KVR Audio

JoeCat · Post by **JoeCat** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:30 pm

I think modular is going to take some of the market share away from standalone analog, especially for the hobbyists with $, which is probably a good chunk of the market. Something like the OB-6 is great kit, but it's very particular, so it suits a studio well, or producers / professionals looking for that specific sound. You don't see a lot of analog out gigging, and I think for those of us who are really enjoying the experimentation/sound design bang-for-the-buck of VSTs, a lot of analog gear can get frankly boring after a while. $3,000 for a single filter type, and I'm thinking "maybe I should start a modular kit...".

The tech is there to enable development knobby, powerful VA/digitals at an under $2,000 price point (IMHO the keyboard Blofeld would have been much more successful even at a few hundred more had they added controls, even though it was quite well designed for the limited use of knobs and switches). And the smaller VAs seem to have a decent market with a lot of younger, indie bands, etc. (I see quite a few Mininova's, etc. - that's just a lot of sound design potential in a small, inexpensive package, for people who don't have orgasms during analog filter sweeps but just want to add some cool, unique sounds to their band)

And yeah - why does it have to be an emulation, or even subtractive? I'd take a second job working nights to have a knobby Razor (yeah, that would be a lot of knobs, but still

)

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:43 am

I'd love a hardware Bazille.

It must be scary to consider making complex digital (VA) hardware cause of the investment cost.

JoeCat · Post by **JoeCat** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:55 am

pdxindy wrote:I'd love a hardware Bazille.

It must be scary to consider making complex digital (VA) hardware cause of the investment cost.

OMG - with patch cables and all, controls perpendicular to the keyboard like a 2600...

NerdMcBoon · Post by **NerdMcBoon** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 3:02 am

Eurorack is your best friend. There are a lot of very unique and innovative digital modules available.
It can get quite addicting and expensive pretty fast though

Terrafractyl · Post by **Terrafractyl** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 3:30 am

I want more hybrid synths that look to both analog and digital things for inspiration.

I'd love a hardware synth that gave you all the options of a virus IT for example, but with the options of using some analog elements, like the choice of routing the signal through either a digital Or an Analog filter.

I was glad to see Urs speaking about his love for Make Noise modular in some thread, and in general that is what (to me) make U-he such a good company, their ability to take the best bits from both analog and digital worlds.

http://mungo.com.au/zero.html

Also I always thought this ^^ looked interesting. His Euro modules also, despite their crazy price tags, still seem to offer some crazy power for digital hardware synth stuff

justin3am · Post by **justin3am** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 3:38 am

I've mentioned this before but I'll probably be getting one of these, later this year: Modor NF-1

FM, simple additive, formant filters, extensive modulation. I wouldn't exactly call it virtual analog but it's definitely rooted in classical synth architecture.

Audiothingies have their Micromonsta and it's predecessor the P6. Pretty basic VA synths at first glance but they have some interesting features and the price is reasonable. May not be knobby enough for everyone.

I think there is a lot that has yet to be done with digital hardware synths. There are interesting interfaces and different ways of interacting with synths, which haven't been explored yet. Flexible sound generators and bluring the lines between control and audio. Before we even get to those frontiers there are awesome synths from the recent past which haven't been fully appreciated. I scored a V-Synth GT for a ridiculous price because the previous owner had a hankering for some analog. Analog synths are cool but this synth is a f**king beast!

justin3am · Post by **justin3am** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 3:48 am

Terrafractyl wrote:I want more hybrid synths that look to both analog and digital things for inspiration.

I was hesitant to mention it because it's too analog for this thread...

but I love my Ambika. 6 voices of digital oscillators and analog filters/VCAs. You can swap voices with different filter topologies. The sequencers and modulation are very deep. Each voice has two "oscillators" each of which can be a 2-op fm voice, wavetable, 7xdetuned saws, primitive vosim, etc. And then there are different operators for combining the oscillators.

It just goes on. One hell of a synth!

