KVR Audio

Bronto Scorpio · Post by **Bronto Scorpio** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:08 pm

@braj: You could take part in the Diva mini-Patchbank Contest

Cheers
Dennis

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:14 pm

braj wrote:

You can kinda get an idea of the textures and 'mood' I'm after, to my ears Ultra Analog sounds really deep and warm, but I admittedly don't have much experience.

I have Ultra Analog and I really like it. To the guy who says he's never used it on a 70s progrockesque track, I say he didn't spend enough time tweaking because it can get there for sure. It's low on CPU and sounds great. However... AAS is like a sea turtle in terms of development. It laid the egg (release) and then spent time covering it with sand (bug fixes) and when that was done, it dragged it's ponderous bulk back into the sea...

So if you're expecting a new feature or v2, you'll be disappointed. If you like it as is, go for it. It's a good instrument. I'm buying AAS Chromaphone today, and I also have their modular that I got as a no-brainer deal. Again, the modular has a known issue with the blown pipe emulation and when I brought it up to them their response was, "Yeah." So, again, with them it is as it is. Good enough for me to remain a customer.

Then there's U-He. I'd get Zebra 2 over ACE or DiVA. (I own them all) They're all great and in terms of a Moogy bass line or lead, you won't find anything better than DiVA, but it's a pig and if it's one of your only synths you'll be freezing tracks a lot. ACE is pretty CPU hungry as well and the semi-modular set up is a bit harder to wrap your head around than Zebra, IMO. It also has a very "modern" kind of sound which you may or may not dig. I like it for some stuff, but I really feel that Zebra is the overall winner.

Don't forget Poly-ana. Worst UI in the software synth world, but if you learn it, there are rich rewards in that synth. Also comes with a ton of presets that might be perfect for your needs. He's working on a v2 at the moment and has mentioned he's addressing UI issues so that might be a great choice.

Then there's DCAM. Too bad you missed the $99 special, because at that price it's a steal. I was just listening to some a/b demos of it and an Alesis Andromeda A6 and in some ways it sounded better. UI isn't FXpansion's forte either, so expect to spend some time figuring things out, and their presets are not very vintage sounding. THey like it very harsh and modern there, but DCAM can really sound vintage too when you ease off the filter gain.

Then there's my pet. Still one of the best VAs out there IMO. Sawer. Simple to use, not too many options, but great sound. Check it .

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:17 pm

paterpeter wrote:
Urs wrote:On a positive note: Clemens found a nifty improvement that makes Diva up to 20% less hungry...
Don't compile in debug mode? Switching from QBasic to C++? Anyway, looking forward to it.

No, but the statistical analysis of the prediction error was switched from a running average filter to an envelope follower with asymmetric attack/decay. Looks very promising

paterpeter · Post by **paterpeter** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:21 pm

Urs wrote:
paterpeter wrote:
Urs wrote:On a positive note: Clemens found a nifty improvement that makes Diva up to 20% less hungry...
Don't compile in debug mode? Switching from QBasic to C++? Anyway, looking forward to it.
No, but the statistical analysis of the prediction error was switched from a running average filter to an envelope follower with asymmetric attack/decay. Looks very promising

Lol? How couldn't you have done something that obvious right from the start? Damn n00bs

Sorry for spamming this thread. Ultra Analog, Diva, Ace, Zebra, Synth Squad - all great stuff. There, back on topic.

sabiwa · Post by **sabiwa** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:34 pm

I prefer Ultra Analog over Diva simply because I don't have time to sculpt Diva's hugeness to make it fit in the mix.

braj · Post by **braj** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:21 pm

I have tried Zebra and though it is awesome, what I really wanted was a Minimoog, and a Juno, and a Jupiter

so Diva is like all three and more. And yeah I may freeze tracks, but I am doing that anyway right now. I want as few synths as possible and I rarely, rarely go for any sound outside of that 'comfort zone' of mine, getting to know one quality instrument well and relying on a small group of free plugs like ZebraCM when I can't find it in Diva will work for me.

