Diva Sounds Consistently Better Than my Prophet 08. HELP!

[Boardwalk]

Oberheim OB8

[Urs]

They where similarly sounding with some subjective difference but i do not know how explain that but the real one had something megical in sound which Diva lucked. And that was noticed by me on YouTube video. So i guess more higher quality audio system you have more noticable it will be. Also i heared the same result with NI Monark vs real Moog. So Uhe must not relax and continue to improve.

That again?

Please revisit the threads where this video was discussed *before* the results were published. The majority of people thought that synth A was the OB because to them it clearly sounded better than B. On Gearslutz they even posted the names of the people who voted. Among those were some highly respected synthesists.

Now. If more people prefer Diva and less people prefer the OB, why would we need to change anything?

[Urs]

I must also add, I dare anyone who thinks that Diva sounds "far off" of the OB to try and match those sounds with a Jupiter 8, a Jupiter 6 or an OB-X. See how close you can get. Hell, try an OB-8. Matching sounds is utterly tedious work even with the same synth.

On a similar subject, I'm currently comparing SCI Pro Ones against each other. The part tolerances, the wear and tear, the calibration and climate make it impossible to perfectly recreate the sound of one in another. There's so much variation already between two identically built analogue synthesizers, running AB tests like this is moot.

[whyterabbyt]

They where similarly sounding with some subjective difference but i do not know how explain that but the real one had something megical in sound which Diva lucked. And that was noticed by me on YouTube video. So i guess more higher quality audio system you have more noticable it will be. Also i heared the same result with NI Monark vs real Moog. So Uhe must not relax and continue to improve.

That again?

Please revisit the threads where this video was discussed *before* the results were published.

and take note of the number of folk, including silly7, who only got around to claiming the hardware sounded better after they knew which one it was.

[taoyoyo]

I remember listening to those Diva v OB audio examples.

I didn't post in that thread as I didn't really care to get sucked into the whole 'which one is the real thing' vibe.

I did however have a set of examples that I *preferred*... which turned out to be Diva.

[rockmachine]

My hardware synths, a Wavestation A/D, Triton and Yamaha EX-5 sit here doing nothing, while Zebra and Synthmaster along with Korg's Legacy Cell and a few others, get used for everything. The EX-5 actually is an incredible sounding synth with amazing filters and abilities to configure them in series or parallel, but I just so prefer working with software thanks to the use of screen real estate, as opposed to small menu driven windows. I'd be pretty shocked if in a blind test, people could actually tell software against hardware if you have good programmers and I can't believe that if you are a decent programmer, you can't make software like U-he synths sound incredible.

[rosschehayeb]

I did some more testing comparing my P08 to Diva. I found that using the saw tooth on the DCO with the cascade filter set to rough, and the post high pass filter set to boost, I was able to replicate the harshness of the P08. And I don't think the speakers I was using had anything to do with it. I was using my studio monitors, doing raw soloed out comparisons and I could not tell a difference. And once you start adding effects and put it in the mix of an entire song, I firmly believe nobody could ever tell the difference. And keep in mind that most people don't listen to music on studio monitors. Even I don't. You listen to music in your car, on headphones, on cheap living room speakers, hell even your phone. This test has convinced to be done with analog polys and just use diva and zebra. But if you're bent on having that analog, you can check the kvr market place, my P08 is posted over there.

[zerocrossing]

I remember listening to those Diva v OB audio examples.

I didn't post in that thread as I didn't really care to get sucked into the whole 'which one is the real thing' vibe.

I did however have a set of examples that I *preferred*... which turned out to be Diva.

Any 6th grade science teacher would have thrown that experiment out the window. It was presented by a person who was selling one of the things being tested. Do you think they found conditions that Diva couldn't compete and still put them in? Of course not.

It did show one thing though: Diva can sound good. Is that ever contested? There are conditions where it fails though. Try that filter FM next to the real thing. It sounds dead and... well just wrong. Monark, Blocks and Roland's System 100 plug ins all do a much better job. It's not lost on me that all those examples are monophonic. That kind of calculation must be a bitch to calculate in real time. I would like if Urs put in some sort of "super-devine" mode where things like this sounded a lot better. Yeah, you might only get a voice or two, but it wouldn't sound crappy. Of course, the 08 has no such issue and you can get audio rate modulation going at no "extra cost."

