If money was not a factor, should I go with DiscoDSP Discovery or Synth1?

I know Synth1 is free, but I'm trying to find what the differences between the two are, without the word free tainting the comparison.

Thanks,
Brian

I would say the biggest difference is oscillator quality...

discovery's oscillators are much better than synth1's in the aliasing department.. I think they are a bit more clear too.. but you have to pay with extra cpu cycles..


personally.. I like Synth1 for its UI.. (for some reason the size of discovery's gui and the wide spacing of the knobs really throws me..)
but im sure you could use both side by side just fine if you arent weird like me..

I've fooled around with the Discovery demo and the two sound very alike to me.....
And very important to me: Discovery eats a lot of CPU while Synth 1 is one of the most CPU-friendly synths out there......

Just my two (euro)cents.

Discovery is much deeper and you can create much more complex patches with it but it kills my CPU (though I haven't tried the version 2 demo yet which is supposed to be more efficient).

Synth 1 is much much more CPU friendly and still capable of making some really good sounds, even some more complex ones (and its free) and its easier to tweak too.

btw - Have they added the Synth 1 preset import feature to Discovery yet? If they do that and make it so it can run happily on my humble Athlon 500 I might finally buy it, I do love the sounds it can make.

I'd say Synth1 is great for background sounds because it sounds too much like plastic. That can be good and bad, depends on situation.

Discovery is like "se creme de la creme" soundwise. Using that for background stuff is almost like throwing pearls for the pigs

Btw, Discovery 2 isn't that cpu heavy anymore (almost usuable here).

Cheers,
Ronny

If the money doesn't matter, than Discovery without a doubt. It's a better synthesizer than Synth1. Yeah it's heavier on CPU and yeah it costs money, but there's a reason

Synth1 is a great synth too, a must have for everyone on a budjet. Really good considering it's free! But If I had to choose it's would be Discovery by a long shot.

Discovery has been shaping up to be my favorite these days - my swiss army knife

If both would be free I'd go for Synh1
If both would not be free I'd go for Synth1 too !

But Discovery is a great synth no doubt.

Then again, Z3ta is the one I really buy ! javascript:emoticon('')

I don't hear that much difference in the two to justify Discovery 2's huge demand for cpu.Yes the osc's anti-alias better on Discovery but in a mix....Remember Discovery uses up to 4 layers to create it's complex sounds,the architecture of the two isn't that different.To be fair layer 4 Synth1's together,select 4 of your favorite patches that compliment each other,play from your midi controller and then judge the difference.I just don't find that much.The greatest difference aside from the cpu demand is the 80 euros Discovery costs.But since you said money is not the object buy Discovery and use Synth1.

EDIT:Quote"Btw Discovery 2 isn't that cpu heavy anymore (ALMOST usable here)" I rest my case

Discovery. It just sounds better. Straight up. I've used both, and while I love Synth1, Discovery is just better. The new version is much lighter on CPU as well. Over all, it just sounds better. Very much better. Even better than Pro5x often. Right, well I'm gonna stop Yammering at you, and get outta here. Go for DISCOVERY.

both are great no doubt.

I pick, have it all...and use both

but if i had to pick one, I would pick the stunning Discovery over also stunning Synth1

I don't see the point of the question.
If money is no object, the obvious answer is use both.
You already have Synth1. It's free. Remember?

well hey now
if money is no object then I want them all

I voted synth 1

Synth1 is not very good at all IMO, it sounds like crap.

Discovery sounds good.

CPU?
Who cares?

I must agree with you there SensibleStudio....I've not realy understood the excitement surrounding Synth1....although we have recieved a lot of patches for it which do sound kinda nice

exactly - I don't see what the fuss is about with Synth1 - other than it being free.

Hey C'mon guys, leave poor synth 1 alone. When you've got a track running say D'cota, reaktor,absynth, z3ta and effects on everything, then synth 1 can take some of the strain doing some of the less important parts of your track. Granted it isn't the best synth out there but it really is a useful and highly useable thought inspiring piece of software. People releasing stuff of that quality for free makes the developers work harder for our hard earned cash. Surely that's a great thing in itself isn't it?

