Best Nord Lead plugin emulation

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Zexila wrote:
Juljan wrote:
Zexila wrote:
Juljan wrote:So, concluded: no real alternative in 2018? What a pity! :(
Did you missed my post, there's one since February 10, 2011.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/r ... show/6673/
What's about authenticity compared to the original in your opinion (due to only four star ranking)?
Left you already thread where all that is discussed and by someone with lot of credibility and hardware NL.

http://forum.isratrance.com/if-you-want ... -computer/
Seems to be kind of okay, or good maybe, but not excellent.

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Juljan wrote:Seems to be kind of okay, or good maybe, but not excellent.
I have been impressed with Discovery. In fact I the other day I was perplexed as to why my Nord Lead 2x knobs weren't changing the sound on my PC. Turned out that MIDI track was Discovery :dog:

Regarding the isratrance post, the individual in question is Nectarios aka Martian Arts :hail:
In other words I would absolutely believe what he says.

In short then, try both and decide for yourself.
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starflakeprj wrote:Discovery Pro is the only option (afaik) if you want to be able to import/export Nord Lead 2 SySex's. I don't have any opinions about the authenticity of the sound though, since I don't own the real thing.
Here's a good comparison video albeit it from nearly a decade ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzVF5O2ioIg

I bought Discovery Pro in a sale but really haven't used it much as got it around the same time as Arturia's V Collection (and a ton of other stuff on sale due to my terrible GAS affliction). In the past (circa the above video) I think the filters were the Achilles heel of the VST, not sure how much has improved since then. Would be great to have a more up to date A/B patch comparison video

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If you're interested in purchasing Discovery, I'm selling my license.
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Mushy Mushy wrote: Regarding the isratrance post, the individual in question is Nectarios aka Martian Arts :hail:
In other words I would absolutely believe what he says.
From his posts it seems that he just tried this ensemble once in his friend's studio an only for the "psy-FM" kind of patches. Other posts in that thread (by some guy from the Terrafractyl label) say that it's actualy not that good, and I wasn't impressed by it either. Before i bought a Virus, Discovery had been my main source of FM leads and other psy sounds and I this Reaktor thingie to my ears sounded kind of OK but not as good as Discovery.

But as I said I never have owned a Nordlead.
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You couldn't find a topic in the last few years, because there is no real Nord Lead emulation :hihi:
Maybe the question for the developers is also "does somebody really need this" and in most cases the answer will be "no".
The Nord is something people like to use on stage, it has a good build-quality and the system is stable. You have something with knobs where you can put your fingers on it. Sound creation is very limited compared to some other hardware synth and of course also most software synth.
So for a emulation of this limited features I don't see the needs? There are dozens of very good VA synth plug-ins.

I will not speak about Synth1 or Discovery... it's debated since years that none of this sounds like a Nord Lead. They are VA synth with very limited functions inspired by the Nord, not playing in the same ballpark as our modern synth plug-ins.

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4damind wrote:You couldn't find a topic in the last few years, because there is no real Nord Lead emulation :hihi:
Maybe the question for the developers is also "does somebody really need this" and in most cases the answer will be "no".
The Nord is something people like to use on stage, it has a good build-quality and the system is stable. You have something with knobs where you can put your fingers on it. Sound creation is very limited compared to some other hardware synth and of course also most software synth.
So for a emulation of this limited features I don't see the needs? There are dozens of very good VA synth plug-ins.

I will not speak about Synth1 or Discovery... it's debated since years that none of this sounds like a Nord Lead. They are VA synth with very limited functions inspired by the Nord, not playing in the same ballpark as our modern synth plug-ins.
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recursive one wrote: From his posts it seems that he just tried this ensemble once in his friend's studio an only for the "psy-FM" kind of patches.
He said he used it a lot, he knows original hardware like back of his hand, how much time do you think he needs to determine how they compare, it's Nectarios we are talking about, this dude knows his synths.
Other posts in that thread (by some guy from the Terrafractyl label) say that it's actualy not that good, and I wasn't impressed by it either. Before i bought a Virus, Discovery had been my main source of FM leads and other psy sounds and I this Reaktor thingie to my ears sounded kind of OK but not as good as Discovery.
What other post in that thread, everyone is praising the thing, except one guy that never used Nord in his life and have problem with Reaktor?
But as I said I never have owned a Nordlead.
Exactly, he does, people expect too much from a raw sound of a synth, what you hear in records is over processed enough.
This entire forum is wading through predictions, opinions, barely formed thoughts, drama, and whining. If you don't enjoy that, why are you here? :D ShawnG

