I cannot understand the blatant ignorance of some people.

He asked how it stacks up against similarly priced alternatives.

Saurus = $142 (edited)

DIVA = $225

The sound doesn't come into question.

I would say ACE is the one to compare to in the same price band. Maybe also Synthmaster, not sure how it fares on the analoguesque sounds but it should do alright, I cannot really offer too much insight into that one as I don't own it.

My minds gone completely blank to be honest, I cannot think of many in that price bracket. Would be good to know a few more.

EDIT : I dunno anything about Surge either, but it's been mentioned too, so worth checking that out. But what I would say is with all these suggestions, get on the demo's, and A/B them yourselves, you'll find one you want that way
Last edited by LeVzi on Wed May 02, 2012 9:51 am; edited 1 time in total

i only tried the demo weeks ago.
it sounded good and i would have bought it in an instant if i didn't have Diva allready and if the demo had let me engage with it a little more to fall for it.
i'm not aware of any other softsynths with 0 delay feedback filters apart from Diva and Saurus. so for me these are the only 2 synths worth having..
was the Saurus price revised? i thught it was much more than 99$...at that price there's nothing else worth having that i know of (unless u wanna hear that awful plasticky smudged shaping of yesteryears softsynth filters).

I am coparing it to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_I2ch8_TXc

and I guess the bass synth on the original has way more meat and bottom end to me than your demo above...
just a matter of taste, but it was always the bass synth that always attracted me more than the lead etc..
just my 2 cents
rsp

AFAIK the price did not change. It is 99 Euros or 119$:
http://tone2.com/html/shop.html

I got when it was released and i paid 99 Euros (currently 1 Euro is around 1,32$ ).


Ingo

Thanks guys. I've already got Ace but hardly ever use it for some reason. I've also got Ultra VA and compared Ultra VA to the Saurus demo. I think Ultra VA stacks up pretty good.

I have to say I really like the interface for Saurus. Ultra VA is quite hard to use but it's capable of a wide spectrum of sounds and hardly uses any CPU.

Also. Can't use DIVA. It just uses too much CPU on my 2 year old Macbook Pro.

I did not try to do 1:1 copies of all sounds except the Brass sound (which is still "work in progress" too). Maybe that helps. Jarre also used some heavy processing for the track and as you could hear the Abacab example sounds different as i used an EQ for that.
Originally i did not even want to use a Compressor for the Oxygene track to get a result without external FXs.

And of course Jarre used real analog synths so that comparison is a bit unfair maybe.


Ingo

.......... have a response to your last line but that would restart the whole Diva Saurus debate
rsp

have you tried the Diva 1.1 RC2 or so beta's? they are a huge difference in cpu usage, especially with a 2 year old mbp.
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4907378#490737 8


rsp
Last edited by zvenx on Wed May 02, 2012 9:05 am; edited 1 time in total

Saurus is a very nice synth that, as has been mentioned, can do the "analogue emulation thing" quite well. Sonically, I'd say Ace is the far better option, but there is that workflow thingy... if you're unaccustomed to dragging little virtual cables around and patching anything into almost everything like a mad sonic scientist, it might just baffle you to the point of dropping it. Saurus, on the other hand, has a simplified set of controls that will enable you to get pleasing results very quickly.

While I think Saurus has enough going for it to be able to offer its own individual take on VA, there are a few points that I'd criticize: the filter drive and FM options are fickle, and can sound incredibly ugly if pushed. The "tube" effect is also best set to no higher than 10%, anything beyond that will sound decidedly digital and harsh. Often-used functions are relegated to the mod matrix, which is quite cumbersome. The upside to that: the big, friendly knobs that are gobbling up your screen real estate.

In essence, I'd say: if you're a Sound Designer (sorry, Dean) or aspire to be one, and have the CPU for it, get Ace. If you want instant gratification, get Saurus.

other contender in the same $ area are Image Line's Sawer, and Olga, both of which are loosely based on faulty Soviet synthesizer tech, meaning they're unruly and full of character. Definitely worth checking out.

edit: so you've already got Ace. Bollocks.

I just deleted my Saurus/Diva comparison from Soundcloud as i don't want to contribute to that discussion anymore.


Ingo

I thought Diva is $179

I won saurus, but I also found, I never use it. Its somehow not my soundworld.
Same with Imposcar 2. I bought it its NFR now like the saurus, I am not allowed to sell ore trade and I never use them.
I would prefer to have sylenth or twist, but no way out, so this for sure cool synths are just part of my harddrive and no one I can do something good with it:(

Well...........no hope for a simple trade.....(cry)

Its £139 to me, which is $225

My bad though, Saurus is $142 not $119 (£88 )

Well, what else matters then. That looks like a pass to me... that is, unless if you buy synths based on their status according to some randoms on a forum...

Question for anyone using the Saurus. I am using the demo at this time.

I find this Synth doesnt quite play like allot of my other Synths I have.

Has to do when using the Sustain pedal. I do allot of repetitive broken chords/arpeggios in both hands with holding down the Sustain pedal. I do this allot with short duration sounding instruments.

I find with this Synth, It will only play the notes one/first time, after that the notes are silence. No sound on repetitive notes with sustain pedal down.

If you lift up the sustain pedal, the notes will sound again.

I do allot of this doing some guitar sounding techiques on the keyboard.

Wonder if any of you get the same thing on your Saurus.

I sent in two but requests to Tone2, but no responces on this topic.

I will not buy it until I find out if this is a bug or the way it is supposed to work. The sounds are not bad for me for what I compose.

thanks for any info on this,

Dave