Dave Smith Instruments and Roger Linn have released an OS update for the Tempest drum machine, responding to a recent user petition.
The release is now available as a beta release via the DSI forum.
“I wish to thank you all for your patience, with a special thanks to John the Savage for his time and effort in helping me reproduce the bugs and test our fixes,” says Roger Linn in a post at the forum. “I am also personally grateful to Chris Hector for his hard work in implementing these fixes, as well to the guys at DSI and especially Dave, who personally stepped in to help make this happen.”
“We haven’t fixed everything on the petition, but overall I think it’s very good news and we felt that enough was done to ask for your kind help with testing, which would be much appreciated,” adds Linn.
The update addresses a variety of bugs and user requests. Here’s Linn’s summary of the changes:
1. Tempest not being able to discern between note ‘velocity’ and pad ‘pressure’…
Description: When playing back a recorded sound which has pad pressure assigned as a mod source, the sound is modulated by velocity instead.
Status: Fixed.
2. Note sustain without a duration limit…
Description: This title is not quite accurate. The problem was that sometimes ADSR sounds in Beats would terminate before their full duration expired, or a performed ADSR sound would terminate before you released the pad. This was because Tempest has only 6 voices, so if all voices are playing, new sounds need to steal voices from playing sounds. Tempest does this by stealing the playing voice with the lowest VCA level, but this can result in recorded ADSR sounds with long durations being terminated before their recorded duration ends.
Status: Mostly fixed. Now held ADSR sounds—whether playing from beats or played live—should never terminate before release.
However, with only 6 voices, there will still be cases where a sound will be terminated. To help, the third post in this thread contains a PDF containing suggestions on how to set parameters in order to best optimize the voice-stealing for specific use cases.
Note: a related bug exists that haven’t yet fixed: If while recording, you hold a sound pad for more than the maximum 255 ticks (about 2-1/2 bars), the resulting duration will be (correct duration – 255).
3. “MIDI sequencer sound” prevents the corresponding internal sound from triggering, yet the ‘OFF’ setting remains broken…
Description: If “System > MIDI Polyphonic Keyboard Play > MIDI: sequencer sound” is set to a pad, that pad’s sequence playback no longer plays the internal sound, though the sound is heard if the pad is played live. This occurs even if “MIDI: Sequencer Out Channel” is set to Off.
Status: Fixed.
4. Adding swing to the ‘ROLL/ARP’ function…
Description: If Swing is set to a value other than 50%, Quantize = 16th, Roll = On, and a sound pad is held in order to repeat a sound on 16th notes, the 16th notes always play at 50% (no swing), though they play back on the next loop with the correct swing setting.
Status: Fixed for Note Roll but not yet for Beat Roll.
5. The missing “Env Shape” parameter as seen on page 16. of Operation Manual 1.0…
Description: In the 1.0 manual, page 16 shows a screenshot of the rightmost Pitch Envelope screen containing a “Soft Knob 4” parameter called “Env Shape:0”. However, this parameter was never implemented.
Status: I’m afraid we goofed by putting a wrong screenshot in that 1.0 manual, and we apologize for that. Page 27 of that same 1.0 manual contains a section entitled “A Note About Envelope Shape” that describes in detail how to change the envelope shape by setting the envelope to modulate itself in the Mod Paths.
6. Basic file management…
Description:
The flash memory file system has two annoying problems:
1) The contents of each folder are not alphabetized.
2) After deleting a file, an invisible “hole” exists in the file list so that subsequent saves to that folder are placed in the position within the list of the formerly deleted file.
Status: Both problems are fixed. Now all files within each folder are automatically alphabetized, and newly saved or imported files always appear in the correct alphabetized position.
Note: this alphabetization will slightly slow the display of the files, and this alphabetizing has not yet been applied to the Load Sound soft knob in the 16 Sounds screen.
Note 2: If you use the Delete File function and delete a file, a blank space will appear in the file list within the Delete File screen where the deleted file existed, through re-entering the screen will remove the blank and display it correctly. We are aware of this and will be fixing it.
7. The envelope/LFO bug that causes the digital oscillators to quit or otherwise not trigger when modulated to, from, or through a relative ‘level’ of zero…
Description: If the modulation destination “Osc 3 Level” or “Osc 4 Level” is modulated such that the computed modulation value is zero or negative, audio output from the oscillator stops even if the computed modulation subsequently exceeds zero, fixed only when a new note is started.
