Nice feel. Very versatile for such a simple layout (which is good).

Am I right that there is no tie setting for the arp? So not possible to glide from one note to the next in the arp pattern. I know you can with a sequence but not for arpeggiated patterns apparently. That's sunfortaunte, it's really all I was looking for. Check out FM8/Zebra/ALchemy/Sylenth1/Rob Papen synths as examples.

Also too bad that the swing has been made into 4 settings rather than a percent.

Otherwise seems fun.
Cheers

Can't wait to check out the demo...sleep now, but tomorrow will check it out.
If I like it, I'm buying.
Thanks.

Sounds very good... Hmm... Nice interface, Unison, Unison spread... I see a lot things I like

Well I'm not blown away by the presets, starting with a Hoover patch should be outlawed! I hate that sound. The 10 minute demo timeout is annoying (I'd prefer some noise myself, that voiceover should be enough actually). CPU use is great I like the arp but I second that it should have much more flexible swing settings. I wish there were some standard for that, like everyone use the same groove setting like MPC so you could easily match grooves between synths. More arp settings please!

On your website it says "Unique sounds which no other synthesizer can create" can you point out the patches that demonstrate this please? It sounds like more modern sounds but then again, the timeout makes going through the patches a choppy affair. Also is there a way to resize the UI, on my laptop it barely fits my screen.

actually like the hoover

I just checked the demo nad i also tried to reprogram one of my Jupiter 8 Synth Brass sound from Diva on it. The result is much better than i thought and there seems to be only a small difference in a direct comparison to Diva, at least for that specific preset. Diva "wins" a bit in terms of "low end" in the sound but maybe some more adjustments in Saurus make this difference smaller (e.g. addition of Unison).
Of course a direct comparison makes no real sense as Diva uses specific filter and OSC models but the basic sound quality of Saurus seems to be at least quite close based on my first experiences. Besides any direct comparison Saurus seems to have a nice "analog" tone (especially when used "dry") but it could also sound digital based on the used features and the use of the FXs.

I'll check the demo some more but i think i'll go for it quite soon.
The demo limitations are a bit annoying anyway as you have to reload the plugin after 10 minutes which is barely enough to test the plugin with programming your own sounds from scratch. During those 10 minutes there is around 4 times a voice that reminds you that the demo will stop playing after 10 minutes.

My current conclusion is that the plugin seems to sound really good but that the demo limitations are a bit annoying. In a "Sound quality vs CPU use" comparison Saurus would win against Diva IMO (at least in the current versions of both).

BTW in the demo saving of presets is disabled but i was able to save and reload a preset with the built-in patch/preset browser in Ableton Live 8.


Ingo
Last edited by Ingonator on Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:39 am; edited 4 times in total

people who hate hoovers should be outlawed

Hoovers suck

@everyone,

Try those LFOs at audio rate.

Try them for percussive keyboard and percussion sounds.

The demo limitations are REALLY annoying

I switched through the presets first. They are really good.
But they all sound like your avarage VA to me. That's nothing bad but I don't hear anything super analog in them.
Anyway, these are just the presets.

After I found some sort of init preset (the "init all" function doesn't work in the demo) I started to really test the thing

The filter is FUN! Love it! I could spend hours just holding a note while tweaking the feedback, filter freq, resonance, filter FM etc.
Some lovely drones can be found there
It doesn't sound more or less analog than the avarage VA to my ears but I couldn't care less.

I'll definitely test it more in the next few days

First verdict: If you are looking for a good, basic VA this may be your choice! If you are looking for the analog fairy dust vibe I suggest you to take a look at "the other synth"

Just my opinion of course

Edit: It should also be noted that "the other synth" uses WAY(!!!) more CPU! But you get something for that CPU usage.

Cheers
Dennis
Last edited by Bronto Scorpio on Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:51 am; edited 1 time in total

The filter is one of my fav features
I think that Saurus filter is quite unique.

Yes the demo limitations... I wished I could use "init" to try to create a own sound but ten minutes are also a bit short to try something from scratch

It sounds very "balanced" over the complete frequency range.

I used the sine preset from the tutorial bank. You only have to tweak a few knobs to get an init saw sound with it

The demo limitations are indeed ry annoying.

Cheers
Dennis

I agree that the 10 minute time limitation is a bit annoying.
But I don't agree that this is just an average VA.

Unison mode is something where softsynth usually reveal their weaknesses IMO. To my taste they usually sound very weak and "phasey", especially when compared to analog poly synths. This is not the case with saurus. The Saurus unison mode sounds very powerful and not phasey at all. All the voices just glue together seamlessly like I have experienced with some of the hardware synths I am using. Filters sounds really nice and so do the osc sync.
The way the pwm sounds is just gorgeous. I can't believe my ears. I certainly can't hear the "hyped highs" that people talk about.

Diva, DCAM and Saurus =

I wished Markus has implemented a "easter egg" so the demo works 7 days without limitations