I have the lofi 6 and 12 i passed on the texture lab but wanted it, then the XT lofi smpltrek came out and i was super tempted but like the livens workflow better. Also the elz_play was tempting but this one is really speaking to me more im super tempted cause this one is right up my nagstalogia alley. I like it has 128 steps and patterns instead of the 64 and it can also sample with 6 tracks it's a good all around groovebox improvement . I'm curious how it rank in your list of liven series ?
Ha I have to keep reshuffling that list in my head, I can barely keep up with Sonicware 😄 I think the MEGA has hold the top spot, perhaps level with the Lofi-12 as they're both easy to use. With the MEGA combining synthesis and sampling, that's a very complete palette to work with in one place. Texture Lab holds a special place but it's not capable of building songs so that's maybe 2nd. Beyond that they all have something unique, but some are far trickier to navigate than others, to the point that if I've stepped away for a while it takes time to warm up to them again. I think that's something Sonicware have worked on more, it shows in their recent gear
Thank you 😁 Well this one has the simplest pattern edit mode (regular mode as it is in the manual) of any of them so far. FM synthesis will be fun to explain on it too, I've planned quite a bit of that
This thing looks like a lot of fun but the part of me who's still 11 years old and fighting the Nintendo/Sega wars is afraid to buy one in case the moment it arrives a SNES version comes out
Ha awesome, I'm a veteran of that war myself 😂 A few people have asked about the possibility of a SNES version but it's basically just a sample player so you could do that already with the Liven Lofi-12 or Lofi-6 by keeping your samples really short and looping them. You'd just need the right samples really. There's some deep technical info about it here ua-cam.com/video/dtK0t8k6akg/v-deo.htmlsi=4dhcELW1jd7ZOvFF
Yes there are some seriously cheesy FM sounds, the DX7 electric piano sound everyone always talks about is horrible imo 😄 I like the dirtier things that it can do, along with the crunchy drums this can do too 👌
Yeah this will get you the authentic sound 😁 It has an overlay like some of the other Livens so you can use all the knobs to edit sound which is a lot easier than editing on the Volca FM
Thank you 😁 Yeah there is a bank of guitar sounds and this is one of those in legato mode while I dial in some manual vibrato. All the presets were renamed this time so I'm not even sure if it's one of mine or someone elses 😄
Can anyone help me figure out how to create a new page? I seem to only be able to record to one 16 step page. Page button does nothing. Also hitting the 1/3 and 2/4 buttons, nothing. Live recording also not working, I can only record one note too. Can anyone help?
My tutorial videos will cover everything you need to know, links below. But for the page buttons, they won't do anything until you make your track longer. Each track can have its own length set with Func+Step 8 (Length). As for recording, it may be that you have note ties switched off which is Func+Step 15 (Tie), but if that doesn't work then go through the tutorial to check the realtime record procedure ua-cam.com/video/uCz2NDiiXJg/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/hEST9XFctXc/v-deo.html
Ha yeah I did wonder about that. Having seen the nightmare of the actual old school dev process of building tracks on the original hardware though, it makes me wonder how it works in the 2020s 🤔
Nice bit of G(enesis) Funk for a Sunday afternoon. Looking forward to the tutorial video. Will there be an app (or even a simple batch file) for converting wav files to sysex to transfer them from PC to the Liven Mega?
