Diversion 1.4 released

[wagtunes]

You know, it's funny. I've heard people say that they don't like the sound of a lot of "popular" synths.

I guess there must be something wrong with their hearing too.

Liking a sound of some synth is totally different than claiming something to sound underwhelming My experience is that it's something different to others in the market. And it can be really agressive and loud, sparkling and bright or mellow and gentle.. Which is pretty good for something "underwhelming". And GUI is one of the best available since you can see everything in front of you and making modulations is very fast and easy.

..the high cpu usage, which makes it impossible to use this synth ever as main synth.

Well I'm sorry if you don't like my choice of words. I'm just not thrilled with the way it sounds.

As for the GUI being big enough for everything to fit on it, yeah, it fits. But to do that, everything is so damn small, some of it I can just about read.

Luckily there's freeze function in DAW

[Lejurai]

Well I'm sorry if you don't like my choice of words. I'm just not thrilled with the way it sounds.

As for the GUI being big enough for everything to fit on it, yeah, it fits. But to do that, everything is so damn small, some of it I can just about read.

No need to apologize, it's not about my likings

Words are important. Especially on forums where are thousands of people and people necessarily don't know each others IRL. Personally I'd be a bit hurt if I spent countless of hours coding a synth that really is something awesome and then someone came to say that It's underwhelming or not worth the money etc. Though I understand that it's a bit difficult to "speak correctly" or like IRL. I have adhd so I "speak"/write faster than I think Anyways I'm trying to say that there's a difference in giving constructive feedback/opinions and being a dick

[wagtunes]

Well I'm sorry if you don't like my choice of words. I'm just not thrilled with the way it sounds.

As for the GUI being big enough for everything to fit on it, yeah, it fits. But to do that, everything is so damn small, some of it I can just about read.

No need to apologize, it's not about my likings

Words are important. Especially on forums where are thousands of people and people necessarily don't know each others IRL. Personally I'd be a bit hurt if I spent countless of hours coding a synth that really is something awesome and then someone came to say that It's underwhelming or not worth the money etc. Though I understand that it's a bit difficult to "speak correctly" or like IRL. I have adhd so I "speak"/write faster than I think Anyways I'm trying to say that there's a difference in giving constructive feedback/opinions and being a dick

I think I gave about as constructive a feedback as possible.

Describing sound in itself is difficult to do. I describe Electra 2, which I have and love, as being one of those "plastic sounding" synths. Lots of people don't know what I mean by that. It's hard to describe. To me, plastic synths are very clean sounding. It's like there's some kind of polish put on them. The low end seems EQ'd out a bit.

Having said that, I like the sound for certain things but I would never use Electra 2 for a heavy bass sound. I don't think that's the synth's strength.

Without reinstalling the Diversion demo and listening to it again, I can't tell you what it was about the sound that didn't thrill me. If memory serves correct, I found is dull sounding. The filter, if I recall correctly, wasn't as crisp as a filter, say, in Zebra 2 or my MS-20, though that's an unfair comparison because the MS-20's filter is about the best on the planet.

I don't know how old Diversion is, but if I was to guess, I'd say it's probably one of the older synths around and thus might explain why I feel the sound quality isn't up to par with some of the newer synths, though the MS-20 is as old as dirt, so you can't always go by age.

Sound aside, which again is very subjective, I did not like the GUI. I think it should have been bigger for the amount of controls they have on one screen. I think every synth maker should learn something about GUI creation from U-he. Now those are synths whose GUIs are perfect.

That's my opinion. And I'm sorry if I didn't express it perfectly enough to your liking, but like I said, sound is subjective. If you told me Diversion was $50, I'd say sure. Sounds like a $50 synth to me. It doesn't sound like a $169 synth which is almost in the class of Zebra 2. My Dune 2, which I just got on sale for $149, IMO, blows the Diversion sound out of the water.

It's the Sylenth1 argument all over again. That synth, IMO, is not worth $158. It's old. It's dated. Even one Sylenth1 user who swore by it no more than a few weeks ago has scrapped it in favor of a couple of synths from the Korg Legacy Collection, which is a great value IMO, even though I detest the GUIs on those things. But at the price I got them at, and the way they sound, I'll put up with the God awful GUIs.

Is Diversion the worst synth I ever heard? Of course not. I gave it a 3.5 on a scale of 1 to 5, which is a little better than average. At a lower price point and a better GUI, I might have considered it.

[Sampleconstruct]

Yes, you mentioned that.

[wagtunes]

Yes, you mentioned that.

Yes, I know...I was responding to his arguing with me.

