A funny thing is that after i managed to create one of my own sounds with the demo i was so annoyed about those limitations that this was one of the reasons to get the full version then...
So i will stop discussion for the moment and go back playing with Saurus (and Diva , and my Slim Phatty...).


Ingo

Ok you are right!
Can now the thread be focused on Saurus and not on gossip?

Perhaps we should now move on to comparisons between Saurus vs these poorly optimised "competing products"?

Afterall, if the sounds as good as "X" with a much lower cpu hit claims are true, surely Saurus can only benefit from such comparisons?

I am working on that. I am trying to recreate a few of my Diva factory sounds with Saurus now.


Ingo

Some first measurements using a Synth Brass preset which i just recreated using one of my factory sounds for Diva:

my system: Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU (4 x 2,4 GHz), 4GB RAM, Windows 7 32-bit, Ableton Live 8.2.2, Diva v1.0.1

Playing a 3 notes chord (including playing fast notes):

- Saurus (with 2 voice Unison): 10-11%
- Saurus (no Unison): 7-8%
- Diva (Fast accuracy mode, no Unison) : 40-43%
- Diva (Great accuracy mode, no Unison) : 58-61%
- Diva (Divine accuracy mode, no Unison) : 78-83% with audio dropouts

The Divine quality mode of Diva is only possible to use with monophonic sounds for me.

I'll post a demo and the fxp file for the Saurus preset i used for this soon.


Ingo

The cpu comparisons are a foregone conclusion - we already know how "poorly optimised" the leading competitor is.

The question is whether Saurus washes just as white for half the price.

just in case ya didn't know yet...you can update that now.
http://www.ableton.com/update

I know but first i'm too lazy for the update and second i don't think this will change anything about the results above.
BTW i'll post the demo and the preset soon...

UPDATE:
I just downloaded the new update for Live. Let's see when i'll install it...


Ingo
Last edited by Ingonator on Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:54 am; edited 1 time in total

I think that Saurus is fun to use. It's more versatile than first impressions might convey and is great for a wide range of usable sounds. I actually prefer it to Electrax.
I have Diva too, but for the sake of some accurate circuit modelling that most people are never going to hear in a track or care about, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Saurus.
I like Uhe synths too. If I had to choose only 2 desert island synths right now, I think it would be Zebra 2 and Saurus in all honesty. They are both fabulous fun to use and are both very easy to create presets in.
The technical modelling is mostly for chinstrokers.

Hi,

as promised i created an audio demo of my Diva factory preset (called "IW Jupiter Synth Brass 2") which i reprogrammed in Saurus. The first part of the track is Saurus and the second one Diva, no external FXs were used:

http://soundcloud.com/ingoweidner/saurus-synth-brass-compari son

here is the WAV file for better sound quality:
https://rapidshare.com/files/1810487752/Ingo_Weidner_-_Sauru s_-_Synth_Brass_comparison_1.zip

And here is the preset file for Saurus (ZIP includes the .fxp file):
https://rapidshare.com/files/2163840327/Saurus_-_JP-8_Low_Br ass__IW.zip
Please copy this into the Preset folder of Saurus (...\vstplugins\Saurus_sounds). The "Brass" subfolder should fit best for this.


IMO the Diva preset still sounds better but based on the fact that Diva uses different filter, oscillator and envelope models and based on the CPU use (see my post above) Saurus performs very good in comparison.
Based on the differences in the included filter and oscillator models i did not expect the preset to sound exactly identical in both synths. I'll try to recreate a Moog preset later where at least the difference in the filter should be smaller in theory.

BTW as i own both synths doing a comparison does not mean i don't like one of those but i am not a person that "fears" doing such kind of comparison like some people seem to do.

Saurus seems to be a bit more versatile and has a much lower CPU hit so seems to be a better "workhorse" synth (also depending on how fast your computer is...) and Diva seems to be better for "special tasks" where you need the best sound quality that is available (which is of course subjective).


Ingo
Last edited by Ingonator on Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:21 am; edited 4 times in total

Here's a quick comparison of two similar patches, one from the Saurus factory bank ("Nylon attempt 02" I think), the other a patch made using a leading competitor (no effects or external processing used on either clip).

Daz

Ozo

Which washes the whitest?

I was wondering when the winners will receive their price?

price/prize [/pedantry]

CPU usage is in no way an indicator of quality.

From the demos Ingo posted they both sound pretty bloody good.

Well, then it's a good job that nobody said that it was.