Analog synth Vs. Software synth flame war areana of doom!!!

[leisuremuffin]

the question is will software synths ever sound better than hardware?maybe when everything is 64 bit?anyone

well, if its some people's opinion that software synths don't currently sound better than hardware - then it will never happen. at least not in the minds of those people.

i personally think that softsynths like Generator (which i've only been using for 4 days), GMedia's Oddity, and impOscar sound better than the hardware synths i've owned in the past. Some of those were analog, some were hybrids (they include Microwave XT, Ensoniq SQ80, Juno1, Arp Axxe).

So for me, the answer is - they already are sounding better.
Beside's alot of the guys i know that love their moogs so much and go on about how "fat" they sound, end up throwing them through a digital TC Fireworx and the end result sounds worse than a JP8000.

and i'd say 4 out of 5 "analogue" heads are really just victims of gear lust and would tell you the sound of a tin can beats out a reaktor ensemble... just because its "hardware dood!!!!"

let the flame wars begin!

Ok, i moved this from the latency thread to here, so we can kick this good ol' fashioned flame war off right.


Anyways, my response to this is that if you seriously think that software emulations of analog synths sound better than the real deal, you simply aren't listening.


Now, i'm not saying that i don't like some soft synths, but i've been spoiled by the experience of actually using the real thing.

I learned synthesis on old modulars. The moog series III, the buchla 100 and 200, and some electrocomp modules.

I've also had the good fortune to be able to play with a lot of great semi modular or keyboard analog synths, including the mini moog (great sound but over rated synth), the arp odyssey (which the oddity is based on), the ems synthi (putney version).

I only own three hardware analog synths myself, a roland SH-101, an oberheim matrix 1000, and a waldorf pulse.


I'm sorry, but i'm not a gear fetishist (if i was, i would have bought a modular system instead of my powerbook ) and it is my informed opinion that there is no fucking way that any soft synth attempting to emulate a true analog synth can ever sound as good.

Just from comparing the actual arp odyssey to the oddity i can tell you its true, i would still use the oddity because it is convenient, but it does not sound better or even as good. My good freind and sometimes studio partner who lives downstairs from me owns the odyssey so i use it on a very regular basis.

OK, now please note that i said softsynths emulating analog synths. so that excludes the operator since it is an FM synth and software can do that just fine...

ahhight, here we go... who else has something to say?


-lm

[AdamJay]

Anyways, my response to this is that if you seriously think that software emulations of analog synths sound better than the real deal, you simply aren't listening.-lm

whoah whoah whhoah...
back the truck up there buddy.

i didn't say generally that software emulations of analog synths sound better than the real deal. you are putting words in my mouth.

read what i typed the first time, and try to digest it this time.
i said synths like generator and impOscar sounded better than the hardware synths i've owned. I'm not saying a moog emulator is gonna kick a moogs ass when recreating the same patch. Generator doesn't emulate any particular synth. its its own unique beast, and i think it gobbls up my old SQ-80 and Juno1.

[leisuremuffin]

ahhhihgt. you're absolutely right, i did jump the gun there.

but, it is true that the real synths that things like imposcar or oddity or arturia moog (which is the biggest joke ever, what a piece of crap) try to emulate sound better. sorry, no question. That doesn't mean that soft synths aren't usable. In fact, they are way more practical. But we're talking about sound, here.


i think the reason a lot of people don't understand why people who use analog synths like them so much, is because they haven't actually used the real thing.


BTW, i do like generator, i'm very impressed by it. But y'know what? In a competition between it doing a monophonic patch and my SH-101, the SH-101 wins. Of course I can't save patches on my SH-101, though, and it's also only monophonic....

but we're talking about SOUND, right?


