KVR Audio

afreshcupofjoe · Post by **afreshcupofjoe** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:43 pm

1. Zebra2 - No offense to the dev. I'm sure it's just a matter of taste, but I've never liked any of the sounds that come out of it, and I didn't care for it's GUI. Same goes for TripleCheese. I have really wanted to like these and have tried to use them over and over again with zero satisfaction. I'm glad to finally see that I'm not the only one.

2. Anything by Rob Papen (Albino,Blue) - Same as above.

3. Poizone - This was a surprise, because I really love Maxx Claster's other stuff. It has a nice GUI, but the sounds that come out of the thing are like nails on a chalk board. HARSH doesn't even begin to describe it. This isn't necessarily a bad quality if it was just a free/cheap character synth, but that is NOT how it is being marketed.

I also agree with the comments about massive, but I have to say that I really love FM8!!!!

IMHO Vanguard is a decent subtracive synth, you just have to turn off that terrible reverb that is on every patch. It might be the worst reverb ever created, WTF is up with that?

disturb · Post by **disturb** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:50 pm

Now everyone edit your posts and add what you really like.
We'll see if people disliking the same stuff actually enjoy the same synths, and the other way around ...
:p

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 11:52 pm

Topiness wrote:
bduffy wrote:I forgot to mention physical modelling synths. What a snore-gasm.
Sad thing is, i've tried 3 PM synths: Tassman made quite decent flutey sounds, Modelonia made some ok brass sounds, and String studio makes some nice plucked string sounds. WHEN YOU PRESS ONE KEY.

if you try to play a legato line with a keyboard, there's nothing in the synths to simulate the transitions between notes that would be characteristic of those instruments - something that should happen automatically with a physical model.

What's the point in physically modelling a trumpet if you're not going to model the fact that a trumpet is not played with a keyboard??

Listen to these then... this is what physical modeling can do

http://www.geocities.com/tonyostinato/m ... tonyo2.mp3

http://www.soundfonts.it/store/MilesTone_Stella.mp3

http://www.gregjazz.com/upload/milesjazz.mp3

http://www.soundfonts.it/store/sax_model_20.mp3

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:06 am

shamann wrote:If SE locked the mouse's movement to a widget's movement, instead of giving its current more than generous berth (like all SE things do, even if you jigger about with number of frames, etc), then it would be very hard for people to tell. Until that day (which is probably never since it has been a known issue for years), it's doubtful that folk wouldn't know.

to fine tune your control setting on an SE built vst: click on the slider/knob/etc, then press the ctrl key while draging your mouse. this will greatly slow the control's motion, making it easier to make fine adjustments.

Fhangor · Post by **Fhangor** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:08 am

For me Wusikstation is the most overrated synth.

It has no good presets, is hard to understand and not a good feeling when playing it. But it as so often a matter of taste.

mckenic · Post by **mckenic** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:31 am

Im really enjoying this thread - its amazing how subjective something like this really is!

I have to agree with thelizard! I got myself a Kaoss Pad1 ages ago and Im still having Tons of fun with it

I saw Zebra2 and Imposcar mentioned here... its strange and with all due respect to the folks mentioning them... I find them really inspiring (well the demos anyway). I often dont get past the first couple of presets before they timeout as Im thinking of how they would sound in a track... writing tracks with demos sucks

I love Absynth to bits but fully admit that since version2 Ive not created ANYTHING with it. I used it all the time before - perhaps I shoulda stuck with V2...

Of late stuff like LiveSlice, NanoX2, Oatmeal, DRSid have all interested me... strange!

So anyone wanna flog me Zebra2 cheap???

Hewitt Huntwork · Post by **Hewitt Huntwork** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:41 am

sc_a wrote:
Proteus X2. Latency, CPU. I'll say to anyone considering it what I wish someone had said to me... Don't do it.
I have Proteus LE vst whisch I have with my Soundcard. So it is not Wise to upgrade? I like to get some more libraries. X2 really so bad?

For me, it is unusable. I don't have enough CPU power on my P4 3.2 GHz machine to spare 60% of it playing four note chords with the sustain pedal on.

funkadil · Post by **funkadil** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:08 am

1. superwave P8. damn this thing sounds stupid.
2. synth 1 might be okay but I have found plenty of synths I would rather use and is WAY overrated. Not a terrible synth just overrated.
3. Imposcar.... Super simple. This isn't bad not really too overated but is just a placeholder til I find a better number 3.

shamann · Post by **shamann** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:33 am

ugo wrote:to fine tune your control setting on an SE built vst: click on the slider/knob/etc, then press the ctrl key while draging your mouse. this will greatly slow the control's motion, making it easier to make fine adjustments.

