Moisture (Sylphyo problems with spurious notes and key change)
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I find that after playing for about an hour, my Sylphyo starts to act erratically, triggering all sorts or errant notes. Swabbing it out seems to solve the problem. Is this usual for moisture to cause this? It is winter here in Australia cold and wet, so this is the condensation season....I discovered that simply turning off the Sylphyo stops the erratic triggering... Wondering if it has a fault?....
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@paul-flute If there is quite a lot of moisture building up on the capacitive keys it is possible that this is causing the erratic behaviour you are experiencing.
Are you using any plugs or anything to block the air at the bottom of the Sylphyo?
Can you try a factory reset and updating to the latest version 1.4.8 from our website?
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If I do not take precautions against moisture, I also get erratic behavior after playing a long time. This is probably because I am a "wet" player (I tend to have a lot of moisture).
One simple trick I use is to simply swallow once before putting the Sylphyo to my lips.
Of course, swabbing after playing helps. I first swab with two oboe cloths together, followed by another (a third) single cloth. I use these cloths: https://www.amazon.com/Hodge-Silk-Oboe-Swab-Blue/dp/B001M5CZR8
@Support_AODYO recommends storing the Sylphyo vertically after playing, and I find that does help. I am guessing it moves moisture down/South and away from the capacitive keys. My preferred setup for storage is a floor stand with a small fan. This is described in https://community.aodyo.com/topic/606/floor-stand/7.
However, this floor stand is not practical for me currently. We are on the road for 5 weeks now (across Europe from Portugal to Croatia). I've got all my stuff (Sylphyo gear and personal stuff) in a knapsack and a carry-on bag, so the floor stand is too bulky. I can't just stand my Sylphyo on end for fear of having it knocked over by hotel staff (or me!). So ...
On the road, I swab out my Sylphyo after playing, lay it down horizontally, and use a small USB fan to move air through the breath chamber. This is described in https://community.aodyo.com/topic/663/a-gentle-breeze.
This has worked well, and despite playing 1-2 hours a day, I have had no moisture issues.
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@clint My problem has worsened... If I turn off and swab after the erratic notes occur, the problem re occurs after a few seconds... Talking to Maxence about exchanging for a new one. I have had this one about a month.... I would value your opinion on what you think the problem I have is. If you're interested, I can sed you a short recording... many thanks
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@paul-flute Hello, I am in au as well, and have been suffering similar issues lately, but have just been helped out wonderfully by Jonathan at support. Was having multiple notes continuing to be triggered, also triggering when tipping the sylphyo. He walked me through the diagnostics etc. I have done a reset of firmware etc, but the solution for me was raising the minimum breath, which after a day of trying to make it fail again, has resolved my issues. It was behaving differently when warm and dry, to when I was in a cold studio. Maybe at first try setting the minimum breath really high, and bring it down slowly. When I was fiddling before contacting support, I would power it off and on after each adjustment, which might be unnecessary!!
Anyway, good luck with a resolution. -
@stump Hi and thanks for that. I did what you suggested. I had it set to 5, so took it up to max, and have now lowered it to 350 with no problems so far. I am using the middle size bell plug!!! Prob starts under under 350...How low have you got it without problems? I have been turning off n on many times, (hoping the switch is really high quality)... I have also had weird things happening with the base key... It has shifted key on me, though it still tells me in the display the key is the same, when I use a tuner, it has shifted a tone, after fidling around, it resumes to the correct pitch as displayed. You experience this? I am near Byron Bay and it has been cold and raining.... Where are you? Cheers
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@paul-flute No problems. I managed to get the min down to 5 yesterday when in the house by the fire, then lost it back out in the studio, which was when I emailed support. (I'm south of bathurst, and it's been cold and damp!!) Today I have it running at 25, without getting it to fail. I did the factory reset etc just to set all the adjustments back to default, as I have been fiddling with the settings quite a bit, and as it is a complex device different settings may interfere with each other? Who knows? At support they asked for some of the numbers generated in the diagnostic screen, which obviously gives them some clue as to what is happening. As I'm still in testing mode (had enough for today) I would suggest making contact with support, but all seems better for me, will know more in a few days!!!!! I make plugs out of soft dripper irrigation pipe, which is almost the perfect size for me, and I have been trying with and without reducers, which might affect the results. Anyway, switching off now, good luck to you. It is a fun controller though!!!!!
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@Paul-Flute and @Stump ... I am new to the idea that the Breath => Minimum setting interacts with the moisture issue. Mine is (and always has been) set at the default Minimum Breath of 20. This has worked for me, and I often use very low breath pressures (which can be a bit of an issue - especially in Kontakt - and often requires custom breath response curves - but that's another story).
I am fairly consistent with my swabbing, drying, and de-humidifying process, and it even worked for 5 weeks on the road under very variable conditions, and playing lots (I used my table-top drying approach of lining up a small fan).
One thing I have added, in addition to running a pair of oboe cleaning cloths through the bore, is to swab out the very top of the Sylphyo with a paper towel wrapped around my pinky. I find that the oboe swab does not get the moisture in this top area. I am concerned that the top moisture could drip down the inside and find its way into the side tube and affect the pressure sensor (I'm pretty sure there is a side-tube with the breath pressure sensor - hope that's an accurate assessment).
Hope this helps!