-lm

[AdamJay]

i think the impOscar SMOKEs the OSCar. have you played an Oscar? totally unstable sound and hummy to hell. i can't say the same about the Oddity vs. Oddyssey(didn't own an Oddyssey) but i did feel it was more powerful than my old Arp Axxe (monophonic Oddyssey).

i haven't checked out Arturia's offering, but i may take a gander at the MiniMonsta. The difference between GMedia and alot of other emulation developers is they aren't just recreating the synths as vsti's, they truley are improving on them. and thats why i prefer them.

re: SH101, dunno. apples and oranges.

[Angstrom]

I can't believe that people think that softsynths sound better than analogue synths!
I know that softsysnths are more flexible and convenient ... IE midi CC's to everything and your patches magically re-appear when you re-open a song.

but comparing the sounds - I still think the old analogues have it. I dont mean the lesser models like SH101s and MS20 's ... they were 'cheap' then and waaay over-rated now (I have both, so I'm allowed to say that). I never understood why the 101 was touted as a bass synth ... it's anaemic!

but I played a minimoog side by side with some digital versions and there was no comparison at all.

I played a hammond B3 through an old leslie into some kind of weird cast iron donut mic at BBC maida vale and compared it against a softsynth rival ... well which do you think won?

I still dream about analog.

although it often looks like this...

[basetwo]

You forgot one other option for the poll:

Neither.

Each has their own sound. Asking if it sounds "good" is STRICTLY a matter of opinion. Also, something that sounds BAD may be RIGHT for a given application.

No software synth is going to emulate an analog sound perfectly. No analog synth could emulate a software synth perfectly either. So what?

Every sound has value and could be used somewhere for some purpose.

(Remember the "screech screech screech" of the violin in the movie Psycho? It didn't sound "good"-- not like a violin should -- but it was right for the part.)

[leisuremuffin]

Uhhhhhhmmmm, ok. I love my SH-101. I don't use it for bass. I use it for leads. It's fucking amazing. Yes, it's cheap. But it's not overrated. It's a really expressive and fun synth. and i think it sounds great.


-lm


nice buchla pic, BTW.

[leisuremuffin]

point well taken, basetwo.

but remember, this is the flame war areana of doom.

So annoying opinions presented as fact are always better than logical statements and meaningful discourse.


Analog is better and anybody who says otherwise is stoopid and wets their beds.

extra points for misspelling.


-lm


oh god, why do i have to be at work today... so bored giving practical tests...

[AdamJay]

my electricity bill is cheaper than yours! nyaaah!

[supster]

.. annoying opinions presented as fact are always better than logical statements and meaningful discourse.

hahahaaha .. touch'e!

[noisetonepause]

I want one of those early sampler keyboards, like an Emulator II or something, an Ensoniq or a Kurzweil. Those were nice and gritty.

I found some D50 samples somewhere that are apparently with no effects added and they sound fucking HUGE. I mean. Larger than life. Korg M1 was decent if a little glossy. We hand one at my old school and it was good through a guitar amp...

-Paws

[noisetonepause]

But then if you want power you really should play your synths through guitar amps. Mmm.

-Paws

[basetwo]

but remember, this is the flame war areana of doom.

So annoying opinions presented as fact are always better than logical statements and meaningful discourse.

Right, then.... just to keep things balanced:

I can do more with $200 worth of soft synths than someone can with $20000 in analog!

It's all about 1s and 0s!

basetwo

[Emissary]

I have to say here that OPERATOR is probably one of the best sounding synths i have heard. Analogue or "vanalogue"(just came up with that one hehe). It has such great oscillators that squeak with quality. you put some reverb and effect on it and it blows anything out of the water, including absynth (which i also have,) ok it cant do the more complex things that absynth can do, but if were talking about raw oscillating power, i dont think anything comes close to operator. I spent half an our yesterday just playing extreme bass with that thing and watching the furniture in my room vibrate. Analogue synths are DEAD!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH ANAL LOG Heads are weird little scum bags with tiny teeth and big bowl haircuts with little eyes and flabby thighs hahahaha

[basetwo]

"vanalogue"

Oooohhhhhh.... Vana gives me goose bumps!