Announce: Ensoniq DP Editor

Happy to announce the latest update to my Max-based DP Editor application - a full featured editor/librarian for the legendary Ensoniq DP series of effects devices.

These units have garnered legendary status over the years for their powerful algorithms, overall sound and very flexible routing capabilities. But this last aspect has always proved difficult for some to visualize, in terms of understanding overall signal flow from inputs, through the various effects units, and on to the outputs. This was masterfully tackled by an application from the late 1990's called DP/4 Editor, written by Rob Martin for Surgical Software. Sadly, that application was written for Macintosh OS 9, making it not too helpful for most current studio environments.

I decided to pay homage to Rob's work with an entirely new software tool built in Max, using several of the concepts from his original application for the DP/4 focusing on that audio signal flow visualization through the DP, and expanding its coverage to the broader DP series, with support for the DP/2, DP/4 and DP/4+. Choosing from any of the ROM or RAM presets is a simple drag and drop operation to wherever in the signal path you'd like to use them. And DP Editor allows for real-time editing of virtually all effects algorithm parameters, including the ability to view all four units and their respective parameters at once.

In addition, I've embedded all of the effect algorithm and parameter descriptions and graphics from the fantastic Ensoniq documentation right within the application, to enable better understanding of each value's role in getting all those fantastic sounds from these devices. There's also an included librarian function, to manage, store and recall preset bundles from your computer.

Again, Max served as a fantastic platform to build this app on, allowing for intuitive visualization, handy management of some challenging MIDI SysEx challenges, and cross-platform support. Here's to the Cycling crew!

More info: https://defectiverecords.com/dpeditor