How come nobody ever talks about Absynth anymore?

[whyterabbyt]

Thread's a strawman. Absynth still gets mentioned regularly round here, as any proper search of the forum would prove.

(Personally, I'd like to see Absynth 6 with the NI-standard flat UI, just to watch Jace-BeOS explode in apoplexy. )

[4damind]

There is not so much to say about Absynth. The GUI is a bit dated and overcomplicated.There are sometimes bug fixes and the last major update to version 5 must be 6 years ago?
It's still used but I would say more for soundeffects (IMO the department where Absynth can shine) and not so much for "typical" sounds like pads, leads, bass...
There are a lot of presets but most of them are experimental and so people will use it more for transition effects or similar things.

Newer synth having more options, are easier to use and capable to create the same and more sounds. But there must be something special with Absynth people like... maybe the sound or the workflow or the presets? No idea

[Jace-BeOS]

Thread's a strawman. Absynth still gets mentioned regularly round here, as any proper search of the forum would prove.

(Personally, I'd like to see Absynth 6 with the NI-standard flat UI, just to watch Jace-BeOS explode in apoplexy. )

Why you waskawlly wabbyt you!


I agree. Absynth gets talked about plenty. It's simply not getting the spotlight that whatever diva of the month gets.

[Jace-BeOS]

Maybe the thread starter for "why is ambient so hard" should get an Absynth license

[JJ_Jettflow]

Newer synth having more options, are easier to use and capable to create the same and more sounds. But there must be something special with Absynth people like... maybe the sound or the workflow or the presets? No idea

It has its own vibe that is hard to achieve with other synths. For me, it is best used as a pad enhancer... I can add a lot of depth to a simple pad. I still use it a lot and the randomizing effect is quite at getting a useful start to a patch.

The GUI bites though and need a complete overhaul. That green colour makes me seasick!

[Aloysius]

I always thought Alchemy was trying to sound like Absynth.

[whyterabbyt]

....aaaand NI update it today.

(OT : nice to see they've updated R5 too, even with 6 out. )

[2ZrgE]

Thread's a strawman. Absynth still gets mentioned regularly round here, as any proper search of the forum would prove.

(Personally, I'd like to see Absynth 6 with the NI-standard flat UI, just to watch Jace-BeOS explode in apoplexy. )

Why you waskawlly wabbyt you!


I agree. Absynth gets talked about plenty. It's simply not getting the spotlight that whatever diva of the month gets.

Easy solution for that: NI should provide some small but nice updates now and then (beyond Maschine or Komplete Kontrol stuff).

[Echoes in the Attic]

Absynth really polyphonic aftertouch, as do FM8 and Massive.

With all the polyphonic aftertouch controllers coming out these days (not just in expensive ones like the linnstrument and seaboard but also cheap mobile keyboards like the QuNexus and CME X-keys), it's starting to be a real distinguishing feature of soft synths now.

[pdxindy]

However, I have to say that I've always hated the numeric value entry system. Just give me knobs or something. Or just drag across the values to change it, with shift to go faster or alt/option to go slower instead of having multiple value controls for each parameter. It drives me crazy!

...maybe I don't get this right, but you can drag the values - drag one of the two or three buttons next to the value for different increments...

Right, I'd prefer something slightly different. Actually, the preferred behavior I described is the way you modify values in Adobe After Effects. Simply dragging left or right across a number acts as a slider, and on the fly you can increment values faster by holding down shift, or very fine edits by holding down option. What I dislike about Absynth is having three different controls to drag on, depending if I want large, medium, or fine edits to a single parameter field. Granted, the current system is pretty efficient for cramming a lot of control into a small area, but I find the modifier key method to be way more efficient. I do that in After Effects many times a day and it feels effortless. Changing values in Absynth means deciding which of the three controllers to start dragging, then deciding I'm on the wrong one and choosing another, but then having to switch again just to add precise edits. Its maddening.

The three controls are tiny on my screen... it is too easy to get the wrong one... and then there is the tiny aliased text that is hard to read... especially because the text is on bright colors...

If you are going to have dragging, I'd rather that the value field could be dragged up or down to change the value... left side drag is coarse, right side drag is fine... but no, you get a value field that is too small to read without strain, and separate buttons next to it too small to easily click on. It's like the worst possible choice.

Then right click a parameter and look at the size of the text for modulation... yikes!

There are way too many tabs... a good GUI redesign could have way less tabs, so many more parameters viewable at once... and things could be bigger so easy to read and edit. There is plenty of wasted space.

The only thing I like about the Absynth GUI is that the envelopes page can be resized and multiple envelopes shown at once. Otherwise, for me, it ranks up there as one of the worst GUI's for 2015 and modern hi-resolution monitors.

