Tone2 Saurus - Best of its price range?

[Ingonator]

The last time I demoed it, it still had a bug regarding the pitch bender, if I remember correctly... After two years, maybe they will do a version 2 of Saurus as well
I like the huge interface, but the displays are hard to read somehow.

On this review there is a little demo tune about half way down the page, it sounds a bit cheap and plasticky to me. Dunno if it is because of the music or the synth, or both...
http://rekkerd.org/review-tone2-saurus- ... r-plug-in/

Check the demos here, especially for the "Synth Legends" and "Analog" soundsets which mostly contain "oldschool" like sounds;
https://tone2.com/html/overview%20sa.html

Some more details about the Synth Legends soundset which is the latest one:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&t=410547

I could post many other demos that IMO sound better than the example you mentioned (including a bigger amount of my own demos).


Ingo

[fluffy_little_something]

Hehe, I remember that first tune of the Analog soundset from my teenage years, but can't remember the artist or band. Who was that?

[Ingonator]

Hehe, I remember that first tune of the Analog soundset from my teenage years, but can't remember the artist or band. Who was that?

I guess you mean this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_ukfGAd8T4


Here is a full concert of the band ("Magic Fly" around 1h 11 mins):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE-aBx7CDRM

Some synths i spotted in that concert: Moog Memorymoog, Moog Liberation, Moog Source

Not totally sure about the synth at the front of the stage but it seems to be a Yamaha GS1 FM synth (which is the only Yamaha FM synth that looked like a piano):
http://120years.net/wordpress/wp-conten ... gs1_04.jpg


Ingo

[fluffy_little_something]

Yes, cool, have not heard that in decades They used to play that at the rink

The sound of the studio version was pretty good given the year. Never noticed on the crappy rink speakers that were made for ice hockey announcements

[cowby]

Oh there are lots of replies - am back to office. Good morning!

I should tell you guys earlier that I've owned DCAM $99 which was a no brainer. Like Diva (demo'ed last night), some patches just scared me away the CPU Fxxk up to almost 60% in my i7 machine. DCAM is a very deep synth but it was hard to program (to me). Just the arp section will let you play for a whole afternoon. But as it always bites my CPU so end up I seldomly use.

Diva .... Demo'ed last night. Sound VERY good and lots of Juices however, again CPU is my main concern. But I can tell you that the UI is pretty cool and logically layout so programming patches have alot of fun.

CA's alchemy, bought in while it was on sale. To me the modulation is sick! But the sound is not "Analogue" enough. But it has so many other features to die for........ By listening to those factory patches, you will be a bit disapointed. They're too emphasized arp, bright reverb....

NI Monark, love and hate ... UI is simple enough but like my Arturia SEM. Because of the too simple UI, I could't really program lots of varity of patches. It may be my skill but few knobs means few possibilites (kick me if you want). But both are CPU friendly so I sometimes will create Leads and basses but not lush pads...

So, you will say I have some (but not all) major synths in the market. But sometimes, when you fire up your DAW, you may just need to use an all-rounded synth to start programming. T2's saurus is that kind of synth, most of the features are there (you name it) though the sound may not please anyone. I may try to demo it again this week.

Also, I am heavily demoing Blue 2 starting from last week. Amazing synth and I can do some kind of deep low end sub-bass sound (with some tweaking of course). I can't say it is a ana-synth but don't under estimate the sound of this FM-synth. It has more fun than nemesis ! And yes, I will wait for Tone2's E2 to come up a final decision.

Cheers!
Piggy915

[Robmobius]

I like Saurus. I was going to suggest you check out some of the impressive demos it has, but Ingo beat me to it.

[Ingonator]

So, you will say I have some (but not all) major synths in the market. But sometimes, when you fire up your DAW, you may just need to use an all-rounded synth to start programming. T2's saurus is that kind of synth, most of the features are there (you name it) though the sound may not please anyone. I may try to demo it again this week.

That more or less sums it up. Saurus is like a "workhorse" synth that simply works while other synths are maybe better for specific tasks.
Anyway IMO soundwise Saurus is really great too while (as mentioned a few times in the past) for some patches an additional EQ could improve the low end. I am using PSP NobleQ or stillwell Audio VibeoQ for that task).

Many people also seem to overlook the "Tone" parameter in the oscilator section of Saurus which could have a huge impact on the basic sound. when turned cockwise the sound gets brighter while a setting below the center position gives a more "vintage" sound. My favorite setting is around 30-40% (when 50% in the center).
If you set it above the center (around 60% or more) this acts a bit like an additional HPF.


Ingo

[osiris]

I will say, Saurus is one of the few synths that you can play a REALLY low note on and it not distort.

[fluffy_little_something]

Maybe because it lacks bass

[cyberheater]

Another vote for Saurus from me.

It's an awesome synth with a character of it's own. It sounds thick and fat and has lovely squelchy filters. The onboard effects are also very good and musical.

It sounds like hardware to me.

I've got Monark/Reaktor/VA2 etc... If I had to pick one VA it would be Saurus.

Also. It's pretty light on CPU.

[fluffy_little_something]

Would be nice if they included the additional skin without paying extra for the expansion. I think one should only have to pay for stuff that is related to additional sounds, not for stuff that concerns the synth as such.

[Ingonator]

Maybe because it lacks bass

As already mentioned above: just use an external EQ...

That solution is simpler than finding a synth with the same specs and a better low end.

BTW the psychoacoustic processing ("Boost" button) creates a quite good low end in somecases while in others this does not work that well.
FWIW a while ago i mentined to Bastiaan from Tone2 that having a Bass Boost in Saurus would be a nice add-on. Let's see i they could add it in a future update.


Ingo

[fluffy_little_something]

I personally don't mind if a synth has not much bass. Bass is too exaggerated these days anyway. Outright annoying at times so that because of your neighbors you have to turn back the bass knob on your stereo, which often destroys the sound as a whole. So I prefer a clear, well-defined bass of modest intensity.

[Ingonator]

I personally don't mind if a synth has not much bass. Bass is too exaggerated these days anyway. Outright annoying at times so that because of your neighbors you have to turn back the bass knob on your stereo, which often destroys the sound as a whole. So I prefer a clear, well-defined bass of modest intensity.

In terms of bass i got some good experiences using Sauus in combination with the PSP NobleQ EQ plugin (which has an additional analog tube at the output that could be switched on/off). In the past i used Stillwell Audio VibeEQ which works quite nicely too. Those two EQs are not really what i would call "neutral" (but more with "character") which some people don't seem to like. another good way to boost the low end is the "The Glue" Compressor in Live 9 Suite which ha an additional EQ.

Anyway several Saurus sounds have a good low-end by default and no EQ needed there. Of course there are also patches where a big low end is not needed or even bad.

As alreay mentioned also the "Tone" parameter in the Saurus Osc section has a big influence on the basic sound. Besides that ther are options like the "Boost" button, filter drive and the Drive FX inthe FX section.

The filter section also offers a few more interesting features llike the "Soft Reso" button (= an alternative resonance behaviour), filter FM and filter feedback. Not to forget that the filters got the (in)famous zero delay feedback design.


Ingo

[fluffy_little_something]

External, well, if an eq is necessary, it would be nice to be able to save eq settings along with the patch. Element and Dune 2 have effective built-in equalizers. I know the tone controls in Saurus, but they did not really convince me. Reminded me a bit of old cheap stereos when you only had one tone knob for both bass and treble - at each other's expense.