[Lejurai]

I'm not arguing, I'm having a conversation And I read already your answers earlier so the latest one feels a bit repetition Starting to feel like you'd be a bit defensive now.

Anyways.. Diversion is..... 3 or 4 years old? 2011 IF I remember right. I won't start an argue about the sound or it's brightness since like you mentioned earlier, you may have lost something when coming old But for my young ears Diversion is so bright and crisp (read undull) that it tickles my balls when played. Have you noticed the oversample option? Have you tried how it sounds at higher keys? Sounds pretty awesome compared to 99% of the synth on the market.

If the price is your consern, it's 89$ maybe few times a year.

[wagtunes]

I'm not arguing, I'm having a conversation And I read already your answers earlier so the latest one feels a bit repetition Starting to feel like you'd be a bit defensive now.

Anyways.. Diversion is..... 3 or 4 years old? 2011 IF I remember right. I won't start an argue about the sound or it's brightness since like you mentioned earlier, you may have lost something when coming old But for my young ears Diversion is so bright and crisp (read undull) that it tickles my balls when played. Have you noticed the oversample option? Have you tried how it sounds at higher keys? Sounds pretty awesome compared to 99% of the synth on the market.

If the price is your consern, it's 89$ maybe few times a year.

Okay, I'm a fair person so I reinstalled Diversion and did a little test.

First, I went through all the leads, pads and sequences. Some decent sounds there. Very clean. But I noticed something. Nothing that "abuses" the filters. Those are the sounds I like the best where the filters really get shown off.

So after listening to all these nice, clean sounds, I loaded up Z3ta+2 and Zebra 2.

For each of the 3 synths, I loaded a default patch and a sawtooth wave.

I tested the sound of each raw sawtooth wave and what I found is that the sawtooth of Diversion and Z3ta+2 were very close in sound. Almost couldn't tell them apart. Now remember, the only reason I bought Z3ta+2 was because it was on sale for $50. I would have never paid $100 for that synth as I didn't feel it was worth that much. I still don't.

I then listened to the raw sawtooth of Zebra 2. Much different. Seems to have more harmonics. It's not as dull. It's fuller, richer. That's the best way I can describe it.

I then loaded a 24 DB filter for Diversion and Z3ta+2. I didn't bother with Zebra 2 because I already know how amazing its filters are. I wanted to see what the difference was between Diversion and Z3ta+2.

With Diversion, I found the filters, no matter which settings I used, to be either too subtle or too distorted. Finding that sweet spot that I like was something I wasn't able to to after a few minutes of fooling with it. And I tried many different settings.

With Z3ta+2, I found that sweet spot right away. And the sound, with the right res setting, was almost as good as what I can get out of Zebra 2.

In short, I find Diversion's filters very finicky. Plus, I don't seem to get the range of timbers out of them as I do the other 2 synths.

For any synth I get, the filters are the deal breakers for me, which is why I test them first. I can honestly say that I don't love Diversion's LP filters. I haven't tried the others yet. I will. I'm not done testing this. Like I said, I'm a fair person.

But so far, what I'm hearing, this isn't a synth I'd pay $169. I'm just not in love with the sound.

The GUI isn't horrible. I can work with it, but it's still too cluttered in my opinion. And it's not one I'd want to program with constantly. I think after a while it would tire me out.

I can see what Diversion excels at. I liked a lot of the sequences. It doesn't have the greatest bottom end (which might have something to do with the oscillators) but it's okay.

Under normal conditions, it's a very clean synth without having that plastic sound of Electra 2. In fact, I'd say it's the cleanest synth I've heard that has some meat to it. I can definitely find uses for it

Can I hear what people like about it? Absolutely. This may very well be something I'd pick up on sale. I'm still disappointed in the LP filters so the sale would have to be very good. At least under $100.

In short, this synth is missing something. Outside of the oscillators not being the quality of Zebra 2 and the filters being what I call finicky, I can't put my finger on what's bothering me. Maybe it's lacking in richness. Maybe it's too clean. Maybe even a little thin. And I do mean a little.

I am curious about something. Is Diversion considered one of the "top" synths? Is it one that a lot of people have, like a Sylenth1 or Massive or whatever the "popular" synths are?

And if you want to know why I'm asking, I'll be honest and tell you.

Rarely do I buy synths these days for my personal use. I get them to make libraries to sell. There is no secret there. The only reason I haven't bought Sylenth1, even though it is supposed to be the #1 synth is because there are so many libraries already out there that there's just no point. From what I hear, most people use cracked versions and get their libraries for free. So that would be a pointless investment.