Status: Fixed.
8. Tempest not remembering the folder-of-origin when saving…
Description: When saving a file, the Destination Folder always defaults to the first folder of the file type, which is cumbersome. Sound files always default to Kicks folder, Beat files always default to Factory folder and Project files always default to the Factory folder.
Status: Fixed. Now the Destination Folder in Save screens always defaults to the last folder of that type (sound, beat or project) that was last saved to or loaded from.
9. ‘Key Follow OFF’ not working for the digital osc’s…
Description: Oscillator pitch is always modulated by the “16 tunings” pad pitch, even if the “Key Follow” parameter in the third Sounds page of OSC3/4 is set to Off.
Status: Fixed.
10. Glide not working for the digital osc’s…
Description: Glide (second OSC screen) does not work for OSC3 or OSC4.
Status: Unfortunately, this is a capability that we originally thought could be implemented in Tempest’s internal sample playback chip but subsequently learned that it cannot. We apologize for having goofed by adding these unimplemented parameters to the UI in the first place, and have now removed them from the OSC3 & 4 screens. However, Glide does work for the analog oscillators.
11. The ever-present but still not functional Glide/Legato modes…
Description: In the Glide Mode parameter of the OSC screens, the FixRateA and FixTimeA options (legato mode) don’t do anything.
Status: Unfortunately we feel that legato glide modes on a drum machine are less important than many other priorities, and are sorry to tell you that these features will not be implemented in order for us to prioritize issues of more importance to Tempest users. We apologize for having added these unimplemented features to the UI in the first place and have removed the FixRateA and FixTimeA options from the Glide Mode field.
12. The ‘Playlist’ crash bug…
Description:
1) While synced to USB MIDI clock, if you change the number of bars in a Playlist step, Tempest freezes temporarily then unfreezes after a few seconds.
2) Editing a Playlist while playing causes timing glitches and randomly added notes.
Status: These problems were caused by Tempest needing to instantly recompute playlist data while playing. We have fixed the problem by locking out edits to the Playlist while it is playing, but edits can still be made while not playing.
And those introduced with OS 1.4:
13. Using the ‘ROLL’ function to record a part causes other pads to randomly trigger – even pads with parts already recorded on them – and these unintended triggers also get recorded…
Status: Unfortunately we are unable to reproduce this and believe it may have been fixed by fixing bug #15. If anyone can still reproduce this bug, please let us know.
14. Having ‘ROLL’ engaged also causes other pads to randomly trigger when trying to ‘Erase’ parts with the sequencer running.
Status: As with #13, unfortunately we haven’t been able to reproduce this and believe it may have been fixed by fixing bug #15. If anyone can still reproduce this bug, please let us know.
15. Using the ‘ROLL’ function to record in ’16 Levels’ mode fails to record the correct velocities: i.e. it only repeats the velocity of the lowest pad pressed…
Status: This is fixed.
16. Recording a ‘ROLL’ with a sound assigned to a voice results in the pad lighting up as if it is being triggered, yet there is no sound…
Status: Unfortunately we haven’t been able to reproduce this. It may have been fixed by fixing bug #3 above. If anyone can still reproduce this bug, please let us know.
17. There is an advanced bug that causes the pad names to randomly change when auditioning sounds; it happens most predictably when you have auditioned a sound from one pad and then try to audition a sound from another pad. When this happens the available sound folder also changes, not just the pad name: i.e. the ‘Kick’ pad, for instance, will suddenly become a ‘Snare’ pad – *which instantly loads a snare sound by the way (devastating!) – after which you can no longer access the kick folder from that pad at all, unless you “revert” the sound…
Status: Fixed. Now soft knob 3 is always “Sound Folder” and (Shift) soft knob 3 is always “Sound Type”, and there is no interaction between them so they can be independently changed at any time.
Note: There still exist some cases in which changing the Sound Folder changes the Sound Type. We’re aware of this and will be fixing it.
18. If the Tempest receives a RAM sound dump via USB, while also receiving note-on/off data on the MIDI DIN input, then USB MIDI sys-ex is not received correctly half of the time: i.e. it just stands there waiting for MIDI data in those cases.
Status: This is technically difficult to fix so we kindly ask that while receiving a RAM sound dump via USB, please do not play a MIDI keyboard that is connected to the DIN MIDI input.
