KVR Audio

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 9:47 pm

Shy wrote:Many limitations removed, much more flexibility and freedom, building your own patches (algorithms) with many more layers, much larger size and complexity possible, various additional processors, filters etc. In short, huge improvement.

Wow! I agree with all the things you guys have been saying about Kurzweil synths, they're excellent.

Vectorman · Post by **Vectorman** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 11:16 pm

Uncle E wrote:
Vectorman wrote:If you want a hybrid vector or full-fledged wavetable scanning synth with analog filters, you still have to buy something from 20 or 30 years ago instead of a new DSI.
Poly Evolver wasn't good for that?

The PE didn't do vector synthesis or wavetable scanning, so not really. It could make choppy discrete steps through the list of waveforms under sequencer control (more like Wavestation-esque wavesequencing), but not the kind of wave scans one usually associates with a PPG.

I don't mean to sound like I'm ragging on DSI. That "came so close to a Prophet VS MKII and had it snatched away" feeling was just hard to get past for me. Given the synthesis types I have an affinity for, I'd probably be better off just going with a Solaris if I wanted to splurge on an upscale synth.

Uncle E · Post by **Uncle E** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 11:26 pm

Vectorman wrote:Given the synthesis types I have an affinity for, I'd probably be better off just going with a Solaris if I wanted to splurge on an upscale synth.

It's a beautiful thing. I love the Scope version but I think you really need all that DSP in the keyboard to get proper use out of it. A used one recently sold on eBay for close to new price so people do apparently appreciate what it's capable of.

himalaya · Post by **himalaya** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 11:33 pm

Shy wrote:I especially love FM synths, but I don't consider them "not VA", because all the important synths that are referred to as such, are as fundamentally subtractive and analog synth inspired as it gets, with only two main differences - being a much (MUCH) more compact solution and having essentially perfect stability which is not feasible with analog implementations. But otherwise, hardly "not VA".

Interesting. I can see how you arrive at that conclusion, but I'm not sure about it.

Perhaps, it could be said that FM synths take their inspiration from subtractive analog designs - to some degree - but the whole working method and the end result is very 'digital' in nature. There is nothing VA about the DX7 for example, at least in my understanding.

ew · Post by ew » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:48 am

Keep an eye on Stephan Schmitt's new company.

http://nonlinear-labs.de/

ew

Jace-BeOS · Post by **Jace-BeOS** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:14 am

Could someone explain kurzweil's VAST? I've never seen a sensible or meaningful explanation.

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:44 am

Jace-BeOS wrote:Could someone explain kurzweil's VAST? I've never seen a sensible or meaningful explanation.

It's really marketing for a somewhat flexible mostly subtractive, more west coast than east coast, synth architecture with a few tricks, e.g., some ability to do FM. The original K2K has a selection of blocks that you can select to process samples. In the simplest form you can use up to four blocks which are simple filters, wavefolders, etc. Some of the blocks were more complex than others and had more parameters, and some took more than one "block space." Some of the blocks added a waveform, e.g., a sine wave. You could create several (three IIRC) layers for most sounds. There were originally 31 "algorithms" for combining the four blocks in various sizes and series parallel arrangements. For example, one block might feed the sample into two blocks of size one which were then mixed into a block of size two. You had a fixed set of choices for each of the blocks and a lot of the sound planning involved figuring out which of the major features that you wanted to use and how that drove your algorithm choice. If you wanted to use the big four pole filter with resonance, for example, you had few choices.

Later variants allowed you to run up to three of these layer sets in parallel, and the most recent variant apparently allows even more flexibility.

There is a LOT of modulation flexibility though, including the ability to apply functions to existing modulation sources. It really is still quite powerful, but not really worth bothering with today for most.

YMMV.

waltercruz · Post by **waltercruz** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:07 am

Ambika is a V.A?

http://mutable-instruments.net/ambika

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 8:34 am

waltercruz wrote:Ambika is a V.A?

http://mutable-instruments.net/ambika

No, a hybrid, just like it says on the page: "digital waveform synthesis through analog VCF/VCAs"

secretkillerofnames · Post by **secretkillerofnames** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:57 am

Shbobo Synth

Is digital.
Isn't virtual analog.
Uses opcodes.

JCJR · Post by **JCJR** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 5:49 pm

secretkillerofnames wrote:Shbobo Synth

Is digital.
Isn't virtual analog.
Uses opcodes.

These guys could make a shbobo scream-- http://youtube.com/watch?v=unHdBXmqRkk

Should I ever finish a surf album, have plans for an electronic album titled "Turn That That Dam Thing Off Before It Gets On My Last Nerve".

Maybe a shbobo paired with a polivoks! http://youtube.com/watch?v=dl-Kp7OWkAI

secretkillerofnames · Sat Jul 12, 2014 10:00 pm

JCJR wrote: Should I ever finish a surf album, have plans for an electronic album titled "Turn That That Dam Thing Off Before It Gets On My Last Nerve". Maybe a shbobo paired with a polivoks! http://youtube.com/watch?v=dl-Kp7OWkAI

Fishing in Siberia! Nice idea.

JCJR · Post by **JCJR** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 8:06 pm

Well I like kraftwerk and in the proper mood enjoy quirky sounds. There is a certain charm to the polivoks which apparently with the mere accidental twitch of a knob, can instantly transform from simple bass synth into the sound of godzilla biting mothra in the balls!

We were drinking morning coffee, wife reading a potboiler and I was on the tablet trying to find what I recalled the most charming youtube example of "pocket calculator." Youtube has many versions of that classic.

After playing a half-dozen pocket calculator videos, looking for the one I recalled most charming, wife offered the offhand comment, "That music sounds rather repetitious."

On the chance that this might be an encrypted coded transmission, I fetched the Captain Midnight decoder pendant and character by character laboriously made the translation. The translation finally complete-- Leaving unencrypted clear text-- "Turn that dam thing off before it gets on my last nerve!"

suthnear · Post by **suthnear** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:49 am

Speaking of Mutable Instruments, the Shruthi is another interesting hybrid. Besides VA-ish waveforms, it offers phase distortion, phase modulation and wavetable oscillators. Many of these sound unashamedly digital. It's actually possible to build an entirely digital version, too. Their Braids module for eurorack goes further to offer physical modelling and VOSIM as well.

cornutt · Post by **cornutt** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 2:32 pm

JCJR wrote: Should I ever finish a surf album, have plans for an electronic album titled "Turn That That Dam Thing Off Before It Gets On My Last Nerve". Maybe a shbobo paired with a polivoks! http://youtube.com/watch?v=dl-Kp7OWkAI

If you finish it, I'll buy it just for that title.

Will there ever be any new hardware digital synths that aren't "virtual analog"?