Another thing is... Diva isn't an emulation of the Prophet 08. It would be just as easy to say that you're getting a sound on it that Diva can't do well. Maybe you don't like the 08, and that's fine, but to make a direct comparison of two things that aren't really trying to be each other is just silly. I happen to really like the Prophet 08. Sure, there are things about that filter that might sound a bit "screamy" compared to something like a Prophet 5 filter, but I think that's just as much a plus as it is a minus.

Go ahead and sell your Prophet 08s if you don't like them. I did at one point and I honestly missed it. I've got all sorts of VA available to me that does amazing things including all the Creamware stuff... but for some reason I have a Prophet 6 on it's way to me. I almost went for another 08 though, but I felt for what I was doing that the 6 was a better "all rounder." If I had the space I'd probably have the 6 and polychain two Tetras, but maybe at some point in the future. Not now. Diva is fine, but I actually feel it sounds a little dead compared to the real thing. Maybe that's my imagination, but my imagination is my favorite thing.

[rosschehayeb]

I actually love the prophet 08. It's just that as someone on a tight budget, if I'm able to get the same sounds out of diva, whether it's meant to emulate the P08 or not, it's really hard to justify keeping the 08 when I could use that money on something with more character that's not easily replicated by software. I love diva and the P08. But when one of them costs a tenth of the other, I have to make a tough choice.

[buescher]

the 08 ain't exactly the best tool for emulating it's lauded ancestors. but as a synth in its own right, it's pretty damn groovy.

[Urs]

I would like if Urs put in some sort of "super-devine" mode where things like this sounded a lot better.

I've meanwhile got an early Minimoog that IMHO outscreams Monark. We're contemplating to add an "early-late" model selector in Diva. One day.

[ghettosynth]

the 08 ain't exactly the best tool for emulating it's lauded ancestors. but as a synth in its own right, it's pretty damn groovy.

While I don't disagree with this, people sure seem to forget that so many of the "classics" were just average in their day. You didn't buy a matrix 6 because you wanted fantastic analog, you bought it because you needed a keyboard in your band and it seemed to offer a lot of flexibility for the price. You were almost certainly drooling over the Matrix 12 that had been sitting in the same shop for a year an a half with its yellowed $6299 sale price tag which seemed like an ok deal compared to its $7995 retail price, but still, way out of your league.

Most analog synths weren't sold as analog synths, they were sold as keyboards to keyboard players and designed to meet a price point and compete with whatever else was in that price range. Just like today, shortcuts were made, both in features and in sound.

[rosschehayeb]

the 08 ain't exactly the best tool for emulating it's lauded ancestors. but as a synth in its own right, it's pretty damn groovy.

Again, I love the P08, and I'm not trying to get it to sound like an older analog. I was just explaining how I was able to ge eerily similar P08 sounds out of diva, in addition to the broad range of other sounds diva is capable of.

[zerocrossing]

I would like if Urs put in some sort of "super-devine" mode where things like this sounded a lot better.

I've meanwhile got an early Minimoog that IMHO outscreams Monark. We're contemplating to add an "early-late" model selector in Diva. One day.

Sure, I've got a Neptune 2 that sounds so thick and rich that I wonder why it's not as coveted as the famous Minimoog. The sounds of my cheap Bass Station 2 when you feed it's headphone out into it's input are amazing. We could go on all day, but I think the point is, find the tools you want to get the job done the way you want it. I don't use Diva because it sounds like a Minimoog. I use Diva because it sounds like someone grafted a MS20's filters on to a Minimoog's oscillator section and made it polyphonic. I like a Prophet 08 because... Well you can get that screamy chirp when you fm the filter and open up the resonance... And that resonance can be controlled by a step sequencer... While on another layer I've got two detuned saws going on an octave down.

One of the modern synths I really like is the Analog Four. When you sort of listen to it on it's own it can sound kind of "thin" and "stiff." It's definitely not what one would call "phat." Someone was talking about it in relation to the Vermona PerFourMer, which is down right obese. But, when I use it in the context of a track, somehow it magically slips in and adds a flavor that happens to just work with my aesthetic. Some people hate it so much though. Now, I'm sure if I tried to get a big sounding rich pad from the Analog Four I'd hate it even in comparison to the free Tyrell plug in. There's just no point in making that comparison and I'm always annoyed when people do.

[BMoore]

I always hear this. "Diva sounds better that the analog gear it's trying to emulate."
Well, then Diva doesn't sound analog. The analog gear you compare it to does.