EMS Synthi A-vs what are you supposed to do with it?

[fmr]

There's already one and its called the Xils 3. Moreover, Xils 3 comes with an emulation of the EMS 256 sequenceur, has aliasingfree oscillators, 0df analog filters, more possibilities like 3 switchable trapezoidal/adsr envelopes, audiorate LFO with osc, you can assign Midi ccs to knobs etc, and .....

It will receive a BIG and MAJOR update very soon

Note ; The Xils 3 LE version is very affordable, serial protected, and still a full modular synth.

http://www.xils-lab.com

Although a good synth, Xils 3 does not emulate perfectly the Synth-A, at least based on the patch sheets I tried, and compared to the recordings of the sounds those were supposed to create.

I don't regret to have it, but, when I tried, the Synti-Avs was closer in terms o emulation (but way too expensive for a SynthEdit based virtual instrument) So, I hope you perfected the emulation in the programmed update, bringing it closer in terms of settings to the Synthi-A.

A bigger interface (specially of the main matrix, which is too tiny for my poor eyes) would be welcome too And please allow some alternate colour scheme. Red over black is always a problem for those who have some degree of colour blindness. Make the pins white, for example.

[Lotuzia]

There's already one and its called the Xils 3. Moreover, Xils 3 comes with an emulation of the EMS 256 sequenceur, has aliasingfree oscillators, 0df analog filters, more possibilities like 3 switchable trapezoidal/adsr envelopes, audiorate LFO with osc, you can assign Midi ccs to knobs etc, and .....

It will receive a BIG and MAJOR update very soon

Note ; The Xils 3 LE version is very affordable, serial protected, and still a full modular synth.

http://www.xils-lab.com

Although a good synth, Xils 3 does not emulate perfectly the Synth-A, at least based on the patch sheets I tried, and compared to the recordings of the sounds those were supposed to create.

I don't regret to have it, but, when I tried, the Synti-Avs was closer in terms o emulation (but way too expensive for a SynthEdit based virtual instrument) So, I hope you perfected the emulation in the programmed update, bringing it closer in terms of settings to the Synthi-A.

A bigger interface (specially of the main matrix, which is too tiny for my poor eyes) would be welcome too And please allow some alternate colour scheme. Red over black is always a problem for those who have some degree of colour blindness. Make the pins white, for example.

It will have plenty of what you desire .... and more

[Kriminal]

you can turn any old synth into an EMS with some basic soldering skills and one of these...

[ChamomileShark]

actually to get it really accurate you need to dismantle an old set of traffic lights in Devon - they used the same matrix apparently.

[donato]

Hi Lotuzia. That's great news about the XILS 3. Can you tell us when the big update is supposed to come out (approximately, nobody is going to hold a missed date against you!)? Like a month? Three months? Six months? Early 2015? THANKS!!!

[bailees7irish]

There are a number of free ones I think that are worth a go. If you have Reaktor then there is one called SIAC and there was one called something like Xlis or something. I did use the Cynthia one - that was a pay one but I see it is now free.

Cynthia was always free, I believe; its the XILS one that's commercial.

edit : ah, you got that. neffermind.

Memory is an uncertain friend. You are right - I probably used Cynthia - the one I was thinking of was called Synthia - it was from EFM and is now free

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?pl ... ia2&id=753

Synthi...Synthia...
EMS...EFM...

Very easy to get them confused!

[vurt]

you can turn any old synth into an EMS with some basic soldering skills and one of these...

will it work with the star wars version?


just get reaktor, the best of all worlds as not only do you get access to the best synthi emu but a gazillion other toys to play with to keep anyone happy for 10 lifetimes.

[VST303]

Ok... Seems KX-SYNTH-X16 is a much better option and it works as it should and i can record in a midi track, even the changes in sound if i tweak a knob on the screen.

Apparently this is supposed to be based on the VCS3. I tried out the XILS-3 demo VST, it seems not too bad.

[Numanoid]

I downloaded the EMS Synthi A-vs (demo) VST, of course there is the annoying white noise every 10 secs, but nothing can be recorded on a midi track with it, only leads or bass patches can be recorded. The sound effects don't register in the midi track window? After testing this VST.

If you need a freeware alternative, I suggest you check Koffersynth by Longsound:
http://longsound.de/html/vsti.html

[JoeCat]

I have the Reaktor emu (one of the best and most popular user-library synths) and XILS LE and both are great in their own way. I think the XILS version is a bit more "tame" than the Reaktor synth and probably better suited to creating melodic tones rather than just FX, but that could be based more on the presets - I've never done a one-to-one. And of course, don't own the original!

In any case, the problem with these iOS apps is they are so (comparitively) inexpensive that I usually end up just purchasing them no matter what. It's lunch money.

Not like the Bitwig decision coming up...!

[whyterabbyt]

Although a good synth, Xils 3 does not emulate perfectly the Synth-A, at least based on the patch sheets I tried, and compared to the recordings of the sounds those were supposed to create. .

Given the vagaries of the Synthi (and family), I think its one of the synths where its would be least possible to ever get two real units sounding the same, from the same patch sheet, or even just copying settings from one to the other.
Even something like temperature compensation was an optional extra, introduced later on in its lifetime.

