The Micro SD card holds the factory content. Always keep it in the slot. Heavy sampler use needs a Class 10 card with a read speed of 70 MB/s or more. To use a larger or faster card, format it as FAT32. Then set it up with the Coral Factory package (Section 8.1).
8.1 The Coral Factory Package and the Card Layout
Every new or empty card needs the Coral Factory package.
- 1. Download the Coral Factory package.
- Unzip it.
- Copy everything inside it to the root of your SD card. If your computer asks, merge the folders. If it asks to replace CALIB.bin, choose Skip (or Keep both).
CAUTION Your card may already have these folders. That is not enough: the package puts the files inside them (samples, DX7 patches, Stitcher sounds, piano data). Without them some engines are silent. options.txt is made by Coral itself the first time it starts. Never replace your System/CALIB.bin: it holds your own Coral's factory calibration, and a copy from another Coral detunes it.
This is the layout of a correctly set-up card. A folder marked with an open arrow shows what goes inside it. The files HOUSEKEYS.PCM, LUT.bin, options.txt and RHODES.PCM go inside the System folder, not at the root of the card.
Figure 8.1. SD card layout. At the root: DX7 Patches, Presets, Samples, Stitcher, System and Wavetables. Inside System: HOUSEKEYS.PCM, LUT.bin, options.txt and RHODES.PCM.
| Folder | Contents |
|---|---|
| DX7 Patches | .syx banks for FMX7, in the folders Group 1 to Group 10 (one bank each). |
| Presets | Starts empty. Your presets go here as Preset N.preset files (the full 8-voice configuration). |
| Samples | Samples for WAVPLAYER, in the folders 00 KICKS to 09 FX RISERS. Use 48 kHz _ 16-bit WAV. |
| Stitcher | .wav files for the STITCHER engine. The package includes a set, and you can add more. Put them directly in this folder: Coral does not read subfolders. |
| System | HOUSEKEYS.PCM and RHODES.PCM: needed by the piano engine (PIANOZ). LUT.bin. options.txt: made by Coral on first start, your settings (Section 8.3). Your card also holds CALIB.bin, the factory calibration of your own Coral. It is not in the package. Never replace it with a copy from another Coral. Calibrating at home writes a new one (Chapter 10). |
| Wavetables | WAVETABLE Factory.wav for the wavetable engines. You can add more. |
8.2 Wavetables
The Wavetables folder should contain at least one .wav wavetable. As long as the naming is right, Coral loads it for the wavetable engines. Make your own with the Waveform Generator (Chapter 9).
8.3 options.txt
options.txt is a plain-text file in the System folder, created on first boot. Every setting Coral has lives here, one per line: a six-letter key, a space, then a value (usually 1 for on and 0 for off). Order does not matter. You can edit it on a computer with any text editor.
The SD card owns your settings. Coral reads them from the card at boot. Only you change them, in this file or on the options ring. Updating the firmware never alters them.
Which settings the file owns, and which the ring owns
Most of these settings can also be changed on the Coral itself, on the options ring (Chapter 2). The two work together, with one simple rule.
- Ring options are in the file too. Whenever you toggle one on the ring, Coral refreshes options.txt to match. While you are playing, the ring is in charge.
- Your edits win. If you edit options.txt on a computer, your version is used on the next boot. So the file is always a safe way to set things up.
- Some settings are file only. vumetr, ledalw, extpre, obvspr, pbrang, noccxt, devfsh and engcol have no place on the ring. You set them here only.
TIP Upgrading from firmware 2.6? Your old options.txt works exactly as it did. polycv, encpri and cvpart are normal keys again, so a 2.6 file is read verbatim.
The full key list
| Key | Setting | Values |
|---|---|---|
| polycv | PolyCV voice / trigger mode | 0 unison · 1 poly CV · 2 chord hold · 3 chord arp · 4 and 5 echo |
| encpri | Encoder part priority | 1 = encoder turn selects part / voice · 0 = selects engine (default) |
| cvpart | CV part to engine | 1 = Part CV selects the engine · 0 = selects the part (default) |
| mpeena | MPE | 1 = MPE in and out · 0 = off (default) |
| pcigno | Program Change | 0 accept all · 1 ignore all · 2 accept only on an active part channel |
| rngenc | Randomizer | 1 = hold the encoder to randomize · 0 = off (default) |
| hpfilt | High-pass filter | 1 = SHIFT + MORPH is HP cutoff · 0 = chorus send (default) |
| delena | Delay FX | 1 = SHIFT + TIMBRE is delay send · 0 = noise level (default) |
| strchd | Smart chord, String 2 | 1 = on · 0 = off (default) |
| pnochd | Smart chord, PIANOZ | 1 = on · 0 = off (default) |
| vumetr | VU meter (file only) | 1 = master level on LEDs 9 and 10 · 0 = off (default) |
| ledalw | Selection LED (file only) | 1 = always show the selected part / voice · 0 = off (default) |
| extpre | Extended presets (file only) | 1 = 100 presets (10 groups of 10) · 0 = 10 presets (default) |
| obvspr | OB-VA spread (file only) | 1 = per-voice analog drift on OB-VA · 0 = off (default) |
| pbrang | Pitch-bend range (file only) | Semitones, 1 to 48 · default 2 |
| noccxt | CC arms catch-up (file only) | 0 = an incoming CC arms pot catch-up (default) · 1 = CCs only change the sound and the pots stay live |
| devfsh | ACID 2 Devilfish (file only) | 1 = sub-oscillator, fatter resonance, hotter drive · 0 = off (default) |
| engcol | Engine indicator colour (file only) | 1 = colour the engine indicator per engine · 0 = one flat magenta (default) |
NOTE Smart chord (strchd and pnochd) is simply on or off. The musical scale is chosen separately, on the encoder feature stop (Section 5.6).
TIP The file explains itself. Every setting line ends with a short note on what that setting does. You can edit the card without this manual next to you. Coral fills the notes in for you if your file has none.
NOTE Anything you write yourself is kept. Your own comments, blank lines and any line Coral does not recognise come back exactly as you typed them. Coral rewrites the file only when something has changed.
8.4 Presets on the Card
Presets are stored as Preset N.preset files in the Presets folder. With the extpre option on you get 100 presets in 10 groups of 10. You can back up, share and edit these files with the Preset Manager (Chapter 9).