19. There are still issues with loading older projects: i.e. voices dropping-out…
Status: Unfortunately we can’t reproduce any such problems. It may be that such files were created with beta versions that may contain undiscovered bugs. If you have a file saved from a released OS version that demonstrates such a bug when loaded into this beta version or 1.4.0, please let us know.
Other miscellaneous bugs:
20. When switching beats on-the-fly, the first step of the sequencer-out is consistently late; so if you’re triggering a sample loop on the one, every time you switch beats on the Tempest, it will be out of sync for the first pass…
Description: If System button > Polyphonic Keyboard Play screen > MIDI Sequencer Out and MIDI Sequencer Sound parameters are set to send a MIDI Note On message in response to an event playing at the start of the sequence, then when you change to this beat from another while playing, the resulting Note On message will be sent 28 mS late and will immediately be followed by a Note Off message.
Note that this problem does not occur for internal sounds or for beat transitions within a playlist.
Status: This is not yet fixed.
21. Pad names need to be added for all the sound folders, and vice versa. And many of the existing pad names need to be properly linked to their respective parent folders, so “Tamb” doesn’t default to “Shaker”, etc. when auditioning sounds (not to be confused with point 17. which is a completely different bug)…
Status: We feel that it makes sense for there to be more Sound Types than Sound Folders. For example, there are Sound Types for Low Tom, Mid Tom and High Tom because these are different sound pads, but they may all use the same Tom sound file at 3 different tunings so there should only be one “Toms” sound folder. Same for percussion— it makes sense to have Sound Types for Tamb, Shaker, Conga Low, Conga High, Conga Slap, Block High and Low, Cowbell and Clap because these identify the sound pad, but it is more convenient to have a single “Percussion” sound folder.
22. When triggered via MIDI, sustained ADSR sounds hang whenever the bank those sounds are from is not the currently selected bank…
Description: If an ADSR sound is triggered remotely from MIDI using System button > MIDI Remote Pad Play screen, the sound will stick on if:
1) if the sound exists in Bank B, or
2) the sound exists in Sound Bank A but the Sound Bank B button is on.
Status: This is fixed.
23. The Tempest’s timing drifts in ‘Slave’ mode when using the MIDI DIN input, gradually losing sync with the ‘Master’ clock source; and this behavior is further exacerbated with use of the ‘ROLL’ function…
Status: From our tests and feedback from user tests on the forum, there is no drift when Tempest slaves to external MIDI clock. This may have been reported when using earlier software versions than 1.4.0, where sync was significantly improved.
24. Pitch Bend not working for the digital oscillators…
Description: When using ‘System button > MIDI Polyphonic Keyboard Play screen’ in order to play Tempest’s sounds from an external MIDI keyboard, pitch bend would affect the analog oscillators but not the digital oscillators (3 & 4).
Status: This is fixed.
Also, the following bugs are fixed that were not on the petition:
Description: If Note Roll was on and you held a Bank B sound pad containing an ADSR sound, then released the pad, the sound would usually stick on. This is fixed.
Description: With Note Roll on and playing or recording a Beat, hold Erase while also holding and releasing a sound pad containing an ADSR sound. The sound will latch on. This is fixed.
Description: If “<<” or “>>” is pressed while a beat other than 1 is selected, Tempest switches to beat 1. This is fixed.
Description: In the Beat Events screen, if Shift is on, the “Insert” or ”Delete” soft key was ignored. This is fixed.
Description: If the Beat was stopped while an ADSR sound was playing, the sound would stick on. This is fixed.
Description: If Roll was on, sequence is playing and Erase is held, pressing and releasing a sound pad containing an ADSR sound would cause it to stick on. This is fixed.
Pricing and Availability
The update is available now as a beta release. See the DSI forum for details.
If you’ve used the update, let us know how it is working for you. And if you’ve got feedback on it, make sure you let DSI know via the forum.
via Chris in Berlin
HOLY. SH!7!
Congratulations, DSI and Tempest owners! That’s what we (okay, in my case former) were talking about! This is incredible news! Cheers to Roger Linn for stepping in and taking the reigns!!!
Still a little to late for me as I parted with my Tempest for a RYTM, but maybe if ever I’m so inclined to get back into one again, this is def an incentive!
best thing i ever did with my tempest was sell it.
i bet, the guy who bought it from you thought the same.
Admin: Personal attack deleted. Keep comments on topic and constructive.
Better late than never, I guess..