I don't think Sonicware will ever include paper manuals if that's what you mean. The manuals are easy to find on their website and they like to add features via firmware upgrades so it's a much neater solution to just update that
This is great! So what's the difference between this and 8bit warp? Could you please consider to jam with both machines? Thanks for your awesome channel your tutorial has been always gold for me Chris👍
Thank you. So apart from the fact that they're both inspired by old game console sounds, there's no commonality between the 8bit Warps and the Liven MEGA. The 8bit Warps is a synth that emulates the simple wavetable abilities of early 8bit machines with editable waveforms and a 4 track audio looper. The MEGA is inspired by the 16-bit console era and therefore gives you full access to editing an emulation of the YM2612 chip's 4-op FM synthesis capabilities & it's ability to play samples. Plus it adds on simple square, pulse and noise sounds found in the SN76489. It uses a 6 track sequencer so you can have FM, chip-tune style sounds and lofi sampling all at once I certainly could make a jam with both of them, but I'm having fun exploring the MEGA alone at the moment 😄
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks Chris. It looks like it's just me that has a problem with these LEDs, Googling doesn't bring up anyone else that thinks they're too bright. Maybe there's a physical mod that can dim them, I was thinking a line of tape applied inside the case. PS. the box sounds great, just what I need for a project, so will probably get it
So apart from the fact that they're both inspired by old game console sounds, there's no commonality between the 8bit Warps and the Liven MEGA. The 8bit Warps is a synth that emulates the simple wavetable abilities of early 8 bit machines with editable waveforms and a 4 track audio looper. The MEGA is inspired by the 16-bit console era and therefore gives you full access to editing (via an overlay) an emulation of the YM2612 chip's 4-op FM synthesis capabilities & it's ability to play samples. Plus it adds on simple square, pulse and noise sounds found in the SN76489. It uses a 6 track sequencer so you can have FM, chip-tune style sounds and lofi sampling all at once. So to summarise, they have a completely different sound quality and the 8Bit Warps has one real-time track with an audio looper to layer recordings, while the MEGA has 6 different real-time tracks instead.
@@truthxbl So they're vastly different to be honest. Sonicware have done a great job making each Liven distinct from each other, apart from the Lofi-6 which is a special edition of the Lofi-12 The Texture Lab works using a process called granular synthesis. This chops up audio into very small chunks and then rearranges them to create new sounds. It has 4 voices of polyphony and all editing is done from the front panel. It has a single track for playing back patterns. Its basically a hands on synth with a sequencer. It also allows effects patches to be created using it's EFX mode. The overall experience is very experimental and creates some very unique sounds. The Liven MEGA recreates all the sound capabilities of a specific 90s games console, but expands the spec a little to make it much easier to work with. It has 3 different track types across 6 separate tracks including 6 voice polyphony for FM sounds, 4 voices for harsh square and noise sounds and 3 for sampled drums. The FM voices can be edited by using an overlay which gives complete access to a deep set of sound design tools. The main pattern edited level is for assembling tracks from FM sounds and layering it up with sampled drums, square and noise. It's the first Liven to have more than one simultaneous method of generating sound and with plenty of polyphony which makes it a nice tool set even if you're not into old school game music. Sorry for the long answer, but it's difficult to explain it briefly 😅
Sonicware is going hard and I absolutely love it. Seems like every time I turn around the either have a new device coming out or a kickass update to an old one. Can't wait to get my finances in order and start my collection
You've made me buy one of these. I'm excited to get my hands on it and have been pumping out megadrive bangers all night! Looking forward to the deep dive video!
Ha, sorry about that 😄 The deep dive into the sequencer side of things will be up soon. I did the exact same thing when I was asked to work on this, stuck the Streets of Rage soundtracks on straight away!
Wow that sounds nice😊
Thank you, I've been enjoying playing with this 😁
Sounds like a classic side scrolling beat em up. I'm buying this machine.
Thank you, I was aiming for that kind of feel 😄 Nice one, hope you enjoy it if you buy one!
I have the lofi 6 and 12 i passed on the texture lab but wanted it, then the XT lofi smpltrek came out and i was super tempted but like the livens workflow better. Also the elz_play was tempting but this one is really speaking to me more im super tempted cause this one is right up my nagstalogia alley. I like it has 128 steps and patterns instead of the 64 and it can also sample with 6 tracks it's a good all around groovebox improvement . I'm curious how it rank in your list of liven series ?
