KVR Audio

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:06 pm

Sendy wrote:
Numanoid wrote:
Hemmick Reef wrote:used Native Instruments Pro53
Man I love Japan, Richard Barbieri et al. Thanks for sharing

But the thing is here that nobody can buy Pro53 anymore, it is discontinued by NI. So from a commerical point of view, there will be no sale anyhow
I know it's their code and they have every right to discontinue and vaporize, blah blah blah, but as a compulsive softsynth hoarder I deeply resent their choice to shelf this synth

It's like, oh, you want this, eh? You like that? WELL YOU CAN'T HAVE IT! KEEP YOUR MONEY! There goes my fun little game of collecting every synth ever made WELL THAT THING WAS USED FOR THE SYNC SWEEP SOUNDS IN PORTAL 2! IT HAS HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL VALUE! LET ME HAVE IT YOU PERVERTS!

Oh for cry'n out loud.

In it's day the Pro52/53 wasn't lauded as anything special in the world of software synths, and I imagine if you put it up next to the latest generation of analog modeling plug-ins (Diva, Lush101, PolyKB, etc) it would come up very short. Even listening to that "cover" (more of a redo, as he didn't seem to bring anything at all new to it... so why bother?) it's pretty clear that it misses the mark and has none of the warmth and life of the original.

So... yeah, it sounds similar in the same way that a Chrysler 300 looks similar to a Bently, but it's quite different to anyone actually paying attention. Can good music be made with it? Sure, no question, but if we're speaking about pure quality and closeness of emulation, I think even Native Instruments would agree that it was a fail judging by their actions.

That said, why doesn't Native Instruments step up and bring something good to the vintage emulation table? It's the one hole in their offerings... and no I don't count Reaktor instruments. I'm sure that Moog emulation they released recently is fine but wouldn't hold up next to Diva in devine mode.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:15 pm

zerocrossing wrote:I'm sure that Moog emulation they released recently is fine but wouldn't hold up next to Diva in devine mode.

Actually, it DOES hold up very well agains Diva, in some things even much better so (filter overdrive, mixer feedback/overload, filter FM).

Sendy · Post by **Sendy** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:18 pm

I was *slightly* overstating my point for comedic effect. But fair enough, it's mostly an obsolete old softsynth which is inferior to today's offerings and offers nothing new. I just don't see how it would harm them to offer the '53 as either a free or a cheap, un-tech-supported legacy synth. Still, obviously, their call, and we must respect that.

Speaking of Monark, and speaking as one of the original Diva Fever Recievers I must say Monark is absolutely fantastic. I never expected it to be this good, and I certainly would have enjoyed finding it "meh" (as I wouldn't have felt the need to spend money on it and plus, it's fun to hate on monolithic megacorporations like NI

). You can get much more textures and sounds out of Diva, but Monark has this thing going on with it's sound, and especially it's low end. Definitely one of the recent pleasant suprises in softsynth land for me.

And don't let the lack of features fool you. The feedback in conjunction with filter resonance can easily mimic oscillator sync type sounds. The interactions in the signal path are just staggering in their complexity and emergent properties. And BASS. >:)

Between Monark and Diva, UNO-LX and Lush there's very little more to be asked for in the realm of analog emulation, in my opinion. Any further advances will be nailing little details that even die hard geeks can barely distinguish.

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:35 pm

cosmosis · Post by **cosmosis** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:48 am

I'm no sure what makes a filter a prophet, but there's one in Guitar Rig too, not that a filter is a replacement for a synth, or that I care that much if they sell it or take it off the shelf

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 3:56 am

VitaminD wrote:I'll sell you my copy of Pro52+53upgrade for $500 USD.

Vintage SoftSynth?

VitaminD · Post by **VitaminD** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 4:01 am

EnGee wrote:
VitaminD wrote:I'll sell you my copy of Pro52+53upgrade for $500 USD.
Vintage SoftSynth?

Uhmm.. yeah.. that is it.. Vintage gear here. You look like a man of high regard.. for you.. 450 USD and it is yours.

V0RT3X · Post by **V0RT3X** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 4:05 am

I wonder if the next next-gen reaktor ensemble might be a Pro-54 or something since they just released Monark.

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 4:09 am

EvilDragon wrote:[Actually, it DOES hold up very well agains Diva, in some things even much better so (filter overdrive, mixer feedback/overload, filter FM).

Um...have you had your hearing tested lately? Lol. The Pro-53 sounded extremely shrill and unconvincing in every way imaginable. It certainly had a "sound," I agree, but better than Diva? No way. More capable? Sure, but that's different than sounding good. I think you're probably alone in that regard. The Waldorf D-Pole did certain things better than Cytomic's The Drop, such as bit depth/sample rate massacring, but it sounds like horse piss.

-Sam

cosmosis · Post by **cosmosis** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:04 am

I think he's talking about that Minimoog Reaktor contraption.

ouroboros · Post by **ouroboros** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:29 am

I always wanted to gnab TC Works Mercury.
Seemed really grimey.

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:39 am

VitaminD wrote:
EnGee wrote:
VitaminD wrote:I'll sell you my copy of Pro52+53upgrade for $500 USD.
Vintage SoftSynth?
Uhmm.. yeah.. that is it.. Vintage gear here. You look like a man of high regard.. for you.. 450 USD and it is yours.

Thank you for the discount but I don't have the money for it.

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:42 am

masterhiggins wrote:
EvilDragon wrote:[Actually, it DOES hold up very well agains Diva, in some things even much better so (filter overdrive, mixer feedback/overload, filter FM).
Um...have you had your hearing tested lately? Lol. The Pro-53 sounded extremely shrill and unconvincing in every way imaginable. It certainly had a "sound," I agree, but better than Diva? No way. More capable? Sure, but that's different than sounding good. I think you're probably alone in that regard. The Waldorf D-Pole did certain things better than Cytomic's The Drop, such as bit depth/sample rate massacring, but it sounds like horse piss.

-Sam

I think he meant NI Monark

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:46 am

EnGee wrote:I think he meant NI Monark

Ohhhhhhh. That's what I get for half-reading the thread. Sorry EvilDragon, my bad. I haven't played with Monark yet, so I can't judge.

-Sam

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:50 am

Based on this thread i had played a bit with Arturia Prophet V (v2.5.3) again (which i got since 7 years and ignored for a while due to other projects and tons of other plugins) and i have to say i still love it.

Here are some things that Prophet V offers (compared to Pro-53):
- still available and updated/developed
- includes 3 synths (Pro 5, Pro VS, Hybrid synth)
- available for windows + Mac and also 64-bit
- you could import sysex files of the Prophet 5 and VS (AFAIK Pro-53 could do the same with Prophet 5 files)
- better patch managment with folders and SounMAP browser
- IMO sounds better than Pro-53 (which i tested in the past)

It could even do some nice Bass sounds and in cases the low end is not enough i tried to use an EQ like the PSP NobleQ that i just purchased.

The Prophet is great for lush Pads, Synth Brass sounds and Synced sounds.

The VS is great for digital stuff and the hybrid synth could combine all of those.

Ingo

This is what really sells soft synths to me...