[jancivil]

It's still used but I would say more for soundeffects (IMO the department where Absynth can shine) and not so much for "typical" sounds like pads, leads, bass...
There are a lot of presets but most of them are experimental and so people will use it more for transition effects or similar things.

Newer synth having more options, are easier to use and capable to create the same and more sounds. But there must be something special with Absynth people like... maybe the sound or the workflow or the presets? No idea

First paragraph basically states 'more users use presets than program it'. Seems to imply it's mainly good for 'experimental' or weird to the detriment of more typical uses. Not so much for pads, though? No, it's a great synth for all of the above. OTOH, I feel sure my patches in it aren't going to happen any other way. Because of the ways of working in it. Also the FX are kind of sui generis.

[JerGoertz]

I agree with the people who said Absynth could use some updated oscs and filters. Its modulation system and workflow to me are excellent, but that might just be because it's the first synth I learned how to program. At version 2. I still use version 2, regularly.

Maybe NI could make a parallel version of Absynth called "Absynth Vintage" (like Dark Zebra) with vintage-modeled oscs and filters. I know, I'm dreaming.

[wagtunes]

I will say this about ABSynth. It sounds like nothing else. It has this kind of ethereal, washed out sound that I recognize right away. For certain things, I'd use it above many other synths. But because there are so many synths that can "emulate" ABsynth and have a better "quality" sound, I'll turn to them first. That's the problem with ABSynth. It's good but it's not the best at what it does anymore unless of course you want precisely the sound that ABSynth generates and not something "better."

I still use it. Just not as much as I did.

[zerocrossing]

However, I have to say that I've always hated the numeric value entry system. Just give me knobs or something. Or just drag across the values to change it, with shift to go faster or alt/option to go slower instead of having multiple value controls for each parameter. It drives me crazy!

...maybe I don't get this right, but you can drag the values - drag one of the two or three buttons next to the value for different increments...

Right, I'd prefer something slightly different. Actually, the preferred behavior I described is the way you modify values in Adobe After Effects. Simply dragging left or right across a number acts as a slider, and on the fly you can increment values faster by holding down shift, or very fine edits by holding down option. What I dislike about Absynth is having three different controls to drag on, depending if I want large, medium, or fine edits to a single parameter field. Granted, the current system is pretty efficient for cramming a lot of control into a small area, but I find the modifier key method to be way more efficient.

While I wouldn't say it's madding, I'd love to see exactly what you described implemented.

Absynth was my first plug in instrument. I remember clearly thinking, "This isn't like anything I've ever heard..." It was love. I heard it first at a noise fest in Sacramento but I didn't really know what it was until I saw it at a Macworld. There was a special price and I could not resist. My Mac at the time could barely run it.

It's gotten a lot better since then, but it's not perfect and the truth is there is a lot of good competition. I'd love to see it's granular oscs and effects really expanded. I'd love to see it get more filter types... even some of the Massive filters. Considering it's been a really long time since there was an update, my guess is that NI and the original developer have parted ways. Sad really. It's a classic that could really benefit from an overhaul.

[EnGee]

There are way too many tabs... a good GUI redesign could have way less tabs, so many more parameters viewable at once... and things could be bigger so easy to read and edit. There is plenty of wasted space.

In the standalone mode, you can Ctrl + Shift + Click any main tab to have it in a separate window. I wish we could do that with the VSTi version.

I will say this about ABSynth. It sounds like nothing else. It has this kind of ethereal, washed out sound that I recognize right away. For certain things, I'd use it above many other synths. But because there are so many synths that can "emulate" ABsynth and have a better "quality" sound, I'll turn to them first. That's the problem with ABSynth. It's good but it's not the best at what it does anymore unless of course you want precisely the sound that ABSynth generates and not something "better."

I still use it. Just not as much as I did.

How the above statements can exist in harmony?

Anyway, I agree with Jancivil about the presets and what you can do with Absynth. I tried to make bread and butter sounds, and they are easy to do. Not only that, it can do sounds like most hybrid synths. Maybe not like an analog emualtion but it never aimed at that as far as I know. Also, the 'weird' presets doesn't mean it can do only this kind of sounds! Anyway, it does have many bread and butter presets, but this is not its strength especially when it released (and then got very popular at version 3 as I remember in the past), there was nothing like it (not even FM7). There were many VA and bread and butter synths at that time, so it was very refreshing to have something so different.

I have the tutorial from macprovideo called Absolute Absynth. It is a great tutorial IMO. Anyway, as my skill in sound design is better than one year ago. I begin to be more interested in Absynth and I think with some practice I can tame this monster little bit