What are some of the better software Wavetable synths?

[EvilDragon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavetable_synthesis


Section "Confusion with sample-based synthesis".

[VariKusBrainZ]

in Harmor if you hold shift while dropping single-cycles onto the image, it stacks them & you can use the image as a wavetable (with proper interpolation between them).

I should read the manual, this is an excellent tip.
I tried it dragging waveforms from a Sytrus oscillator.
Harmor fades between adjoinging waves.
Instant wavetable loveliness before even tweaking any parameters.

[zorniko]

Absynth. Simply outstanding, clear and low CPU use engine, with numerous fx/options for creation/manipulation/interaction/modulation/ of single-cycle waveforms, etc...

[rj0]

in Harmor if you hold shift while dropping single-cycles onto the image, it stacks them & you can use the image as a wavetable (with proper interpolation between them).

I should read the manual, this is an excellent tip.
I tried it dragging waveforms from a Sytrus oscillator.
Harmor fades between adjoinging waves.
Instant wavetable loveliness before even tweaking any parameters.

I didn't spot it in the manual (but I may not have the latest).

I gather the whole drag/drop thing is only available through FL Studio, or is there an alternate way to do this (adding single-cycles to the image) with the standard VST?

[EvilDragon]

Absynth. Simply outstanding, clear and low CPU use engine, with numerous fx/options for creation/manipulation/interaction/modulation/ of single-cycle waveforms, etc...

Again, single-cycle waveforms, not wavetable scanning...

[eXode]

Not a plugin per se but Reason has both the Malström and Thor synthesizers. Although the Malström is a variation of wavetable (graintable, cross between granular and wavetable).

[gentleclockdivider]

I'd say the audio table module in reaktor

[fmr]

I'd say the audio table module in reaktor

Actually, there is a wavetable synth in the Reaktor factory library, and there is one in the user library that emulates the Microwave XT. This amonge several other wavetable scanning instruments

[tony tony chopper]

Vaz Modular and a bunch of others read a single wav file with a loop that starts at the very beginning and where the relation of the length of the loop and the total length of the wav file defines the number of wavetables. For instance for 64 wavetables the loop needs to be excactly in 64th of the wav files length (needs to be set in samples and not milliseconds to be accurat enough if you're editing a wav in something like Wavosaur).

Mmmh.. while Komplex Term did save a file that works like you describe, I found a couple of WAZ wavetables and they don't seem to work like that. They define a loop of 673 samples, but their length aren't a multiple of it (they're all rounded seconds, either 44100 or 88200). I assume that VAZ is more relaxed about it.. but that makes autodetection harder.
Worse! The loop points don't define a fully cycle, but a full cycle -1 sample, pretty bad.
(http://www.collusioninc.net/index.php/s ... -2010-bank)

If only they had been defined using a standard wav marker using a new marker ID (like 'wtsc'), then it would be clear when a wav file is a wavetable & each single-cycle would be clearly marked.

As for WT files, I found out that they have 2 formats, the one used by Komplexer (couldn't find the format) & the one used by Surge..

[Gone soft]

Vaz Modular and a bunch of others read a single wav file with a loop that starts at the very beginning and where the relation of the length of the loop and the total length of the wav file defines the number of wavetables. For instance for 64 wavetables the loop needs to be excactly in 64th of the wav files length (needs to be set in samples and not milliseconds to be accurat enough if you're editing a wav in something like Wavosaur).

Mmmh.. while Komplex Term did save a file that works like you describe, I found a couple of WAZ wavetables and they don't seem to work like that. They define a loop of 673 samples, but their length aren't a multiple of it (they're all rounded seconds, either 44100 or 88200). I assume that VAZ is more relaxed about it.. but that makes autodetection harder.
Worse! The loop points don't define a fully cycle, but a full cycle -1 sample, pretty bad.
(http://www.collusioninc.net/index.php/s ... -2010-bank)

If only they had been defined using a standard wav marker using a new marker ID (like 'wtsc'), then it would be clear when a wav file is a wavetable & each single-cycle would be clearly marked.

As for WT files, I found out that they have 2 formats, the one used by Komplexer (couldn't find the format) & the one used by Surge..