SYNTH 1 ROCKS!

personally I find it interesting that this thread appears on the heels of a synth 1 update.
-edit this part,might have mixed up the synths here-
I think the fondess of synth 1 it's general design etc has led to so many people to liking it and contributing so many great patches for it.
and as many people have pointed out the average music listener is not going to notice the difference between the two.

Ronny Pries wrote:

I'd say Synth1 is great for background sounds because it sounds too much like plastic. That can be good and bad, depends on situation. Discovery is like "se creme de la creme" soundwise. Using that for background stuff is almost like throwing pearls for the pigs Btw, Discovery 2 isn't that cpu heavy anymore (almost usuable here). Cheers, Ronny

gotta agree with ronny here 100%..

that said, i am very surprised that the poll results are so close! (of course i voted for discovery)....i mean, do people REALLY think that synth 1 sounds as good as discovery? obviously they do

synth 1 to me is the epitomy of tinny flaky digital sound, whereas discovery sounds the exact opposite...yet another freebie i just don't understand the hype about

ttoz wrote:

that said, i am very surprised that the poll results are so close! (of course i voted for discovery)....i mean, do people REALLY think that synth 1 sounds as good as discovery? obviously they do

The question was "Discovery or Synth1?" , and not "which one does sound better?"

I too think that Discovery DOES sound better, still I voted Synth1 because I like it more due to it's practical UI. It's no use to me to have a high quality synth that I can't use properly.

There are a lot of people to whom cpu usage and UI are important and who like Synth1 especially for those reasons.

ttoz wrote:

yet another freebie i just don't understand the hype about

Yes, obviously you don't!

Quaternion wrote:

I too think that Discovery DOES sound better, still I voted Synth1 because I like it more due to it's practical UI. It's no use to me to have a high quality synth that I can't use properly.

As a Mac user I have no chance to play neither Discovery nor Synth1, but I can still look at the screenshots: To me as a Nord Lead user Synth1 first looks very cluttered, while Discovery has the ever great and straight layout of the Nord Lead.
What is so great about Synth1's UI? Could it be this is rather about what you are used to, about being afraid to learn something different?

dr.wackler wrote:

As a Mac user I have no chance to play neither Discovery nor Synth1, but I can still look at the screenshots: To me as a Nord Lead user Synth1 first looks very cluttered, while Discovery has the ever great and straight layout of the Nord Lead. What is so great about Synth1's UI? Could it be this is rather about what you are used to, about being afraid to learn something different?

Just looking at a screenshot of Synth1 doesn't do it enough justice GUI-wise for the following reasons:

You can scale the Synth1 GUI from 80% to 200% in size.
And you can also customize its colors.

So it's not about what I am used to, but how I can adjust something to my needs.

For instance by changing the gui size I can have 4 Synth1s on screen simultaneously on my 800x600 display. Whereas 1 Discovery doesn't even fit in that resolution. Also I can play like 15 Synth1s on my slow machine while it can't take 2 instances of Discovery.

As you can see the reasons are simple, it is not being afraid to learn something different.

For what it's worth:
a) I'm not a great musician - barely a musician at all, for that matter.
b) I've been told at various times that I have shits for ears because I expressed my absolute love for Pentagon, z3ta, Crystal, and Triangle - as well as FreeverbToo.
c) But I have been loving, and listening to, electronic music for well over 20 years - so take the following like it's coming from your average idiot audience member...

...and I cannot help but wonder if those who think Synth1 sounds crap have ever listened to any electronica from the '70s? Because, with all its supposedly high aliasing and plasticy sound and cheapo background nature, Synth1 still has a spell that not infrequently rivals what you can hear on many of those tape-looped, analog-noise-and-shit-ridden LPs from JMJ, Tangerine Dream, Tomita, Kitaro, Kraftwerk (and, heaven forbid, even Vangelis) etc. that are the grandfathers of all electronic music today.