Ha I have to keep reshuffling that list in my head, I can barely keep up with Sonicware 😄 I think the MEGA has hold the top spot, perhaps level with the Lofi-12 as they're both easy to use. With the MEGA combining synthesis and sampling, that's a very complete palette to work with in one place. Texture Lab holds a special place but it's not capable of building songs so that's maybe 2nd. Beyond that they all have something unique, but some are far trickier to navigate than others, to the point that if I've stepped away for a while it takes time to warm up to them again. I think that's something Sonicware have worked on more, it shows in their recent gear
makes total sense thanks for the input it's very helpful i think i'm going to have to get it @@ChrisLodyMusic
Can we hear some demos using only the PSG channels? Curious how the sound doing Sega Master System type stuff
Okay I'll try to find time for that, I currently have to make a few tutorials though so I'm not sure when that will be possible
SonicWare Liven “grooveboxes” are fantastic, but without your videos, I would have struggled learning how to operate them.
Thank you 😁 Well this one has the simplest pattern edit mode (regular mode as it is in the manual) of any of them so far. FM synthesis will be fun to explain on it too, I've planned quite a bit of that
This thing looks like a lot of fun but the part of me who's still 11 years old and fighting the Nintendo/Sega wars is afraid to buy one in case the moment it arrives a SNES version comes out
Ha awesome, I'm a veteran of that war myself 😂
A few people have asked about the possibility of a SNES version but it's basically just a sample player so you could do that already with the Liven Lofi-12 or Lofi-6 by keeping your samples really short and looping them. You'd just need the right samples really. There's some deep technical info about it here ua-cam.com/video/dtK0t8k6akg/v-deo.htmlsi=4dhcELW1jd7ZOvFF
I love the Liven XFM but this one really has those classic FM sounds I love.
Yes the XFM was definitely an attempt to do something new and modern with FM where as this is all about those classic sounds
both this and the liven fm are phase modulation , so both use the yamaha fm ( phase modulation °
The mega is based on the cheaper Yamaha YM2612 chip
Ok, I have a love/ hate for fm sounds. They are cheesy but usually sound smooth. The drum and sample tracks on this box are great! Sweet jam!
Yes there are some seriously cheesy FM sounds, the DX7 electric piano sound everyone always talks about is horrible imo 😄 I like the dirtier things that it can do, along with the crunchy drums this can do too 👌
Flashbacks of video game nights in the 90s
That lead sound is so nice!
Yeah it's got some decent sounds on it. This is one of the guitar patches played in legato mode with some vibrato dialled in as I play
I use to make Sega sounds on Volca FM but hmmmmm now i gotta look closely to this one
Yeah this will get you the authentic sound 😁 It has an overlay like some of the other Livens so you can use all the knobs to edit sound which is a lot easier than editing on the Volca FM
@@ChrisLodyMusic gotta buy that ASAP! Thanks bro
@@djkanyon all your music is fantastic, especially that 9 min tune of you tweaking 1 knob for the same sound over and over
DAF bro!!!
That's fire!!!!! Such a sweet machine. I love that lead synth!!!
Thank you 😁 Yeah there is a bank of guitar sounds and this is one of those in legato mode while I dial in some manual vibrato. All the presets were renamed this time so I'm not even sure if it's one of mine or someone elses 😄
Can anyone help me figure out how to create a new page? I seem to only be able to record to one 16 step page. Page button does nothing. Also hitting the 1/3 and 2/4 buttons, nothing. Live recording also not working, I can only record one note too. Can anyone help?
My tutorial videos will cover everything you need to know, links below.
But for the page buttons, they won't do anything until you make your track longer. Each track can have its own length set with Func+Step 8 (Length). As for recording, it may be that you have note ties switched off which is Func+Step 15 (Tie), but if that doesn't work then go through the tutorial to check the realtime record procedure
ua-cam.com/video/uCz2NDiiXJg/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/hEST9XFctXc/v-deo.html
man im getting Heathcliff vibes ❤.
Is this only stock samples and internal sounds?
@@dpalaoro That's right, just stock samples and preset FM patches, some of which I designed 😁
It's the funk-shinobi-brother check it out now. ;) Love this! The dystopian neon alley of Revenge of Shinobi.
