Help me end my GAS...

[poonna]

I have VAZ2010, Oddity, Sytrus, and Wusikstation -- and Alesis Micron. Currently, VAZ2010 is my workhorse synth.

I also used to have Ultra Analog and I liked its warmth, but it somehow lacked some sheen shininess and bites, and was a bit sterile, too. Still miss its warmth and expressiveness though.

I've been wanting CS-80V and impOSCar for a very long time. There are certain charms about them. I like CS-80V for its shimmering and expressive quality, mostly for comping sounds, and impOSCar for its filters and in-your-face leads. But I don't want to have too many synths. I tend to do better with limited number of tools.

I'm going to end my shopping for synths here, at least for some time to come. So I'll make this my last synth purchase of this year and try to cover as much ground as possible, without spending too much, of course. And usability is more important than ultimate flexibility, so something like Reaktor or Tassman is out of question (they are also very expensive). VAZ Modular is simple enough, though.

So I've thought long and hard and come up with these. Given these choices, what do you think is better?

1. Who cares about VAZ? Go ahead and buy both CS-80V and impOSCar, oh, and sell off VAZ2010. That would be about $200. (I'll miss VAZ2010 simplicity.)

2. Upgrade to VAZ Modular and patch up CS-80 and OSCar look-alikes, and forget those imitations. That would be about $180. (Those VAZ Modular patches could be very HUGE and unwieldy, though, and I won't get those exact same sounds.)

3. Who cares about those outdated synths? Dump VAZ2010, get Surge or some newer more flexible offerings and be happy. That could be about $50-$100 after selling VAZ2010, depending on what the replacement is. (Now, warm analog sounds, cutting leads, smooth and lively comp, flexibility? Can I get them?)

PS: Oddity, Sytrus, and Wusik are quite different and have their uses, so I'll keep them. These synths will be used mostly for pop and modern rock songs.

[beej]

Option 3: Buy Zebra2. The new filter coming in 2.1 *really* reminds me of the meaty, creamy, thick goodness of the impOSCar, and it does similar bandpass-type stuff too. I love impOSCar and think it's one of the thickest, most alive VI's around, but Z2 is getting very close, now... plus it's a lot more flexible...

I wasn't too impressed with the CS80, I'm not a fan of Arturia's stuff in general. Sounds a bit "dead" to me, but ymmv of course.

[[godbox]]

I suppose some of this depends on your goals/way of working: I think if you are in the thick of recording, I would avoid VAZmodular - do you really want to spend so much time perfecting a patch to sound like impOSCar? If you enjoy sound design as part of the process, go for it, if you would rather get to the composing/recording, get the tool.

it would seem that Sytrus can do everything VAZ does, just as easily. It is underestimated as a simple VA synth, imo.

Z2 does bear investigating, though. I've not heard it, but the reviews are astounding, and you can try the freebies.

I guess I'm voting 3,

[shamann]

Should you choose the upgrade path to Vaz Modular, I wouldn't bother to create big synth-a-like patches. Much easier/better just to sit down and build a patch to the sound you want without any extra unused crap. I can build a standard 2-Osc subtractive patch in Vaz in under two minutes, and simply add the extra esoteric bits as I need/want them. I've made monster patches before where I thought I'd use a standard do everything template, and simply found it completely unnecessary and a pain in the ass to wade through/maintain. Vaz has some great modulation options and some killer, killer filters, and can be a modular effects processor, if you do go that way.

But, from there, it all depends if you want one do everything synth, or lots of smaller, limited function, go to synths. VazMod has saved me buying pretty much any other synth, but if I were starting over I wouldn't immediately get it, now that things like Surge or Zebra2 are around. If you really want one big, do everything synth, I'd try all big synths around and see what one you like best, since they all work a little differently.

Else I wouldn't buy anything until there was an apparent requirement for something new in the music (i.e. some times you just need to focus your attention on something new). If you are trying to avoid the desire for more synths, don't get something less expansive like Imposcar, since it'll only have you thinking about other synths in no time (now I need one that does FM, etc).

[sc_a]

Eat Properly, so you won't Suffer from bad Gas !

[Notron User]

Yeah, I'd concur with the recommendation for Zebra 2.

[lateralus778]

G.A.S. never ends. That's the beauty of it!

[tomg]

You could sell it all and get KarmaFX Synth Modular. The buy in price (donation) for the Beta is $10. That would save you a lot of money. Try it you'll like it.

http://www.karmafx.dk/

[CapnLockheed]

You think you have problems? I'm experiencing a massive and
manic G.A.S. with HARDWARE synths....I'm running out of space
dammit!!

[lateralus778]

you think you want a simple, clean, effective setup. You constantly strive for it. You will be "complete" -- but a few years and a few hundred lbs of gear later, you're standing there saying "what the hell happened?!?"...
sorry for the lack of constructive response contained in my replies

[poonna]

Thanks for your input so far. I'm also looking for CS-80V alternative. Though it can sound a bit cold, what I like about it is its inherent expressiveness without being overwhelming. That makes it feel like an instrument to me. The others that are comparable in this regard, IMO, are Ultra Analog, and maybe Surge. Now I regret it a bit more for selling UA, and perhaps I'll buy it again.