hi, this might seem like a weird question.

if i were to build a physical basic 1 oscillator synth with filter, could i get different sounding sine, saw, ramp, pulse waves by using different components ?

for example , if i used ceramic resistors or 1970 capicitors etc...

or is just a saw wave a saw wave.

best

Rob

if it is possible to do this, then it might be worth me building up a few prototypes to find out the differences in pure waveforms.

The waveforms of many analogue synths look different on a 'scope - they're not mathematically perfect sines, saws, etc, due to the imprecise analogue circuitry.
So short answer is yes, although my money is on the filters having more influence on the overall sound.

not just the components
the circuit will have a big influence
components will just add their flavouring to the mix

dave

this is interesting, would this be the same in a computer system also.
for example an amd chip or intel.

would a saw wave sound different played with an AMD chip than an intel one ?


i suppose that's why the moog sounds different to other analogue synths. Due to the components and circuits.


looks like i will be building a few analogue synths just to test this : )

at least my soldering skills are ok.

Surely not... digital numbers are the same no maater wich processor handles them...

whatever's in the DACs of the soundcard or whatever you use will though...

dave

but logic audio for the pc sounds different from Cubase, Cubase sounds different from Pro tools etc.

i can hear the change in the programs with the mastering of tracks.

Or is it just me ?

my supersonic hearing

There are many variables involved on a digital sound. The operating system, the compiler used, the source code, as Dave said the soundcard used... impossible to number them all.

The computer CPU brand does not afects in any way.

If you had 2 PC's and the only difference were the CPU brand you won't be able to hear or mesure any difference.

Possibly, given that there's some filtering going on.

But any DAC effects will be orders-of-magnitude smaller than the differences in the downstream chain (amp/speakers/headphones/cables) used to listen to the DAC output.

i was having a deep though and was thinking , have we reached the end of sound synthesis.

like in the 90's when we started hearing sounds never heard of before.

but now the sounds are so over used.


have we come to the end of creative sound design ?


i know i find it very hard to come up something totally original.

One view is, that happened when sine waves were invented:
all sounds are just collections and rearrangements of sine waves.
(I blame that Fourier guy.)

Of course, that's a bit like saying that the end of software development was when they invented ones and zeros.

try some stuff out using synthedit and my clipper p/n module and the conditional module. using my sample and hold module, you can actually replace segments of waveform at yet another point. check out the basic ternary synth for an example of conditional segmentary modulation. given two waveforms, the synth determines what segment to deliver out the amp. my clipper modules like realtime tonal modulation too. you can find the new sound. just keep searching......

and enjoy simulation.