Terrafractyl · Post by **Terrafractyl** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 5:00 am

justin3am wrote:
Terrafractyl wrote:I want more hybrid synths that look to both analog and digital things for inspiration.
I was hesitant to mention it because it's too analog for this thread... but I love my Ambika. 6 voices of digital oscillators and analog filters/VCAs. You can swap voices with different filter topologies. The sequencers and modulation are very deep. Each voice has two "oscillators" each of which can be a 2-op fm voice, wavetable, 7xdetuned saws, primitive vosim, etc. And then there are different operators for combining the oscillators.

It just goes on. One hell of a synth!

yeah I've thought about building one of those before, they look great!

and I'm jealous of your score on a V-synth, I fell in love with one of them like 10 years ago in a local music store, they had to kick me out! Wanted one ever synth

IncarnateX · Post by **IncarnateX** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:32 am

Guys, we need to be creative here and start out by providing a new name to our beloved VAs. The problem with terms like Virtual Analog and Analog Modeling is exactly that of "I am a fake analog synth". We need something more self-contained, e.g. DSCW-Synths = Digital Synth with Classical Waveforms?

Not easy to say and does hardly cover the scope of VAs, I know, but do you have any better ideas?

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:41 am

IncarnateX wrote:Guys, we need to be creative here and start out by providing a new name to our beloved VAs. The problem with terms like Virtual Analog and Analog Modeling is exactly that of "I am a fake analog synth".

No, that is merely your interpretation. The term "Virtual analog" means just that, and i don't know what would be discriminating or anything about it, because that's just exactly what it does.

IncarnateX · Post by **IncarnateX** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:58 am

chk071 wrote: No, that is merely your interpretation. The term "Virtual analog" means just that, and i don't know what would be discriminating or anything about it, because that's just exactly what it does.

Have to disagree. They need not be termed "analog" because they are not and besides they usually are able to do much more than just emulating analog synths. Virtual analog doesn't capture their personal signature sounds such as the supersaw or feedback osc (JP8000).

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:17 am

IncarnateX wrote: Have to disagree. They need not be termed "analog" because they are not

Hence virtual analog.

Any digital synth with the classic analog waveforms does emulate analog sound production. No matter what it other features may be. Actually, it's likely that it even emulates a lot more only possible with analog circuity otherwise.

IncarnateX · Post by **IncarnateX** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:27 am

chk071 wrote:
IncarnateX wrote: Have to disagree. They need not be termed "analog" because they are not
Hence virtual analog. Any digital synth with the classic analog waveforms does emulate analog sound production. No matter what it other features may be. Actually, it's likely that it even emulates a lot more only possible with analog circuity otherwise.

Still disagree. There is no need to call any digital synth with classical waveforms "analog" unless you think analog synths in general have monopoly on these kind of waveforms and your term still doesn't capture the essence of VA specific waves such as the supersaw or feedback osc, which gave them their own identity all through the 00s until today.
Remember my OP. This thread is about giving them own identity and you just argue for status quo, which is the question I am begging.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:34 am

They are not called analog, they're called virtual analog. And that's exactly what they are. I don't get it anyway, why is it so important that they should be named differently? I think a precise description of what they do is in any case better than renaming it to something which you or others consider important in an esoteric way, or to not discriminate the one or the other, even though we're talking about objects here. Maybe i don't get this at all anyway. Why do you feel it is necessary to change anything?

IncarnateX · Post by **IncarnateX** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:46 am

I think the term "virtual analog" was very deliberately chosen as marketing term in a time where only the few could afford real analogs because they became seldom and highly appriciated as such. Roland could as well have called the JP8000 a "Supersaw synth" because that was the unique and innovative approach to it (along with the feedback osc). When the PPG wave was out, it also had classical waveforms onboard along with many others but no one termed them Virtual Analog or any other term containing the word "analog" for that reason.

Why I want change? That is to hail them as unique synths in their own rights, which they deserve imo and maybe even could get the DEVs to focus on and develope their unique features. For the reason given in my OP, I do not think the modeling approach is a selling point anymore, but I surely wouldn't see them vane for that reason, on the contrary.

The Future of VA hardware synths?