Hi all. I’m new to the Daisy ecosystem and have a couple Patch Submodules on order. While I wait for them to arrive I’m trying to understand my options for a somewhat niche use case: streaming CV data off the module to a host computer (specifically TouchDesigner) over serial for visual parameter modulation.
The Patch SM’s 12 analog inputs seem perfect for this, and the bandwidth math works out fine for either USB serial or hardware UART + adapter. I’ve searched the forum and poked through the libDaisy repo for pointers but haven’t found anything specifically about streaming CV data to a host - perhaps I’m missing something. I have an Expert Sleepers ES-10 that I use for this currently, but i run out of inputs quickly and the Daisy seems like a flexible alternative if I can get the data out with low latency.
Has anyone used the Daisy to stream continuous CV data to a host over serial? If so:
- USB serial or hardware UART: which did you go with, and why?
- Any gotchas with latency?
Not looking to solve the firmware side here, just trying to understand which transport avenue is worth prototyping first. Happy to share results once the hardware arrives.
I think I am going to shift gears with this. This is all in the research phase right now - so it is speculative.
It the end, I have a lot of CV I want to send to Touch which may involve more than 12 channels…so multiple Patch Submodules.
I am thinking of sending UART from the SM to an ESP32-ETH01 as binary frames and have the ESP to pack it up as OSC and send it out over Ethernet. Apparently it will accept up to 3 different UART streams and can serve as a clock for everything. I think it will be more robust and useful for not only Touch Designer, but other software as well.
I have some other ideas for a multiband follower and additional audio analysis tools as well. These would also be packed up by the esp32 and sent over osc. Anyways. I am going to do some dummy tests with an ESP32 this weekend while I await my Patch Submodule.
I did a bunch of testing over the weekend with the idea of sending serial from the patch submodule to an ESP32 to OSC.
OSC out of the WT32-ETH01 shows pretty significant latency when going to touch designer - less going to resolume. The best I could get was 4-5 frames at 60fps (~75ms). Shifting to serial, ASCII prints to serial over usb was poor - 10 frames (~166ms). Binary serial writes over usb, though, works well: 1-2 (~33ms) frames which is pretty good. For envelopes, lfos etc, this will be perfect. For anything super quick, I’ll use my Expert Sleepers.
In the end, when i make a panel for this, I will go serial over usb out of the Daisy SM directly. I’ll put a panel mounted jack on the eurorack faceplate. It’ll be less of a universal CV to OSC module and more for working with packages that can receive serial. 12 channels of CV to serial at 1-2 frame of latency will be useful for visual parameters.