iPad Patch Editor for Virus TI (TOUCH for VIRUS)

  • you're welcom @Bobbories !


    I've been working on the last few weeks on a new release. It adds the ability to copy patches stored in the Virus, towards the app.

    This can be done by sending a controller dump, or by sending a "sysex dump" (in the "save patch" options menu) to the app.

    There is also a button in the app to request a sysex dump of the currently loaded patch.


    It works for pretty good, but sometimes there is a noticable difference between the original patch, and the version as stored in the app.

    Second, there are some issues with incompleted/broken sysex dumps.


    Because of this I feel this release really needs some testing by different people with different approaches, and different setups.


    So: here is a link which will let you install a beta version, and provide me with good feedback in return!

    Beta version will be updates with new beta releases, but when the release is finished, they will stop working.


    It would be great to have some people help me out!


    Follow this link for further instructions: https://testflight.apple.com/join/o8ahmZnT

  • Maarten

  • Hi @GruntBiscuits


    Thanks for pointing me to some bluetooth connection bug. It might explain some crash report i couldn't resolve because of missing context.


    When I wrote ".. in the save patch options menu", i was talking about the Save menu on the Virus, not my app. The virus offers some options for saving a patch, the last options is the Sysex dump.


    So there are two ways to start a sysex dump:

    - you can start a sysex dump on the Virus,

    - or you can start a sysex dump in the app by tapping on "Get" located at the top of the screen. "Get" is not a good label, I know, I think i will be renaming it to "Fetch patch"


    @acodmt7

    I'm no sure I understand your remark, or question. But the sound always comes from the Virus since my app only is a controller, nothing else. No sound processing, no sound output, just a massive amount of midi

  • Can’t say it was a remark .... just a general question . I got some reason thought sound travelled down the cable into the iPad but it’s for midi , this doesn’t matter , just an excited comment that I didn’t give much thought


    Thanks

  • Can’t say it was a remark .... just a general question . I got some reason thought sound travelled down the cable into the iPad but it’s for midi , this doesn’t matter , just an excited comment that I didn’t give much thought


    Thanks

    acodmt7


    If you were asking if you can get audio out of the virus and into the iPad, and thus listen to the virus via the iPad, then checkout the earlier post in this thread by LF2600

  • Hi there,


    A new version has hit the App stores world wide.

    I fixed a lot of bugs/mistakes, and made minor improvements here and there.

    But more important: I've added two new features a lot of people have been asking for:


    1) An editor for customer arpeggiator patterns

    2) receiving patch dumps (somewhat experimental )


    This means you can now 'copy' any patch saved on your Virus to the app.

    A little disclaimer: it does not seem to work when using a MIDI over bluetooth connection, at least in my test setup.


    Get the update, and have fun!

  • Hello, I am not able to send the patches from the TI SNOW to the app, the fetch for Virus button is giving me a lot of different error messages like "Received SYSEX Dump is incomplete (5)" or (20) or some other number. Even the sysex dump directly from the TI doesn't work for me. My Virus is connected via MIDI to an IConnectMIDI4+. I used to have another editor called Patch Morpher that was actually able to receive the patches, but it stopped working with an iOS update and the company stopped to develop it, I am just saying it to let you know that it is somehow possible to do it. Any suggestion? Thanks

  • Just got the app and I really like it, but I'm having some troubles too.


    My model is Virus TI Snow:

    • Zoom U-44 partially working, but "Fetch from VIRUS" or dump from the hardware always results in "Received SYSEX Dump is incomplete (x)" where x is some number eg. 11 or 526. Midi notes get sent from app, hardware knob movements are mirrored in the app and patch edits in the app get sent to Virus fine.
    • ESI MIDIMATE II same as above, but no visible error messages. Just doesn't receive the patch.
    • Yamaha UX16 works fine! I'm able to "Fetch from VIRUS" successfully. I did get one communication error while testing where I had to restart the app to fix them

    Hopefully these get fixed at some point as I'd prefer using my Zoom interface.

  • Hi Mataki,

    Thanks for your tests with different MIDI interfaces. This is very helpful since i only have two MIDI interface to test with.

    Some notes:


    1) In the next release better error logging is added. which should help me to fix bugs.

    2) When you fetch a patch and do not even see an error, it means nothing, or something unrecognizable is received by the app. Are you sure the synth receives the fetch command? Can you try to start a patch dump using the SAVE menu on the synth? If so, does it work, or do you see an error? Please let me know.

