cannot decide! Hive, Spire, Serum.... i like...

[Caine123]

a lot of thanks for the replies even on XMAS

so for my Industrial/EBM i use mostly Sylenth1 i have to admit cause of all the powerful saws etc. but i couldnt get a sound like this at 0:50 secs:

I avoid all Industrial/EBM with "powerful saws".
This is what I like:

oh yeah, this is awesome, a classic! i was raised with the old scene as well. mostly they used hardware stuff in the past of course, awesome sound they have!
would be nice to re-create the sounds of it!

[chk071]

so for my Industrial/EBM i use mostly Sylenth1 i have to admit cause of all the powerful saws etc. but i couldnt get a sound like this at 0:50 secs:

The sound is really nothing particularly special... a supersaw with some portamento, some delay, and some reverb, pretty easy to replicate with any synth probably. And surely possible with Sylenth1.

[T-CM11]

oh yeah, this is awesome, a classic! i was raised with the old scene as well. mostly they used hardware stuff in the past of course, awesome sound they have!
would be nice to re-create the sounds of it!

Dominik Van Reich's project after yelworC is great too:


I think they mostly used samplers and romplers, try the Korg M1/Wavestation, Roland D50, Kawai K1/K4.

I love EBM from the late 70s up to around 2000. After that, most of it turned into cheesy Dance, with or without distorted sounds. The only recent things (industrial-related) that still interest me are Minimal wave, Noise, Power Electronics, Experimental, Dark Ambient, Drone, Soundscapes....
There are some "oldskool" (80s style) EBM bands around too, but, to me, they sound too contrived, all versions of Nitzer Ebb.

I still love Covenant though!

[rentboyrenton]

spire sounds the best out of all of these

Heh, funny.

have you tried out all of the synths the OP mentioned?

[mcnoone]

spire sounds the best out of all of these

Heh, funny.

have you tried out all of the synths the OP mentioned?

Spire sounds like a tin can with really good effects.

[rentboyrenton]

spire sounds the best out of all of these

Heh, funny.

have you tried out all of the synths the OP mentioned?

Spire sounds like a tin can with really good effects.

now that is really funny...

[ariston]

Have I tried them out? Hell yes. I tried Spire's demo multiple times, because its success continues to mystify me. What I hear is a weak, tinny synth engine that somehow gobbles up all your CPU without having anything to show for it. In Serum, you can hear why it's such a resource hog - it is incredibly pristine at the top end and unbelievably fat and punchy in the low end - even with some serious wavetable mangling and warping going on. Spire pales by comparison.

[rentboyrenton]

different strokes for different folks i guess

though i have yet to still hear anything pleasant sounding coming out of Serum, not to mention that its effect section sounds like... well i'd rather not say anything unpleasant as i like steve duda and i like the way he does business and that alone is worth a lot these days

at least to me

[chk071]

Weak? Tinny? Do i need a new set of ears? Sounds pretty fat to me, even (or especially? ) without effects. Try and make some bass sounds with it, and if you still think it's tinny then i really have to wonder.

Tbh i often find myself removing some bass frequencies for some sounds because it's almost too beefy for some stuff.

[Caine123]

well just make a bass, a detuned saw, a fat pluck in all 3 + sylenth1 and then we will all hear !

i got sylenth1 and hive. serum i still consider as i like it with all the modulations but i also have already massive which is massive hehe.

[rentboyrenton]

well just make a bass, a detuned saw, a fat pluck in all 3 + sylenth1 and then we will all hear !

i got sylenth1 and hive. serum i still consider as i like it with all the modulations but i also have already massive which is massive hehe.

what would be the point of that, and who creates sounds/presets like that ?
is to so we can all start a circle jerk about how clean the high-end of Serum sounds ?

if you are not gonna utilize all the tools each synth offers to get the best sound out of it and trust your ears, you can stop making music and write a paper on the science of the sound of "insert name of synth here" instead

anybody who thinks spire sounds tinny/ weak compared to serum or hive must be either joking or should stick to buying presets IMHO

[ZentralmassivSound]

Just a remark, one has to be VERY careful about output level when comparing sounds. I recently wanted to compare the unison of two synths, and I had a setup where I thought: wow, A has much more detail than B, it has more sparke in the top end and also a fuller body in the low end. Then I noticed in the meters that A was actually 1-2db louder than B. I evened that out and then they sounded almost exactly the same. A small difference in loudness can make you think that something sounds "different", rather than noticing that it is actually just louder.

Some EQ plugins even use this effect and clandestinely put a few half db's gain on top just to sound better when you do an A/B bypass comparison.

[ariston]

Look, it's a perfectly fine synth, and if you can make great music with it, more power to you. Words are always bad when it comes to describing impressions of sound, but tinny is what I'm hearing, especially when you leave the comfort zone in sound design. Everything about it has that thin, hissy character, which is probably perfect for "modern" electronic styles ("cuts thru the mix!"). That doesn't mean it's not capable of deep bass sounds, just that even the basses are more tin than iron to my ears. Maybe what I mean is a lack of presence... yeah, that's a better word. It's like the sounds are coming from behind a veil.

Serum, to me, is just brilliant in the very real sense of the word, and Hive is... ugh, here it comes.. warm. I much prefer these two, but hey: isn't variety great? If Spire ticks your boxes, wonderful.

One thing I would say for the novice synthesist: Serum gives you ample opportunity to do the wrong thing. It's like all tools that offer a lot of power and depth - the drawback is that you really have to know what you're doing. In that sense, Spire and Hive are probably better suited to the beginner, because it's hard to make them sound bad. On the other hand, with Serum, you can really push the envelope. I much prefer that, and I'd be surprised if there was a sound designer out there who is not really excited by what Serum has to offer.

[ariston]

anybody who thinks spire sounds tinny/ weak compared to serum or hive must be either joking or should stick to buying presets IMHO

Why not just burn them at the stake?


Anyway, the OP has decided. And well done, sir!

[rentboyrenton]

well we're just having a healthy discussion as i see it and like i said different strokes...

spire isn't even my synth of choice, i rarely find any use for it but those were the synths the OP named

One thing I would say for the novice synthesist: Serum gives you ample opportunity to do the wrong thing. It's like all tools that offer a lot of power and depth - the drawback is that you really have to know what you're doing. In that sense, Spire and Hive are probably better suited to the beginner, because it's hard to make them sound bad. On the other hand, with Serum, you can really push the envelope. I much prefer that, and I'd be surprised if there was a sound designer out there who is not really excited by what Serum has to offer.

i wasn't even talking about my own creations when i said i still haven't heard anything pleasant coming out of serum, the original thread is full of capable sound creators who showcase their presets

i don't like to take away anymore from serum than i did already but i just wanted to make that clear since you seem to have taken issue with my opinion from before

either way i am glad we all don't use the same synth, than we would just be all making what nowadays passes as house music...