Korg Prologue SDK

#1

Anyone has ideas/infos about the Korg Prologue SDK ?
Do they use a ARM processor ?

#2

Yes, one ARM per voice. The Minilogue use one Spansion MB9BF121M, a Cortex-M3 level ARM at @ 72MHz, per voice. I suppose they run at least that in the Prologue.

Here's more info from Korg.

#3

looks like an STM32F4 and another STM32F0 on each board? plus other tasty proprietary chips...but no midi? http://cdm.link/2018/04/korg-bringing-diy-prologue-boards-superbooth/

#4

check out this NORNS too https://llllllll.co/uploads/default/original/2X/a/a4e0e0c80fc694d2b2c4d04d299db17c38c37de9.JPG

audio.

1/4". 2 output. 2 input with analog gain stage. all line level. (1)
1/4" headphone with gain.

interface.

128 x 64 OLED, 16-level bright white huge pixels.
3 rotary encoders, standard resolution.
3 keys.
rear status LED indicating power and disk access.

interconnect.

4 x USB ports for devices.
serial tty via USB-mini.

power.

power/charge via USB-mini (high output USB power supply included).
internal lipo battery 2250mAh.

processsing.

compute module 3 SoC. quad core 1.2ghz, 1gb RAM, 4gb eMMC (faster and more reliable than an sd card).
cs4270 i2s audio codec (low latency).

os.

linux with realtime kernel. (2)

…

yes, it’s minimalist. (3)

reducing the built-in features provides less expectation of how this machine should be used. it lets it be tiny, efficient, and less expensive.

USB brings everything together:

grid and arc, certainly.
MIDI (4), for application-specific controller layouts, CC, or just keyboard input. USB-to-MIDIplug for talking to instruments with actual MIDI ports.
footswitch bank.
HID everything: gamepads, keyboards, etc.
CV devices (more on this later).
wifi (nub is included). OSC-ready (4), so touchOSC and inter-computer conversation is easy.
anything you can make with a teensy or similar devboard with USB device mode.

there are several little DIY circuits i plan to build for my own performance setup (ie USB foot switch, battery-powered preamp) which i’ll add to the growing collection of open-source electronics shared by the lines community. making custom controllers creates a physical connection to custom software.

…

but the norns also stands on its own. as a processor/effect, as a drone machine, as a robot drummer for your jam band (or metal band).

#5

Looks like an STM34F401 for the voice (Cortex-M4 + FPU @84MHz), and a STM32F446ZE for system control.

#6

I see on the pictures stm32f446zet6...

http://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers/stm32f446ze.html

The specs are very similar to those of the one used for the Axoloti. 180MHz !
Thus, maybe it will be possible to port stuff from the Axoloti realm to the Korg realm...

#7

Yes, the bigger one is for system control. The actual voice has the smaller STM32F401. It's the one in the lower left corner (specs in my previous posting):

Seen on the voice cards here:

#8

That's a lot of CPU power for control !!?

#9

It is, but I assume it mimics some of what the system controller in the Prologue does, in addition to being an USB interface. Things like storing and uploading the custom oscillators to the "voice ARM", and also running the custom FX. For the latter it needs 2MB of RAM (which is what custom FX has available according to the info from Korg) so a device with an external memory bus was needed.

#10

Even so, it is quite enough if we consider that it is just for oscillators.