KVR Audio

taldt33 · Post by **taldt33** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:23 pm

Hello,

I bought FM7 + FM8 upgrade via a second hand purchase a few months ago; both are activated in my account but I never tried FM7 because I didn't find the installer on the Native instruments website.

What are the differences between the both?Do they sound the same?
Anyway if someone have a genuine FM7 installer I would still like to try it

Thanks for your answers

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:28 pm

They sound the same, but FM8 has more features (and a better GUI, IMHO).

electro · Post by **electro** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:33 pm

exactly the same?

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:39 pm

Yeah, I couldn't hear any difference. Playing both at the same time with the same preset at the same volume with phase flipped on one track produced silence, at least over here.

BlackWinny · Post by **BlackWinny** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:51 pm

Yes, if I recall correctly, there can't be any difference between FM7 and FM8... simply because FM8 is not a new plugin made from scratch, but FM8 is FM7 with new added features but not with different treatments (and a GUI totally reworked). The heart of FM8 is the code of the previous FM7. You must look at FM8 as an update starting from FM7 to add new features, not really as an upgrade (meaning a brand new synth).

taldt33 · Post by **taldt33** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 6:36 pm

Thank you very much, so not being able to find the old version makes sense

PAK · Post by **PAK** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:12 pm

It's been long enough that I forget some of the changes. But some more obvious ones..

FM7's easy left click operator muting was removed from FM8. Instead you need to mute operators by viewing the matrix and then right-clicking operators there. This makes muting elements more tricky, especially if you're trying to do it quickly during live playing.

Another change FM8 introduced is that NI migrated away from standard 0-127 MIDI program changes. So you can't just switch sounds quickly using program up/down buttons from your MIDI controller, as FM8 won't do it by default. Instead you must build a MIDI program lists manually.

Not content with this extra annoyance and work flow slowdown, FM8 will then needlessly litter your documents folder by converting every single DX7 sysex bank you load into multiple individual FM8 format files, when all you maybe wanted to do was load in some DX7 sysex and audition through the presets quickly! On the plus side you can now categorize the sounds for these sacrifices. Great..

The FM8 GUI also divides opinion. Personally I hate it. It does contain some big improvements, like showing you a multiple envelopes overview when you click the env button. But check something like the Arpeggiator and you might also wonder who thought it was a good idea to use a bunch of light grey elements on top of a white background. Personally I think the contrast was a lot better on the FM7 GUI.

FM8 also added more FX and the Easy Morph feature, plus the hi res option if I remember.

For purely DX7 (etc) sounds be sure to check the free Dexed too. It is significantly louder than FM7 and FM8 by default. But, even after you compensate for volume, can give interesting differences in its favour Vs FM7/8.

KingTuck · Post by **KingTuck** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:15 pm

I'm pretty sure BlackWinny is correct. FM8 is a great great synth. No need (at least in my opinion) to try and hunt down a copy of FM7.

V0RT3X · Post by **V0RT3X** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:18 pm

Isn't their a HQ feature in FM8 which uses oversampling?

BlackWinny · Post by **BlackWinny** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:22 pm

V0RT3X wrote:Isn't their a HQ feature in FM8 which uses oversampling?

Yes.
In the settings it is called "CPU Performance > High Resolution mode".

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:59 pm

I still like FM 7 because I used to own a DX7 and the look is comforting in a nostalgic sort of way.

I don't think there is a 64 bit version of FM7 or I'd install it alongside my FM 8 just for old time's sake......

ZeePok · Post by **ZeePok** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:15 pm

My favourite is FM7, hands down!

It has more the 'look and feel' of a DX7 (alas I never owned one) AND it has also the excellent randomization feature which is great to instantly create new sounds ...

. (my favourites are the 'endless' sounds that constantly evolve and change.) .

And that is what FM8 doesn't have

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:30 pm

BlackWinny wrote:Yes, if I recall correctly, there can't be any difference between FM7 and FM8... simply because FM8 is not a new plugin made from scratch, but FM8 is FM7 with new added features but not with different treatments (and a GUI totally reworked). The heart of FM8 is the code of the previous FM7. You must look at FM8 as an update starting from FM7 to add new features, not really as an upgrade (meaning a brand new synth).

This. When FM8 was released I 1rst found the gui very bland, without any of the spice and nostalgia of the FM7. But after a while I found it much more easier to work with, and the new Fx and oversampling option also add. Last year I had to use FM8 on an old project with moded presets I had made years ago with the Fm7 ( And the guy only had 64b plugs at this time, so Fm7 was not an option anymore ) Presets imported into FM8 sounded .... identical.

And now, on the rare times when I fire the FM7, it always gives me first a smile on my face, but after a short time the conclusion is always the same : Fm8 is faster to work with, and more clearly implemented, at least for me.

BlackWinny · Post by **BlackWinny** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:42 pm

Teksonik wrote:I still like FM 7 because I used to own a DX7 and the look is comforting in a nostalgic sort of way.

I don't think there is a 64 bit version of FM7 or I'd install it alongside my FM 8 just for old time's sake......

No there's no 64-bit version of FM7. Even the first releases of FM8 were only 32-bit. And it remained only in 32-bit for five very long years.

Here is the exact chronology... I keep almost everything (I had another nickname at this time on the Native-Instruments forums):

The first box version (1.0.0 in 32-bit) of FM8 was released at 31 October 2006.
The first download version (1.0.1 in 32-bit) of FM8 was released at 9 November 2006. FM8 being an evolution of FM7, FM7 was definitively removed from the Service Center at the same date. It remained available by a personal URL sent by email (and only on specific demand) for some registered users who had not the possibility to update immediately despite the ultra-cheap price (Native-Instruments has always been a very kind company).
Then it's only five years later that we received the first public beta release of the 64-bit edition (Win and OSX as well, it was numbered 1.1.0) at 11 February... 2011! (precisely at 12:04 French hour )
And it was publicly released exactly at 9 April 2011 with the number 1.1.1 (Win and OSX as well).

Here you are. You have now all the history.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:37 am

My history goes back to the boxed version of FM7.........2003-04 ish ? Think I might still have the box. Still have the install disk.......

NI FM7 Vs FM8?