Diva Vs. Real Analog

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william27 wrote:Downloaded the demo and as far as a synth goes this thing is amazing. But you dang near have to go with using a second pc to get this thing to live up to its potential. Now watch me start a argument if you slap 61 keys on this thing a host of knobs to control things a lcd screen and bump the price up oh anywhere between $500 to $1500 every synth snob in here would be saying its the next best thing to a bloefield or the new sledge or access or the ultranova or the this or the that.
I have used every freakin plug under the sun along with some hardcore synths and this thing just made it on to my short list which includes
Trillian
Omnisphere
Nexus
Kontakt 5
And the access virus
Great job on urs part (now lets do something about that DSP)
How about a hardware device like the bloefield sledge or access or even like the ultranova
But keep the functionality of the plugin i rather like the interchangeable parts
[/quote]

Because of CE/FCC testing approval for interference, this will add tens of 1000s of $ onto initial cost. Thats why PC in a box type music products are more expensive to commercially make than you might imagine. That woudl push the price to around $2500+ IMHO.

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Stll trying to figure out how to map 14bit midi with BCR2000 and DIva to have smooth filter curves under fingers.
I understand that If you draw automation it goes to 32bit resolution but is it a visual bug in Diva that when you play that automation , knobs on filters are not smooth (visually) especially if you draw from min to max value in say 1 bar loop
Last edited by Milos on Sun Jan 13, 2013 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Urs wrote:Well... most parameters don't fit a scheme of 128 values, others are sensitive on 0.01 steps. Thus 7 bit of control have never been sufficient for our stuff. For that reason we're going to implement a series of additions to our MIDI response that will hopefully allow for really cool results, no matter what the controller. It's a big topic.

;) Urs
Do you consider/think the current 14bit MIDI standard NRPN/RPN specs, is SUFFICIENT for reaching a satisfactory level of controller smoothness, given that I have a controller that supports the standard as it is? Or do you think that the MIDI standard needs to be updated?

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(Sorry, I haven't read the 75 pages of this topic, just the first 3-5 posts.)

Sure DIVA sounds nice, but having Omnisphere+Trilogy already, I don't really see the need for it. Can't find anything special in DIVA that hasn't been around in several other VST-synths for several years already.

On top of that, the DIVA is, compared to those other synths, very high maintenance CPU-wise. So, in some way, I can see at least one reason for its name. And, just like in real life, there is no reason to put up with it.

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The 'Software to Analog' arguments are always a hot topic.

I find myself using more and more software, mainly because it's so much easier to get polyphony, sync, and record. I don't have to wait 10 minutes for VCOs to warm up and I don't have to worry about drifting between takes.

I can spot differences between my analog and digital synths, but in blind tests in my own studio I find it much harder to tell nowadays. I may have to make slight adjustments to make synths like ACE sound more alive, but the ability is there to do that.

Personally, I wish I had the opportunities musicians have today when I was younger. When I first started composing I needed a sequencer, a mixer, a recorder, a few keyboards, etc... What a pain! Today you can literally emulate a studio with dozens of synthesizers for a fraction of the cost and do it all in a room the size of a closet!

People will always have an opinion about instruments. People hated electric guitars when they first came out. They hated digital pianos. They hate electronic drum machines. People like to hate in general, because it's easier to hate than to accept the world is changing.

I don't even care if my VST sounds like analog anymore. I just care if it's inspiring and sounds good. At the end it's not the instrument that makes the artist...

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proto39 wrote: I don't even care if my VST sounds like analog anymore. I just care if it's inspiring and sounds good.
this ^^^

Though I'm surprised this topic keeps coming back up. It will be dead and then "poof"

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proto39 wrote:Personally, I wish I had the opportunities musicians have today when I was younger. When I first started composing I needed a sequencer, a mixer, a recorder, a few keyboards, etc... What a pain! Today you can literally emulate a studio with dozens of synthesizers for a fraction of the cost and do it all in a room the size of a closet!
+1 It felt just like that growing up in the 80's.

But as I remember then people who grew up in the 70's would say, oh man, you kids in the '80s have it so easy, you just need to get Korg M1 and all your needs are done for :D

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proto39 wrote:Personally, I wish I had the opportunities musicians have today when I was younger. When I first started composing I needed a sequencer, a mixer, a recorder, a few keyboards, etc... What a pain! Today you can literally emulate a studio with dozens of synthesizers for a fraction of the cost and do it all in a room the size of a closet!
Tell me about it! I remember racking my brain circa 1992 trying to figure out a halfway affordable way to get into digital recording and editing, even looking for the least expensive samplers with large memory capacity to use as makeshift multitrack playback devices (but the crazy high price of RAM back then made even that an expensive proposition). Pro Tools systems were out of reach for most home recordists, at something like $20G just to get 16 tracks. Now all a kid starting out needs is an under $1G PC, a $200 audio interface, and a $60 copy of Reaper to blow all of that out of the water.

As far as DIVA goes, I knew it was something different as soon as I tried making Moog-like basses with it, which had been a not-entirely-satisfying experience with every other softsynth I'd used (including Omnisphere, which has the sampled Moog waveforms but not the detailed emu of Minimoog envelope and filter behavior needed to drive it home).
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proto39 wrote:The 'Software to Analog' arguments are always a hot topic.