But if Diversion is popular, and the market is there, I'd consider it. I would first have to conquer the filter issue on this thing because I can't in good conscience sell sounds that I don't personally love myself. That's a deal breaker for me.

Anyway, I'm going to play with this thing some more even though I have a crap ton of work to do.

Because like I said, I'm basically a very fair person.

[ckam03]

I'm not arguing, I'm having a conversation And I read already your answers earlier so the latest one feels a bit repetition Starting to feel like you'd be a bit defensive now.

Anyways.. Diversion is..... 3 or 4 years old? 2011 IF I remember right. I won't start an argue about the sound or it's brightness since like you mentioned earlier, you may have lost something when coming old But for my young ears Diversion is so bright and crisp (read undull) that it tickles my balls when played. Have you noticed the oversample option? Have you tried how it sounds at higher keys? Sounds pretty awesome compared to 99% of the synth on the market.

If the price is your consern, it's 89$ maybe few times a year.

Okay, I'm a fair person so I reinstalled Diversion and did a little test.

First, I went through all the leads, pads and sequences. Some decent sounds there. Very clean. But I noticed something. Nothing that "abuses" the filters. Those are the sounds I like the best where the filters really get shown off.

So after listening to all these nice, clean sounds, I loaded up Z3ta+2 and Zebra 2.

For each of the 3 synths, I loaded a default patch and a sawtooth wave.

I tested the sound of each raw sawtooth wave and what I found is that the sawtooth of Diversion and Z3ta+2 were very close in sound. Almost couldn't tell them apart. Now remember, the only reason I bought Z3ta+2 was because it was on sale for $50. I would have never paid $100 for that synth as I didn't feel it was worth that much. I still don't.

I then listened to the raw sawtooth of Zebra 2. Much different. Seems to have more harmonics. It's not as dull. It's fuller, richer. That's the best way I can describe it.

I then loaded a 24 DB filter for Diversion and Z3ta+2. I didn't bother with Zebra 2 because I already know how amazing its filters are. I wanted to see what the difference was between Diversion and Z3ta+2.

With Diversion, I found the filters, no matter which settings I used, to be either too subtle or too distorted. Finding that sweet spot that I like was something I wasn't able to to after a few minutes of fooling with it. And I tried many different settings.

With Z3ta+2, I found that sweet spot right away. And the sound, with the right res setting, was almost as good as what I can get out of Zebra 2.

In short, I find Diversion's filters very finicky. Plus, I don't seem to get the range of timbers out of them as I do the other 2 synths.

For any synth I get, the filters are the deal breakers for me, which is why I test them first. I can honestly say that I don't love Diversion's LP filters. I haven't tried the others yet. I will. I'm not done testing this. Like I said, I'm a fair person.

But so far, what I'm hearing, this isn't a synth I'd pay $169. I'm just not in love with the sound.

The GUI isn't horrible. I can work with it, but it's still too cluttered in my opinion. And it's not one I'd want to program with constantly. I think after a while it would tire me out.

I can see what Diversion excels at. I liked a lot of the sequences. It doesn't have the greatest bottom end (which might have something to do with the oscillators) but it's okay.

Under normal conditions, it's a very clean synth without having that plastic sound of Electra 2. In fact, I'd say it's the cleanest synth I've heard that has some meat to it. I can definitely find uses for it

Can I hear what people like about it? Absolutely. This may very well be something I'd pick up on sale. I'm still disappointed in the LP filters so the sale would have to be very good. At least under $100.

In short, this synth is missing something. Outside of the oscillators not being the quality of Zebra 2 and the filters being what I call finicky, I can't put my finger on what's bothering me. Maybe it's lacking in richness. Maybe it's too clean. Maybe even a little thin. And I do mean a little.

I am curious about something. Is Diversion considered one of the "top" synths? Is it one that a lot of people have, like a Sylenth1 or Massive or whatever the "popular" synths are?

And if you want to know why I'm asking, I'll be honest and tell you.

Rarely do I buy synths these days for my personal use. I get them to make libraries to sell. There is no secret there. The only reason I haven't bought Sylenth1, even though it is supposed to be the #1 synth is because there are so many libraries already out there that there's just no point. From what I hear, most people use cracked versions and get their libraries for free. So that would be a pointless investment.

But if Diversion is popular, and the market is there, I'd consider it. I would first have to conquer the filter issue on this thing because I can't in good conscience sell sounds that I don't personally love myself. That's a deal breaker for me.

Anyway, I'm going to play with this thing some more even though I have a crap ton of work to do.

Because like I said, I'm basically a very fair person.

