your keyboard. Depending on the plugin, you may or may not hear a sound: Some plugins make no sound until one of their presets is selected. 12.
already contain a copy of the plugin(s) in your Preset, click the With Plugins checkbox. 16. If you want to export your Preset with its associated plugins, check the With Plugins box. When you’re creating your first Preset, you will absolutely want to do this.
● If the plugin requires a hardware USB dongle for copy protection, it will not presently run in the V-‐Machine. SM Pro Audio is looking into providing support for hardware-‐ based copy protection, and this feature may be added in the future.
file includes information about your computer’s machine ID, a unique number. If the machine ID in the key file doesn’t match the ID of the computer, the software will know that this copy is not authorized. Other plugins check for authorization by looking for a hardware “dongle” (usually a USB device).
3 The V-‐Machine Hardware The V-‐Machine is a compact special-‐purpose audio processor. It has been designed to interface seamlessly within a wide range of common audio production and performance environments. Much attention to detail has been made to designing a modern, compact, high-‐performance product that is simple to operate.
3.2 Rear Panel The V-‐Machine’s rear panel (see Figure 10, next page) provides connectivity options to facilitate the connection of a range of peripheral devices. From left to right as you face the rear panel, you’ll see: ● The power on/off button. ● A connector for the included power supply.
Figure 10 The V-Machine’s rear panel connections. 3.2.1 Power Connector The V-‐Machine features a power source input connector on the rear panel for connecting the included 12V 2A external 110-‐240V 50/60Hz plug-‐pack.
● Remove any attached USB memory devices, as the V-‐Machine will not be able to start successfully when a memory stick or hard drive is attached. 3.2.3 USB Slave Connector A USB slave connector (the square jack) is provided for connection to a host PC.
3.2.6 Audio Input One 3.5mm stereo (-‐10dBV) mini-‐jack audio input is provided on the rear panel. It provides a 16-‐bit, 44.1kHz stereo digital signal, which can be processed by plugin effects. The input level gain can be adjusted in the Global System Settings (see section 3.7.1).
3.3 Kensington Security Slot A Kensington Security Slot (also known as a K-‐Slot or Kensington lock) is part of an anti-‐theft security system designed by Kensington Computer. The slot is a metal-‐reinforced hole found on the front panel of the V-‐Machine.
where it was loaded from. When you use the buttons in the top row to scroll through your Banks, you’ll be viewing both the contents of Flash memory and the contents of the .vfxlibrary folder(s) on an attached USB device. The names of Banks on the USB device are displayed in square brackets, like this: [My Bank].
Figure 11 The types of information that will be displayed in the four lines of the LCD. 3.6 Using the Left/Right Buttons You can navigate the V-‐Machine using the keypad button user interface. By pressing a left-‐ arrow or right-‐arrow button, you can step through the functions in the corresponding line of the LCD.
During that time, the V-‐Machine will make no sound. See the next section for more on this. 3.6.2 Preset Left/Right Use the left (previous) and right (next) buttons in the second row to scroll through the Presets (mixer configurations and associated plugins) within the currently selected Bank.
3.6.4 Value Left/Right Use the left (previous) and right (next) buttons in the bottom row to adjust the value of the parameter selected in the third row up or down as desired. Quick Tips: ● Press and hold the Previous or Next button to scroll the up/down value with greater speed.
• Press both arrow buttons in the third row to activate the Learn function. • Press the left arrow beside the word Unlearn. Now we’re going to look at the ordinary (non-‐T) method of controlling the Mute parameter. Select the ordinary Mute parameter for the channel, use the dual-‐button Learn command, and wiggle your mod wheel again.