Loved the feel of the pads, the layout was nice as well and it was easy to get a simple pattern going. After that, thats where the well documented problems came in. Simply put, they dropped the ball on this thing. Better late than never I suppose but I’ll never buy another DSI product. Between this and the Tetra I was burned twice. The only reason this ever got finished is because Roger had has name on it and refused to let the ship sink with his imprint. Kudos to Roger. DSI could have cared less.
Sold it for $1,600 – enough to get a brand new RYTM and have a couple hundred in my pocket. Best move I never made.
you see everything is about timing..
Wow. That is a loooong list of bugs.
Read through the list, and many of the issues are still not fixed. To make matters worse, DSI is stating that many of the missing features (that are in the manual and advertised) are not necessary and should just be forgotten.
The tempest had sooo much potential, and had soo many die-hard MPC and Linn fans expecting something very different than what was delivered. Digging up ancient thread forums, it is obvious that most of those interested were so because of Linn, and not Dave’s involvement.
I want a do over. The tempest is still full of issues, and in no way does it resemble the Roger Linn stuff of old. Give us a modern hardware sampling drum machine with at least 4 midi outs that does service to Linn’s legacy. And please, leave out that horrible “new prophet” DSI filter. It’s not the same filter as the vintage units, and sounds like crap.
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Wonder if they fixed it’s shitty ass sound?..
What rubbish. DSI osc’s and filters have the ILLEST stage presence. You dont have the 2k for one anywaaays. quit fronting.
I own a pro2. It’s a great synth… Also own all the Elektrons, a vintage minimoog, a voyager xl, and a huge modular ( and about 30 other drum machines and synths… I support my family doing this ).
The tempest is a bit different. I sold mine because it was crazy buggy and the drum synth engine wasn’t very thought out. It didn’t sound spectacular, and the DSI filter just isn’t a good match for a drum synth. The midi delay is weak, DSI’s idea of parameter automation is clumsy, and the samples were craptastic. the only way I would recommend a tempest to someone would be if I really really didn’t like them.
Actually i sold mine about 2 years ago,best thing i’ve done.You probably should treat your room right,get a good pair of monitors or even visit a doctor,those ear wax plugs can really ruin your hearing,stop chasing commercial companies with cheesy boxes that sound like shit.Go to your local music store or a nearby studio with REAL gear or some modular synths and drums,find some adults to demo them for you,compare with tempest!and if you still wont hear no difference-then just stop waisting your time,dude it’s not yours,you’re not getting nowhere. Trust me this the best advice you can get.
Geez. We still have fields that can’t go over 255 ?!? 21st century people. Use 16bits. Hell. Why not 64 ?
Wont be getting one of these.
reading through the comments… I feel bad for tempest owners.
:-/
No need..Enjoyed making music with the Tempest since it came out. It’s not like the bugs are show stoppers. I’m happy not to have an 808/909 clone. Nice 1 DSI/Linn for listening to the owners.
Why would you feel bad. This thing kicks ass. The sound is amazing, it’s its own machine and sound. Just another tool in the arsenal. I guess you can feel bad for people that expected this to be the next MPC, which by the way you can compose entire songs on it..check this guy out…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNpFeH3MWcc
I have this an the analog rythm. They are both great in their own way. Would I mind if tempest had the software control like bridge, of course not, do I expect it to? no….
I have a rytm, tempest, and a machinedrum. All shine in there own way. It’s the way it should be. I can get really strange, organic sounds ou of the tempest that I don’t get with my Elektron stuff and vice versa. I don’t know anyone on this thread, but I can’t help but wonder if It is a bit of a poor craftsman complaining about his tools scenario. Either that, or people’s tastes are very boring, only wanting typical percussion. Would I try to make due with just a Tempest? No, but I wouldn’t want to try to make due without it. That said, I do wish they had put more internal storage in the thing. It isn’t 1992.
I dont understand. So full of bugs, yet so expensive…
Well done to DSI/Linn for fixing a bunch of minor bugs after 6 years. I thought they might have used the opportunity to add something useful, like being able to use the assignable voice outs in stereo, and/or to be able to assign pads to the stereo outs so they don’t shift everywhere. Or to be able to increase the memory from the ridiculous 4MB available… or to improve the sound somehow?
