Blue 2 - What's Your Take?

[awol9000]

Does anyone know if they GUI size in the demo is the bigger new GUI size or if the full version has a bigger option? I couldn't find anything in Options.

[cowby]

seems like the size of the UI of both demo and paid version are identical and cannot be re-sized

[awol9000]

Thanks. Blue 1 must have been really tiny.

[Kindred]

Sorry, quick and boring question - how big is the installer file for this?

(Today I am on mobile internet so if it's not too big I will buy today otherwise wait until Monday)

Thanks for anyone who can let me know

[Aloysius]

Sorry, quick and boring question - how big is the installer file for this?

(Today I am on mobile internet so if it's not too big I will buy today otherwise wait until Monday)

Thanks for anyone who can let me know

On my Laptop, the ZIP says 247 MB (259,414,627 bytes).

[Kindred]

Sorry, quick and boring question - how big is the installer file for this?

(Today I am on mobile internet so if it's not too big I will buy today otherwise wait until Monday)

Thanks for anyone who can let me know

On my Laptop, the ZIP says 247 MB (259,414,627 bytes).

Thanks - you rock!

[Kindred]

Well, bought and playing around with it now.

Has anyone found any problems with latency? I am getting some hardcore latency with this!

[Numanoid]

I was underwhelmed by Blue, but on a recommendation from someone who said, "It replaced my FS1r," I tried the Blue 2 demo and I was very impressed. I've been busy consolidating my hardware, but as soon as someone buys my DX200, Blue 2 will be mine.

So Blue II is the plug to get if you want a FS1R in plugin format ?

[basslinemaster]

There's one huge problem with Blue 2- the user manual has been designed by the 'grey text from hell' designer that seems to have taken over the internet. It's like trying to read it through a mist, why on Earth did they not just use good old black text on a white background? Blue 2 itself is a fantastic synth - just think of how much it would cost you to buy a few thousand quality presets with any other synth, which usually comes with less than a thousand of them, and these are all really good, Rob Papen presets. Definitely worth the money.

[zerocrossing]

I was underwhelmed by Blue, but on a recommendation from someone who said, "It replaced my FS1r," I tried the Blue 2 demo and I was very impressed. I've been busy consolidating my hardware, but as soon as someone buys my DX200, Blue 2 will be mine.

So Blue II is the plug to get if you want a FS1R in plugin format ?

Well, it's not a FS1R emulator and I didn't say that. I just mentioned it because someone who has a FS1R wrote that in a post. It's a 6 operator FM synth and the FS1R, which I've never owned but only played with in a music store where I was an employee, is a whopping 8 operators. But Blue 2 also has Phase Modulation and waveshaping. The FS1R is also 4 part multitimbral, Blue 2 isn't multitimbral at all (though of course you can run multiple instances of it). They both have the formant filtering, as well as other filters. I know the FS1R had something called Formant sequencing which I must admit I'm unfamiliar with. I'm not that well versed on the FS1R's filters or effects, but they both seem to have a good complement of effects.

Now, there's also Linplug's Octopus:

http://www.linplug.com/octopus.html

That might get you closer in some ways to an FS1R than Blue 2, but it is lacking the formant filter. Beautiful sound though, I'm surprised it doesn't get more kudos on KVR.

So, in the end there is no single replacement for a FS1R and that's why it's still a classic that commands high prices. I'll probably never own one though it left a good impression on me and it's one of my "if I win the lottery" synths. However, for those of us who want a taste of that, there are a nice complement of FM plug ins that IMO, sound great. I'll also throw Toxic Biohazard and Sytrus into the mix. Of course, FM8 is also an amazing plug in that often gets trashed due to it's not exact emulation of the DX7 but less often applauded for how it leaves the DX7 in the dust on many levels. (yes, I'm crazy and I do own all the above mentioned software. )

[Numanoid]

Well, it's not a FS1R emulator and I didn't say that. I just mentioned it because someone who has a FS1R wrote that in a post.

No prob

I only took up the discussion again because I was playing with the Hollow Sun FS1R library, and thought it would be great to have dedicated FS1R plug.

Searched the forum for hits for such plugs, your comment was the best recent match.

[zerocrossing]

Well, it's not a FS1R emulator and I didn't say that. I just mentioned it because someone who has a FS1R wrote that in a post.

No prob

I only took up the discussion again because I was playing with the Hollow Sun FS1R library, and thought it would be great to have dedicated FS1R plug.

Searched the forum for hits for such plugs, your comment was the best recent match.

Heh. Yeah. That figures. I'm king of NOTHING!

It all kind of comes down to the fact that FM (or Yamaha's FM that's really PM) is hard to wrap your head around as a concept. Subtractive is easy, because it's how our voices work. Wavetable is really just an extension to subtractive. Additive makes sense if you're someone that understands the physical relationships of harmonics in creating a waveform... but FM? There's no intuitive way to predict how those operators arranged in their little diagrams are going to interact. That must be learned, and I'll be honest, I've not even scratched the surface. When it comes to FM I hope for a good complement of presets and use them with my own custom modulation set ups or as starting points for a patch that's fairly similar to the original.

So add to all that the fact that the first FM/PM synths were among the worst interfaces known to man... well it's not hard to see why Yamaha made the FS1r for a few years and then abandoned it. Expensive and difficult to program=small market. Here's what I don't get though. Yamaha abandoned the synthesis it made popular in favor of ROMplers. Why not hit the market with a FS1P? It's not in direct conflict with any of their current offerings. Or, why hasn't Native Instruments taken their FM synth to the next level in Komplete 10? Imagine FM8 with the extra operators and all the other features of the FS1R... if anything it would generate a lot of buzz here on the forum. I skipped Komplete 9 and I'm skipping 10 too as they didn't bother to do a full version update on any of their flagship instruments.

[DJ Warmonger]

Well, Blue 2 is a monster synth and potentially can do anything, but I find mysself overwhelmed by it. There are just so many knobs, FX and modulations that I have enough before getting anywhere. Definitelly it will take long time to learn and master.

For instance, today I learned that proper acid riffs can be made with the help of guitar amp... while trying to build noise arpeggio. Yeah, everything is included, everything can make or break your sound.

[electro]

Blue2 has some great sounding presets. Very PPGish.

[xx JPRacer xx]

There's one huge problem with Blue 2- the user manual has been designed by the 'grey text from hell' designer that seems to have taken over the internet. It's like trying to read it through a mist, why on Earth did they not just use good old black text on a white background?

There's a workaround but it's not perfect : If you're using Adobe Reader:
- Edit -> Preferences
- Accessibility Category
- Document Colors Options
- Put a check mark in "Replace Document Colors"
- Remove check mark for "Only change the color of black text or line art."

Unfortunately the problem with this method is you'll get black square where it's supposed to be a table, which is even worse...