3.7.1.1 Menu – LCD Display The LCD display contrast setting can be adjusted to suit varied lighting conditions and viewing angles. Use the left/right buttons to the right of the Contrast parameter to adjust the contrast in percentage terms. 3.7.1.2 Menu – Audio Settings The audio settings offer three configuration options.
in your mixer or stage amp. If you hear distortion in the output, however, you should try lowering the output gain to see if this resolves the problem. 3.7.1.3 Menu – MIDI Options The MIDI options offer the following possibilities: ● Send Program Change. This can be set to "to Preset, then Plugins" or "to Plugins Only".
same MIDI messages that they transmit, they will recognize the incoming messages and set themselves appropriately. 3.7.1.4 Menu – Global MIDI Learn The MIDI Control section of the Global System Settings offers the ability to configure external MIDI control of the V-‐Machine’s button interface, functions, and other useful settings.
to provide system information because you’re in need of technical support. ΙΙ. The Internal Flash memory (1GB) storage status. The Disk percentage (%) tells you how much of your Flash memory is currently being used to store Banks. This information is very useful when considering how to best allocate memory requirements.
1 GB internal Flash memory. It does not delete Libraries or Library components stored on external USB connected media. To delete Libraries and the files within them, attach the USB media to your computer and use your computer’s operating system.
the same plugin, so it doesn’t make sense to continually transfer or delete the actual plugin (and associated files, samples, etc.) as you make new Presets. Synchronizing a new Preset to the V-‐Machine from the computer or importing from USB memory will proceed much faster if the plugin is already stored in the V-‐Machine.
load the Preset, you should also save the Preset after using the Learn command to create the new assignment. It can be very handy to scroll through a plugin’s internal patches using a rotary encoder on your MIDI keyboard rather than using the buttons on the V-‐Machine.
USB memory devices can be hot-‐swapped to the V-‐Machine’s USB ports at any time after the V-‐ Machine has successfully completed its boot process. USB power enables use with small portable USB 2 hard drives (tested up to 250GB).
To update the firmware, proceed as follows: ● Make sure the V-‐Machine is connected via USB to the computer, and that the VFX Application is running. If the VFX Application is displaying a dialog box telling you that you need to update the firmware, close the dialog box.
● Never place the V-‐Machine near or over a radiated heat source. ● Do not place the V-‐Machine in an enclosure without proper ventilation. ● Do not stack the V-‐Machine below other electronic devices. ● Only use the included plug-‐pack. ● Never insert objects of any kind into the V-‐Machine through the ventilation slots. 3.
4 Plugins Included in Your V-‐Machine When you unpack your V-‐Machine and plug it in, you’ll find a solid selection of plugin instruments already installed and ready to use.
that is, it can’t play chords. (For more information, visit www.elektrostudio.ovh.org/index2.php.) ElektroStudio MicroMoon. A single-‐oscillator analog-‐style synth whose design was inspired by the MicroMoog. The envelopes use switches rather than a full ADSR shape, but the filter sounds nice and rich. ElektroStudio Moon Sono SX.
six-‐note-‐polyphonic analog-‐type synth with one oscillator, one envelope generator, and a basic arpeggiator. ElektroStudio Tapeotronic. The sounds of the Mellotron (a ’60s-‐era keyboard that played sounds from lengths of analog recording tape) are evoked by the Tapeotronic. Flute, vocal choir, and a string section, all delightfully lo-‐fi.
Figure 22 Motion has two independent tone generators (top), three 16-‐step sequencers (left), and six LFOs (right), plus an animated waveform display (lower right). SonicProjects OP-X Free. A virtual analog synth with a nice variety of sounds, but only a couple of basic user-‐editable parameters. (For more information, visit www.sonicprojects.
Figure 23 Each oscillator in SuperWave P8 has its own filter and envelopes, but they share a pair of LFOs and a pair of delay effects. SynthEdit 15 and 15.5. These virtual analog synths have a mystifying graphic front panel and an equally mystifying voice design, but check out the patches: They sound good. SynthEdit Air4th.
4.2 The Effects Many of the instruments included in the V-‐Machine have their own built-‐in effects (reverb, delay, chorus, and so on). The Moon Sono SX has an audio input, so it can be either a synthesizer or an effect (or both at once).
5 The VFX Software The VFX Application is a Windows and MacOS compatible application with which you’ll create and configure VFX Library folders for use on the V-‐Machine hardware.
and images are identical when running the Mac version of the VFX Application, there are a few differences you should be aware of. Most of these have to do with the installation method, file directory structures, audio interface preference settings, and importing plugins to the software.