Oh, I know. I wasn't complaining about lack of fine control so much as just pointing out that it is fairly easy to tell that something was made in SE because the mouse doesn't stay with the widgets, and in fact moves further afield from the widget than anything else I can think of. Here's a diagram of what I mean:

SE is the top. Adjust a control, the mouse goes way over yonder. Compare it to something like WinAmp, which has remarkably good mouse function. It's something you get used to in SE, but it is definitely a key signifier that SE is a plugin's heart.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:55 am

Suprisingly I'm in the same boat as some of you. I simply do not understand these:

- Zebra 2, even though I was drooling over the sound snippets posted during last year while it was still in development. Now that I have tried the demo several times I simply do not like the sound of this complex beast.

- Z3ta, this is one of those synths that made me go "wtf? what's all the hype about?" when it was first released. Uninspiring GUI, nasty sound, nasty effects.. go figure (all IMHO of course!!)

- Crystal, this has been bugging me for ages. I simply can not understand how anybody can like the sound or GUI on this thing. It gets no extra points what-so-ever for being freeware. (in this same category belongs many many many SE creations and Synth1)

Cheers!
bManic

beej · Post by **beej** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:57 am

Yeah, I've never clicked with Crystal. Never like the sound, the gui - well, anything really..!

eduardo_b · Post by **eduardo_b** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:03 am

nexussynth wrote:i personally am bored with noisemakers and desire music makers.

I think this is a common issue given the number of synths that have been released over the last year or so. Is it about music or special effects? Many of the synths that seem overrated are capable of really amazing sounds, but are they musical or just gimmicky?

For me, musicality is an essential aspect of any synth I buy. It has to create an aural landscape that is part of a larger vision of melody. A lot of the synths that have gotten rave reviews may be capable of more than their presets reveal, but I don't have the time or skills (or money) to find out. What I've learned from these 10 pages is that I am not alone in finding that some beloved synths don't do it for me. I appreciate reading the thoughts of others about this.

John Vulich · Post by **John Vulich** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:19 am

bullshark wrote:And (so far) incredibly civil also. I kind of expected all-out-war by page 2...

Pretty simple IMO. The OP solicited negative post to begin with. This is a much different dynamic then a regular discussion, where somebody (often me

) spouts off some negative comment and immediately receives a public stoning from all the resident sycophants, for being a, gasp... "hater".

Hardly seems fair to do so when the original intent was to make negative comments to begin with, now isn't it?

It's kind of like one of those Medieval holidays, where you are allowed to make fun of the King, for just one day. Sort of a social mechanism for letting off steam.

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:20 am

shamann wrote:SE is the top. Adjust a control, the mouse goes way over yonder. Compare it to something like WinAmp, which has remarkably good mouse function. It's something you get used to in SE, but it is definitely a key signifier that SE is a plugin's heart.

ah, i see what you mean. yeah, you've got a point there.

shamann · Post by **shamann** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:34 am

grymmjack wrote:anyway please enlighten me some more shamann. thanks!

The main difference with Vaz and Bidule from Reaktor for me is that I can insert either empty into a project I'm working on and quickly build whatever I'm after. Neither are designed like synth builders (although Bidule can do that), they are made to be used as the instrument/effect/utility themselves. In contrast, Reaktor isn't, it's meant to house useful things, which generally take time to build in advance of using them (despite Bidule offering as much complexity and low level function).

As a synth builder, my biggest complaint with Reaktor is that it all seems more convoluted than it needs to be. Compare to it Synthedit, which essentially performs the same function, but is significantly less cluttered to work with (fewer floating panes, no deeply structured menus, no tiny fonts, less general cruft to deal with when building a synth, etc). And in terms of the sound of its components (oscillators, filters, effects), while all capable, there isn't anything outstanding in the bunch (except for its sampler modules, which are excellent, but understandably don't have a sound of their own). I don't hate Reaktor by any means, and I probably haven't given it a fair enough shot yet, but I find little in it compelling me to devote a significant amount of time to it to overcome its flaws.

One thing I hate with synth builder apps in general is that so many of their examples and macro modules are always made up of layer upon layer upon layer of embedded groups. Tedious in the extreme for people like me who are only interested in the immediacy of the software and not the model train/luthier side of it.

pdxindy wrote:I have Tassman4 and Zebra2 as far as some sort of modular synth. I love the sound of Tassman. The GUI is clunky though. Switching back and forth between Builder and Player to hear a sound is tedious. I can do it, but then I end up settling for a result that may not just hit it for me because of that. The low levels in Reaktor are too abstract for me. They are too far from the sonic result. I am finding Zebra is about the level of modularity which I most enjoy. If I want to eq the wet signal of a delay, for example, it is easy to do. And on another level, Ableton Live is a modular environment I like, where I can combine any synths and effects easily into savable presets.

I might end up liking Bidule too, but I am so far from fluent with it that it is not enjoyable yet.

I had forgotten about the Tassman way of doing things (separation of builder/player), which is also why I never caught on to it in the first place. I'd also forgotten about Zebra as a modular, although I prefer modulars that exist as both instruments and effects and aren't specifically tied to being played with a keyboard.

The "I don't get it" or your 3 overrated synths thread