Did you have diversion on bright when you compared? A raw sawtooth sounds a bit fuller on normal IMO

[ckam03]

Also I kinda agree with what you said about the bottom end. The basses I made just didn't do it for me but it was fine layering a subby sine under a pad.

[dave dove]

i thought that about the bass
until i stuck it through our PA
the bass is there allright

dave

[Lejurai]

I tested the sound of each raw sawtooth wave and what I found is that the sawtooth of Diversion and Z3ta+2 were very close in sound.

This is maybe a bit.. Don't remember the word But Zeta+2 is a wavetable synth so it doesn't really have "default" saw.

The GUI isn't horrible. I can work with it, but it's still too cluttered in my opinion. And it's not one I'd want to program with constantly. I think after a while it would tire me out.

I remember the first time I demoed Diversion. It was so confusing and full that I didn't touch it twice until few months Then I gave it few days and learned to look for buttons I need and it became very simple and clear (same effect with synthmaster btw).

It doesn't have the greatest bottom end (which might have something to do with the oscillators) but it's okay.

Noticed this too. I have dedicated bass synth so no need for frequencies under 300hz anyways

Under normal conditions, it's a very clean synth without having that plastic sound of Electra 2. In fact, I'd say it's the cleanest synth I've heard that has some meat to it. I can definitely find uses for it

Now you nailed it

I am curious about something. Is Diversion considered one of the "top" synths? Is it one that a lot of people have, like a Sylenth1 or Massive or whatever the "popular" synths are?

Definitely one of the top synths but can't really tell how much people use it. People I know using it are near enthustiatic with it but I'd believe the cpu hit is a bit big to make it very popular Do'nt know anything for sure though since I don't know the sell rates

This was very nice reply from you wags

[wagtunes]

I tested the sound of each raw sawtooth wave and what I found is that the sawtooth of Diversion and Z3ta+2 were very close in sound.

This is maybe a bit.. Don't remember the word But Zeta+2 is a wavetable synth so it doesn't really have "default" saw.

The GUI isn't horrible. I can work with it, but it's still too cluttered in my opinion. And it's not one I'd want to program with constantly. I think after a while it would tire me out.

I remember the first time I demoed Diversion. It was so confusing and full that I didn't touch it twice until few months Then I gave it few days and learned to look for buttons I need and it became very simple and clear (same effect with synthmaster btw).

It doesn't have the greatest bottom end (which might have something to do with the oscillators) but it's okay.

Noticed this too. I have dedicated bass synth so no need for frequencies under 300hz anyways

Under normal conditions, it's a very clean synth without having that plastic sound of Electra 2. In fact, I'd say it's the cleanest synth I've heard that has some meat to it. I can definitely find uses for it

Now you nailed it

I am curious about something. Is Diversion considered one of the "top" synths? Is it one that a lot of people have, like a Sylenth1 or Massive or whatever the "popular" synths are?

Definitely one of the top synths but can't really tell how much people use it. People I know using it are near enthustiatic with it but I'd believe the cpu hit is a bit big to make it very popular Do'nt know anything for sure though since I don't know the sell rates

This was very nice reply from you wags

Well, like I said, I'm very fair about these things. It's not like I had a reason to just arbitrarily not like the synth. What sense would that make. My two biggest beefs are the filter and the GUI. I'll play with it some more and see if I can't get the two more to my liking but in all honesty, as long as I've been programming synths (over 36 years) I should have no problem getting a filter response that I like, especially when we're talking about basic sawtooth, filter and res settings that I've been doing in my sleep for ages. I mean we're not even talking about a complex sound here. This is synth sound making 101.

More today and then I'll come back and post some more thoughts.

[Examigan]

Diversion is such a nice plugin. Otherworldly sound!

Yep. Agreed. The "collaboration" presets are awesome. The "old lead" preset gives me chills.

I just saw this comment.
There were two I made with names that sound like the one you mention. One was called OldTimes RM, and the other was Big Lead RM.

[ThomasHelzle]

Dmitri just announced Tantra - Wohooo

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6107611

Cheers,

Tom

[Pashtiga]

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.

Hey chaps! Check some new bunch of free sounds (193 patches) for Diversion http://dmitrysches.com/files/pavel_vakh ... e_bank.zip (http://dmitrysches.com/files/pavel_vakhrushev_free_bank.zip)

+ a little demos https://soundcloud.com/pavel-vakhrushev ... -soundbank

Next I'll do commercial soundset mostly orientated for psychedelic trance, psy-breaks, tech-funk kind of music, follow my SC page if you're interested