#308

Hello! I have just received a second-hand Just Friends. I’m excited.

However, its clouds are Silver and it has no happy emoji sticker, so I’m assuming it has not had the Run jack fix.

A few questions:

  1. Are there any silver clouds JF that shipped with the Run jack fixed?
  2. Would anyone happen to know if it is safe to plug into a Mordax Data and then into JF Run jack? I would assume so, and can also look for documentation re: that but thought I’d put that out there.
  3. Are there any other safe ways to determine if my JF does not have the Run jack fix?
  4. If mine needs the Run jack fix, how complicated is it? I do SMD builds and depending on the complexity of the fix I may be able to do it myself.

Thanks for any info!

#309
  1. I think what you could do—if you have a multimeter, which I guess you must if you’re SMD-ing, you could try half-plugging in a jack to run and then measuring the voltage you see across the other end of the jack?

(reading in between the lines of the webpage, it sounds like the problem that happened involved an output-to-output connection à la stackcable / passive mult mixing, so it should be safe to go your route? that said I definitely don’t know for certain!!)

#310

I can try that… Depending on the speed of the spike it might register visibly on the multimeter.

I wish I had a real scope but I don’t yet.

#311

If the physical world matches what’s going on in my head, what happens is you half-plug in, so the tip of the cable makes connection with the jack, but you don’t move it in far enough to trip the little make-before-break switch inside of the jack, so the normalled connection is not defeated, meaning you see a constant -12V on the meter. Now, that’s a big “if”, but worth a shot

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#312

This is largely correct.
The voltage is statically provided to the jack’s switch, so there’s no spike to worry about. You’ll see ~-11.5v on a non-upgraded module. If it’s had the update it’ll be closer to -10v. I doubt it’s been updated if there’s no sticker (we were pretty insistent about that).
Email service@whimsicalraps.com for further details.

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#313

Another thought… because I remember having a similar issue… your slopes aren’t reaching their peak before you retrigger? Might have missed something here as I’ve been away from my synth for a week or so

#314

by default I believe Just Friends doesn’t retrigger until the Rise phase has completed

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#315

Ah from memory that’s right. Disregard

#316

Transient and sustain really have me riddled still.
Am i right that only percussive pulses can be had from those or should actual melodic, playable oscilation be archived somehow?

Another confusion i got, i just found out i can still send a sequence to v8 and have the oscillator play pitch to it while being in shape mode whilst triggers seem to shape the actual sound. I thought it was only either/or?
This seems to be mostly relevant to fm?

Riddled… .in a nice way but still…

Ultimately i wanted to find out what 4 triggers do in sustain or transient sound modes but couldnt get much out of it besides percussive pulses and gnarly stuff. I am trying to see if the manipulation i can do in shape cycle modes to gates, triggering samples, could be translated to manipulate several triggers of another jf in sound. But i am a bit lost right now.
Any ideas?

#317

HLP - watch these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDFxKr7VtX0

There is a whole series on just friends
Theyll really help you as itll give you a visual instruction on what the modes do as he does it on a scope…i think youll get a lot more out of them than questions answered here

5 Likes
#318

Saw em a while ago before getting jf and there are still ppl with limited internet bandwidth:D but i will study those again next time i have some proper wifi.

I was under the impression my question was a bit specific in use tho. Maybe not?

You are right tho, the scope helps

#319

In sound & transient/sustain mode, the Triggers expect audio rate pulse-trains. Attach oscillators rather than rhythmic trigger sources. Easiest way is to think of those 2 modes more as waveshapers, than oscillators in their own right.

If you want to use a trigger to gate an oscillator, you’ll need to attach outputs in sound/cycle mode into a VCA (with probably another envelope generator to create the shape).

Alternatively, JF can do this internally, but only in plume mode (sound/cycle/RUN). The biggest drawback in this mode is limited control over the shape of the envelope (though the shapes are nice!)

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#320

Is there anywhere that this type of specific information is collected for reference?

Thanks

#321

Threads like this :slight_smile:

#322
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#323

Thanks, I have the manual, but it’s rather, um, poetic… I could benefit from something more nuts and bolts… I guess I need to do my own compiling!

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#324

oh I definitely didn’t mean to “rtfm” you, I do really use mine as a reference all the time - it may be poetic but the descriptions of the run modes are really helpful, especially since I tend to get in a zone with one for a few months and realize I’ve forgotten the specifics of another when I switch it up. totally get it though.

8 Likes
#325

Thanks, I guess I mostly just need to spend more time fiddling and puzzling my way around the mannequins modules… I’ve had an MS-20 since about 1982, and know a lot about good old fashioned analog synthesis… I’m finding the mannequins modules to be simultaneously fascinating and frustratingly oblique… which is great but sometimes I just want a straightforward list of “set this knob to that position to achieve this result” kind of functionality…

Some of it definitely has to do with the fact that in many cases the knobs aren’t fully continuous in function, like a VC-1 that’s at its lowest all the way CCW and at its highest all the way CW…

Does that make sense?

1 Like
#326

Thanks!
Should ve known by the manual mentioning pwm. Now it makes sense

The floom mode i mostly get, the cycles overall are pretty instant.

What made me a bit confused is, while nothing in the run jack, with the pitch around 12 or later, i could get the cycle/sound pitch in cycle/shape whilst simple gates shaped according to the trigger input choosen. Partially rather subtle.
Nothing ive read or seen so far mentioned this…or it slipped my attention.
If JF didnt think it was still in a run or ind sound mode for some reason, this is news to me.

On my other finding;
I ve a pretty cheesyvid of a silly beat that shows the tape style effects in one of the run modes i got. I am just gonna post it for reference later in hope someone can clarify if i can get those kind of shapes to singular voices in the harmonic choir when fed to another JF, if yes, i dont think i could resist.

#327

So here it is what i am brabbling about:)
Its in Volley.
On first and on last second you kinda hear the bare original silly boombap beat. On around sec 3 you hear the grainy stutter and inbetween some of that delayish/doubltracker stuff i am talking about.
To my knowledge this is a lot more special than what could be done with just lfo or EG.

I can find my way through this wonderful module just fine, but my understanding of every aspect isnt exactly fullcricle or rather cycle.
What i don’t understand and would really like to find out is, if a connection between 2 JF‘s would allow me these effects to modulate parts of a harmonic/subharmonic choir of JF in sound.
There are too much variables in that assumption for me to really know. So idealy Gil or someone who knows a lot about it, might want to answer this?