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Juljan wrote:
Zexila wrote:
Juljan wrote:
Zexila wrote:
Juljan wrote:So, concluded: no real alternative in 2018? What a pity! :(
Did you missed my post, there's one since February 10, 2011.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/r ... show/6673/
What's about authenticity compared to the original in your opinion (due to only four star ranking)?
Left you already thread where all that is discussed and by someone with lot of credibility and hardware NL.

http://forum.isratrance.com/if-you-want ... -computer/
Seems to be kind of okay, or good maybe, but not excellent.
You own Nord Lead, did shout out?
This entire forum is wading through predictions, opinions, barely formed thoughts, drama, and whining. If you don't enjoy that, why are you here? :D ShawnG

Post

mcbpete wrote:
starflakeprj wrote:Discovery Pro is the only option (afaik) if you want to be able to import/export Nord Lead 2 SySex's. I don't have any opinions about the authenticity of the sound though, since I don't own the real thing.
Here's a good comparison video albeit it from nearly a decade ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzVF5O2ioIg

I bought Discovery Pro in a sale but really haven't used it much as got it around the same time as Arturia's V Collection (and a ton of other stuff on sale due to my terrible GAS affliction). In the past (circa the above video) I think the filters were the Achilles heel of the VST, not sure how much has improved since then. Would be great to have a more up to date A/B patch comparison video
TBH, videos like that make me wonder if they A/B'd it in any way. Not even the envelope times are matching. Let alone the filter, which sounds VASTLY different.

Also a good video demonstrating why software never quite got the status hardware has. The Nord Lead has that warm vibe, and punch to it, that the Virus also has. Not sure why soft devs are always so reserved to that kind of character.

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chk071 wrote:Not sure why soft devs are always so reserved to that kind of character.
CPU usage?
This entire forum is wading through predictions, opinions, barely formed thoughts, drama, and whining. If you don't enjoy that, why are you here? :D ShawnG

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If I may chime in again and say I have the NL2 and Discovery and think the latter is quite good. Does it sound identical? Who cares. It does great psy FM leads.

Surely there’s a demo...
"I was wondering if you'd like to try Magic Mushrooms"
"Oooh I dont know. Sounds a bit scary"
"It's not scary. You just lose a sense of who you are and all that sh!t"

Post

Zexila wrote:
chk071 wrote:Not sure why soft devs are always so reserved to that kind of character.
CPU usage?
It's a different thing, but, the processing power on digital synths is ridiculous, at best, compared to modern home computers. I rather think it's a matter of taste, and, also, experience. Hardware manufacturers probably simply know what's popular a bit better.

One of the few soft synth i know which gets remotely in the Nord/Virus/hardware regions is, again, Spire. There surely are a couple more, but... quite rare.

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chk071 wrote:
Zexila wrote:
chk071 wrote:Not sure why soft devs are always so reserved to that kind of character.
CPU usage?
It's a different thing, but, the processing power on digital synths is ridiculous, at best, compared to modern home computers. I rather think it's a matter of taste, and, also, experience. Hardware manufacturers probably simply know what's popular a bit better.
There was similiar discussion in some Bricasti thread too.
This entire forum is wading through predictions, opinions, barely formed thoughts, drama, and whining. If you don't enjoy that, why are you here? :D ShawnG

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Zexila wrote:
chk071 wrote:Not sure why soft devs are always so reserved to that kind of character.
CPU usage?
I don't think so. Viper does Virus quite well, and it is very moderate on CPU (probably it could have been optimized even better if it had been written in native code). Sylenth uses almost ni CPU and it's also up there with Virus in terms of "punch"/"warmth" etc. Probably if it had FM, PWM, wavetables with smooth interpolation it would eat more CPU but I think it wouldn't be a showstopper on modern machines.

I may be totally wrong but I always thought that unless one needs to emulate all analogue idiosyncrasies there is no need in drastic CPU consumption. But I agree that there is some kind of tendency amoung the VI makers - the fatness/warmth/presence is reserved to dedicated analogue emulations like Repros, but synths which are supposed to be more flexible and do the "modern" sounds tend to sound thin and sterile (Avenger, Serum, Dune, Zebra).
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