VFX Application from the SM Pro Audio website. You must be connected to the Internet for the download to take place. Steps to install: ● Insert the Getting Started CD into your computer’s CD drive. ● Run the VFXWebSetup.exe download program.
will open in the X11 layer. 4. If your Mac doesn’t have a two-‐button mouse, you can perform the equivalent of right-‐ clicking by holding the Control key while clicking. 5.3 Quick Overview When you launch the VFX Application, you’ll see a window that looks much like the one shown in Figure 25.
To move the main window, click anywhere along its left edge and drag it. The window cannot be resized, but you can minimize it by clicking the short horizontal line in the button bar. The X at the right end of this bar closes the VFX Application.
Figure 27 The Options box as it appears in Windows. 5.4.1 Active Library As you’re creating Presets, Banks, and entire Libraries in the VFX Application, the program needs to know where your creations should be stored.
main Library is unavailable. For example, if you disconnect the thumb drive that stores the active Library, the VFX Application will revert back to the Fallback Library setting.
5.5 Importing Plugins to the Active VFX Library 5.5.1 Important Preparation & Concepts Before you start building Presets for the V-‐Machine, it’s important to understand a few key concepts. When you import a plugin into the VFX Application, several things happen. First, the software code of the .
● If you import copy-‐protected plugins from a Library that was authorized using a different physical V-‐Machine, they will fail to run on your V-‐Machine. 5.5.
You should attempt it only as a last resort. Figure 28 Accessing the Import VST Plugin box from the main menu. Figure 29 The Import VST Plugin dialog box.
a Wizard File>” from the Wizard File drop-‐down menu. ● Click the Import button. ● After the plugin is imported, you may be prompted to take further steps in order to authorize it for use on the V-‐Machine. For details on how the authorization process works, see section 5.5.
for updates. Keep in mind that although the plugin may import and function within the VFX Application, it may not synchronize/export and function correctly (or at all) in the V-‐Machine without an accompanying Wizard File. 5.5.
If the plugin uses challenge response authorization, connect the V-‐Machine to your computer and turn it on before launching the VFX Application. On importing the plugin into the VFX Application, you will see a dialog box. This box may ask you to enter the serial number of the plugin. It may then provide a challenge code.
5.5.7 VFX Application Main Menu The VFX Application main menu can be opened by clicking on the VFX icon in the top left corner of the V-‐Machine Pane, or by right-‐clicking anywhere in the VFX Application’s window except in a Slot.
If you highlight “Replace existing plugins,” then in the case of a duplicated plugin, the one in the current Library will be replaced by one from the other Library. When you choose Export to VFX Library..., you will see a box showing the contents of the currently active Library.
window) is not yet licensed, this command will initiate the licensing/authorization procedure as discussed in section 5.5.5. If the plugin is already licensed, the VFX Application will alert you to this fact, and ask if you would like to re-‐license it.
left and right through the Banks and Presets in the currently active Library by clicking the left and right arrow buttons. Parameter values can also be adjusted here, and the results will be updated immediately in the Parameter Pane view (either in the graphic panel for the plugin or in the list of parameters).
● Click the LEARN icon to activate the Learn command. ● Move the controller knob/fader on your connected MIDI controller. The plugin parameter has now been assigned to receive MIDI control messages from your chosen controller.
can be active for audio purposes, but only one of them will be active for editing.) A set of seven tabs below the slots offers quick access to each of the main areas of the Mixer’s signal path. Select the appropriate channel (1 through 4), effects bus (1 or 2), or the Main tab to view the corresponding plugin slots.
Individual plugin slots provide a plugin name display area, a MIDI channel selector, and a MIDI key range split box. Quick Tip: Clicking your mouse in the plugin slot name display area will switch the Parameter Pane to show that plugin’s VST GUI or parameter list (depending on your View setting).
respond to the arpeggiator pattern. In order for the “MIDI-‐IN from Slot A” item to work with the plugin in slot B, there must be a plugin in slot A. If for some reason you don’t want to put a plugin in slot A, then slot B should be set to “MIDI-‐IN from Computer” instead. 5.7.
