Supersynths

[twal]

So I guess this is the buzzword I'm hearing a lot lately in here and I am wondering what exactly is this, how is it beneficial and who would most likely benefit from this.

Of course the usual suspects are Falcon, Halion, Avenger, Msoundfactory and the likes, but there is also Omnisphere which is partially incomparable, with Pigments, Dune 3, Vital, and others that are "close" to being supersynths and then there are the Serums, Spires, and Sylenth1s...

Of course this is all loose to me and apparently that is one of the reasons why I am asking what, how, and why about a "supersynth"...

I see that the "big daddy's" have sampling, granular at that, spectral and whatever and however those things are there, but what kinds of sounds are you aiming with these things instead of say a Dune 3? What classifies the first set of synths mentioned above, how ambiguous is it (Omni no multisampling, so not as in depth as the others?), why would you need those bells and whistles, what kind of music would you need to be making for them to be most effective, and who would need a supersynth for their tracks?

[Liquid lino]

I own Falcon. As well as plenty of simpler synths like u-he cherry audio etc.

For me, Falcon is something I pull out when I want to do something complex, particularly with samples. It has multi-samples available, like a full sampler, as well as good basic synthesis modes for subtractive, FM etc, and excellent FX. For instance, last week I threw a vocal phrase into Falcon, in the Splice oscillator, which then chopped up the sample and laid it out across the keyboard as a series of mini samples. Then I added FX, and adsr and was able to play the fragments of the vocal jamming on top of my track until I had something that sounded nice. Did all that in about 3 minutes. Trying to do that with raw audio in the daw arranger would have been time consuming and probably wouldn't have gotten the same musical result. That's the sort of use case for Falcon that makes it indispensable for me.

[martiu]

Reaktor is the big daddy of them all

[Jac459]

I think the case can be made than our tools are way way more powerful that what we actually "need", in the sense that artists of 40 years ago have managed to create crazy good songs with 1% of the power we have at hand...

But I agree with Liquid Lino, it is more about the playground and the workflow at hand, how a synth can make a particular activity particularly intuitive and then more musical...

[dangayle]

I think it's more about the range of sounds and overall capability of a synth. For instance, you could get pretty dang far with just Pigments. You could do leads, basses, pads, ambient sounds, percussion, etc., without any hesitation. But something like Tal Bassline? GREAT for what it does, but you need a support cast to flesh out a full song.

There's always a fine balance between features and usability. MSoundFactory can do just about everything, but I'm never going to use it because the UI takes too much thinking. Same with Falcon to a certain extent. Pigments, for me, hits the sweet spot. It's extremely capable, but they also spent a LOT of time and effort on the UI/UX part of the synth and it's so much friendlier and easier to use.

[martiu]

My favorite synth is NI Form, Reaktor ensemble, it is a simple sample based synth with some exotic tech behind the curtain
However i feel like i can do much more with this synth than any other super synth i have, because it is such a sample mangler that you can make 10 different usable sounds from one sample for 3 minutes, now that is a beast of a workflow and results.
You can keep your modular synths

[BONES]

I think it's more about the range of sounds and overall capability of a synth. For instance, you could get pretty dang far with just Pigments. You could do leads, basses, pads, ambient sounds, percussion, etc., without any hesitation. But something like Tal Bassline? GREAT for what it does, but you need a support cast to flesh out a full song.

One Synth Challenge would suggest otherwise. Every month we see people making amazing, full arrangements with just one synth, sometimes a very simple one. Of course, you are also ignoring about 90% of what's available between those two extremes.

The sweet spot for me is somewhere in between (great album). Something like Synth 1 is sufficiently complex to allow anyone to make any kind of synth sound they might need. Beyond that, I'd prefer to use specialised tools, like sample-based instruments, to do other things. Once things get more complex than Thorn, I quickly lose interest. Thorn is as close to an ubersynth as I need.

[twal]

I think it's more about the range of sounds and overall capability of a synth. For instance, you could get pretty dang far with just Pigments. You could do leads, basses, pads, ambient sounds, percussion, etc., without any hesitation. But something like Tal Bassline? GREAT for what it does, but you need a support cast to flesh out a full song.

One Synth Challenge would suggest otherwise. Every month we see people making amazing, full arrangements with just one synth, sometimes a very simple one. Of course, you are also ignoring about 90% of what's available between those two extremes.

The sweet spot for me is somewhere in between (great album). Something like Synth 1 is sufficiently complex to allow anyone to make any kind of synth sound they might need. Beyond that, I'd prefer to use specialised tools, like sample-based instruments, to do other things. Once things get more complex than Thorn, I quickly lose interest. Thorn is as close to an ubersynth as I need.

Does Thorn sound a lot like Diversion? Diversion has always been one of my favorite sounding synths.

[BONES]

No idea. I assume it does but I've never heard it. I really rate Thorn, it does so many things really, really well, it's very easy to work with and it always sounds great.

[Tobi MM]

Reaktor is the big daddy of them all

at this point more like the nearly deceased grandfather in hospice on life support...

[BONES]

Why would you think that? Have you not tried TRK-01?

[gentleclockdivider]

Reaktor is the big daddy of them all

at this point more like the nearly deceased grandfather in hospice on life support...

Ignorance is bliss

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Supersynth developer could consider some of these options,today popular synths miss.
If it is subtractive structure - It could be something like this:
1.Minimum 6 layers - each layer to be re-routed as channel or combination of such inside internal 5.1 channel mixer:
Not existing yet...
2.Each layer to have at least 4 osc,4 filters,4 lfo everything minimum 4x4 and options to be added more...
Most popular synths can't add anything...
3.Fx section need save button for chain versions - imagine Sylenth1 browser,left side is fx - right side 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 column of saved fx chains...
Not existing yet...
3.Dynamic output - trance gate,modulation options so on,use you fantasy...
Most synth just have ADSR panel,which these days is totally boring...
4.Loading any sound source and using flexible frame to cut part of it and using it as osc...
Not existing yet...
5.More modulation options such as custom lfo frame,phase interacting modulators so on...
I could continue with any other improvement modern subtractive synths need,but it's what developer could create in near future as working machine,not just to theorize possibilities...
Cheers

[JS_SEA]

Hello
Vengeance - sound's slogan "The last synth you will ever need" might be justified after Avenger V2 will have been released.
The announced new features look more than promising

[Tobi MM]

Reaktor is the big daddy of them all

at this point more like the nearly deceased grandfather in hospice on life support...

Ignorance is bliss

For NI, yes.

Not sure about the others.