My Tempest is just sitting there gathering dust since I bought a plasticky toy-thing called TR8, if that’s not an insult to this 2,200 euro piece of equipment I don’t know what is. The Prophet 08 was truly awful until they put out the potentiometer upgrade kit (sure it should’ve had that to begin with, but still). Can’t they issue some sort of similar hardware upgrade for this machine? It would be a shame if not, as the build quality and performance interface are really superb.
uuhhhhh…you the voice outputs are stereo by default and all sounds not assigned to the voice outputs will play from the stereo outputs as long as cables are not plugged into every voice output..I would suggest you try reading the manual…this stuff has been there since v1.0.
i think the Tempest is one of the most creative tools out there
surely not for the typical en-vogue-gear user
but for sure for those 4000+ other happy owners
who make fantastic tracks like these:
1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXopTu52i_o
2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71wKmwTO8Ls
3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahtG-u2wQGo
4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPubi25S28w
5.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLcoMRqfXJk
6.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S5gkWuXaVs
7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnbCZ_wVJfc
8.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU0k08fGBdk
There are so many videos out there that show what a great creative instrument the Tempest is (including KARENN’s boiler room show, but so many others from completely different styles) that i really only can wonder how anybody seriously can call the Tempest a) sounding bad, b) being unusable because of sooo many bugs, c) being not inspiring d) the rytm would be “better” (they are different tools that work fine together).
i would understand if there wouldn’t be countless videos that proof the opposite, but so rmany of the statements here must be …ahm… questioned.
some people on this post need to grow up
I find it amazing. How many possibilities there are to make music. Just one of the examples, example the Tempest. You can do all of that with a cheap laptop and a drum controller for 400 euros. And no one will be able to tell the “soundqual” difference in a blind test. And then you can buy a drummachine for 1000+euros. Don`t get me wrong. I reckon that there might be workflow differences etc and “touching the real thing, expensive equipment, REAL INSTRUMENT” etc arguments. This is not an attack to the “analog lovers” etc. Just an observation that if you want to make music and you know what you are doing it`s not the equipment that will save you. Thats why there is so much, literally ,Lame music out there even though there are more possibilities than ever. Now as for the bug fixes,….. Jesus….! Of course it is nice that they adressed the issues (took their sweet time) but if you have so many issues don`t try to sell me a device with this price tag man!! a bit of respect for the consumer. At this price i expect a relativelely close to flawless product. This is of course only my opinion and cause of that it`s not that important so no one needs to get angry over it.
Did you see all the videos above?
Did you notice they could be done despite “all the bugs”?
Can you tell me ONE other electronic instrument you can make these kind
of beats with and have the same level of live manipulation / interaction ?
But since you cannot tell an analog synth from software in a blindtest,
then maybe there’s no use in asking you…
who would know the difference in drum synthesis?
its different with musical synths, but how should you know if a certain drum hit is an analog module or a sample of the very same analog module? analog/va battle gets ridiculous again.
just because he doesn’t like or like an instrument that you like or don’t like? come on ..
i think dsi/rogerlinn had great ideas with the tempest, couldn’t really impiment some of them, either because they arent the best programmers or took wrong hardware choices at an earliy stage.
but still, they made a great instrument, yeah its not flawless… who cares?
if you want flawless software, let it be built by a bunch of electrical engineers (elektron)
the tempest is more like a randall smith/mesaboogie kind of a product, where one guy has a lot of ideas and some other guys help him doing it.
I can think of at least 2 hybrid products that arguably do it better:
Ableton Live and Push,
And NI Maschine.
In hardware? The Analog Rytm, korg electribes, op1, mpc5000, etc.
It’s really not that revolutionary.
I get you can make great tunes with all types of gear. I recently did an ad spot where I sampled the recorder I played for my third grade recital… And it was dope.
How about the argument that the bugs/issues, whatever you want to call them…. Are just bad business?
I was promised something by a company. DSI is not doing us any favors by fixing the bugs. They shouldn’t have released a product until it was already complete. Or… They should have paid the first batch of owners for beta testing and doing their work for them.
Dave Smith doesn’t get a pass because he’s Dave Smith. He still has customers and he made promises to them. People have literally waited YEARS, and Dave has actually mocked those seeking the fixes during interviews. It’s bad business, plain and simple.
Really? You would bet your life for example that you can distinguish an analog sound from a sampled one? I am sure you can tell the difference from 16 to 32 bit just by listening for a few seconds. You cold blooded Pro you!! Thats weird cause i think we have reached the point where recording is above the possibilities of human hearing. but hey. there will be always religious people . As for the “name ONE other electronic instrument ..” and “make this kind of beats” part. Hmmm thats another Pro argument! Well i believe the good people here got you covered with their answers.