Figure 33 The Mixer Pane. Double-‐clicking on a Mixer channel’s fader or pan controls will return it to its default setting. 5.8.1 Channel Gain Channel output gain controls are available for the four mixer channels, two FX bus returns, and the stereo Master output channel.
function ON and OFF. When the Solo button is active, it glows more brightly. 5.8.5 Toggle Mode In the V-‐Machine Pane, as on the V-‐Machine’s LCD itself, you will see two Mute and two Solo parameters – Mute, Mute(T), Solo, and Solo(T).
for all channels are disabled. 5.8.8 FX1 & FX2 Channels The FX1 and FX2 return channels are provided to return signal to the Mixer that you have sent through the FX bus plugin slots. The Mute, Solo, gain, and pan controls on these channels function like those on the other channels.
switch to a different Preset. Because of this, it would make no sense for the program change message to then be passed on to the plugins; the programs they will use will already be set up by the Preset.
5.10.1 Library File Management All of your work in the VFX Application will be saved to the current Library as defined in the Options/Preferences dialog box. To create a new Library, go to the Options/Preferences box and use the Browse button to open a file dialog box.
folder you’ll find a folder called banks. Inside this is a series of folders, one for each Bank. The folder names begin with three-‐digit numbers, starting with 000. Carefully renumber the folders in the order you would prefer, making sure to put an underscore character after the number. When you’re finished, restart the VFX Application.
Figure 34 Cloning a preset. Special Note: Preset files are stored in the .vfx file format. This file will be found by following a file path that looks something like this: Users > Libraries > Music > My Music > VFX Library.vfxlibrary > banks > 000_Bank Name.vfxbank > 000_Preset Name.vfxpreset > preset.
attaching another between songs or sets so as to be ready with a different set of Presets. (Each time you hot-‐swap, the V-‐Machine will auto-‐load the first Preset in its first internal Bank from Flash memory, so changing to a different USB memory device will take up to 30 seconds.) Exporting is not always a fast process.
Figure 35 Choosing the Export to VFX Library command from the main menu. Figure 36 Choosing items to export.
Figure 37 Choosing the Library folder to which you want to export the Bank(s) or Preset(s). To use the Library that you have exported, remove the USB memory device where it is stored and connect that device to the V-‐Machine to access the Banks and Presets contained within.
Quick Tips: ● After Exporting to an external device, you can browse the VFX Library from your computer’s operating system to see the contents of the Banks and Presets. This can be useful if you wish to check the size of a particular Bank, Preset, or plugin.
Figure 39 Choosing items to send to the V-Machine using synchronization. The VFX Application checks the size of the VFX Library components you’re requesting to synchronize and compares them with the available memory on the V-‐Machine.
into the Trash. 6 Limitations ● The V-‐Machine is based on a custom operating system. VST plugins are intended to run on Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Some VST plugins may not function correctly or at all on the V-‐Machine.
Postal registration – Take a copy of your purchase receipt and and mail it to your closest SM Pro Audio distributor along with your name, address, and email address. (A current list of distributors is to be found on the SM Pro Audio website.
interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his/her own expense. If necessary, consult an experienced radio/television technician for additional suggestions.
11 Appendix B: Troubleshooting 11.
11.3 Symptom: Bank, Preset, or Plugin Not Found on V-‐Machine Things to check: 1. Save the Library from the VFX Application to an external USB memory device, safely remove the USB device from your computer, connect the USB memory to the V-‐Machine, and re-‐import the missing component(s).
12.2 X11 Installation considerations X11 is a graphics display program that runs on nearly all types of modern computers. The VFX Application on a Mac uses X11 to show the graphical interfaces for Windows VST plugins. 1. Follow the following steps to check X11 is running correctly on your Mac. 2.
3. Try and install the plugin you want to work inside the VFX application, now that it is running with a fresh Windows environment.
