Diva - classic synths that deserve emulating?

[News From The Sky]

a Wavestation EX - still have it.

Me too, plus the plugin version...

I tested the Wavestation at a local music store around 1991. At that time i was still at school so i could not afford it.
Finally at 2004 i started with a second hand Wavestation SR rack, then got the A/D rack and and after selling them at 2005 i ended up with the Wavestation EX. Got the plugin version (KLC Digital Edition) around 2006/2007.
Until today there is no synth which could really replace the Wavestation except the Korg softsynth (but not for all sounds...). Most other vector + wavesequencing softsynths just fail in comparison.


Ingo

I've had mine since early 1992 (couldn't really afford it either, but I foolishly didn't let that stop me). It's a good keyboard and I still love the sounds.

Yeah, the Korg emulation is quite good (not too surprising), but it's a shame they didn't update the interface more to take full advantage of the fact that it's now a softsynth. The resonant filter is a welcome improvement; add MIDI-synchable LFOs and faster envelopes and you'd have a modernized Prophet VS too.

Still, it's one of the best digital synths ever made and twenty years later has yet to really be surpassed at what it does. I'd really like to see Zebra absorb more of the Wavestation DNA, glad to know Urs is a fan.

[EvilDragon]

Still, it's one of the best digital synths ever made and twenty years later has yet to really be surpassed at what it does.

Twenty years later we have Korg Kronos which made wave sequencing even more (I would say even ridiculously) powerful and you're not limited to having just 4 wave sequences going at one time. You can have multiple wave sequences going on per single oscillator, and there's some new additions in the vector synthesis world - more modulations for starters.

[pdxindy]

I'm not keen to have Diva emulate a Wavestation (used to have the keyboard as well)

[News From The Sky]

Still, it's one of the best digital synths ever made and twenty years later has yet to really be surpassed at what it does.

Twenty years later we have Korg Kronos which made wave sequencing even more (I would say even ridiculously) powerful and you're not limited to having just 4 wave sequences going at one time. You can have multiple wave sequences going on per single oscillator, and there's some new additions in the vector synthesis world - more modulations for starters.

Forgot about the Kronos - I should look at the WS part of it (not really interested in the sample-based workstation parts though). I know wavesequencing and vector synthesis have been floating around in some form in things like OASYS.

pdxindy: Don't worry, I don't think the WS belongs in Diva either. But Zebra...

Anyway, the Wavestation's pretty far from an analog synth, sorry for the tangent!

[EvilDragon]

Forgot about the Kronos - I should look at the WS part of it (not really interested in the sample-based workstation parts though). I know wavesequencing and vector synthesis have been floating around in some form in things like OASYS.!

Just check out the parameter guide for Kronos. It's a staggering 1000+ pages! You can do ridiculous amount of stuff with wavesequences alone.

[pdxindy]

pdxindy: Don't worry, I don't think the WS belongs in Diva either. But Zebra...

I made a WS like wavesequence preset in Zebra a couple years back... came out pretty good but it took forever to tweak the MSEG's and OSC's waves to make it work... Never tried again after I 'proved' it could be done!

[complicity]

I'd love to see...

Prophet 5 Rev. 1 or 2 - Love my pro-53 but its rather weak and grainy, arturia's attempt is very sterile sounding.

CS 30/80

OSCar - just the filter would do. The other oscillators through it and modulated by DIVAs snappier envelopes would sound amazing.

[Doug1978]

Yamaha PSS-480.


(okay, it's hardly a classic, but I love it 'cos it was my first synth when I was 10 - please make it so Urs!!)

[Ingonator]

Based on my current efforts to recreate a few Memorymoog factory presets i found it would be nice to have a 3 Oscillator module based on the Jupiter 6 as the Memorymoog uses the same VCO IC's from CEM (and also e.g. the Prophet 5 Rev. 3 , OB-8 and OB-Xa).
The current Jupiter Dual VCO seems to sound closer to the real thing but misses a 3rd oscillator. BTW are the current VCOs based on the Jupiter 8 or 6 or are they the same (which i did not find)? Some say the Jupiter 8 has discrete VCOs and others say it's from CEM too.


Ingo

[Urs]

The Jupiter 8 VCOs do only a single waveform at a time, and they are nearly perfect - apart from triangle. Thus we figured that the JP8 basically offers a subset of the JP6, and all that's needed is an additional triangle shape and a sine option. Other than that they behave too similar to justify more knobs and switches.

We have however changed the direction of sync (and swapped the oscillators anyway), because syncing the FM master makes absolutely no sense. Hence we also left out the bidirectional sync switch of the JP6. I wonder what they were thinking when they designed the JP8. We stood there puzzled. Or maybe there's some hidden trick that we just didn't get

[Ingonator]

After the new Arturia SEM V is finally out (which i really like BTW unlike most other Arturia synths) it will be nice to see how a SEM filter could sound in a future update of Diva.
With the current filter models of Diva it's difficult to correctly replicate those typical Oberheim sounds. Based on this (as already mentioned...) a SEM and/or CEM3320 (in e.g. OB-Xa, Pro One, Synthex) filter would be a great future addition.

I feel that with Diva, the 3 Xils synths, Arturia SEM V, ImpOSCar 2, the Korg plugins and TimewARP2600 i got a nice collection of emulations now which are mostly really different (except a MS-20 in both Diva and the Legacy Collection) and all have a very good quality.


Ingo

[HunterKiller]

I feel that with Diva, the 3 Xils synths, Arturia SEM V, ImpOSCar 2, the Korg plugins and TimewARP2600 i got a nice collection of emulations now which are mostly really different (except a MS-20 in both Diva and the Legacy Collection) and all have a very good quality.

Yeah that's a solid collection of analog subtractive synthesis emulations.

There is a few more out there, but the one that stands out, a lot, is Sugarbytes' Unique. That synth has some of the most analog bass patches I've ever heard on a softsynth. Infact I regard that whole synth a mini-masterpiece for super raw anything.

[digitalboytn]

OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8 OB8

[Howard]

...the one that stands out, a lot, is Sugarbytes' Unique. That synth has some of the most analog bass patches I've ever heard on a softsynth. Infact I regard that whole synth a mini-masterpiece for super raw anything.

Super raw, indeed (like e.g. Ugo Rez). A mini-masterpiece, perhaps - but "some of the most analog bass patches"? Get away!

[Ingonator]

I feel that with Diva, the 3 Xils synths, Arturia SEM V, ImpOSCar 2, the Korg plugins and TimewARP2600 i got a nice collection of emulations now which are mostly really different (except a MS-20 in both Diva and the Legacy Collection) and all have a very good quality.

Yeah that's a solid collection of analog subtractive synthesis emulations.

There is a few more out there, but the one that stands out, a lot, is Sugarbytes' Unique. That synth has some of the most analog bass patches I've ever heard on a softsynth. Infact I regard that whole synth a mini-masterpiece for super raw anything.

For super-fat bass patches i still got a Moog Slim Phatty but Diva is also not bad...

You could also have a look at CFA Sound MonoGrizzly.


Ingo