Any love for ANA2?

[tony10000]

I noticed that there isn't much discussion about ANA2 these days except for the fact that Slate Digital has made it a part of its "all access" SAAS bundle. I think it is a great sounding synth with plenty of features and a really distinctive sound. It also has a great sound library and affordable expansions. What is not to love?

[Aloysius]

You seem to love it.

[strongergodzilla]

Ana 2 is great, maybe one of the best arps on any synth and the chord device is just wonderful. I think a lot of people who already have another wavetable synth pass it over because it is not very easy to see how it sets itself apart. The filters alone are worth the cost of admission.

[tony10000]

Ana 2 is great, maybe one of the best arps on any synth and the chord device is just wonderful. I think a lot of people who already have another wavetable synth pass it over because it is not very easy to see how it sets itself apart. The filters alone are worth the cost of admission.

Yeah, it has a lot going for it. It has a certain edge that is uncommon in most synths that allows it to cut through in a mix.

[nachenko]

I love it so much I just published a FREE Synthwave preset pack for it yesterday. You can listen and download it here:

https://soundcloud.com/manfromspace/syn ... 2-showcase

[chk071]

It's funny... there's so much rave about some new soft synths in advance, and shortly after the release, and after that... nothing anymore. New and shiny. It's the thing these days. Not that i blame anyone. There's a discussion in another thread about the saturation of the market. It's hard to peak out with anything nowadays. As recursive one stated in that thread, i also think there's still a market for characterful synths, which unfortunately are way too rare one the soft synth market. Where's stuff like the Virus, Bowen's Solaris, or some characterful analogs? It almost appears to me that many soft synth devs want to breed out any character from their synths, and want to sound them as soft and generic as possible. Which is a bit of a shame. Again, though, i don't blame them. People seem to be very reluctant to character these days, which also showed in the discussion about Massive X, and its alleged aliasing.

[nachenko]

I noticed that there isn't much discussion about ANA2 these days except for the fact that Slate Digital has made it a part of its "all access" SAAS bundle. I think it is a great sounding synth with plenty of features and a really distinctive sound. It also has a great sound library and affordable expansions. What is not to love?

Going into Slate catalog didn't generate that much noise here in KVR; but it's actually huge news for both Sonic Academy and users. It becomes "Slate's flagship synth" for a whole new set of PAYING customers DOING REAL STUFF, and it's a new source of revenue for Sonic Academy.

ANA 2 has a very specific sound signature and it's VERY EASY to program. I call it "the instant Synthwave machine", no other synth I own lets me build convincing Synthwave presets that fast.

It has its flaws, just like any other product, and there are things I don't even try to achieve with it because for some kind of sounds I get better results with other synths, but on the whole, it's one of my favourites.

[Calandria]

ANA 2 is a pretty good Synth but it is priced at £100.00 even on sale which seems a bit steep for what it offers.
Sonic Academy have barely updated it since its initial release although there has been murmurings that a new wavetable editor will eventually be available. To be honest I am not that excited about wavetable editing because I own Dune 3 and can export if I want. For me at least the Wavetable editing ship has sailed.

I find ANA 2's architecture a bit behind the new breed of Synths, for example it has no layering as such, well certainly not up to the standard of Avenger, Rapid or Dune 3. The CMD is interesting and perhaps compensates if that is your bag?

Pitched against Synthmaster One which is in constant development and currently costs £49.00 then ANA 2 starts to look a bit expensive if I am honest.
Having the Slate fanboys backing I imagine sales will improve but I think SA are blowing their own trumpet by labeling it a World class Synth. I would call it a very competent Synth but World class game changer it is not.
Everything is relative and pitched alongside Sylenth then yeah ANA 2 starts looking more competitive but Sylenth is long in the tooth feature wise.
ANA 2 hasn't that many quality indie preset packs available which is always a red flag for me especially for a main stream Synth. Normally all the top designers jump on the gravy train, not that I am disrespecting those that have created content which varies quite a lot.

For me it is very much a last generation Synth and should be priced accordingly. Retailing at full price @ around £75.00 top whack.
Just my opinion of course.

[Echoes in the Attic]

I think ANA2 has a pretty unique, cutting sound, with some pretty extreme filtering possible. The wavetables can sound harsh in a good way, but interestingly it also is quite good at emulating vintage analog synths. Some of the oberheim and moog patches are surprisingly accurate. I've written about a few complaints I have with the synth in the ANA2 thread, but some of the GUI I find a bit annoying like tiny text that act as buttons and menus and windows being many different sizes, as well as the sample controls being kinda messed up when it comes to automation (adjusting one knob should NOT move another knob!). But I can't fault the sound. It's been on my 'maybe' list for some time.

[Digivolt]

ANA 2 is a pretty good Synth but it is priced at £100.00 even on sale which seems a bit steep for what it offers.
Sonic Academy have barely updated it since its initial release although there has been murmurings that a new wavetable editor will eventually be available.

It was £40 during black friday, I personally think at £100 it's still worth it

[Calandria]

It was £40 during black friday, I personally think at £100 it's still worth it

£100 on sale, normal £140.00
That is nearing Rapid and Avenger territory.

[recursive one]

I put Ana2 into the same category as Hive2 - nice but redundant. With Rapid and Dune3 I have these grounds more than covered and I think these two sound better than Ana (and Hive).

Also the time-limited demo doesn't help.

[AdvancedFollower]

I noticed that there isn't much discussion about ANA2 these days except for the fact that Slate Digital has made it a part of its "all access" SAAS bundle. I think it is a great sounding synth with plenty of features and a really distinctive sound. It also has a great sound library and affordable expansions. What is not to love?

Going into Slate catalog didn't generate that much noise here in KVR; but it's actually huge news for both Sonic Academy and users. It becomes "Slate's flagship synth" for a whole new set of PAYING customers DOING REAL STUFF, and it's a new source of revenue for Sonic Academy.

ANA 2 has a very specific sound signature and it's VERY EASY to program. I call it "the instant Synthwave machine", no other synth I own lets me build convincing Synthwave presets that fast.

It has its flaws, just like any other product, and there are things I don't even try to achieve with it because for some kind of sounds I get better results with other synths, but on the whole, it's one of my favourites.

It seems to work really well for Synthwave and related genres. Of course, it's a synthesizer, you can program your own sounds on it for any genre, but those types of sounds seem to come most effortlessly. I tend to use it when I want something a bit more modern/EDM-sounding than U-NO-LX, but still with a retro feel.

Sonic Academy hinted at an update coming soon, but this was several months ago, and then they went silent again. I think you would be most happy if you bought ANA2 during some 50% off sale, and take it for what it is, rather than believing any vague hints of added functionality in the future.

[nachenko]

I put Ana2 into the same category as Hive2 - nice but redundant. With Rapid and Dune3 I have these grounds more than covered and I think these two sound better than Ana (and Hive).

Also the time-limited demo doesn't help.

Ok, you got my attention here. Of all the synths I have (and that includes Hive), Dune 3 stands at the very top hands down. Would you put Rapid sound at the same level as Dune 3?

[chk071]

Pretty different sounding synths AFAIC.