First demo of the upcoming 50 mbyte X3M "Polaris" soundbank : https://soundcloud.com/dreamblaster/heretic-e … polaris-bank-01
It is still work in progress. This bank is an evolution of the GUD bank, with many tweaks, and newly synthesized instruments (for example synth strings).

it sounds really really good 😮

Oh. I'm curious how it does sound in other games 😀

I have ordered an X3M earlier this week, still waiting for its arrival. Can't wait to try this new soundbank once it's finished! With this one, the Dreamblaster will have three different banks (the smaller default one, the medium-sized GUD and this), so there's quite some variety! For me, the GUD sounds good already, but too close to the General User soundfont. I can have that also by simply using the soundfont directly. With Polaris, it seems like the Dreamblaster finally fully grows up and delivers midi output that places it before legendary synths such as the SC-55 or DB50XG. It's great to see hardware development for oldschool midi enthusiasts in modern days and I highly appreciate this dedication of the developer to deliver the best music quality possible!

Does this mean the soundbank is finally ready for takeoff? My X3M is crying for it quite a bit.

Trelokk wrote:

Does this mean the soundbank is finally ready for takeoff? My X3M is crying for it quite a bit.

Could you send me a pm ? 😀

Whats the difference beetween X3M and X2 ?

matze79 wrote:

Whats the difference beetween X3M and X2 ?

X3M is a standalone midi module
X2 is a waveblaster PCB

X3M has the same DSP and same amount of flash (64mbyte).
Differences, compared to X2 :
- 56 voices polyphony instead of 81
- 1 core is used for USB audio streaming
- so this makes it an usb soundcard that can play midi and wave
- jumpers allow to set the din connector function :
- MIDI IN
- MIDI OUT
- the preset editor allows to configure some extra features:
- MIDI IN routing : to synth, to interface, or to both

There's a user manual for X3M : http://serdaco.com/downloads/X3M/X3M_UserManual.pdf

I am considering to launch X2M Polaris as well (it is different firmware but can use the same board) :
Differences compared to X3M :
- pure midi module, so no usb audio steaming
- this gives back 81 voices polyphony instead of 56
Because in the end, I don't find the usb audio feature that useful.
What do you think ?

is it possible to have both firmwares and load whichever is needed at any time? x3m or x2m ?

keropi wrote:

is it possible to have both firmwares and load whichever is needed at any time? x3m or x2m ?

No
I tried that, I wanted to use a jumper to switch between both modes, but it is not possible. Some settings like USB configuration must be defined at compiletime.
It is currently not possible to load your own firmware, as it requires a dream proprietary programmer.

allright, seems fair you can't have all in life 🤣

Seeing the final design of the midi module enclosure, inspired for a possible new name : Buran or Буран

I'd love your input 😀

What do think of the looks ?? What color scheme to try ?
- Black/White the like original Buran Shuttle ?
- Complete black dark sarcophagus look ? (like photo)
- yellow/red ?
- other ?

Name : Buran or Polaris ?

Буран!!! Like this, in cyrillic, in the original color scheme! I absolutely love it, do want!

Oh my... is it available for purchase?

dreamblaster wrote:

Seeing the final design of the midi module enclosure, inspired for a possible new name : Buran or Буран

You mean this Buran? 😉

Srandista wrote:

dreamblaster wrote:

Seeing the final design of the midi module enclosure, inspired for a possible new name : Buran or Буран

You mean this Buran? 😉

Yes, but the one that flew on 15 november 1988 : https://youtu.be/5_qOrK_mn0U
First and last flight !