KVR Audio

Ghost Dog · Post by **Ghost Dog** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:03 am

Sonimus Burnley most definitely helps!

Yorrrrrr · Post by **Yorrrrrr** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 2:44 am

Maybe I get it now...(I think). I have a softsynth now that sounds 'alive', musical, like it was a real instrument and not the usual software, only lacking a physical interface: The Legend. It almost feels like flowing electricity below those knobs. I really love it.

HunterKiller · Post by **HunterKiller** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 5:43 am

This synth:

https://soundcloud.com/elytherium/drone-part-2

https://soundcloud.com/elytherium/choir-3

https://soundcloud.com/elytherium/rmv

It's the most alive, organic, raw and untamed (but musical) software synth that I have ever used.

Spitfire31 · Post by **Spitfire31** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:29 am

The most 'alive' synths I have are Luigi Felici's (NuSofting) Modelonia and Sinnah.

Acoustic-y, quirky and capricious. Really 'alive'. Wonderfully un-EDM and different synths!

/Joachim

urlwolf · Post by **urlwolf** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:31 am

What synth if that?

Cinebient · Post by **Cinebient** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 7:14 am

Sculpture, Prism, Animoog, Model 15, Equator, Dune 2....a lot of my other iOS synths because they offer mostly much better performence GUI's than the static desktop synths. MPE midi is the way to bring life into it.
But Pianoteq and other physical modelling things are all "soft synths" too maybe?!

ATS · Post by **ATS** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 8:16 am

urlwolf wrote:What synth if that?

yes please tell

himalaya · Post by **himalaya** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:29 am

Most synths will sound 'alive' with the correct application of the external plugin called 'Your Fingers Only'. Especially if you were lucky to snap up the 'Extra Brain Cells' add-on in the last cyber-Monday sale. This add-on is very much needed to help people think of correctly programming the sound and then articulating it when playing. Without such articulation even the most expensive Stradivari violin would sound stiff and lifeless.

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:42 am

himalaya wrote:Most synths will sound 'alive' with the correct application of the external plugin called 'Your Fingers Only'. Especially if you were lucky to snap up the 'Extra Brain Cells' add-on in the last cyber-Monday sale. This add-on is very much needed to help people think of correctly programming the sound and then articulating it when playing. Without such articulation even the most expensive Stradivari violin would sound stiff and lifeless.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:47 am

HunterKiller wrote:This synth:

https://soundcloud.com/elytherium/drone-part-2

https://soundcloud.com/elytherium/choir-3

https://soundcloud.com/elytherium/rmv

It's the most alive, organic, raw and untamed (but musical) software synth that I have ever used.

Can't find any synth with that name - where is it?

Cinebient · Post by **Cinebient** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:48 am

But some synths give you more options and inspiration to sound alive!
But "dead" sounds can be great too

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:02 am

HunterKiller wrote:This synth:

aMUSEd wrote:Can't find any synth with that name - where is it?

On the same website as this plugin.

poonna · Post by **poonna** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:27 am

Probably TimewARP 2600? The audio clips seem to sound like it.

Dasheesh · Post by **Dasheesh** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 12:01 pm

I'm not sure where you guys are getting spire as the benchmark for "alive". The thing suffers terminally from lower quality audio rates due to catering to the EDM crowd. They are really doing spire a disservice by not bringing up the audio and modulation rates on spire. IT needs WAY smoother modulations. The filters algorithms are lovely though, and the amount of modulation, and the usefulness of it for bread and butter can make it a center piece for a lot of people that are not currently using it, but I really have to jack the shit out of the modulation amounts to get it to sound good and you have to layer it to get good sound out of it. It doesn't stand up when you put it next to high quality audio rates, but neither does sylenth, or Hive, or oddity2 without good layering techniques. I would argue that hive is way more alive sounding than spire, but hive and spire go together like peanut butter and jelly, they compliment each other in that there is no over lap. They are two completely different characters of sound. They handle different types of jobs, but are similar in quality of sound in the mix. I love using hive, spire, and oddity two together. They can not stand up next to synthmaster, ace, DUNE2, or Mpowersynth though.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 12:13 pm

Dasheesh wrote:I'm not sure where you guys are getting spire as the benchmark for "alive". The thing suffers terminally from lower quality audio rates due to catering to the EDM crowd.

No offense Dasheesh, but that's about the most ridiculous thing i've read here for quite a while now.

So, why do i feel like Spire sounds alive? Well, it doesn't suffer from the typical soft synth niggles, like sounding as if it came from a tin, not sounding very wide with unison, not having any bottom end, or "bang" when you close the filter with fast decay times, not lacking top end. It also doesn't get dull and boring with many sounds, or is restricted to "this use only", like, you can only do basses with it, or only leads, because anything else sounds crap. The latter is the most important thing for an "alive" feeling, that it doesn't get dull and boring with some sounds, but does a broad palette of different sounds very good. The only other synth i would say does that as good, or even better, is Largo. ANYTHING else i tried suffered from the described problems.

The problem with this topic will be that there are different interpretations of what is an "alive" sound though. For some, it's probably just that the synth distorts, or detunes like mad, like the old machines everyone seems so keen on using.

It may add to the "alive" feeling, yes, but it's surely not everything. Retrologue for example has a lot of drive in the filter, even without distortion, yet, it doesn't feel very alive to me, rather softsynthie. I think soft synth development still has a long way to go, and the biggest obstacle IMO is the different interpretations, views, perferences, and "ears" of the developers. IMO, there are really few who really nail the sound. At least the sound i'm after.

Soft synths that really sound 'alive'