    3) I too receive an incomplete dump once in a while, i'm not sure why. I think for some reason data gets lost or messed up in the process of sending through.


    Well, for now a Compatibility list for the current app version (1.4)


    MIDI interface Editing patches Fetching patches
    Yamaha MD-BT01 (bluetooth) Yes Nope
    Yamaha UX16 (USB) Yes Yes
    Roland UM-ONE (USB) Yes Yes
    ESI MIDIMATE II (USB) Yes Nope (but sysex dump initiated on Virus towards app works)
    ZOOM U-44 (USB) Yes Nope
    Iconnectivity Iconnect4+ Yes Nope
    Neoteck UMC1 Nope Nope
    Akai MPD226 Yes Yes
  • But to answer your question:


    I'm not satisfied with the current situation. Problem is that writing the specific code for fetching/receiving patches is a bit too complex for my coding level.

    My app is using Audiokit for this work. Audiokit is being build by a very active community, and as soon as they have fixed and improved their midi support, i will build a new version and publish it. Og course I try to make them fix the specific bugs causing the fetching process to fail.


    I'm also looking into alternative ways to get this working as it should, so stay tuned!


    regards,

    Maarten

  • Hi, Maarten! firstly, thanx for this app! i use it with Snow and iconnectmidi2+.

    it works: editing and fetching, i can save preset. but everytime i have bug message of incomplete by fetching.

    - can we send our personal Library in future? like mypatch.midi

    - can we change midi Channel for audition?

  • Happy to report that MIDI from MPD226 controller works perfectly too! With some midi interfaces it might be the case that the SYSEX size is too big or comes in too fast for them to handle.

    Zitat


    2) When you fetch a patch and do not even see an error, it means nothing, or something unrecognizable is received by the app. Are you sure the synth receives the fetch command? Can you try to start a patch dump using the SAVE menu on the synth? If so, does it work, or do you see an error? Please let me know.

    ESI MIDIMATE II doing a sysex dump from virus hardware works!

    Zoom U-44 no luck even from hardware. Incomplete Error 526

  • Update for Touch for Virus (version 1.5)


    I think I have good news for people having trouble with receiving patch dumps, and patch fetching.

    I am finishing a new version which should do a better job at this.

    There is also an improved interface, and "Virus Cloud", a online patch library for sharing patches.


    You can read more about it on my website.

    https://www.maartenlierop.nl/2019/09/06/touch-for-virus-1-5/


    It should be available as an update later this month.

  • After some sad news about Access not updating their apps, I can bring some relief!

    I received a lof of enthousiast feedback on the latest release 1.5. Now Touch For Virus 1.5.1 is on its way to the App store.


    It has a lot of improvements and bugfixes. The main thing is that the stability of the app is improved when receiving patch dumps. I've also worked on some flaws of the patch library. It should be available in the next few days!

  • Hi, hope you're all safe and Corona free!!

    Anyway, version 1.6 of Touch for Virus is being reviewed by Apple..... as we speek. It's true. It is....


    It brings a new import feature for the .MID files used in the Access VST plugin for storing patches.

    In other words, you can now easily import all the patches you have inside the plugin, to Touch for Virus.

    That was the by far the most requested feature for my app, so I'm happy I was able to deliver this.


    I also had to rebuild the whole interface to comply with new appstore guidelines.

    This became a personal frustration" Apple will keep developers busy with things users will never notice, nor benefit.

    Well, I think Access is dealing with this too.

    I've update Audiokit, the framework my app uses for MIDI communication.



    Regards!![Blockierte Grafik: https://www.maartenlierop.nl/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/02-importfiles-1024x768.png]

  • Are there any plans for making this an AU3 or VST plugin? Would be awesome if we could use this inside Cubasis and other iPadOS DAWs.

  • Hi skittb123


    These are interesting thoughts, which I definitely have in mind.

    My idea for this is to have the full app for designing sounds and storing them as patches.

    The plugin for cubasis would basically be a patch library kind of view.

    It would allow you to browse and select patches which are stored in Touch for Virus.

    Maybe it could offer some way to edit some parameters, but I'm not sure how I could let you edit ALL parameters from within Cubasis.


    Would such a plugin make sence to you?


    Besides this, I will also try to port this iPadOS app to macOS. Which could also be fun for those Virus users who do not own an iPad.


    by the way, while Apple is reviewing the app I found out the bluetoothmidi menu won't work, at least on IOS14. Just saying... ||