Thank you 😁 I'm certainly having fun creating these strange nonexistent game soundtracks!
Well it seems you missed your true calling sir :) Get in touch with some of these kids who are building new homebrew games for the Mega Drive ASAP!
Ha yeah I did wonder about that. Having seen the nightmare of the actual old school dev process of building tracks on the original hardware though, it makes me wonder how it works in the 2020s 🤔
❤
Also, thank you Chris for your amazing content
Fire as always Chris !
Thank you 😁
Nice bit of G(enesis) Funk for a Sunday afternoon. Looking forward to the tutorial video. Will there be an app (or even a simple batch file) for converting wav files to sysex to transfer them from PC to the Liven Mega?
Thank you. Nothing has been mentioned to me about that so far so I don't think there will be a transfer app
man is this baby easy to clock with other drum machines???
@@dpalaoro yes it is. You have midi and analog sync connection as sync options
Nice! I am doing (virtually) all Liven jams this month! 😆👍
Ooh nice I'll have to check those out!
heavy groove there... theyvrrally need to start including instructions for these damn things though
I don't think Sonicware will ever include paper manuals if that's what you mean. The manuals are easy to find on their website and they like to add features via firmware upgrades so it's a much neater solution to just update that
DUDE POPPED UP ON FEED, first time Facebook threw me a good add in years, bought tenge synth immediately, big dopamine hit. cant wait.
Nice one. I hope you have lots of fun with it 😁
@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks. Do you know when the next batch is coming?
Not an exact date no, sorry. The first three batches have sold out so if you pre-order now those will ship sometime during March
If they was to make a Kid chameleon 2.
Awesome groove dude.
Thank you 😁
Sweeeet!
This is great!
So what's the difference between this and 8bit warp?
Could you please consider to jam with both machines?
Thanks for your awesome channel your tutorial has been always gold for me Chris👍
Thank you.
So apart from the fact that they're both inspired by old game console sounds, there's no commonality between the 8bit Warps and the Liven MEGA. The 8bit Warps is a synth that emulates the simple wavetable abilities of early 8bit machines with editable waveforms and a 4 track audio looper. The MEGA is inspired by the 16-bit console era and therefore gives you full access to editing an emulation of the YM2612 chip's 4-op FM synthesis capabilities & it's ability to play samples. Plus it adds on simple square, pulse and noise sounds found in the SN76489. It uses a 6 track sequencer so you can have FM, chip-tune style sounds and lofi sampling all at once
I certainly could make a jam with both of them, but I'm having fun exploring the MEGA alone at the moment 😄
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thank you so much for the detailed reply!
Planning to grab one soon!
Meanwhile thanks for the great Jamuary you're running!
Awesome. Can’t wait to play one myself.
Thank you 😁 Hope you have fun with it
Very nice! Great mix of sounds in this arrangement!
Thank you. I wish I'd had time to develop this a bit though 😄
This is great for that retro game sounds. Cool track Chris! I do love that lead sound with the modulation!
Thank you 😁 I was quite surprised how much it sounds like distorted guitar myself. It's just made using FM synthesis with no effects
I was thinking the same thing...@@ChrisLodyMusic
I recognized those drums, they were used on Toe Jam & Earl :D
Yeah I think you're right, it was from the 'GAME' bank and the kit is called 'TJE2' 😄
@@ChrisLodyMusic yes!! There you go, it's so nice to hear those sounds again 😄
I nearly kept the Lofi12 but those LEDs are so bright, which is what swung it.
Looks like these LEDs are too bright as well.
Yes the LEDs will be exactly the same in this so if you're sensitive to that then this will also be a problem
@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks Chris. It looks like it's just me that has a problem with these LEDs, Googling doesn't bring up anyone else that thinks they're too bright. Maybe there's a physical mod that can dim them, I was thinking a line of tape applied inside the case. PS. the box sounds great, just what I need for a project, so will probably get it
Hello Chris, I’d like to know how is this liven different from 8bit warps?