I find myself using more and more software, mainly because it's so much easier to get polyphony, sync, and record. I don't have to wait 10 minutes for VCOs to warm up and I don't have to worry about drifting between takes.

I can spot differences between my analog and digital synths, but in blind tests in my own studio I find it much harder to tell nowadays. I may have to make slight adjustments to make synths like ACE sound more alive, but the ability is there to do that.

Personally, I wish I had the opportunities musicians have today when I was younger. When I first started composing I needed a sequencer, a mixer, a recorder, a few keyboards, etc... What a pain! Today you can literally emulate a studio with dozens of synthesizers for a fraction of the cost and do it all in a room the size of a closet!

People will always have an opinion about instruments. People hated electric guitars when they first came out. They hated digital pianos. They hate electronic drum machines. People like to hate in general, because it's easier to hate than to accept the world is changing.

I don't even care if my VST sounds like analog anymore. I just care if it's inspiring and sounds good. At the end it's not the instrument that makes the artist...
Great post dude, this should be a sticky. :tu:

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proto39 wrote:The 'Software to Analog' arguments are always a hot topic.

I find myself using more and more software, mainly because it's so much easier to get polyphony, sync, and record. I don't have to wait 10 minutes for VCOs to warm up and I don't have to worry about drifting between takes.

I can spot differences between my analog and digital synths, but in blind tests in my own studio I find it much harder to tell nowadays. I may have to make slight adjustments to make synths like ACE sound more alive, but the ability is there to do that.

Personally, I wish I had the opportunities musicians have today when I was younger. When I first started composing I needed a sequencer, a mixer, a recorder, a few keyboards, etc... What a pain! Today you can literally emulate a studio with dozens of synthesizers for a fraction of the cost and do it all in a room the size of a closet!

People will always have an opinion about instruments. People hated electric guitars when they first came out. They hated digital pianos. They hate electronic drum machines. People like to hate in general, because it's easier to hate than to accept the world is changing.

I don't even care if my VST sounds like analog anymore. I just care if it's inspiring and sounds good. At the end it's not the instrument that makes the artist...
Here is my vote for the "Post of year" award.

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To OP,

I do not think many average listeners care about digital vs analog synths... they are just seeing if any song has emotion, cool sounds or a connection with them. I think it is us gear heads that get wrapped up in the whole "analog" hardware vs. digital vs. VSTs.

I am willing to bet that a lot of top producers would never even think about going back to the unflexible mess of cables and MIDI CC... it is so nice to have everything wrapped up inside 1 file, on 2 copies on the computer and usb back-up, can send it to a friend, etc.

I truly hope hardware simply just becomes a seamless integration to make the whole digital VST world more organic like the iPad has done for computing.

No reason to move around a studio when you can do it on a laptop. :P

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alphadelphi wrote:
proto39 wrote:The 'Software to Analog' arguments are always a hot topic.

I find myself using more and more software, mainly because it's so much easier to get polyphony, sync, and record. I don't have to wait 10 minutes for VCOs to warm up and I don't have to worry about drifting between takes.

I can spot differences between my analog and digital synths, but in blind tests in my own studio I find it much harder to tell nowadays. I may have to make slight adjustments to make synths like ACE sound more alive, but the ability is there to do that.

Personally, I wish I had the opportunities musicians have today when I was younger. When I first started composing I needed a sequencer, a mixer, a recorder, a few keyboards, etc... What a pain! Today you can literally emulate a studio with dozens of synthesizers for a fraction of the cost and do it all in a room the size of a closet!

People will always have an opinion about instruments. People hated electric guitars when they first came out. They hated digital pianos. They hate electronic drum machines. People like to hate in general, because it's easier to hate than to accept the world is changing.

I don't even care if my VST sounds like analog anymore. I just care if it's inspiring and sounds good. At the end it's not the instrument that makes the artist...
Here is my vote for the "Post of year" award.
I agree. One of the best posts I've ever read...on any subject.
I especially like the line..."People like to hate in general".
:tu: to proto39

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why would I want to get diva over dcam if the price is less and they basically do the same thing well

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yessongs wrote:why would I want to get diva over dcam if the price is less and they basically do the same thing well
They are advertised to do the same thing, but they don't sound the same. Synth Squad is a good product, but I don't feel it's as close to analog as Diva. I also never used anything but Strobe out of the DCAM bundle, so I like Diva because it's nice and focused and doesn't come with anything you won't use.
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I don't know how many do A/B comparisons directly of vst's to analog hardware, but I had a fun one tonight.

Ran a nice little drum sequence in Geist while my right hand was bangin rhythmically on some low bass on my Arturia Minibrute and left hand playing some wobbling low bass line on the MS20 vst using my MS20 controller.

I know one is true analog, the other is vst, but my ears were having a tough time deciding if there was a difference.

More to the point I just saw reinforced....they both sounded realllly gooood!

If you like Diva and it does it for you, then use it.

If your looking for analog bubbly warmth in your vst, but think you haven't found it, close those eyes and grab some synth demos or clips from the vst you hope will do it, and the analog sound you would be satisfied with, and just listen. Even better if you have a friend play clips randomly and see if you can guess.

Betcha it will be harder than you thought to pick out analog every time.
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