Obsidian 101: Intro to Soundfonts

[shadowzeak]

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some information on sound fonts and how they work; an "introduction" if you will. I get that different sound fonts are different sounds for your saber, and that you can load different ones to your soundboard, but I don't quite understand how having multiple fonts on one board works. I have looked at the Obsidian Launcher and sort of understand assigning fonts to different banks, but I haven't really played around with it. I've tried searching the forums, but have yet to find anything. I'm still trying to sift through the various posts. The main questions I have is how to change between fonts if you have different ones on a board. Do you have to do it through the launcher, or can you change it on the fly while using the saber? Does anyone have some basic info on sound fonts, or know where to find said info? I've got a good handle on wiring and building sabers, so working with the sounds seems to be the next step for fully customizing a saber. I'd greatly appreciate any input and help! 

[hazard502]

The Obsidian V3 soundboard carries one sound font at a time.

The Obsidian V4 soundboard carries up to 8 sound fonts at a time. With this board you can switch between each font(say a Darth Maul font, or a Yoda font) on the fly.

Each font has banks that hold the various saber sounds such as: clash sounds, swing, hum, power on ect.

You use the obsidian launcher to pull together a font you'd like to use on your saber. You can have different fonts saved on your PC. With the launcher, you open the saved files and use whatever individual sounds you like to fill in the banks for the font you're working on.

You can only load new fonts onto your saber using the launcher. When you do, the new font overwrites the old one erasing it and leaving you with the new one.

Quick tips: if possible always use freshly charged batteries when hooking your saber up to the launcher. Always turn your saber on FIRST, then open your launcher. When finished, CLOSE the launcher before disconnecting or powering off your saber.

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Hope this helps to get you started. Any other questions don't hesitate to ask

[shadowzeak]

Awesome! Thanks. I've got v3 soundboards on my two sabers, so looks like I can only use one font at a time but that's okay. This at least gives me some background if upgrade or get a saber with the v4 board. If I understand correctly, then the "default" font has a bank for power up, hum, swing, clash, and power down. I also noticed if I press the switch briefly, but not long enough to power down, it goes into saber lock (which is a really cool feature, by the way). So that's six banks at least?

One question I do have is if you have a v4 board with multiple fonts, how exactly do you change fonts on the fly? I don't have to worry about it with my sabers, but I'm still curious as to how it works.

[Racona Nova]

Almost right On the v3 it's only one bank containing seven "categories", i.e. boot, power on, hum, motion, clash, lockup and power off sounds. The v4 contains up to 8 banks, each containing the same seven categories as mentioned. The bank(s) can be configured with any .lsu file from any sound font, that means you can build your personal font by mixing through all available files or simply using files from one font only. Loading these files is done by using the UltraSabers Launcher (available for Mac and Windows, compatible with the v3 and v4 sound board as well as the Emerald Driver).

Switching between the fonts (v4 sound board only) is simple: turn off your saber, hold the switch several seconds to enter configuration mode, cycle through the fonts (identifiable through their boot sounds) until you found the one you want, push the switch to confirm. That's it - once you power your saber, you will have the font you chose before.

[shadowzeak]

Ahhh, okay. That makes sense now. Thanks for the help