Alchemy... ok can I now forget most other synth out there?

[mr.ergonomics]

I just used this synth the and my first thought was, ok I can chuck all my other softsynth away now (absynth, massive, zebra). It's a all in one synth. OK it's no FM synth, but besides this? I have the feeling that its very easy to design sounds from scratch with this. Or is this only my first vivid impression? It's even moderate to the cpu. Damn I really don't want to buy gear - I have enough, but this sound like the uber synth to me at the moment. Longtime users here who can confirm or deny it?

[LoopStationZebra]

Confirm.

Still one of the best bits I've purchased. Ever. Only synth I use now, in fact. I've had it since first release, and have still only skimmed the surface. And the guys at Camel Audio are total pros and extremely responsive.

The random button alone is worth the price of admission. It's always an interesting starting point for creating new sounds.

Moderate on the CPU? Eh. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Careful on the granular stuff with lots of voices at once. Overload city. lol.

[Tarekith]

Have you tried Omnisphere?

[anybody human]

It's definitely a powerful synth. Does so many things. I don't use it much at all so I'm not qualified to say. I just don't dig the filters but I'm sure if I invested more time in it ot would bear fruit. There's only time to learn so many soft synths. I use DSI Tetra, Omnisphere w/ Trilian sounds, Largo, and occasionally MinimoogV2. Lately I've been doing more sound design with audio editing & effects. Actually the kind of thing Alchemy handles really well but I've been watching a lot of Tom Cosm vids and getting into doing this stuff within Ableton and the Chris Klein/ Robert Heinke M4L devices cover granular.
That said (I'm rambling) u can't go wrong getting Alchemy, it's about as powerful as softsynths get. I'll have to dig into it. I'd say go for it, it does things the synths you mentioned don't and u like it so it'll inspire you and that's what an instrument should do.

[Tarekith]

I think when you start talking about using something like Alchemy or Omni, you have to be prepared to really dive in and explore them well to get the most out of them. Soooo many possibilities...

[anybody human]

I think when you start talking about using something like Alchemy or Omni, you have to be prepared to really dive in and explore them well to get the most out of them. Soooo many possibilities...

Totally, and I second Tarekith's idea about checking out Omnisphere. It's ridiculous. Speaking of diving in, my next tutorial is the Guide to Creating Transitions and Fills

[mr.ergonomics]

thanks so far. that doesn't sound too good , I wish I could sell absynth and massive and get alchemy for it. I really dig the modulation system and programming in alchemy seems so fast and direct compared to other synth.

Have you tried Omnisphere?

no, but afaik it's more a preset synth. I'm more into the "classic" synth stuff, even grain effects doesn't interest me that much in a synth. nevertheless it has great sounds!

[anybody human]

thanks so far. that doesn't sound too good , I wish I could sell absynth and massive and get alchemy for it. I really dig the modulation system in alchemy and it's so fast and direct to program.

Have you tried Omnisphere?

no, but afaik it's more a preset synth. I'm more into the "classic" synth stuff. nevertheless it has great sounds!

It's not a preset synth, although a lot of people probably use both Omnisphere and Alchemy that way. Actually it's greatest strength is the way it's setup to create sounds from scratch. They call it the "Steam Engine", very similar to Alchemy's modulation system but the interface has multiple pages so it's laid out a bit more clearly for me. They are both way faster than other synths because of this type of modulation system. It does have zillions of samples that you can use to program (48gb), everything from analog synth waveforms to ebowed banjo to light bulb filaments, as well as VA softsynth capabilities. Again very similar to Alchemy, except you can't load your own samples. A huge drawback I know, but it's still prefer it to Alchemy but that's me. Just my opinion, and again I use audio editing/effects/M4L to do a lot of what you could do with Alchemy so maybe you'd prefer it all in one package.

[mholloway]

For building and programming, I say Alchemy is better than Omnisphere, because it has IMO a much smoother interface/GUI for doing this -- just about everything is on one main screen, and very beautifully and thoughtfully laid out. Omnisphere, on the other hand, puts everything on separate pages that you "zoom" into, a system I don't care much for, and also just doesn't look all that pretty to the eyes.

