Tone2 will release Icarus - 3D WaveTable Synthesizer

[JoeCat]

IMHO you need a variety of filter types for a wavetable synth, at least more than a choice of roll-off.

Of course, filters giving the synth so much of it's character would make this more of a chameleon, which is just fine. There's obviously a market for everything from Dagger to Serum.

If this sounds as good as its looking I'm going to wish it were around for the "buy-one-get-one" sale that past - this and Nemesis will probably be a killer combination.

[stillshaded]

I couldn't agree more. It is technically high quality sound, but I just don't like it, it evokes no emotions in me. "Lifeless" is the very definition I gave it myself after messing around the demo for several months. Last time I've demoed it again several days ago, tried hard to make something I'd like and ended up buying a Virus instead

Even at wubwubs (I use them sometimes) Massive sounds better to me. Hell, even my old Z3ta+ sounds better to me, frankly - it has crappy filters and the sound easily falls apart as you start tweaking this or that knob or make heavily modulated sounds but as long as you are staying in its sweet spots, it sounds nicer than Serum.

All in all, I start to think that "techncial sound quality" and "perceived sound quality" are two different things, and two different tasks for the developers. Like removing any aliasing from the sound is a clear technical task with measurable results, and incorporating the aliasing into the sound so that to make it sweet is a different thing where it may be much harder to say if you've actually succeded.

Congrats on your virus purchase. I think you're going to be quite happy. It definitely seems like it was designed with "perceived sound quality" in mind. I think you'll see what I mean when you hear those wavetables. Put it in two voice unison with very slight retuning and %70 stereo spread and prepare to be amazed. I still don't quite get why it sounds so good. Another tip, oscillator two is more powerful because you can FM it by oscillator one, so you might use it as you "primary" oscillator.

And yes I agree with you about dune 2 and massive. When I think about it, hey are the perfect compliment to each other. Massive is edgey and dune is round. I use dune 2 a lot, and k have gotten some great patches out it. I especially think the audio rate modulation helps to liven things up.

Report back with your impressions of the virus. I'll be shocked but thrilled if Icarus stacks up.

[recursive one]

[
Congrats on your virus purchase. I think you're going to be quite happy. It definitely seems like it was designed with "perceived sound quality" in mind. I think you'll see what I mean when you hear those wavetables. Put it in two voice unison with very slight retuning and %70 stereo spread and prepare to be amazed. I still don't quite get why it sounds so good. Another tip, oscillator two is more powerful because you can FM it by oscillator one, so you might use it as you "primary" oscillator.

And yes I agree with you about dune 2 and massive. When I think about it, hey are the perfect compliment to each other. Massive is edgey and dune is round. I use dune 2 a lot, and k have gotten some great patches out it. I especially think the audio rate modulation helps to liven things up.

Report back with your impressions of the virus. I'll be shocked but thrilled if Icarus stacks up.

Thanks for the tips! Not much to report so far, except that I'm totally in love with the sound - soul, character, musicality, just like I've expected but even more

Well, enough Virus talk from me, it's OT here and I'm starting to look like these guys posting the lists of their synths at each occasion.

As for Icarus, in this thread Ingonator said that Tone2 guys bought a virus recently, but later it was also said with reference to Tone2 that Icarus is not meant to emulate Virus or to replicate it's sound. I also rememer Ingonator saying that it will be possible in Icarus to apply per oscillator stereo unison, like Virus hypersaw, to any kind of waveform, probably they've dissected the Virus hypersaw oscillator and made an unison algorithm of similar kind.

[Ingonator]

edited. nvm

[Shabdahbriah]

Dave Rossum (the inventor of Z plane filters) is showing a prototype of a Eurorack Morpheus filter module at NAMM. It is based on the original Emu design. I can't provide a link now because I'm on a tablet.

Just found it when searching for infos about z-plane filters (also see my post above):
http://www.rossum-electro.com/products/morpheus/

Could be interesting in combination with e.g. the new Waldorf Eurorack keyboard and the Waldorf nw1 Wavetable module (+ VCA and modulation modules).

That's what I was thinkin'. And/or mix-and-matching with the new Roland System-500 euro-rack stuff, with the Waldorf 37K... OMG!

[ObsoleteAcc99]

[DELETED]

[Mac of BIOnighT]

I doubt he would EVER blindly choose quantity over quality.

He hasn't

[shonoob]

Any estimate as to when we'll be able to see this bad boy?

[Ingonator]

edited. nvm

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Any estimate as to when we'll be able to see this bad boy?

There are one or two functions that haven't been implemented yet, though everything else works perfectly and the instrument is perfectly stable, so I think it'll take some time to finalize those functions and test them thoroughly to make sure all works fine (Tone2 is very thorough), so maybe March? But I have no idea, really, I don't think any of us can give more than vague information about this, unfortunately

[Echoes in the Attic]

Sort of seems like an upgraded Electra2 doesn't it? The structure seems quite similar.

Are they finally going to have polyphonic aftertouch? They'd be wise to get moving on the MPE thing too.

[Ingonator]

edited. nvm

[Totolitoto]

It's the first time in... a long time I've been interested in a Tone2 product but damn, 3D wavetable and Zplane filters...
That's all I've been living for

[Ingonator]

edited. nvm

[Totolitoto]

It's the first time in... a long time I've been interested in a Tone2 product but damn, 3D wavetable and Zplane filters...
That's all I've been living for

There seemed to be both confusion about those "3D wavetable" and "z-plane" terms...

Yep that's what I understood, anyway real Z-plane is patented by E-Mu so it can't be the real deal but morphing between filter types would still be nice!