The best ES2 substitute?

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Instruments Discussion
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

The subject says almost it all:

as an almost ex Logic user, what's the best replacing
instrument for EMagic ES2 (preferably not tied to any particular host and free or low cost)?

Thanx and bye
Mabian
Top

Post

Oh, man... I've tried and tried, but NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, makes the cut. What irritates me the absolute most is that none of the synths I've tried (vanguard, b3ta, A1, Linplug*,* everything) seems to give the user any mentionable control over the oscillators.

I have no idea if my saw is synced, if it's a |\|\|\ or a /|/|/|, etc. It's really embarrasing, and I have had to resort to using Reaktor or Absynth for simple lopass saw basses that takes me all of 2 seconds to set up in the ES2. And don't get me started on creating decent kick drums in other synths, I just get depressed. How hard can it be? =)

As a last resort, I've tried experimenting with various MIDI-via-LAN solutions to sync up my Powerbook with my PC running Cubase, but to no avail. It's just not feasible, and even if it worked I'd only have one instance of the ES2 avaliable at playback. Unacceptable, of course.

I'm really desperate, I can't keep on using all these crappy synths any longer. Are Emagic the only decent plugin coders out there?
Top

Post

Oh, man... I've tried and tried, but NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, makes the cut. What irritates me the absolute most is that none of the synths I've tried (vanguard, b3ta, A1, Linplug*,* everything) seems to give the user any mentionable control over the oscillators.
It sounds like you need to learn use the plugins you have and stop expecting one to sound like another. Why expect a Moog to sound like a Korg? Logic plugs are far behind pc stuff if you know what youre doing. You dont need to know what the waveform looks like to make sounds, use your ears. If you want to see the waveforms - use a scope plugin!!! If you really want an ES2-like plug for PC, build it in Reaktor or Tassman and stop moaning!!
Top

Post

Same boat... For a number of reasons, I'm still sticking with Logic PC for the next year at least.

The ES2 is a very, very easy synth to work with, but it's capable of so much variety, and is incredibly powerful. I've hardly touched the vectors and some of the other features, even so I can pull any sound I want out of this thing faster than any other synth. LFO's, envelopes, everything just works as it should, and I love the range of USEFUL oscillators. Oh, and it sounds fantastic.

Looking through my plugin list, the only other synths I'll use as a replacement to get some of the same sounds right now would be:
Impulse
Vanguard
Synth1

Two of which are free... But of course, Synth1 doesn't work right in Logic, so I'm screwed there. I really like the sound of Impulse, it's the only synth other than ES2 and ES1(!) I can get clear cutting straight up synth sounds out of. I find the majority of VA's, especially Z3ta, just sound "mushy" in their attempt to sound analog.

One sad day I'm going to have to leave ES2 and EXS24 behind. I'm really not looking forward to it.

later
Mike
Top

Post

UltraJv
Stop hijacking a thread to make some holier-than-thou statement. The guy obviously knows how to use synths, your advice is moot.
Top

Post

Well- I suggest you all go try Minimonsta and NWsynth and Tassman if you want analogue sounds - most people who complain about vstis not sounding analogue have never owned analogue gear!!
Top

Post

The guy obviously knows how to use synths, your advice is moot
Its quite clear he dosnt, its just a blatant Logic trumpet blowing excercise!!
Top

Post

He didn't ask for a synth that sounded like an old analog synth. He asked for a synth that worked like the ES2. Why is it okay for you to promote synths that emulate old analogs, but put down the opinions of others who want to emulate another (shock, horror) plugin?
Top

Post

Ive given valid suggestions - you have helped how?
Top

Post

mabian wrote:The subject says almost it all:

as an almost ex Logic user, what's the best replacing
instrument for EMagic ES2 (preferably not tied to any particular host and free or low cost)?
well as a logic user, i would say that the best substitute for ES2 are Linplug Albino and RGCaudio Z3ta+, these plugs offer a large range of modulation sources and destination, as well as various waveforms and more than one filter ... they also have effects inside (delays, reverb ....)
of course, every synth sound different :roll:
there are demo available for both synths and they're in the same range of price, less than 200€
i think you should give it a try if you don't know them yet
hope this will help
take care
Top

Post

Impulse
Vanguard
Synth1
These were not "valid" suggestions?
Top

Post

Oh, man... I've tried and tried, but NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, makes the cut. What irritates me the absolute most is that none of the synths I've tried (vanguard, b3ta, A1, Linplug*,* everything) seems to give the user any mentionable control over the oscillators.
He says hes tried them all - so I guess your sugegstions wernt valid which is why I went into smartass mode. If someone says they have tried those synths and they are bad, theres a problem with the user. I guess he meant Z3ta not b3ta.
Top

Post

Sorry, I was giving suggestions to mabian, the original poster, not the guy who first replied. Please excuse the confusion :)
Top

Post

:hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:
Top

Post

UltraJv wrote: If you want to see the waveforms - use a scope plugin!!! If you really want an ES2-like plug for PC, build it in Reaktor or Tassman and stop moaning!!
First of all; a scope shows you the frequency footprint (and usually quite poorly due to the restrictions of FFT and the usual windowing methods involved) and NOT the waveform. To see the waveform you have to bounce the sound to disk and open it in a waveform editor - which I have done on numerous occasions to find out what makes a particular sound work.

Second of all; I've been a Generator/Reaktor user to and fro since 1998 (or whenever the first version was released) and it's just not feasible to build the ES2 (or even something similar) in Reaktor, even though I've tried on MANY occasions. It's a complex piece of work, and Reaktor, while being nice for building humongous workstation-type stuff, doesn't offer you enough control on a microlevel. Sounds silly, but it's unfortunately true.

Thirdly: I accomplish my own "analog" sound with some EQ's and compressors - if I want it at all, which I usually don't. Analog, in the VST world, seems to be just leetspeak for detuned, noisy and distorted, so thanks but no thanks.

Look. I just want to know what happens to my oscillators, rather than triple-checking my mixes to make sure that the synth I'm using isn't sneakily detuning the oscillators ("for that analog feel", arrgh), or using unsynced / free oscillators which might give me random pops in the mix, etc. This is especially important when making kick drums, or trying to get a bass sound that fits snugly into the mix between 90 and 150 Hz while retaining "punch" thanks to restarting the oscillator at max level on each trig.

I'll be checking out Albino next, seems I've missed that one.

Oh, and it's not in my nature to start flamewars, but you clearly didn't understand what I'm after. Hopefully I made myself more clear this time, and sorry if it came across as whining. I'm just very desperate =)

Oh, and sorry for hijacking the thread.

Edit: and "tried them all" was clearly an overstatement. I've gone through the KVR award list pretty meticulously, though. Z3ta is probably right, yes.
Top
Post Reply

Return to “Instruments”