I made a post on here a while back that attracted some attention to my private messages, where we discussed the possibility of making a DSP563xx emulator to get the TC Powercore working.

The synths below all share the same Motorola 563xx DSPs:

• TC Electronics PowerCore - 4x Freescale DSP 56367
• Waldorf MW2/XT — Motorola 56303
• Waldorf Q — Motorola 56303
• Clavia Micro Modular — Motorola 56303
• Clavia Nord Modular — Motorola 56303
• Nord Lead 3 — 6 Motorola 56362
• Nord Modular — 4 Motorola 56303
• Novation SuperNova — Motorola 56303
• Novation Nova — 5 Motorola 56362 (synth engine), and 1 Motorola 56303 (fx unit)
• Korg MS2000 — Motorola 56362
• Korg Microkorg — Motorola 56362
• Access Virus A — Motorola 56303
• Access Virus B — Motorola 56311
• Access Virus C - Motorola 56362
• Access Virus TI - 2x Freescale DSP 56367
• Access Virus TI2 - 2x Freescale DSP 56367. Later models used DSP56321

Some progress was made and now we have an emulator that is able to run some demos correctly, including knobs.

Link on github: https://github.com/Lyve1981/dsp56300

We've set up a Discord server in case anyone wants to join the discussion/development, so feel free to enter:

Link to the server: https://discord.gg/mveFUNbNCK

 

Last edited: Apr 13, 2021

Run any of the synths mentioned above Natively on your system, they would all need some sort of GUI building, so its a long process

But with simple GUIs could be done alot quicker I suppose!

 

Only if you have the ROM file for it!

 

Yeah think of Synth1 but with Virus sound haha

Yeah, just cant share the roms. Same way game emulators work

 

So, is the emulation actually working?
The idea would be nice... I mean, the Virus TI2 is pretty great, but you only can have 3 layers via usb and the (internal) timing is extremely unreliable, e.g. arpeggios with 1/32 or 1/64 steps are fast out of sync with your daw an such things...

How to dump a ROM out of a synth?

However, big thanks for your effort! PM me if you need help

 

Yes, currently running at 50Mhz, still being optimized

No need to, most of them are already online ;)

Thanks dude, appreciate it

 

Now this is super cool

 

Yes we have access to multiple Virus's and the relevant JTAG equipment to dump the ROM, also the Firmware comes inside of the virus installer files so may be no need to do a dump at all

 

Thanks dude

 

Let's hope more people jump in to help with gui and optimisation and sort things out!

this is full of potentiel!

good luck friend.

 

okay this definitely gets my attention as a really big fan of those 90's synths and just about giving up that any modern plugins will ever be made for them. Just to clarify: are these vst editors you connect the hardware too (e.g. Mystery Islands editors) or legit VST plugins of the synths?

I had the former a few times and was really disappointed. Despite the cool GUI's, I never really got the editors to work despite emailing a lot. The same with other editors that are available. The best way to use those old synths is to simply use them directly and I personally find them a pain in this day and age. It's honestly faster for me to just use a software editor and change the parameters with a mouse.

Either way, this is really exciting. I've given up on Waldorf, Novation, Clavia or any of those companies re-visiting their old stuff even though they sound fantastic and full of character. I'm curious if other synths like the Yamaha AN1x also fit on this list.


I also personally agree that simpler GUI's are better! Synth1's GUI looks very basic, but is perfectly intuitive and preferable all things considered. Adam Szabo's Viper made with SynthEdit, and the Novation Ultranova editor which it was inspired by, are fantastic GUI's that are very easy to use.

 

everyone has the ROM files for everything.

http://dbwbp.com/index.php/9-misc/37-synth-eprom-dumps

if that is enough in all cases is another question.

 

The goal is having fully functional VST Plugins that can make sound on their own.

 

That is genuinely insane. I mean, completely insane. I've been anticipating VSTs off of the Waldorf Q, Novation Supernova, Nord Lead series..for years now. It never seemed like it was going to happen because it kind of seems like plugin developers are more interested in modern wavetable synths and/or classic analog plugins like the Juno or Jupiter. If this emulator project actually opens the floodgates were plugins based on all of these synths are actually feasible then..holy cow!

This project definitely has my attention. There isn't much I can personally contribute other than excitement, but I'm absolutely interested if this is even mildly possible

 

I just got a TC PowerCore Express PCI card for an old Mac Pro. I have a Ti2 and Nordlead 2 also. The Nova I have is the "laptop" version.

Interesting project!

 

Yep! Sound like you are just as excited as we were when we realised we might actually be able to pull this off