Hardware vs software synths take infinity : topic initial focus Andromeda A6

[ObsoleteAcc99]

impressive sounds, but again, stuff I have already in many software synths.. Everything i have heard so far has only, for me personally, cemented my findings. I can clearly hear the digitality and lack of the goose bump tear in my eye warmth, in all those presets. Please do not take this to mean they are not good and i wouldn't use them, as it's those sort of pad sounds i have been using for the last 10 or so years with software synths. I just wanted to get back that extra mile from my 90's and early millennia recordings.. which is really noticeable as far as quality goes. My music simply sounded so much better, with so little effort, cause i didn't need to worry about adding processing galore (analog stuff like vcc/vtm/pre's/sats, etc etc) to get the sound I wanted.

So fwiw, i am sorry if this offends, but every sound demo of software posted so far in this topic, is not only *not* sounding as warm and high quality to what i posted of hardware, but it's not even close. (of course, JUST imo!)

I downloaded diva demo recently and went through every single preset. Of course, some great usable sounds.. but again, not that extra 10%.

Btw, thank you to most for keeping this so civil.

For me, music is the only thing I have. I don't go out, well maybe once every three months like yesterday (and was still music related lol), I don't work, I don't drink at all (i consume filtered water as my one and absolutely only beverage, 3 litres a day), I don't smoke (and am even phasing out the vaping completely, almost there, 2 more months), I don't spend any money of any kind on any thing - other than music and family and friends bday/Xmas presents once a year. I spend around 1hr of actual posting time on KVR per day, at least 10 hrs composing, and the rest sleeping or lying in bed watching netflix. That's my life. So when i walk 2 metres to the next bedroom which is the studio, all i ever want is the best i can have/do.. I actually know, if i won lotto, i wouldn't buy a car or new house, i'd give 80% of it away to charity and family/friends, and spend a certain amount on things for music and only music. (i'd get all the dream synths and a bricasti reverb and best analog comp o ever wanted). I'd simply then put the rest away.

By the way, the software route is a MUCH cheaper, NEATER, and easier to use (total recall) option. It would be my first choice, if i feel i could recordings of the quality I did 15 - 20 years ago, as far as sounds are concerned. Heck, i'm not even happy with the wavestation plugin, because the SR rack sounds so much warmer to me, cause it's not such perfect high fidelity.. and tons of people at GS agree with me.. so i can't be THAT nuts... i used to use WS non stop in every song, now with the LC i don't.. cause it sounds TOO digital and tinny. So i am on the lookout for a dirt cheap SR rack. Hardware really is it for me I think, for the foreseeable future (likely forever for the rest of my days now, till i can't make music anymore)...

Cheers!

[HunterKiller]

Well I have a new activity for you to do. Try to study and find out what is this quality that softsynths are missing. Come back into society when you have found it and tell all the relevant people who will do something with that research, so that everyone may benefit in the end.

Use all the tools you can and do tests, until you find what it is. In that you'll make a discovery no one else has been able to find. Think of it like a challenge to yourself. If you can perceive something no one else can, than it is worthy of being shared, so that everyone else can become aware too.

[recursive one]

Theo, could you post some your musical output from the hardware era and the plugin era, maybe even not telling us which is which, so we would have to guess? We often hear our music completely differently than others do, paying attention to things no one else hears and missing the global picture.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Well I have a new activity for you to do. Try to study and find out what is this quality that softsynths are missing. Come back into society when you have found it and tell all the relevant people who will do something with that research, so that everyone may benefit in the end.

Use all the tools you can and do tests, until you find what it is. In that you'll make a discovery no one else has been able to find. Think of it like a challenge to yourself. If you can perceive something no one else can, than it is worthy of being shared, so that everyone else can become aware too.

No one else can is a bit of a stretch.. there are already a few people just in this topic that agree with me.