But Omnisphere wins hands down for sheer sample content. And as presets go, Omnisphere has Alchemy beat by about a thousand miles....

So they both rock, but I find them quite different, at least in terms of my personal tastes with sample-based synths.

-M

[Newecho]

Have you tried Omnisphere?

Last I checked Ominispher won't allow you to load user made samples. If you you want to do manuliplate ths samples, do resynthesis, and granular synthesis with your own harmonic content, Alchemy is a great choice. As was mentioned in the first post, no FM synthesis. Absynth 5 is also a great choice for working with custom harmonic content and also does FM. The new Aetherizer effect is quite fantastic.

Mark

[deva]

I just used this synth the and my first thought was, ok I can chuck all my other softsynth away now (absynth, massive, zebra). It's a all in one synth. OK it's no FM synth, but besides this? I have the feeling that its very easy to design sounds from scratch with this. Or is this only my first vivid impression? It's even moderate to the cpu. Damn I really don't want to buy gear - I have enough, but this sound like the uber synth to me at the moment. Longtime users here who can confirm or deny it?

Alchemy is excellent in that you can resynthesize sounds and use your own samples and audio to create sounds. It is fairly easy to work with considering its complexity.

I have Alchemy, Absynth, Massive and Zebra. No way I would get rid of Zebra. It is such a beautiful sounding synth and can make all sorts of sounds that Alchemy couldn't. There is something I like about pure synths (no samples)

I was using Absynth for some granular sounds, and because it can play samples but Alchemy does both better so I did not install Absynth when I switched to new audio computer. Massive just never quite did it for me and I mostly used it for cool noise presets which it excels at. Alchemy and U-he ACE do amazing noises so Massive became redundant for me. So at the moment I have Alchemy, Zebra and ACE installed... plus Live 8 Studio stuff.

No one synth can do everything and even if it can, it cannot necessarily do it with a certain character you might like in a particular synth. So you really have to decide what you like. Alchemy is unique in its power to work with sampled material including your own. Nothing else comes close really.

[screamingbuddha]

haven't tried any of those yet...I'm not technically inclined. I mostly just f-around with stuff and hopefully something cool comes out of it. I just got sylenth1 by Lennar Digital, seems cool, and the price was okay. Any thoughts on this soft-synth?

[mholloway]

haven't tried any of those yet...I'm not technically inclined. I mostly just f-around with stuff and hopefully something cool comes out of it. I just got sylenth1 by Lennar Digital, seems cool, and the price was okay. Any thoughts on this soft-synth?

Sylenth1 is a much-loved VA synth in both this forum and many others. It's a classic and still maybe the best-sounding VA soft-synth on the market.

But it's strictly VA, and so doesn't have a lot to do with this thread, which is more about synths that also load samples -- e.g., Alchemy and Absynth and Omnisphere and CronoX and so on.

If you like just using and tweaking presets, Omnisphere is a dream come true, because it's library is beyond huge -- like over 40 gigs, no joke -- and the quality of the presets is, well, EFFIN GREAT. though it aint cheap, but hey, for that much content, how could it be?

but for strictly VA, sylenth1 more or less rules them all, imo.

-M

[spektralisk]

OMG. Why did I read these posts. I downloaded Alchemy demo and it blew me away! Now I have to buy it.

Gearlust on

[heavensdaw]

I have had Alchemy since it came out.. And It's awesome (truly)

I wouldn't say it replaces every synth though as Deva points out it's the 'character' of the sound the determines what synth I choose for each part not only the basic sound itself..

I bought Sylenth, Zebra and Alchemy all around the same time.. These 3 do 'almost' everything I need.. I also do a lot of sound mangling in live..

I love having choices and don't always want to be working in the same way..

Spectrasonics have some cool user vids on their site showing Omnisphere in synthesis creation mode..

Hd