Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave Firmware 2.0 - Shimmer Reverb & Spectral Wavetables

video upload by Scott's Synth Stuff

Also see Sound Design BEAST! 3rd Wave 8M gets New Firmware

"The Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave just picked up two firmware updates (2.0 and 2.0C) while I was off hiking amongst the Sequoias — so let's install them and dig into what's new.

The headline is the new shimmer reverb, and it is gorgeous. It blooms, it tracks the note you're playing, and the Pitch Amount parameter lets you set the interval it shimmers up in — set it to 12 for octaves, 4 for thirds, whatever fits the key. It's also a Mod Matrix destination, so you can ride it with aftertouch. I'll show you exactly that.

We also look at the rebuilt Make Waves wavetable creation with its new Spectral mode — sampling sounds from a Leviathan and turning them into wavetables, then comparing Spectral against the classic Pitch-On method side by side. The results genuinely surprised me.

In this video:

What's new in 3rd Wave firmware 2.0 and 2.0C
Step-by-step firmware install (USB drive method)
Shimmer reverb walkthrough: pitch amount, bloom speed, HF damping, pre-delay, feedback
Routing shimmer to aftertouch via the Mod Matrix
New Spectral mode in Make Waves vs. classic Pitch-On — real audio comparisons
SysEx support for the upcoming official 3rd Wave editor
Per-part NRPNs, un-smoothed envelope retrigger (hello, clicks), and the WAV header import bug fix
The CPU limits on shimmer: which parts can share it, and why the 3rd Wave 8M doesn't care

The 3rd Wave is still one of the best sounding synths I've ever played — 24 voices, 24 real analog filters, and a UI so well laid out it barely needs an editor. Huge credit to Groove Synthesis for continuing to support it."

0:00 Intro
0:38 Where I've Been
1:22 What's In Firmware 2.0?
5:58 Installing New Firmware
8:00 Shimmer Reverb
9:58 Shimmer Reverb Pitch
11:35 Modulating Reverb Pitch
14:59 Spectral Wavetable Import
17:02 Different Sound Import
18:46 Another Different Sound
22:13 Plucky FM Sound Import
25:15 Pitch vs Spectral