Saurus review at Amazona.de

[Sendy]

ACE does not have 0 delay feedback filters so no way it sounds more analog than Saurus.

I actually think the way ACE's filter responds to being overdriven is more pleasing (I wouldn't know about this "analog" thing) and musically usable. Citing technical details and claiming that these make things sound better by default seems kinda arse-about-face.

On the other hand, the OP's point about Saurus having noise in several flavours and the reviewer not picking up on it is something that really annoys me (in the sense, that I somewhat agree with his point). Ditto about Saurus being better for digital type sounds - it's clear (from soundbank demos I've heard on here) that Saurus does a very good job of oldschool analog sounds if they don't require much in the way of overdrive or feedback.

If you're reviewing synths for your job, you should look at more than the presets. You should pick up on these things - and you should be a synthesist or at least try to be! Inquisitiveness and creativity are the synthesist's credo!

A similar pet peeve are presets made by famous "guest" designers, which look like the author didn't really know what (s)he was doing, and just randomly turned the knobs with many useless settings, often clipping badly internally in the synth... and usually the sounds are almost certainly unusuable in a musical sense, though they might sound cool on their own. Anyone can turn knobs until something novel comes out.

Rant over.

[braj]

You can toss the licenses for all those terrible non-0 delay filter synthesis in my trash bin and I'll. Happily go dumpster diving! Thank!

[Sendy]

You can toss the licenses for all those terrible non-0 delay filter synthesis in my trash bin and I'll. Happily go dumpster diving! Thank!

Why would you want to make music with those terrible, smudgy, low-end-phasing, midrangey non-0 delay filter synths with muddy treble? All of those synths instantly started to sound terrible as soon as I heard Diva, Saurus and Charlatan. Of course now these old technology synths are simply unusable. Such a waste :sadface:

Damn you, technological advancements! *waving fist*

[Nielzie]

You can toss the licenses for all those terrible non-0 delay filter synthesis in my trash bin and I'll. Happily go dumpster diving! Thank!

[braj]

Oh don't forget Corona now!

Anyhow, if anyone is throwing out Onnisphere tell me where your virtual dumpster is at

[breakmixer]

synths are judged based on what you get for you money when it comes to presets, as the majority of users are not sound designers.

only noobs judge a synth by its presets (and they are not even judging the synth itself but just the presets)

sorry, but thats total bollocks.

many many pro musicians dont make sounds, they just PLAY.

not anyone making any interesting music .
for me someone who is challenged enough not to figure out what an osc a filter and envelope can do can't make any decent music.
"if even Philip Oakey figured out how to use a synth anyone can"

Erm, Stevie Wonder had someone who worked for him purely to design the patches for him to play, did he not make any interesting music? Just sayin'...

[braj]

I think the bottom line is many buyers will choose a synth with what it sounds like from the presets, and it is in the dev team's best interest to make these interesting to those prospective buyers. The synth may have great capabilities, but unless they are showcased in good presets many will never know that. Himalaya is an excellent, renowned sound designer, he can milk a synth for all its worth but that's not very common, even among pro sound designers. Getting those sorts of skills into play with the demo soundsets to me is a big deal and should be considered a 'marketing expense' just like a magazine add or a contest in the KVR forums. Remember that Saurus also is marketed on the strength of its presets, so judging it to some degree by them to me seems fair.

[braj]

And bad presets make a good synth look bad. Someone remarked in the Cyclop thread that many presets clipped for example. That doesn't help a synth sell copies. Saurus opens with a Hoover sound, as beloved as that may be by some it seems too 'in your face' for me and gives me a bad first impression. Something more subtle and sublime, really 'vintage' would have been nicer IMO. All these little choices add up.

[osiris]

Deja vu.......................didn't we do this last week?

[_leras]

ACE does not have 0 delay feedback filters so no way it sounds more analog than Saurus. it may have more in terms of features...but in terms of sound i'd pick saurus any day. strange that amazona which is a good online magazine didn't pick up on that. Ace might get updated with new filters but at the moment it is a yesteryear sounding softsynth in that respect.

of the ones i tried Saurus is at the moment the best softsynth after Diva (having allready Diva i didn't feel the need to buy it but i've been considering it).

it should not be compared to synths without 0 delay feeeback filters....those all sound like plasticky shit and in 2012 they all belong to the trash bin IMO.
they was all the result of a shortcoming in dsp programming. time to move on.

ACE is completely different... it has the audio rate modulation that this doesn't have. ACE can do pretty great VA though if you ask me.

0 delay feedback filter is not the defining feature of a good sounding filter... (that said I do love how Diva sounds). Largo has fantastic filters, as does DCAM...

[osiris]

I;m reading the article at Xils at 0 delay feedback filters and I'm kind of understanding what it's about. This statement:
As we have seen above, This minimal delay is 1 sample frequency clock, around 20 microseconds at 44.1kHz. So this won't be heard DIRECTLY, and it's especially important to notice that this won't be involved in the modulation response or the envelope sharpness (an analogical envelope doesn't go below 0.1 ms or something like that which corresponds to around 4/5 sample at 44.1 kHz ).

I know that in Synthedit, in order to get a snappy attack, I had to 'fool' the values on it with a low value set at negative 0.1. Surely, this can be done in actual coded software. If the delay is 20 mcrscnds, can't you compensate for this with compensation for other sample rates?
I don't know. I don't code software.
It sounds like basically a math problem to me.

[Ingonator]

ACE does not have 0 delay feedback filters so no way it sounds more analog than Saurus. it may have more in terms of features...but in terms of sound i'd pick saurus any day. strange that amazona which is a good online magazine didn't pick up on that. Ace might get updated with new filters but at the moment it is a yesteryear sounding softsynth in that respect.

of the ones i tried Saurus is at the moment the best softsynth after Diva (having allready Diva i didn't feel the need to buy it but i've been considering it).

it should not be compared to synths without 0 delay feeeback filters....those all sound like plasticky shit and in 2012 they all belong to the trash bin IMO.
they was all the result of a shortcoming in dsp programming. time to move on.

ACE is completely different... it has the audio rate modulation that this doesn't have. ACE can do pretty great VA though if you ask me.

0 delay feedback filter is not the defining feature of a good sounding filter... (that said I do love how Diva sounds). Largo has fantastic filters, as does DCAM...

The LFOs in Saurus have rates from 0,06 Hz up to 440,12 Hz (middle position of the rate knob around 5,29 Hz) so you could use those LFOs for audio rate modulations too. This is mentioned in the "Features" list here:
http://www.tone2.com/html/saurus_synthe ... st_au.html

I agree about Largo and Synth squad having great filters too.


Ingo

[Aiynzahev]

And bad presets make a good synth look bad...Saurus opens with a Hoover sound..All these little choices add up.

Exactly. I've seen a few synths come out with really bad presets. I think Tone2's synths are on that list (not to offend anyone). That Hoover sound, on a synth market to vintage synth crownds.. bad move if you ask me. (Does anyone actually use the hoover sound?)

[ChiTown24]

Erm, Stevie Wonder had someone who worked for him purely to design the patches for him to play, did he not make any interesting music? Just sayin'...

Stevie Wonder ? as in the famously blind Stevie Wonder ?

[breakmixer]

Erm, Stevie Wonder had someone who worked for him purely to design the patches for him to play, did he not make any interesting music? Just sayin'...

Stevie Wonder ? as in the famously blind Stevie Wonder ?

I wondered how long it would be for someone to pick up on that, but... it still proves a point that the musician/composer does not have to have done the patch design to pull off good music...