[fmr]

Although a good synth, Xils 3 does not emulate perfectly the Synth-A, at least based on the patch sheets I tried, and compared to the recordings of the sounds those were supposed to create. .

Given the vagaries of the Synthi (and family), I think its one of the synths where its would be least possible to ever get two real units sounding the same, from the same patch sheet, or even just copying settings from one to the other.
Even something like temperature compensation was an optional extra, introduced later on in its lifetime.

Didn't thought about that. You may be right.

It's an old synth, and the components are very prone to change with temperature and humidity. Regarding the components themselves, I don't know if EMS changed something during the time life of the models - my knowledge don't reach that.

Nevertheless, EMS Rehberg (who did the Synthi-Avs) have the advantage of a long experience maintaining (and building too, if I'm not mistaken) VCS and Synthi-A, and they probably have access to more units.

Anyway, Lotuzia, if you need some help in testing the update, I volunteer to do that. I look very much forward to touch all the promises

[HunterKiller]

There's already one and its called the Xils 3. Moreover, Xils 3 comes with an emulation of the EMS 256 sequenceur, has aliasingfree oscillators, 0df analog filters, more possibilities like 3 switchable trapezoidal/adsr envelopes, audiorate LFO with osc, you can assign Midi ccs to knobs etc, and .....

It will receive a BIG and MAJOR update very soon

Note ; The Xils 3 LE version is very affordable, serial protected, and still a full modular synth.

http://www.xils-lab.com

Although a good synth, Xils 3 does not emulate perfectly the Synth-A, at least based on the patch sheets I tried, and compared to the recordings of the sounds those were supposed to create.

I don't regret to have it, but, when I tried, the Synti-Avs was closer in terms o emulation (but way too expensive for a SynthEdit based virtual instrument) So, I hope you perfected the emulation in the programmed update, bringing it closer in terms of settings to the Synthi-A.

A bigger interface (specially of the main matrix, which is too tiny for my poor eyes) would be welcome too And please allow some alternate colour scheme. Red over black is always a problem for those who have some degree of colour blindness. Make the pins white, for example.

Yeah you're right, doing Schulze type stuff far easier on the Avs than Xils 3.

The problem with Avs is that is doesn't sound raw, but can sound mad, it's capable of amazing twisted sound effects. I just does sound like its hardware counterpart, the dynamic and metallic character is missing.
And the problem with Xils 3 is that it sounds too polished sometimes. Sometimes the sound reminds me of Arturia synths.

Both emus sound a little static in comparison to the real thing, there is a air of predictability.

Hopefully this will go away when Xils 3 is updated and it will sound a bit more raw and machine like.

[Lotuzia]

Hi Lotuzia. That's great news about the XILS 3. Can you tell us when the big update is supposed to come out (approximately, nobody is going to hold a missed date against you!)? Like a month? Three months? Six months? Early 2015? THANKS!!!

Hi Don,
I'd say a matter of weeks ... if all goes well

[Lotuzia]

There's already one and its called the Xils 3. Moreover, Xils 3 comes with an emulation of the EMS 256 sequenceur, has aliasingfree oscillators, 0df analog filters, more possibilities like 3 switchable trapezoidal/adsr envelopes, audiorate LFO with osc, you can assign Midi ccs to knobs etc, and .....

It will receive a BIG and MAJOR update very soon

Note ; The Xils 3 LE version is very affordable, serial protected, and still a full modular synth.

http://www.xils-lab.com

Although a good synth, Xils 3 does not emulate perfectly the Synth-A, at least based on the patch sheets I tried, and compared to the recordings of the sounds those were supposed to create.

I don't regret to have it, but, when I tried, the Synti-Avs was closer in terms o emulation (but way too expensive for a SynthEdit based virtual instrument) So, I hope you perfected the emulation in the programmed update, bringing it closer in terms of settings to the Synthi-A.

A bigger interface (specially of the main matrix, which is too tiny for my poor eyes) would be welcome too And please allow some alternate colour scheme. Red over black is always a problem for those who have some degree of colour blindness. Make the pins white, for example.

Yeah you're right, doing Schulze type stuff far easier on the Avs than Xils 3.

The problem with Avs is that is doesn't sound raw, but can sound mad, it's capable of amazing twisted sound effects. I just does sound like its hardware counterpart, the dynamic and metallic character is missing.
And the problem with Xils 3 is that it sounds too polished sometimes. Sometimes the sound reminds me of Arturia synths.

Both emus sound a little static in comparison to the real thing, there is a air of predictability.

Hopefully this will go away when Xils 3 is updated and it will sound a bit more raw and machine like.

Hopefully. Well, time, and people will tell us that.

The Xils 3 multisequencer ( inspired from the 256 model) workflow have been greatly enhanced -imho-, and its possibilities extended. It should be now much more easier for people to cook their own sequences. This said, even in the last existing versions, I'd strongly encourage people to play a bit with the slew rates and range knobs of the three sequencer lines. You can get pretty savage mods with theses ones.