KVR Audio

dayjob · Post by **dayjob** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 5:09 am

for what it's worth.. i've seen used kyma systems.. the older one.. the capybara.. with 4 cards in it go for around $1000 used with everything included. the older kyma system with a few cards in it will still do quite a lot.. including all the spectral morphing. and the converters ont he capybara are some of the best i've heard ANYWHERE. very musical and just soooooo good.

but fir $1000 you could get GRM tools bundle, spectrumworx, and various other things to round out an FX package that will get you towards a "sound-a-like" result for a small part of what kyma can do.

also, if you're on a mac you can download the Michael Norris plug ins for free.. they're really really good and the first time i heard them and spent some time with them i was surprised at how "kyma-like" they could sound for some processes.

but nothing is gonna give you that Kyma timeline and all the excellent DSP in the kyma language. the simple kyma euVerb is amazing by itself. all the DSP in kyma really just sound stop quality.

but to really get the most out of it you need to spend a few hours (at least) on it every day for months and months. it's really really deep. and it's totally different han anything else out there. it's different working method and interface than anything i've used.

i sold mine after a couple years as i wasn't getting on with it and had a hard time working it into my normal work flow. it's not a very immediate box. so, going into it you need to know what you are in for.

anyone thinking about getting one should order the kyma book from symbolic sound and read up. if you end up buying a kyma they deduct the price of the book from your order.

on the plus side.. kyma is probably the most well supported anything in audio DSP land.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 5:33 am

ghettosynth wrote:
ZenPunkHippy wrote:There is a relatively old thread at Gearslutz that includes a nice comparison of Kyma, MAX/MSP and the Nord Modular. Post #4 is particularly detailed ...

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... dular.html

Peace,
Andy.
Funny you found that. I forgot about it but I read it some time ago. I think that I ran across it when I was considering upgrading to a G2. Changed my mind, went with Reaktor.

Funny that you found that. I met the guy who wrote that post... Anthony Bisset. I went over to his place one time and swapped my Nord Modular rack for his keyboard version. I later read that he claimed the one I gave him produced a horrible whining noise, and he ended up selling it. I certainly never heard that noise myself, nor did he notice it when we tested the units!

He seemed like a very strange guy, always in search of something more rare, obscure, exotic. I'd be surprised if he's still using Kyma and hasn't moved on to something even more esoteric...

I'd love to get one myself, but I still just don't have the free time to make proper use of it.

Syncretia · Post by **Syncretia** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:35 am

After, all the valuable information to be found in this thread, I've basically come to a conclusion: nothing else does what Kyma does. It doesn't look like there is an alternative unless I want to learn to code for a specific platform like CSound or Super Collider.

V0RT3X · Post by **V0RT3X** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:38 am

Syncretia wrote:After, all the valuable information to be found in this thread, I've basically come to a conclusion: nothing else does what Kyma does. It doesn't look like there is an alternative unless I want to learn to code for a specific platform like CSound or Super Collider.

Kyma is pretty unique, I would definitely invest in a Capy if you can.

Syncretia · Post by **Syncretia** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 5:14 am

A paca is the cheapest unit these days.

dayjob · Post by **dayjob** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 5:29 am

Syncretia wrote:A paca is the cheapest unit these days.

except for used Capybara's. they sound great.. and you can find them for great deals. good way to get into w/o losing a bunch of money if a person decides "it's not for me"...

Syncretia · Post by **Syncretia** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 11:14 pm

My paca arrives in the mail tomorrow. Looking forward to putting this thing through its paces. I'm going to write a journal about my experience with Kyma on my blog. Hopefully I'll get started in the next couple of days. I think writing down your thoughts about something when you first start using is a great idea because it really helps to be able to compare your thoughts about something with your thoughts about it down the track. This is going to be an interested journey.

cron · Post by **cron** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:01 am

Let us know how it goes. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Syncretia · Post by **Syncretia** » Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:31 am

Cool. It arrived the other day. I started playing with it yesterday and I'm hoping to squeeze in some time now.

Check out my blog posts. I'm writing a detailed journal of my experience with Kyma:
http://syncretia.net/wordpress/?p=36

KTlin · Post by **KTlin** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 12:01 am

Hi Syncretia. I'm reading your journal on Kyma experience and I find it quite enjoyable and helpful. Cheers for that.

Now, I don't know if you heard about this software that was released not long ago, called Integra Live. Some say it's a bit like Kyma, but it doesn't require any special hardware, and even more, it's free.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=371046

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:58 am

Syncretia wrote:Cool. It arrived the other day. I started playing with it yesterday and I'm hoping to squeeze in some time now.

Check out my blog posts. I'm writing a detailed journal of my experience with Kyma:
http://syncretia.net/wordpress/?p=36

Just a thought from reading it, but if you replace your Saffire 6 with something with SPDIF and hook that up to the Pro24, you might relieve yourself of some of the issues of constantly swapping headphones etc...

Syncretia · Post by **Syncretia** » Fri Feb 01, 2013 11:49 pm

Yes. That's what symbolic sound recommended. Feels really wasteful, but what can I do? The problem is that I'm going to have to hunt down an audio interface with optical out. Sigh... Not more audio interface research! I'm so @#$#ing sick of researching and buying cards!

Neon Breath · Post by **Neon Breath** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:48 pm

Thanks all for these great posts, and Syncretia for your blog. Very interesting! (as I'm really interested by Kyma as well)

Syncretia · Post by **Syncretia** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:07 pm

I'm pretty frustrated with Kyma right now. I've been able to get a few interesting sounds out of it. But, nothing I could use in a track without manipulating it heavily in Ableton. It's all just glitchy percussion type stuff. I've tried quite a few of the inbuilt "sounds" (patches) but there's nothing that really grabs me in terms making something musical. The focus on Kyma is really on sound timbres. But, I need something that's playable as an instrument. I want to hit notes on my midi keyboard and have them sound good. So, far I haven't been able to do that with Kyma.

I think I need help with this. Not sure where to go from here actually.

Syncretia · Post by **Syncretia** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:36 pm

KTlin wrote:Hi Syncretia. I'm reading your journal on Kyma experience and I find it quite enjoyable and helpful. Cheers for that.

Now, I don't know if you heard about this software that was released not long ago, called Integra Live. Some say it's a bit like Kyma, but it doesn't require any special hardware, and even more, it's free.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=371046

OMG! KTlin!

Integra Live is soooooo gooood!!

Wow!

I cracked it open ten minutes ago and I'm already able to do all kinds of great granular stuff! I'm getting sounds out of this that I wanted to get out of Kyma but couldn't. Fantastic! And, I haven't gotten in to the scripting side of it yet. This is a @#$#ing winner!

Kyma & Its Alternatives