I really do prefer to have just a few plugins, not too much distraction, and I want to try and get deep with those chosen few. I have just gotten back into computer music for the first time in 5 years? so I have been asking lots of questions at KVR, trying lots of freebies and demos, but my search for 'my synth' is over

Especially my music isn't techno trance dance music, I don't need a huge huge palette of synth textures, especially not digital as that sound has never really appealed to me. I will have my 'Tim Blake' in the band that I was looking for for so long. It is like having band members, I want one good synth player, bass guitarist, clav player, piano player and a great organist. In this way I feel the 'sound' will also have continuity. I like that.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:46 pm

sabiwa wrote:I prefer Ultra Analog over Diva simply because I don't have time to sculpt Diva's hugeness to make it fit in the mix.

That's easy... just switch to the eco or dco oscillator and you readily have lots of simple sweet sounds. Those osc's use less cpu also.

bill45 · Post by **bill45** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:55 pm

Xils3 LE is $39, I think

braj · Post by **braj** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:03 pm

pdxindy wrote:
sabiwa wrote:I prefer Ultra Analog over Diva simply because I don't have time to sculpt Diva's hugeness to make it fit in the mix.
That's easy... just switch to the eco or dco oscillator and you readily have lots of simple sweet sounds. Those osc's use less cpu also.

One really cool thing I noticed about Diva is that when you switch components, you get a good approximation of the other component settings with the new one, so similar resonance settings for instance are maintained, it isn't like a drastic change when sculpting sounds. And the Diva UI isn't overly complex with too many (to me) mysterious functions. Maybe I'm just getting old and inflexible though

Aiynzahev · Post by **Aiynzahev** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 10:31 pm

You can pick Ultra Analog really cheap here and sell it for about the same price if you don't like it. The process for selling with AAS is really simple, no fees and no NFR restriction. It really is a no-brainer.

I bought it ages ago second hand and took me a while to even properly explore it. Having made a sound-bank for it I can say this: Its got a lot of neat features. It is really inviting to program. I intended to make 128 presets and ended up with 180. The way its laid out its so easy to program classic sounds. I like being able to see everything.

I think it excels at leads and pads. Its got a lot of great colours and the formant filter is useful for much more than vocal sounds. Its a really good synth at the prices I've seen it go for.

Of course DIVA has a lot of advantages but I've not as much experience with it yet.

braj · Post by **braj** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 10:43 pm

Aiyn wrote:You can pick Ultra Analog really cheap here and sell it for about the same price if you don't like it. The process for selling with AAS is really simple, no fees and no NFR restriction. It really is a no-brainer.

I bought it ages ago second hand and took me a while to even properly explore it. Having made a sound-bank for it I can say this: Its got a lot of neat features. It is really inviting to program. I intended to make 128 presets and ended up with 180. The way its laid out its so easy to program classic sounds. I like being able to see everything.

I think it excels at leads and pads. Its got a lot of great colours and the formant filter is useful for much more than vocal sounds. Its a really good synth at the prices I've seen it go for.

Of course DIVA has a lot of advantages but I've not as much experience with it yet.

Yeah I still have it on my radar, my limited experience with it was that I could get nice sounds fast from it, I really like the GUI even if the knobs are small. And especially as a good first-synth to use on my laptop, it is still very attractive.

ouroboros · Post by **ouroboros** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 10:50 pm

fwiw, I almost never use Ultra Analog, except for the formant filters.
Looking to buy Diva for some cpu-hog madness. I love the demo sounds and the demo itself- do check it out as it is one of the most functional demo products you'll get.

braj · Post by **braj** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:53 pm

Alrighty then, the right amount of funds miraculously became available today so I bought Diva

Yay!

mcnoone · Post by **mcnoone** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:56 pm

braj wrote:Alrighty then, the right amount of funds miraculously became available today so I bought Diva Yay!

Congratulations on getting Diva.
Have fun with it.

Bronto Scorpio · Post by **Bronto Scorpio** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:57 pm

braj wrote:Alrighty then, the right amount of funds miraculously became available today so I bought Diva Yay!

Congratulations

Cheers
Dennis

Ultra Analog Vs. ?