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@paul-flute Seems it may not be a moisture problem... Also I am finding the Sylphyo is unexpectedly in Menu mode (sometimes in Quick Settings, sometimes in Settings) I may be inadvertently touching the Sylphyo button in top front ... or perhaps it is going into settings by itself... ? I am not consciously using the slider so am puzzled that I find myself in Settings... Then again the slider may be the cause of all my problems? When the Sylphyo has shifted key,(usually down a whole tone),I can sometimes get it back into the right key, by swiping the slider up and down. Sometimes for a few seconds, the key is off half a semitone.. Also sometime this results in a large pitch bend, and sometimes not touching the slider I get a huge portamento effect down the octave,,, ?? Trying to stay sane.... help...
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@stump I wonder if your problems have re-occurred or if they were completely resolved. I finally sent my Sylphyo back to Aodyo, and am waiting for a repair or replacement, which I would prefer, as I had troubles from the first few days. If you still have problems I would like to hear a recording or video, and I can share mine, to see if it was the same problem. Aodyo is being frustratingly slow on this for me. Thanks
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@paul-flute Maxence I wonder if you could post the changes to the settings you had me made on my Sylphyo. It seems to have solved the problem. Also perhaps change the heading of this post to include Respiro. Thanks
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Hello again, just a thought bubble... I have been making sure the sylphyo is warm before switching on, and that seems to have solved the spurious note problem for me. It started to behave weirdly after the really cold snap we had, but I haven't had it go strange in the last few weeks. I had a stihl battery go strange around the same time, which sat in the repairers shop for a few days and returned to normal. Perhaps a deep chill spins out the electronics? Purely personal experience here, and have been waiting for problems, but so far so good.
cheers..... -
@stump Thanks for your reply. I recently received my Sylphyo back from France. They could not find a problem, but applied another coat of internal waterproofing. Problem started again after I received it back, and Maxence had me change some settings, which seem to have fixed the problem for me... tho it is a lot warmer now here. I realise I only had the problem with Respiro, which is a fantastic synth modelling program. (highly recommended). Wondering when you had your problem, was it with the internal sounds, or were you triggering midi instruments in a DAW? Cheers. (PS AU customs charged me $273 to get it back, which I am still fighting)
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@paul-flute Hi Paul, if I remember correctly it had to do with velocity and some of the midi mappings?
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@paul-flute hey again, what fun in aus when all the fun stuff is coming out of europe!! To answer your questions I was having issues with midi stuff (respiro, swam woodwinds etc) as well as the internal sounds. Basically triggering notes without breath etc. I come from a WX5, which was a brick, but older tech and just dip switches and a couple of adjustable pots for breath pressure. The sylphyo is really sensitive and obviously complex, which is why it's potential is so good, and it is still a work in development, (waiting for the key bends are out of beta stage!), so I am forgiving of it's issues, but have it really stable at the moment, and as I said before, for me the temperature seemed to be the trigger, but I have no idea what happens at the software stage, and how the sensors interact. Best wishes with your issues, but it is a fantastic thing!
cheers -
Hello,
I've been encountering this problem.
In my case, it strangely occured a few days before a concert, and during the concert !! What an ideal time for such a trouble, and the same repeated for a few concerts...Aodyo's support was not helpful for me. I was so desperate I bought another Sylphyo and... had the same problem right away !
After careful investigation, I found what caused the problem and how to work around it.
It turned out that it was not moisture as such, the problem, but salt one. The one that is contained in sweat at the tip of the fingers. The kind of sweat one can have when being anxious before and at a concert !
I made some experiments, with normal water and salt water in contact with the body of the Sylphyo and the results is crystal clear : with normal water, no problem. With salt water, it is as if my finger was stuck on the key.
Also, I did the same experiments with normal/salt water inside plastic gloves : having the tip of the glove, filled with salt water (even with no finger inside) in contact with the body of the sylphyo would make the device consider that the corresponding key is pressed.I'm surprised Aodyo's technical team don't seem to be aware of this electrochemical mechanism.
So, I know, now, how to work around it (using plastic gloves) but to be honest, I don't want to use Sylphyos anymore because of this. Lack of reliability which is a no-go in concert !
regards,
Vincent
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@vincent I found most if not all problems occur using Respiro. Is it the same for you? Did you experiment with wiping down the Sylphyo with a moist cloth and washing your hands when this problem arose? Wonder if this would solve the problem? Now that it is warmer here in Australia, I have had very few problems, one of them being a portamento effect when playing, all notes sliding together.... Summers here are warm and moist, so I am interested to see if I have problems due to sweat.... Cheers.
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For info, I use respiro with sylphyo since the first day of their outings and I have no problems that you seem to meet.
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The out of tune problem with Respiro (usually goes up a tone and a bit) is resolved by closing Respiro and re opening it. Cheers
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I am wondering if anyone has looked into the suggestion of @vincent (earlier in this thread) that
it was not moisture as such, the problem, but salt one.
I have had one situation where I started getting erratic notes. I swabbed down my fingers and all the finger pads on the Sylphyo with a slightly damp cloth. It worked immediately and completely to resolve the erratic behavior. However, since it was only a single test, I have not reported it before.
In other cases of erratic notes - they only happen when I first turn on the Sylphyo and I usually just "wiggle my fingers" for maybe 5-10 seconds and the erratic notes disappear and never return during play.
Would love to hear if other have experimented with this ... as @vincent points out, erratic notes could be a real show-stopper ...