Well, yer pays yer money and you make yer (informed) choice.
I will never place my trust or hard cash in any DSI product after this debacle. I may have been prepared to live with some of the Tempest’s failings, but I won’t be taken the p out of by a company who mocks its customers’ genuine concerns. That buglist reads like a mid term development report ffs.
well then the Tempest might just not be the right choice for you.
Others had, have and will have great use for it.
No, you have missed my point. It’s not that The Tempest isn’t the product for me, it’s that DSI isn’t the company.
why are you writing comments here then?
Tempest sounds too flabby as a drum synth but I like the other non-drum sounds it can make. But it’s way too expensive for that duty, elektron has basically eaten its lunch.
I have owned 100’s of synths over the past decade and the Tempest is the only thing that I will absolutely never let go of. I agree with most things said here. Yes their are bugs and sure we wish it had P6 filters, VCO’s sample input and 16 voices. But I’ve never been introduced to another 6 voice 4 osc analog sequenced base SYNTHESIZER that has that much depth to it, especially in that form factor. I use it primarily for Synth sounds first Drums second and nothing has ever matched it for me at being able to play 6 separate synth sequences and slow down the attack while turning up the decay and adding filter FM to all 6 separate voices simultaneously.
to be honest i don’t think it is serious for such a big company to put on the market a test equipement and to sell it near 2000€ ! How you will feel if you buy an expensive car and then spend more time fixing it than driving it. Is that a way to give pleasure to your clients ? I don’t think so. The list of bugs is sooo long and that is still not all the problems we experience from the begining. How can you make this today when technology is so advanced ? For exemple i would like to kow if someone can send midi from one pad track to an external synth ?? Pretty simple thing but turning into cacophony with the Tempest…
I have read the “Petition” and the “fixes” and think that Dave and Roger did a great job answering the questions and fixing the problems. Maybe the Tempest is a bit too complicated to be run effectively with just MIDI. I do not know MIDI that well, Dave does and I assume Roger does. I am sure they could have put in more memory and some shark chips to do the digital stuff, but those chips are at the highest end of digital for the most part and this is an analog drum machine with digital capabilities thrown in it seems. I like it, I like mine. The lion’s share of the bugs are pretty minor and won’t effect many users, some that were fixed were needed. Microsoft is STILL sending fixes on a monthly bases for Window’s 7 and they have thousands of programmers. DSI is not a big company, ask Dave how many people work there. Not a lot compared to many electronic manufacturers. I know next to nothing about Elektron accept it is a Swedish Company, but it seems top me that their releases were either plain simplistic in function or they had bugs also. If the Tempest had a Discreet voltage controlled architecture it would have sounded better to be sure, but after you lay down your paltry $2000, start thinking about where you are going to get the next $2000 or so to finish paying for it. It COULD have been designed here and made in China to save money, but the US HAS to manufacture things again or your grandchildren will not have a country to play their Granddaddy’s Tempest in, at least not one called the USA. In the preceding video with the Electron and the Tempest working together I am pretty sure that most if not all the interesting and really cool sound came from Tempest with the Electron acting as a backup doing what an 808 could do for the most part and the fact that they could play together at all is due in a big way to Dave Smith. The Tempest can’t be called good just because it was created by Roger and Dave. The Tempest is god due to the fact that they were the inventors of it I think however. If you want effects go out and buy either some Moog effect boxes if you have the $$$ or buy ones that you can afford. Few instruments made are used live without going through some sort of effects after the main outs, why is it so very important that the Tempest not be able to be routed through some of these to get the exact sound you want. An analog /digital 6 voice drum machine made in the US by a SMALL company by hand for $2000 is not a bad deal it is a good deal. Lastly, I would think that it takes a long time to come out with OS updates due to having to recreate the problem, then fix it, then test it, all while designing and manufacturing new and other existing instruments in order to keep the company alive so that there is a DSI to fix the bugs. Maybe we should give them a break and focus on the amazing things that the Tempest can do as seen in the videos of which there are many, many more on U-Tube. All this is just my take on all the whining that goes on in between asking nicely to fix bugs that are significant to most of the users, not just one or two who have done things with their machines that most will never do. (Doing those things does not make you better, just abnormal.)