FXpansion releases Cypher2

[lastmessiah]

It's FM so isn't it supposed to be more 'digital' sounding than, say, Strobe 2 and certainly more than things like Repro. Bazille seems a more legit comparison.

Yes, the Repro comparisons are irrelevant as well as the complaints that it doesn't sound "analog". Also a lot of people judging the sound character based on presets. Why you would buy a synth this deep just to surf presets is beyond me.

[christian f.]

This is a modern modular monster more than anything else.
It offers so much new modern sonic possibilities that it baffles me that people here are complaining that it doesn't do
"analog brass" patches for example like the plug ins that are specifically modeled to do this.

How many versions of the same sounds do you want/need ?
What is the purpose to look for these sounds and compare them to your favorites every time you install a new plugin ?
Especially when the plug in wasn't designed for that ?

I'm seriously interested to hear the answers.

Missing "analog mojo" in Cypher 2 is like missing the smell of diesel every time you charge up your Tesla.

[christian f.]

Yes, the Repro comparisons are irrelevant as well as the complaints that it doesn't sound "analog". Also a lot of people judging the sound character based on presets. Why you would buy a synth this deep just to surf presets is beyond me.

Exactly !

[fluffy_little_something]

This is a modern modular monster more than anything else.
It offers so much new modern sonic possibilities that it baffles me that people here are complaining that it doesn't do
"analog brass" patches for example like the plug ins that are specifically modeled to do this.

How many versions of the same sounds do you want/need ?
What is the purpose to look for these sounds and compare them to your favorites every time you install a new plugin ?
Especially when the plug in wasn't designed for that ?

I'm seriously interested to hear the answers.

Missing "analog mojo" in Cypher 2 is like missing the smell of diesel every time you charge up your Tesla.

Well, it says analog-modeled oscillators/filters and such things on their site. So, people have certain expectations given the competition...
And frankly, when I spend 200 dollars/euros/pounds on a synth, it should do all the sounds I need, including classic brass patches, at a very high level.

[lastmessiah]

Hi,
can somebody experienced in sound synthesis tell me what this synth can do and bitwig native modulators + its synth cant? This shouldnt be a match, i just wanna to get some idea of its unique features before I will invest in a new computer

I have Bitwig and it can do everything Cypher2 can and more. TransMod is great but with Bitwig you can modulate everything by anything. What's nice about FXpansion products is they run standalone and are handy when you want to focus on a very specific synthesis result. I think the only thing Cypher has on Bitwig is more intuitive MPE-midi mapping scheme, and possibly some other small features (and of course the overall sound character will have differences).

[moshimoshi]

This is a modern modular monster more than anything else.
It offers so much new modern sonic possibilities that it baffles me that people here are complaining that it doesn't do
"analog brass" patches for example like the plug ins that are specifically modeled to do this.

How many versions of the same sounds do you want/need ?
What is the purpose to look for these sounds and compare them to your favorites every time you install a new plugin ?
Especially when the plug in wasn't designed for that ?

I'm seriously interested to hear the answers.

Missing "analog mojo" in Cypher 2 is like missing the smell of diesel every time you charge up your Tesla.

This right here. I can't understand the sheer lack of ambition so many people have in terms of sound. Everything has to sound the same as everything else. Why?

[Jonny Quest]

I must say, based on the audio demos, this synth is very lush and rich sounding.

I don't know how much enhanced mastering went into the soundcloud tracks, but very cool stuff, especially the granular synth sounds and the string-esque (cello, cosmic sitar, rustic guitar) in terms of expression. And a spot on EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE synth. good show

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Also a lot of people judging the sound character based on presets.

Of course

Why you would buy a synth this deep just to surf presets is beyond me.

Why not?

[fluffy_little_something]

Who is that synth meant for? Which genres? EDM?

The presets, well, a matter of taste, obviously.

[moshimoshi]

Hi,
can somebody experienced in sound synthesis tell me what this synth can do and bitwig native modulators + its synth cant? This shouldnt be a match, i just wanna to get some idea of its unique features before I will invest in a new computer

I have Bitwig and it can do everything Cypher2 can and more. TransMod is great but with Bitwig you can modulate everything by anything. What's nice about FXpansion products is they run standalone and are handy when you want to focus on a very specific synthesis result. I think the only thing Cypher has on Bitwig is more intuitive MPE-midi mapping scheme, and possibly some other small features (and of course the overall sound character will have differences).

I've not used Bitwig so maybe I'm missing something, but how would a DAW-based modulation system be able to address the multiple voices of a synth polyphonically? Sure I would expect it to do lots of cool monophonic stuff across all voices but that doesn't approach what you can do in terms of poly modulation in Cypher (not tried Cypher2 yet but I'm sure it is much more capable than the original)

[lastmessiah]

Hi,
can somebody experienced in sound synthesis tell me what this synth can do and bitwig native modulators + its synth cant? This shouldnt be a match, i just wanna to get some idea of its unique features before I will invest in a new computer

I have Bitwig and it can do everything Cypher2 can and more. TransMod is great but with Bitwig you can modulate everything by anything. What's nice about FXpansion products is they run standalone and are handy when you want to focus on a very specific synthesis result. I think the only thing Cypher has on Bitwig is more intuitive MPE-midi mapping scheme, and possibly some other small features (and of course the overall sound character will have differences).

I've not used Bitwig so maybe I'm missing something, but how would a DAW-based modulation system be able to address the multiple voices of a synth polyphonically? Sure I would expect it to do lots of cool monophonic stuff across all voices but that doesn't approach what you can do in terms of poly modulation in Cypher (not tried Cypher2 yet but I'm sure it is much more capable than the original)

Bitwig has Voice Stacking with per-voice modulation and most of its modulators are poly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad_SCQtIq-A

[aMUSEd]

CPU useage and playability with the Seaboard just seem so much better in Logic than Waveform or Bitwig. Might get it after all, the textures are deep.

[moshimoshi]

Bitwig has Voice Stacking with per-voice modulation and most of its modulators are poly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad_SCQtIq-A

Ah I see, this is cool, but this would be for its own internal synths only, would it not?

[himalaya]

I must say, based on the audio demos, this synth is very lush and rich sounding.

I don't know how much enhanced mastering went into the soundcloud tracks, but very cool stuff, especially the granular synth sounds and the string-esque (cello, cosmic sitar, rustic guitar) in terms of expression. And a spot on EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE synth. good show

No enhancement was done to these. You hear the original presets with Cypher effects in those individual demos.

The music track from the promo video has some balancing only to help all sounds sit in the mix (there is a huge amount of presets with a lot of realtime modulation going, so in order to prevent a complete mess, some compression, panning, a little EQ, usually to cut frequencies, was applied. But it's nothing that would alter the nature of the sound or 'sweeten' things and 'cheat').

[lastmessiah]

Bitwig has Voice Stacking with per-voice modulation and most of its modulators are poly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad_SCQtIq-A

Ah I see, this is cool, but this would be for its own internal synths only, would it not?

The voice stacking features are, yes. But that's not really a knock against it, Bitwig's native devices are awesome and can achieve pretty much any sound when combined with the native mods and effects. It is really a sound design instrument as much as it is a sequencer.