KVR Audio

KTlin · Post by **KTlin** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:54 am

Hi guys

I'm still looking for a complex physical modeling synth that can do what Sculpture can and has a similar structure/workflow as Sculpture. But it seems that for PC there's nothing even close to that. And I won't buy a Mac only so I can use Sculpture.

So far I tried/used:
- AAS Tassman (which is quite potent but has a completely different structure/workflow and I don't like it),
- NuSofting Modelonia, AAS Chromaphone, Madrona Labs Kaivo, and NI Prism - all of these are interesting and useful, but way more limited than Sculpture (IMO)

Did I miss anything?

michael2 · Post by **michael2** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:37 am

AAS string studio?

beauchamp · Post by **beauchamp** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:49 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y0E-RbE7Xc

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:45 am

Reaktor's Steampipe and Modelonia probably come closest structurally but still a lot more limited

KTlin · Post by **KTlin** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:27 pm

Thanks guys.
It looks like I should probably start saving money for a Mac.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:35 pm

At least you wouldn't need to pay for Logic as it comes with Mainstage too now.

tbh it was one of my main reasons for going Mac too (along with Metasynth).

Krakatau · Post by **Krakatau** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:37 pm

KTlin wrote:Thanks guys.
It looks like I should probably start saving money for a Mac.

Not necessarily, i think that using reaktor's physical modeled ensemble both on factory and third-party ensemble you should cover a wide range of virtual acoustic models that covers a vast range of sound that certainly rivals with what sculpture can offer, IMO...

KTlin · Post by **KTlin** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:02 pm

Krakatau wrote:i think that using reaktor's physical modeled ensemble both on factory and third-party ensemble you should cover a wide range of virtual acoustic models that covers a vast range of sound that certainly rivals with what sculpture can offer, IMO...

I'm not at all familiar with Reaktor. What "physical modeled ensemble" you're talking about?

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:05 pm

Check out Chet Singer's ensembles in user library... he did quite a few physmod things.

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/co ... ll/300659/

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:24 pm

They are all very good but I see the problem, in Reaktor the possibilities are huge but in terms of individual ensembles you would have to use several to get close to what Sculpture does in one synth and have nothing like its morphing capabilities. I managed to get something like this by combining Steampipe and Modelonia with Kore to create morphing versions but now I have Sculpture I can see how much I was missing. There is nothing really like it.

djshire · Post by **djshire** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:48 pm

I thought Reaktor Prism was physical modeling....?

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:00 pm

steampipe is a great ensemble, and prism looks fine also. but sculpture is just........

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvCeGSYhI1U

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:50 pm

Sculpture is unmatched...

AAS String Studio is perhaps the next best option...

DJDJ · Post by **DJDJ** » Fri Jun 27, 2014 12:17 am

^ I disagree about Sculpture being unmatched. I think it's a "grass is greener" thing. As a mac user, I feel that way about Image LIne's Harmor.

But, I've been a logic/Mac guy for a long time now. More recently, I've been using Maschine as my main DAW, which means that any plugins I want to use from Logic need to be replaced with something similar. So I replaced sculpture for those rare times that I use it with AAS Chromaphone, and I'd say it's a pretty fair swap. In a lot of ways, I think Chromaphone is better even. It does strings, pads, drones & efx as well as anything I've heard come out of Sculpture. Don't be put off by the "percussion synth" marketing. It can do much more than that.

https://www.applied-acoustics.com/chromaphone/overview/

Reaktor's Steampipe is nice too. Prism too. I have both loaded up in Maschine as plugins. Definitely fairly comparable options for Windows users, perhaps Prism less so since it's an additive synth, but there's plenty out there. Don't fool yourself, Sculpture isn't really any better than the rest of the pack. Each has their uniqueness, but it's not as stark a difference as it might seem

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Fri Jun 27, 2014 1:42 am

DJDJ wrote:^ I disagree about Sculpture being unmatched. I think it's a "grass is greener" thing. As a mac user, I feel that way about Image LIne's Harmor.

But, I've been a logic/Mac guy for a long time now. More recently, I've been using Maschine as my main DAW, which means that any plugins I want to use from Logic need to be replaced with something similar. So I replaced sculpture for those rare times that I use it with AAS Chromaphone, and I'd say it's a pretty fair swap. In a lot of ways, I think Chromaphone is better even. It does strings, pads, drones & efx as well as anything I've heard come out of Sculpture. Don't be put off by the "percussion synth" marketing. It can do much more than that.

https://www.applied-acoustics.com/chromaphone/overview/

Reaktor's Steampipe is nice too. Prism too. I have both loaded up in Maschine as plugins. Definitely fairly comparable options for Windows users, perhaps Prism less so since it's an additive synth, but there's plenty out there. Don't fool yourself, Sculpture isn't really any better than the rest of the pack. Each has their uniqueness, but it's not as stark a difference as it might seem

When I said unmatched, I mean Sculpture has much more editability that Chromaphone or String Studio.

For example, the morphing. Cannot do that with the AAS stuff. Not even close.

Besides the morphing, Sculpture just has far more modulation possibilities. You can modulate many parameters with a variety of modulators. The AAs synths are not very modulatable in comparison.

There are things I like better about the AAS stuff too...

Still nothing like Logic's Sculpture for PC?