AWESOME update to the Diamond controller. Perfect timing on the update too since I was off from work today and have a 3 day weekend. I just spent the last several hours tweaking some of my fonts and installed a new Mace Windu font on my Diamond Archon V2.1. I now have 11 fonts installed on that saber. Thanks to the new update, I am able to add 6 fonts on top of the 10 I already had on there. Here is a list of observations I have made so far after playing with the new software and my saber for a few hours.
1. The new way of switching fonts while using the saber is EXCELLENT. Soooooo much better than the old way. Almost effortless to switch fonts now compared to before.
2. The new "on saber" volume control is really cool and works flawlessly for me. Very convenient if you want to play with your saber and not bug anyone with it being too loud (even though I think only a fuddy duddy would find a saber too loud.. LOL. For me, I like em loud and powerful sounding
3. The shorter 2 second power-off is a welcome addition. It was a little awkward to hold the button for a full 3 seconds previously to turn it off.
4. I noticed that a font no longer fails to load if you have sound files with names longer than a certain number of characters. I had one stab sound with a really long file name to see what would happen and it loaded onto the saber no problem. However, the software did automatically truncate the name of the file to just the first 8 characters that were present in the file name. For me, this is not a big deal and it is certainly much better than crashing the board like before the update.
5. I noticed on the "Express" tab, it does not seem to be possible to set the intensity of the channel 4 LED (white for my saber). Only the RGB channels can be set in this menu. It also does not seem to be possible to set a pulse time. Only the pulse color can be set. It seems necessary to go into advanced mode to adjust the pulse time to something really suitable. Not a problem for me as I have gotten VERY comfortable with the advanced mode over the past several months. This might be an issue for less advanced users or those who don't want to devote the time to it that I have.
6. The time for the saber to establish connection with the computer when plugged in seems to have been dramatically reduced. It used to take quite a while for my saber with the 10 (now 11) large fonts on it to make the connection. I would estimate the time has been cut in half. This is greatly appreciated.
7. The sounds are no longer normalized to max volume when written to the saber. Now I don't have to use fancy tricks with Audacity anymore to get the saber to play the hums at the correct volume relative to the rest of the font.
8. I got a few different error messages when I first tried the update on the software. Eventually a message popped up saying it had become corrupt. Easy fix though. I just uninstalled/ re-installed the software and then performed the update without issue.
9. Sorry Felicia, but I really don't miss you at all. I've enjoyed our time together but it's time for me to move on without you.
In summary, this is a GREAT update and made the Diamond sabers a lot better than they already were IMO.
Thank you Adrian for keeping us informed and answering our questions on the forum.
I'm looking forward to future updates as well. I think we have now begun to really tap the potential of the Diamond Controller.