Now, I would never stick Synth1 up against a real-life, U$3,000 synth. That's not the point. But it has a very specific character, and a beautiful synergy between its arpeggiator and the rest of the synth that make it much, much more than the sum of its parts.

Look, there are a lot of people here, including many high-flying pros, who shell out a respectable amount of cash for Commodore emulations or Plasticz to get the specific character of these synths' sounds into their composition. Not because they cannot afford a 'better sounding' synth, not because they don't realize that these don't sound like a classic Moog or Jupiter, but because the former are the ones that produce precisely the sound that they are after, and not the latter.

Personally, I couldn't give a rats' ass about 'the Commodore sound' or 'the Plasticz sound' no matter how much I tried, but I realize that it's not because they're "shit", but because their character is not what I want. The same applies to Synth1. If you're using it as a cheap place-holder for the 'giants' that would replace it in the final comp, you're missing the point. No sound is 'great' or 'shit' in itself; a chainsaw buzz in the middle of a Mozart divertimento would sound nightmarishly bad, but blends into a well-written speed/terror/hardcore/industrial track like Darth Vader into Star Wars. Synth1 fits into certain comps as if it had been designed to do so; just try putting "Pure Techno - twiddle p. en" as a preset, load 3 instances with the Arpeggiator all on, set some on down, some on up, some on 4 octave and some on 2, put on a sweet reverb, then hit a nice chord on all - and you understand why it can be not only a 'cheap substitute' - but the master itself.

Just out of interest, what are peoples opinions as to which of these 2 most accurately reproduces the sound of the nord lead?



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I can't speak for Discovery 'cos I don't have it... though now I definitely want to check it out!

Synth 1 to me is a no brainer... it's free and it sounds pretty decent. So it's one of those things you can check out to see if you like it. If you like it, cool. If you don't like it, ditch it. It's definitely worth checking into - especially if you are on a tight budget and can't afford to get a lot of stuff, and if you're contemplating paying money for something else.

With Synth1, Crystal, Triangle, you can have some really nice sounds at no cost.

That said... I don't have a Nord Lead either (yet). But I do have a MicroMod, and I just spent about an hour or so at G.C. the other day checking out the Leads while I was waiting to take care of some other business.

Synth 1 is not a Nord, but I can see the resemblance. Like a shadow of the real thing, but a fairly decent shadow. The new filter brings it a bit closer, imo.

Don't know if this is a good comparison, but it's kind of like a cartoon... e.g. like the way Final Fantasy, for example is a shadow of a real action film. So, the Nord would be a shadow of a real analog, and Synth1 would be a shadow of the Nord (a Nord2 not 3). They're close to each other, but different. Does that make sense?

Synth 1 sounds pretty good with a bit of additional processing and tweaking of the patches. The facility for putting some animation into the sounds IS there.

Now I'm off to check out Discovery.

...but I would still rather really have a real Nord!!!

Just back from checking out Discovery reviews and info...

"Import Nord Lead2 sounds?" he said? <blink, blink>

I'll have to grab the demo for sure!!!

It's still a no brainer, IMO... grab Synth 1 'cos it's free and if it does what you need, you're good to go. If you're not happy with it, Discovery is a hell of a lot cheaper than a Nord. Or you can have both. It would be harder if Synth 1 cost money.

But ultimately, I would STILL rather have the real thing!

Liondream wrote:

Where's that f***** button?

dr.wackler wrote:

Liondream wrote: Where's that f***** button?

Sorry everyone... I don't know what happened. I noticed multiple posts of the same message... this crazy computer... it's always something.

...and I'm afraid I've got the Victor Hugo thing going with these long posts. Gotta watch that... (now about that Battle of Waterloo...)

I see that Discovery even has the Nord buttons, Lead2 dials, and the stone mod wheel and wooden pitch bend knob. Now if those are any indication of attention to detail by discoDSP...

Cool!