Seems whoever made those wavetables misunderstood and assumed milliseconds would be precise enough, I used to think so before I learned about defining length as number of samples.. If it's commercial stuff that's horrendous (!), if not you may want to just send a friendly message about the problem. Anyway, if it seems to be really great stuff you could always consider to edit the loop points yourself...

I like the flexibility of no marker being required as that means less work if I want to try out a wav originally not intended to work as a wavetable, and I guess it's too late to establish such standards now anyway..

Oh, glad I newer bothered with the WT format then - formats who are different formats without any clear signs as to what they are = too much hassle for me...

[PietW.]

Vaz Modular and a bunch of others read a single wav file with a loop that starts at the very beginning and where the relation of the length of the loop and the total length of the wav file defines the number of wavetables. For instance for 64 wavetables the loop needs to be excactly in 64th of the wav files length (needs to be set in samples and not milliseconds to be accurat enough if you're editing a wav in something like Wavosaur).

Mmmh.. while Komplex Term did save a file that works like you describe, I found a couple of WAZ wavetables and they don't seem to work like that. They define a loop of 673 samples, but their length aren't a multiple of it (they're all rounded seconds, either 44100 or 88200). I assume that VAZ is more relaxed about it.. but that makes autodetection harder.
Worse! The loop points don't define a fully cycle, but a full cycle -1 sample, pretty bad.
(http://www.collusioninc.net/index.php/s ... -2010-bank)

If only they had been defined using a standard wav marker using a new marker ID (like 'wtsc'), then it would be clear when a wav file is a wavetable & each single-cycle would be clearly marked.

As for WT files, I found out that they have 2 formats, the one used by Komplexer (couldn't find the format) & the one used by Surge..

Surge can not Wavetables. Only Single Cycle Waves in Format WT.

[blacktomcat666]

Komplexer WT files have a very simple format: The only include the amplitudes for the harmonics of the additive synth (+/- 4096.0, stored as 32 bit floating point number),nothing else. These values are ordered as follows:

Slice 0 [Harmonic 0 - 63],Slice 1 [Harmonic 0 - 63], .....,Slice 32 [Harmonic 0 -63]. Komlexer has only sinewave - generators in the wavetable oscillator, that's why resynthesis results will look and sound a bit different from the original.

This is very different from Surge WT files. In Surge, a wavetable is stored in "time domain", while in Komplexer it's stored in "frequency domain". And that's the reason why Komlexer is more an additive synth (like a Kawai K5/K5000) than a wavetable synth. And it's the reason for the existence of K - term (now: Audio - Term). You must use FFT analysis or additive synthesis to build Komlexer wavetables.

[tony tony chopper]

Surge can not Wavetables. Only Single Cycle Waves in Format WT.

its manual says that there can be up to 512 cycles in a WT

[fmr]

Komplexer WT files have a very simple format: The only include the amplitudes for the harmonics of the additive synth (+/- 4096.0, stored as 32 bit floating point number),nothing else. These values are ordered as follows:

Slice 0 [Harmonic 0 - 63],Slice 1 [Harmonic 0 - 63], .....,Slice 32 [Harmonic 0 -63]. Komlexer has only sinewave - generators in the wavetable oscillator, that's why resynthesis results will look and sound a bit different from the original.

This is very different from Surge WT files. In Surge, a wavetable is stored in "time domain", while in Komplexer it's stored in "frequency domain". And that's the reason why Komlexer is more an additive synth (like a Kawai K5/K5000) than a wavetable synth. And it's the reason for the existence of K - term (now: Audio - Term). You must use FFT analysis or additive synthesis to build Komlexer wavetables.

Isn't that exactly the behaviour of ALL the PPG/Waldorf wavetable synths?

[tony tony chopper]

Komplexer WT files have a very simple format: The only include the amplitudes for the harmonics of the additive synth (+/- 4096.0, stored as 32 bit floating point number),nothing else. These values are ordered as follows:

Thanks for the info!
I'll probably end up supporting that, considering that in Harmor (yes, too an additive synth) I too only need the harmonic amplitudes & not phases (well, they all share the same initial phases, so if I were to read cycles in the time domain, I'd keep the phases of the first one).
(but I see you say it allows negative amplitudes, thus half-phases)

So it's always 64 harmonics?