Tone 2 - Saurus 2 is available

[dwozzle]

(I posted something like this before, or meant to but it disappeared, so my apologies if this eventually shows up twice.)

Regardless of its age, or what other synths and sound design paradigms exist, every time I play with Saurus I like what I hear, and I find plenty to explore. Is it groundbreaking new tech? No, but it doesn't have to be to sound good, and it has enough options to be more flexible and a bit different than other subtractives I'm aware of.

Obviously, that doesn't mean I don't like other synths, or think Saurus replaces them all. They're all what they are, and I'm happy to have them. It's an amazing time to be a musician in the digital world.

[Apostate]

(I posted something like this before, or meant to but it disappeared, so my apologies if this eventually shows up twice.)

Regardless of its age, or what other synths and sound design paradigms exist, every time I play with Saurus I like what I hear, and I find plenty to explore. Is it groundbreaking new tech? No, but it doesn't have to be to sound good, and it has enough options to be more flexible and a bit different than other subtractives I'm aware of.

Obviously, that doesn't mean I don't like other synths, or think Saurus replaces them all. They're all what they are, and I'm happy to have them. It's an amazing time to be a musician in the digital world.

I have Saurus, the Arturia V Collection, Diva...love them all. Would hate to lose any of them.

Sylenth is great imo, same as above. If something inspires me I couldn't care less what other people think of it. Too many people live for the opinions of others, which is something that can seriously choke off creativity.

Okay, enough blathering from me. Anyone need No-Doz?

[Robmobius]

Sylenth is great imo, same as above. If something inspires me I couldn't care less what other people think of it. Too many people live for the opinions of others, which is something that can seriously choke off creativity.

That's very true... On both counts. What like about Sylenth it's just so easy to get there quickly so I find it very creative. Same as Serum... It's a joy to use so it fuels your music.

[Apostate]

Sylenth is great imo, same as above. If something inspires me I couldn't care less what other people think of it. Too many people live for the opinions of others, which is something that can seriously choke off creativity.

That's very true... On both counts. What like about Sylenth it's just so easy to get there quickly so I find it very creative. Same as Serum... It's a joy to use so it fuels your music.

I could talk about (and program) Serum all day. Steve Duda just outdid himself on that one, in my opinion. There are other great wavetable synths out there, Massive, Wavegenerator and Z3ta spring to mind (plus I see one heck of a lot of potential in the Waldorf Nave vst which I believe is still in beta). But Serum is the champ for me, just a powerhouse from every perspective. I learned a lot from that plugin as well.

Anyway, all of these topic notifications have me breaking out Saurus again. The only disappointment I have after buying it is that the demo I used was of the 2 upgrade, so now I have to wait until next week for the new browser window to be integrated. Other than that, amazing synth, and I've actually put aside Diva in favor of the past couple of weeks.

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Regarding synths getting old, I occasionally still use Neon (yes, THAT Neon ). Personally, I use the synth I need when I need it, I don't look at features and date.

Most of the sounds on this album https://macofbionight.bandcamp.com/albu ... -series-02 are from this synth and this one Old? I don't know, they gave what I needed...

[2ZrgE]

I'm always perplexed by that very same thing. Especially when people say it's 'out of date'. How the F is Sylenth or Saurus out of date? They are analog subtractive synthesizers and contain the features you'd expect.

Sylenth's preset browser is totally out of date for starters.

Filter technology has developed as well over the years.

A ten year old car isn't out of date because it contains the features you'd expect: it drives?

Well... I could name quite a few synths that are newer and suffer from a similar problem. Menu - That's kinda' nit picking.

Synleth's limited number of filters still sound good, and are perfectly functional. In Sylenth's case it still drives pretty damn well given it's age (to use your car analogy).

I'm trying to think of another VA analog synths that sounds better (not necessarily with more features). Besides Sylenth's voices/unison are still class.

I suppose the 3 synths that come to mind are Diva and Spire (and HIVE when it's released). But Diva is more traditional analog and is the king for that. What I would say is Sylenth is over priced compared to the competition and NEEDS to be 64bit. But the workaround is very solid to be fair.

The point is that Sylenth still sounds very good and is great VA - And still is one of the best around imo. However, who has only one soft synth? Most people have shitloads. Because no one stynth can do everything.

