KVR Audio

fluffy_little_something · Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:05 pm

I only know of two such emulations, the Arturia and the WOK. I was wondering which one is more authentic and better sounding. Since I never owned such a hardware module I can't really tell.

Both emulations seem to sound pretty good, the Arturia has more bells and whistles such as effects. But I already have more than enough effect plugins. So I am more interested in the WOK.

Does anyone here have any experience with the licensed version of the WOK emulation? In the demo version two controls are disabled, so testing is somewhat limited. And the few demo sound clips are rather short. Also most presets have been disabled, so it is hard to evaluate the demo version. The filters seem to have a nice sound, though, from sizzling to silky

Both emulations are missing the release control for the envelopes, but so did the original hardware. It is a bit odd at first to have an envelope without the usual release control. But one can kind of compensate for that with the attack and sustain controls. Still, I assume those emulations are not ideal for short, percussive sounds

But that doesn't matter to me, I am just looking for a great-sounding, yet basic two-oscillator two-envelope VA synth and thought the SEM might be a good choice...

Are there any other SEM emulations out there?

electro · Post by **electro** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:10 pm

dune_rave · Post by **dune_rave** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:14 pm

Electrostudio made a supercool freeware:

fluffy_little_something · Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:14 pm

Lol, and where are the subtitles?

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:20 pm

WOK sounds great and I would always support the small businessman first.
Alternative is get Kontakt and buy a Oberheim soundset.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:20 pm

osiris · Post by **osiris** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:25 pm

+1
Hats off to Max. But visit his website for better demos.

fluffy_little_something · Tue Sep 04, 2012 6:56 pm

No offense, but Latte does not offer the sound quality I am after, it sounds weak like the average synths made from SE stock modules. The WOK sounds so much better in my view.
Not to mention those utterly irritating rotary controls

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:05 pm

dune_rave wrote:Electrostudio made a supercool freeware:

I like this freebie, but I also like the Arturia version, which, unlike most of their synths, doesn't have any significant user interface issues. It's nicely sized, and does a pretty good job of capturing that Obie sound. Really, given that they're all trying to be authentic with the 12db/oct filter, it's not that hard to get it fairly close. There aren't any serious FM options on the stock SEM so you are getting a simple bread and butter synth. The attention to detail in the Arturia interface is worth it, IMO, if you get it with one of their promos.

Barring that, I would go with the Electrostudio version which is fun in its own right.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:06 pm

fluffy_little_something wrote:No offense, but Latte does not offer the sound quality I am after, it sounds weak

OK, so you don't want the Latte version but rather the Espresso?

fluffy_little_something · Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:14 pm

Um, the Elektrostudio thingy only has two voices, right? Sorry, I will use it for brass chords, pads etc.

At least the WOK has six voices, which is not much these days, but I prefer 6 quality voices to 12 cheap ones...

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:27 pm

fluffy_little_something wrote:Um, the Elektrostudio thingy only has two voices, right? Sorry, I will use it for brass chords, pads etc.
At least the WOK has six voices, which is not much these days, but I prefer 6 quality voices to 12 cheap ones...

Yes, but really, it's a lot of fun, and it's free. You can hear a quality difference between the filter modeling between it and the Arturia though. I honestly haven't tried WOK so I don't know how good it is.

MaxSynths · Post by **MaxSynths** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:59 pm

Thank you Numanoid and Osiris

@Fluffy: Latte (just like Crisalys) do not use the standard SE oscillator module. The Latte osc has been designed as an experiment with the aim to reproduce the saw/pulse oscillator of another classic analog synth.

BTW I have to point out that Latte is not an emulation of the Oberheim SEM; some controls and the GUI could resemble the SEM synthesizer, but officially it's not an emulation of it.

Concerning the "weak" sound... if you mean it sounds thin... well I don't know... Take a listen at demo2 and 3 here.

Nielzie · Post by **Nielzie** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 8:14 pm

fluffy_little_something wrote:No offense, but Latte does not offer the sound quality I am after, it sounds weak like the average synths made from SE stock modules. The WOK sounds so much better in my view.
Not to mention those utterly irritating rotary controls

You do realize that both of them are developed in SE?

I do agree with the "irritating" rotary controls though. Max, could you finetune them a bit so they feel a bit more "natural" to use?

fluffy_little_something · Tue Sep 04, 2012 8:26 pm

I had downloaded your synth earlier today after it was mentioned in a post, but it just didn't sound the way I like it, the sound is different from the WOK, different in a way I don't like. I am not into that loud, electronic kind of music in your demos. I don't think your synth has a typical Oberheim sound in my view. It lacks that fine electrified rasping element in the sound.

I have recorded a WOK pad, just a simple chord, where you can hear what I mean:

http://soundcloud.com/user437270204/wok

Not to mention the rotary controls you used, they alone would be reason enough for me not to buy your synth, frankly.

Did you code the filters yourself? I noticed that basically all good synths use proprietary filters, even if they are otherwise made using SE.

Oberheim SEM emulations