Dave Smith Instruments MOPHO X4 - Manual (Page 43)

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Using Poly Chain
Mopho x4’s Poly Chain output enables it to be connected to other DSI synths for
up to 20-voice polyphony. Products that can be chained include the Tetra,
Prophet '08 (module and keyboard), and desktop Mopho. It will not chain with
the Evolvers and Poly Evolvers due to the different voice architecture.
Note data from Mopho x4’s keyboard is intelligently processed so that, when
one synth’s maximum polyphony is reached, additional notes are passed through
the Poly Chain output and routed to the next synth in the chain. All that is
required is a single MIDI cable for each of the chained synths and a mixer or
audio interface for combining the audio outputs of each synth.
Tetra is the best candidate for poly chaining with the Mopho x4; the voice
architecture and programmable parameters are identical. The desktop Mopho or
Prophet ’08 will also work, but there are some differences between these synths
and the Mopho x4:
The desktop Mopho’s Feedback Gain control is not programmable and may
need to be tweaked manually to match the Mopho x4. Programs that don’t
use feedback sound the same on both models.
The Prophet does not have feedback or sub octave generators.
Both the Prophet and Tetra have two layers for stacked and split programs;
Mopho x4 does not. When Prophet or Tetra programs are loaded into Mopho
x4, layer B is ignored.
You should have the same programs loaded into all the chained synths. The
easiest way to do that is to use the Dump command in the Global menu to dump
the programs via MIDI from one synth to the other(s). We also recommend that
you have the latest OS installed in all the synths. For information about checking
your OS versions and, if necessary, downloading and installing the latest OS,
visit davesmithinstruments.com/support/.
The Poly Chain parameter is in the global menu. On the Mopho x4, set Poly
Chain to the number of additional voices that will be chained: Out 1 (for poly
chaining a Mopho), Out 4, Out 5, Out 8, Out 12, or Out 16. Refer to the
illustration on page 38 for examples of the Poly Chain settings on the slave
units.
You can now virtually ignore the slave unit or units, since the controls on the
master will control all units as if they were a single synth. This includes saving a
program; if you save an edited program on the master, it will also save the
program on the slave(s).