Computer plugins never will be as good as analog or better.

[Architeuthis]

Another important point that I think Earlevel and Jafo was getting at: Digital is progressing faster than analog. To say digital will never sound as good as analog is like saying a car will never be faster than a horse. F***ing wait a few more years, will you?

https://www.google.com/#q=how+fast+was+the+first+car
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+fas ... +horse+run

[MadBrain]

Analog filters do sound very good! Which I believe is one of the bases for this line of thought. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure other aspects of analog synths are way overrated, and most of the actual reasons people like analog synths aren't even analog characteristics:

- Analog oscillators in particular are totally overrated. Yeah they go up and down in pitch as they heat up, but that's not particularly hard to simulate (even Roland's 90's romplers have oscillator drift simulation), and it's not like you can't just use the detune knob. And for the waveform, I'm pretty sure most later analog oscillators are actually very close to the "mathematical" waves, especially pulse waves.

- A big component that nobody talks about is that the classic analog synths had to be simple, simply because of cost considerations and because the limited speed of control CPUs and small program ROM space of the day forced this. This simplicity has all sorts of benefits: way less menu diving, sounds are more iconic and less of a pile of layered stuff going on left and right (see the Roland D50 for an example of this), patches are way easier to edit...

- There's a major difference in desirability between synths that have knobs for each parameter, and synths that don't. If you look at what synths get enthusiasts hard (Jupiter 8, CS-80, Juno 106...), versus the ones that leave them cold and sell for 600$ on ebay (ex: ESQ-1, JX-8P, DW8000...), the popular ones are all the ones with the knobs.

[bmrzycki]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQCU36pk ... utu.be&t=3

[hivkorn]

interesting post..
If i record a analog synth ( a sin waveform ) through my soundcard , the final shape of the recording will be a pure sin or 'squarred' sin ?

[Tony Ostinato]

science isn't real, and i can prove it.

[hivkorn]

science isn't real, and i can prove it.

? ....hmmm okay.....

[suthnear]

Yes because people will only listen to the best music made by the best musicians on the best reproduction systems in the best listening environments.

Analogue: because you're worth it...

[skipscada]

This is a post truth world where alternative facts rule, so whatever we want something to be, it can be. Analog and digital are actually the same, and they're both better than each other, if that can make me richer and more powerful.

[fmr]

FFS, what if digital synths came first? What if analog synths never existed? You'd have no circuits to emulate.

Actually, if you don't take into account the Theremin, Ondes Martenot and the likes, digital synthesis came first. When analog synths started being developed by Moog and Buchla, Max Matthews had already created his Music programs for more than ten years. Actually, I think that all the innovations, like modularity, and all the synthesis techniques that later appeared in hardware, were first developed and tested inside things like the Music series of programs and Csound.

[whyterabbyt]

FFS, what if digital synths came first? What if analog synths never existed? You'd have no circuits to emulate.

Actually, if you don't take into account the Theremin, Ondes Martenot and the likes, digital synthesis came first. When analog synths started being developed by Moog and Buchla, Max Matthews had already created his Music programs for more than ten years. Actually, I think that all the innovations, like modularity, and all the synthesis techniques that later appeared in hardware, were first developed and tested inside things like the Music series of programs and Csound.

I had been going to post something similar, but since the first device called a synthesiser, the RCA Mark 1, was probably around the same time as MUSIC, and the Mark 2 actually had some sequencing capabilities (as well as being patchable) its a little bit more complex than that; analog and digital synthesisers date from pretty much the same point in time and evolved in parallel.

However, it is absolutely true that software synthesis goes back far further than most people realise.

[xoxos]

oh, i don't know,

my digital oscillators have kept their muddy shoes out of the house, cleaned the cat box, done the dishes and folded their laundry. i'd say that's pretty good. they are kind of rude to the neighbors but you can understand the competitiveness at that age, little ass lickers