Ableton Forum

I don't think most of the above replies have been very fanboy-ish.

I think even the 'diehards' recognize that it has weaknesses and most of the above comments do point that out, not just John's post.

And +1 to the track team audio sounds, I downloaded those before.

If you are used to raw, undressed FM synths such as a real DX7, which is also mono only and much harder to program than Operator, then it is a real blessing. And yes, Zebra, Sylenth and Arturia's synths all usually use reverbs/delays/modulation FX in most of their presets which helps the sound to be more impressive.

i love it. more so since my latest discovery: the LFO's 'Rate<Key' mod bit. setting it to 100% and putting the LFO in 'H' (high speed) mode means you can use the LFO as a modulation oscillator that will follow the keys, just as any other osc. use the rate to tune or detune againt the other oscs for some proper rich tones. totally opens the synth up.

really hoping to see v2 in the next Live update.

leedsquietman wrote:I don't think most of the above replies have been very fanboy-ish.

Sure they are. But I don't mean fanboy in a negative way. I'm a huge fanboy of Live and spout off about to anyone who will listen. Point is, you'll find more positive comments here, if not all positive, than you might elsewhere, and really I think there's as much of a chance that someone may not like the sound of operator as there is that they would love it. And that would be because it's unique character may or may not be appealing, not so much because the person was "missing something". Just my opinion. And I disagree that effects are responsible for much difference between synths like sylenth or zebra and operator. Those really rely on great sounding oscillators and filters.

A combination of things differentiate the sounds, including oscillators, filters, envelopes etc but the FX also play a part in it.

Some of Operator's presets are dressed up as racks, especially the 3rd party offerings and it makes a difference. Not the total difference, but some difference nonetheless. Raw sounds, even from a vintage Moog with the best filters and oscillators etc, are not always that nice until dressed up with FX (just most of the time they're nice, but not ALL the time )

I don't think many people outside of Live users would really have an opinion, or at least a valid one, being that Operator is not a VST/AU but a proprietary Live Device.

It does nappy fm stabs (and repeating stabs!) like nothing else. Sold.

i'm a huge operator fan boy.
this has already been said, but the strength of this synth is that it is an FM synth that is very easy to edit (something I never though was possible -- except for maybe the dx200 groovebox), and the synth has quite a bit of attitude.
i actually like the ableton presets, but I have used many presets -- if you are looking for more of a "rip your head off" sound -- look no further than the covert operators' "surgical tools" libraries, vol 1 & 2.
track team and puremagnetik also have some great presets.
there are some comparable FM synths, such as FM8, but something about operator is easier to work with -- maybe i'm just used to it.
anyways, it's my go-to synth.

glitchrock-buddha wrote:

leedsquietman wrote:I don't think most of the above replies have been very fanboy-ish.

Sure they are. But I don't mean fanboy in a negative way. I'm a huge fanboy of Live and spout off about to anyone who will listen. Point is, you'll find more positive comments here, if not all positive, than you might elsewhere, and really I think there's as much of a chance that someone may not like the sound of operator as there is that they would love it. And that would be because it's unique character may or may not be appealing, not so much because the person was "missing something". Just my opinion. And I disagree that effects are responsible for much difference between synths like sylenth or zebra and operator. Those really rely on great sounding oscillators and filters.

Anyone who knows me knows that Im not an Operator fanboy of any sorts.Will say though that Since the version 7 update I think operator's Oscillators sonic characteristics are up there with the best of them. That to me is the best aspect of Operator.
Also, what I meant with the effects bit is that if you load up 90% of softsynth presets out there, they have effects tacked on which does add space and dimension to the sound and most of the time is the icing on top of the preset. If you load up an operator preset, not a racked operator preset, you have no effects, so that cake is missing the icing...and might be a bit dry...

Operator is pretty fucking sweet for drum hits, and I've gotten some super sweet pads and stuff out of it that get even better once you layer some fx racks on top of it

It's one of my very few "go-to" synths for synthesized drum hits. I really didn't get the appeal when I first played around with it either, but I learned a LOT from the tutorials that came with Live 7, and ever since then it's like a light switch turned on and now I can consistently get sounds out of it that I'm satisfied with.

I must be honest, I don't use it that much.. but when I do I always have a lot of fun with it.. I'm not really too 'synth techy', but can get around inside Operator quite well.. And usually I can steer it towards the kind of sound that looking for... It's defiantly true that when racked up with FX it becomes another beast entirely!
The Coverts, Trackteam & Puremagnetic preset packs have really helped me understand how versatile Operator really is.. Thanks guys!
Also I would recommend the Live lessons to help you get up to speed..

Best

Hd

Don't forget the reason why FM was the first practical digital synth technology - because of it's ability to produce complex evolving sounds while requiring little processing power and a very small memory footprint (a DX7 patch consists of just 155 bytes of parameter data). Some of the mega VA synths mentioned can use 50% CPU just to play one note, but It's rare to see operator go much over 5% on my PC.

Also FM synths are often mentioned as lacking the power of traditional subtractive synths, but they add a whole new pallet of sounds that subtractive synths can't come close to. Especially metallic sounds like bells and plucked/struck/blown sounds with complex attack phases. Try producing the amazing DX7 expanding tubular bell patch using a subtractive synth and you'll see what I mean.

PS. I'm looking to sell my DX7 (mk1) if anyone wants to make an offer - complete with original ROM carts - good working order - slight cosmetic damage (can post pics if required) - collect from Nottingham UK.

garyboozy wrote:i love it. more so since my latest discovery: the LFO's 'Rate<Key' mod bit. setting it to 100% and putting the LFO in 'H' (high speed) mode means you can use the LFO as a modulation oscillator that will follow the keys, just as any other osc. use the rate to tune or detune againt the other oscs for some proper rich tones. totally opens the synth up.

Well, a lot of thoughts about little details like this went into it. Always makes me happy when users discover those possibilities...

garyboozy wrote:really hoping to see v2 in the next Live update.

Yeah, I heard some rumors that they improved some minor details a little bit.

Rob.

At first I fired up operator like many people and went through the presents and was like "eh. ok I guess".

Then I watched the infamous Henke workshop video in NZ where it became apparent that most of his entire set was Operator.

I went back to it and worked with making my own sounds.

WOW! If you're new to FM synthesis Operator is SO much easier to understand. The routings are obvious and intuitive and it's actually pretty easy to create some interesting sounds from scratch.

Operator is not one of those "open and play" synths but it's surprisingly quick and easy to make some pretty cool stuff using it's unique features and easy design. Especially drum sounds.

And it comes at far less CPU expense than things like "Massive". You can have a rack of 5 operators doing drum sounds with minimal CPU hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94fpI2FNmT0

heres the devilfish sound on operator.

Operator is a good instrument for me