I'm still waiting for the 'Sylenth killer' to emerge. However I think HIVE will be the one to beat. Serum probably one of my favorites right now is a behemoth. But I still use Sylenth for certain stuff.

Soundwise I'm totally ok with Sylenth, but in general I do not buy synths just for the 'sound'.

With all that competition (and my always limited budget) I carefully observe the whole package: GUI, presets, preset browser, developer activity, updates, support.

And for example Sylenth's sound and usabilty is not that outstanding that I wouldn't consider those things above (same goes for Saurus). Simple as that.

Especially as there are competitors for both synths which deliver the better complete package.

If you just go for the sound, fair enough, everyone to his taste.

[KingTuck]

I always find it odd when people say Sylenth, Saurus, etc. are simple. basic etc.
Jesus, Saurus is a purely subtractive synth. For that it is quite tweakable. If what Saurus offers you is not enough, you should probably look for a different kind of synth altogether, such as modular, wavetable or whatever.

Saurus has basically 4 oscillators (the sub's are pretty complete) with sync, ring mod and what not, so it can even produce massive Minimoog-like sounds.

Saurus has features that owners of old Oberheim's, Moog's etc. would have loved to have on their hardware.

Confused by this. Why would someone look at wavetable? Wavetable synthesis is a form of subtractive synthesis. Only differing part is the oscillator module. Nothing about it is inherently more tweaker friendly.

The subs are definitely not pretty complete lol. Beyond waveform selection you can't do much with them. Saurus is simple. There's nothing wrong with that though. What does something need to have to be simple in your eyes? Does it need to be like Basic by Audio Damage? Any experienced synth programmer will say that Saurus is simply not a complex synth.

That barely limits it in timbres. Of course it has features those hardware units would have (perhaps) benefitted from. It's still not a ton more complex than those units though.

There is not anything wrong with a simple synth. Perhaps people should get over the ego that only allows them to use "complex synths that can create unheard sounds with which I can birth the perfect patch!".

[Apostate]

There is not anything wrong with a simple synth. Perhaps people should get over the ego that only allows them to use "complex synths that can create unheard sounds with which I can birth the perfect patch!".

There have been times I've been excessively preoccupied with that idea lol. Still it's nice to have a bunch of options for designing patches, some would argue it gives you more freedom to be as creative as you want.

Anyway, that's what SOME people say lol!

[fluffy_little_something]

Charlatan is simple, Saurus is average. Frankly, I don't really know any complex subtractive synth.

I am realistic, both Saurus and Sylenth have their weaknesses. Saurus simply sounds more pleasant in my view (also the effects) and has real pulse with pwm, while I prefer the usability of Sylenth. Noise and pitch bend are lousy in Saurus, no idea what they were thinking, really...

Unfortunately, when one doesn't have a modern, powerful computer there are not that many choices out there, so one has to live with the disadvantages they all seem to have...

[fluffy_little_something]

So, is there a trick to set the pitch bend range to something like 2 or 5 notes?

[cyberheater]

Is there an upgrade price for existing Saurus users?

[fluffy_little_something]

With their other synths the upgrade was not free, if I remember correctly.
It said somewhere that those who buy Saurus before the official release of v2 will get the upgrade for free. That implies that those who bought it before the announcement do not get it for free, which of course would be a bit unfair to exiting customers. Maybe just a trick to make more people get Saurus at all, rather than selling no v1 licenses anymore until v2 is available. After all, v2 will cost the same as v1.

[cyberheater]

Thanks fluffy. I've asked the same question on their forum. I'll let you know what they say.

[dwozzle]

It's very common for existing users to pay for upgrades to a later major version. The alternative is that once a company sells to a customer, any further work they do on a product serves only to increase future sales, otherwise it makes them nothing.

It's also common to have a grace period for a while before a new major release, and buying new within that time gets you the upgrade to it for free. The alternative is that sales drop radically before a new release, because nobody wants to pay for an upgrade they'll get free if they wait another month or whatever.

Not every company does both, but both moves are such common practice I'm surprised there's discussion about it.

I WANT developers I like to make money, otherwise they'll die out. Of course I want to pay as little as possible for everything, because I have limited funds and this isn't my livelihood, but there has to be a middle ground.

[db3]

...and now it's here.

Need to work out how to get my free grace period upgrade.
v1 to v2 upgrade is $59 €59 outside grace period.