I am not sure if you are being sarcastic or serious, but i'll guess the latter from my experience knowing you over the years.. so i will also answer seriously.. i am not interested in doing that sorry. I'll be happy to test new softsynths as they come out, ie play them, and if there's ever one i feel is as good as something like a solaris or A6, I will say something of the sort at the time.. & probably gush over it. My tests are purely 100% non scientific in this case.. it is one ear perceiving a certain warmth and beef to many hardware synths that i haven't found in soft synths. I'll use what sounds best for me at the moment, and created the topic to see if anyone could share a soft synth sound that i felt was as good as certain hardware. I have zero desire to take the burden you suggest on, but others are welcome to do it and I will definitely listen to the results. Cheers

[deastman]

I find these debates somewhat tedious. I don't really feel the need to justify my choice of tools other than to say that I use what I like. I have an Andromeda and I love it. I also love Diva and countless other softsynths. And just for Theo's benefit, I have a Wavestation SR which I hate to program and pretty much only ever use as a preset ROMpler.

[pdxindy]

Analog has something digital doesn't... but it is also limited in ways digital isn't.

The one thing I think is generally better about older digital hardware is the presets... The sounds that were desirable then are generally more musically pleasing (to me) than the sought after sounds today. Stuff today often sounds hard and aggressive. Older stuff sounds rounder, more emotive and musical which I like.

I don't think that has to do with technology or skill, but is just a sign of the aesthetic of the times.

As for music... I find older music more human. It is not just that analog recording equipment had some good qualities, but that you could not tweak every little thing. Today everything can and is edited and often to death... or at least less life. Stuff is too perfect and to my ear, something is lost.

A hardware synth had/has some important limitations... especially back then. People did not automate every little thing. Music was played more and constructed less. Today it is constructed more and played less. I'd say that this has significantly more influence on the perceived character of the music than the 'sound quality' of the instrument.

To my ear, software sounds at least as good as digital hardware and it is these other (rarely mentioned factors) that more influence perceptions.

[aMUSEd]

I have a Wavestation SR which I hate to program and pretty much only ever use as a preset ROMpler.

Ironically the same is true of the plugin.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

Theo, could you post some your musical output from the hardware era and the plugin era, maybe even not telling us which is which, so we would have to guess? We often hear our music completely differently than others do, paying attention to things no one else hears and missing the global picture.

Sorry i don't post my music at KVR nor reveal my artist name here. It's just a personal choice I made for truly personal reasons. It doesn't really matter in this discussion because though IMO, as the differences can be heard simply with single presets. All the best, cheers

[musikmachine]

I won't say what it is but it's probably pretty obvious, i think it's capable of some great big pad sounds: https://app.box.com/s/yyvt9rrgudoyns7fb5spdzwvbxb2djku

Not trying to compete, just think it sounds great and similar qualities to the andromeda.

[Elektronisch]

You can try to run cables from soundcard to another one's inputs (ofcourse soundcard has to have some good great preamps) to give some warmth and depth.

There is quite a difference if i run from Virus Ti soundcard via Saffire Pro Input. On my soundcard you can even hear how the panning slightly changes. On some sounds the translation is quite significant.

You can download Default Fl Studio song to see how it sounds different https://we.tl/gwNCEt1GEs

FLS ---> Rendered
Ableton ---> Recorded (Virus Ti Out to Saffire Pro)

Its a whole song, for me personaly the recorded one sounds much more pleasant, "real". And basicly everything sounds better running via analog out to analog in.

I also think that the quality/warmness (or whatevar) difference is there because Analog synths and VAs are using analog outputs.

[samsam]

nm

[Ph-J]

I remember being very impressed by a patch called 'Andromeda strings' (yeah) in the Bazille demo.
So much so I kept a small clip to remind me I should buy it the day I get some cash.

here it is, with the demo crackling and all (reverb was Cubase Revelation)
https://app.box.com/s/izisdwamozhxtlrm90w0vweh186o1tu1

[Mutant]

I won't say what it is but it's probably pretty obvious, i think it's capable of some great big pad sounds: https://app.box.com/s/yyvt9rrgudoyns7fb5spdzwvbxb2djku

Not trying to compete, just think it sounds great and similar qualities to the andromeda.

Say what it is, NOW !


(Oddity2 ?)

[chk071]

Sounds like Dune or Dune 2.

[chk071]

nm

You were right though.