Overview
The Disting NT is a Eurorack module from Expert Sleepers that runs a large library of algorithms, several at a time, with a MicroSD card for samples, presets and wavetables. Several of those algorithms play wavetables. Poly Wavetable is a complete polyphonic synth with up to 24 voices, each with two envelopes, a filter and an LFO. VCO - Wavetable is a single oscillator for patching, Dream Machine builds a chord of five tones from a table, VCO - Pulsar uses table waves as pulsarets, and Wavetable Waveshaper uses a table as a transfer function for audio or CV.
Every one of them draws from the same place: a folder called wavetables at the top level of the card. You pick a table with the Wavetable parameter (in Poly Wavetable, press the right encoder to confirm the choice) and move through it with Wave offset plus whatever modulation the algorithm offers. Poly Wavetable can steer the position from an input bus, either envelope, the LFO, velocity, note pitch, and MPE pressure or Y, and its Wave spread parameter fans the voices out across the table so a chord plays several frames at once.
Wavetables on the Disting NT
Inside wavetables, a table can be a single WAV with every wave laid end to end, or a subfolder of WAVs with one wave per file. For a single file, the module works out the frame size in this order: a filename ending in a dash and a number sets it, so awesome-256.wav is read as 256 samples per wave; otherwise a file whose length is a multiple of 2048 is read as 2048, which is how Serum tables drop straight in; anything else is read as 600.
Expert Sleepers’ manual uses “frames” to mean individual samples, so “256 frames per waveform” there means 256 samples per frame in WaveStack’s terms. Waves can use any bit depth the module supports (8, 16 or 24-bit, or 32-bit float), and the sample rate doesn’t matter because each wave is treated as one cycle. The card must be FAT32 or exFAT, and current firmware supports up to 1000 wavetables on it. The largest table each algorithm accepts depends on the algorithm.
The Disting NT target in WaveStack writes one 32-bit float WAV per table into the card’s wavetables folder. A table with 2048-sample frames gets no suffix and loads through the multiple-of-2048 rule. Any other power-of-two frame size from 8 to 4096, or 600, is kept and marked in the name, so a 256-sample table is saved as Name-256.wav; other sizes are resampled to 2048. If your table’s own name already ends in a dash and digits, WaveStack swaps that dash for an underscore so the module doesn’t take the number as a frame size.
Link the card once and Export writes straight into wavetables. The linked folder lists each file as ready, needs converting or unreadable, and Convert all rewrites the ones the module would misread, such as untagged 1024-sample tables from other tools.
Specifications
| File type | WAV, one file per table or a folder of single-cycle WAVs |
|---|---|
| Samples per frame | Any; set by a -N filename suffix, else 2048 or 600 |
| Frame size detection | Filename suffix, then length a multiple of 2048, then 600 |
| Bit depth | 8, 16 or 24-bit, or 32-bit float |
| Card folder | wavetables |
| Table limit | Up to 1000 wavetables on the card |
| Card format | FAT32 or exFAT MicroSD |
From WaveStack to the Disting NT
- Power down and put the Disting NT’s MicroSD card in your computer.
- In WaveStack, open Export (⌘E) and choose Disting NT under Hardware.
- Under Save to, click Link a folder and pick the card.
- Click Save to Disting NT. The table goes into
wavetables. - Eject the card, put it back in the module and power up.
- Load Poly Wavetable (or another wavetable algorithm), turn the Wavetable parameter to your table and press the right encoder to confirm.
Frequently asked questions
Where do wavetables go on the Disting NT’s SD card?
In a folder called wavetables at the top level of the MicroSD card. Every wavetable algorithm on the module, including Poly Wavetable, VCO - Wavetable and Dream Machine, looks there. A table can be a single WAV holding all its waves back to back, or a subfolder of WAVs with one wave per file, all the same length. WaveStack’s Disting NT target writes into it once you link the card.
Why does my wavetable sound wrong on the Disting NT?
Usually the module guessed the frame size wrong. It reads a dash and number at the end of the filename first, then assumes 2048 if the length divides evenly by 2048, then falls back to 600. A table with 1024-sample frames and no suffix gets read as 2048 if it has an even number of frames, with two waves in every frame, or as 600 if it has an odd number. Either way every frame is cut in the wrong place. Rename it with a suffix like -1024, or let WaveStack’s Convert all rewrite it.
Can I use Serum wavetables on the Disting NT?
Yes. Serum tables use 2048-sample frames, so their length is always a multiple of 2048, and the NT reads any such file at 2048 samples per wave; the manual says the rule exists for Serum tables. Copy them into wavetables as they are. Watch for names ending in a dash and a number, such as Growl-2.wav, which the module would read as a frame size.
How many wavetables can the Disting NT hold?
The current firmware supports up to 1000 wavetables on the MicroSD card. How large each table can be depends on the algorithm that loads it, and the manual doesn’t give one figure for all of them. A 256-frame table at 2048 samples is 524,288 samples, about 2 MB as 32-bit float, so card space is rarely the limit; the algorithm’s own limit matters more.