So apart from the fact that they're both inspired by old game console sounds, there's no commonality between the 8bit Warps and the Liven MEGA. The 8bit Warps is a synth that emulates the simple wavetable abilities of early 8 bit machines with editable waveforms and a 4 track audio looper. The MEGA is inspired by the 16-bit console era and therefore gives you full access to editing (via an overlay) an emulation of the YM2612 chip's 4-op FM synthesis capabilities & it's ability to play samples. Plus it adds on simple square, pulse and noise sounds found in the SN76489. It uses a 6 track sequencer so you can have FM, chip-tune style sounds and lofi sampling all at once.
So to summarise, they have a completely different sound quality and the 8Bit Warps has one real-time track with an audio looper to layer recordings, while the MEGA has 6 different real-time tracks instead.
@@ChrisLodyMusic Cool, thanks!
Very nice funky base line and lead playing!
Thank you, had fun with this on 😁
love the wailing solo, great jam
Thank you, great fun to play that, I must hook up a midi keyboard and try it that way too
Was this all created using only the Mega Synth? Fantastic.
That's correct yes. Just a few presets across a few different tracks, nothing else
Awesome
@@ChrisLodyMusic Is there anything that sets the Mega Synth apart from the Texture Lab? Is there anything it can do that other Liven synths cannot?
@@truthxbl So they're vastly different to be honest. Sonicware have done a great job making each Liven distinct from each other, apart from the Lofi-6 which is a special edition of the Lofi-12
The Texture Lab works using a process called granular synthesis. This chops up audio into very small chunks and then rearranges them to create new sounds. It has 4 voices of polyphony and all editing is done from the front panel. It has a single track for playing back patterns. Its basically a hands on synth with a sequencer. It also allows effects patches to be created using it's EFX mode. The overall experience is very experimental and creates some very unique sounds.
The Liven MEGA recreates all the sound capabilities of a specific 90s games console, but expands the spec a little to make it much easier to work with. It has 3 different track types across 6 separate tracks including 6 voice polyphony for FM sounds, 4 voices for harsh square and noise sounds and 3 for sampled drums. The FM voices can be edited by using an overlay which gives complete access to a deep set of sound design tools. The main pattern edited level is for assembling tracks from FM sounds and layering it up with sampled drums, square and noise. It's the first Liven to have more than one simultaneous method of generating sound and with plenty of polyphony which makes it a nice tool set even if you're not into old school game music.
Sorry for the long answer, but it's difficult to explain it briefly 😅
Love this
Thanks very much 😁
Sonicware is going hard and I absolutely love it. Seems like every time I turn around the either have a new device coming out or a kickass update to an old one. Can't wait to get my finances in order and start my collection
Yes they're delivering a lot of products, so much to choose from already! I can hardly keep up to be honest 😄
i want one of these SO bad!
Sounds really nice!
💯
That gives me childhood vibes!
Sounds like an 80s casio keyboard
Well it'll certainly sound like an 80s Yamaha keyboard, they made the YM2612 chip that this is based on
Just bought my Mega Synthesis. Love that Toe Jam and Earl drum kit.
Yeah it's great fun that 😄
You've made me buy one of these. I'm excited to get my hands on it and have been pumping out megadrive bangers all night! Looking forward to the deep dive video!
Ha, sorry about that 😄 The deep dive into the sequencer side of things will be up soon. I did the exact same thing when I was asked to work on this, stuck the Streets of Rage soundtracks on straight away!
Awesome track! I can easily imagine this playing in SMD action game
Thank you 😁
Do love those FM clonk sounds. Good demo that👌👍
Thank you. I'm always trying to get those kind of sounds from FM 👌
Outstanding ! 🤘
Thank you 😁
This is mint! 👍🏻
Thank you 😁
if i didnt already have the MegaFM YM2612 synth, i'd buy this Liven Mega synthesis in a heartbeat.
Yeah I'd like one of those too 😁
Labyrinth meets Altered Beast! :) 👍