Synapse Audio Minimoog emulation "The Legend" for VST/AU and RE released!

[Teksonik]

Sounds good to me
https://clyp.it/v2j3ygj3

Nice !

[Ingonator]

The sound character is indeed very pleasant and lively.

Still, I wonder how they did the kick drum for Donna Summer's I fee love on a Minimoog (which Moroder said they did) if its attack was like Legend's. I don't seem to get that consistent punch from Legend.

Here is an interview about what he used:
https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/h ... -feel-love

He mentioned mostly using the Moog Modular.

Anyway concerrning the Bass drum he mentioend this:

You made every drum sound on it too?

The drums was all except the bass drum. Because the Moog couldn’t give me a punch sound, it would give me “oomph” instead of “dum." So that was the only thing, and that was Keith Forsey. Who had quite a job, quite a big job because the drummer is used to playing drums, right? So now he has to sit there and just do this [mimes playing the bass drum alone]. So I think it took him maybe five or six takes to finish it, because it’s so against the nature, because he couldn’t make any noise.

So the Bass Drum seemed to be a real drum?


This does not mean that the Minimoog could not do nice kick drums. You could also use pure self-oscilation without an oscillator for this.

[PatchAdamz]

My new favorite vintage softsynth.

Having owned and worked with my share of Moogs, I am not disappointed with this emulation.

The Legend is sounding incredible with your patches

Thanks!

[Teksonik]

Shows who the real fanbois are though.

Yea I'm a fanboi because The Legend sounds awesome and is a joy to play. I don't care about silly things like "snappy" or "blippy" or other imaginary flaws.

So why not talk about what we think is not 100%?

Do you own a Model D ? If not then you can't say what is 100% or not.

What i don't quite get is the involvement, also emotionally of some people here

You mean like you who for some reason has always had something against Synapse synths ? Of course it's your right to hold any opinion you think is valid I just don't understand what it is you have against Synapse synths.

Anyway in my opinion The Legend is an awesome instrument. If anyone finds joy in looking for microscopic flaws then....have fun but you're missing the point.

[chk071]

Oh Teksonik.... If Synapse Audio would be like you, they'd still do synths like Steinberg's Model-E. Good to see that they actually have a demand though.

[Mutant]

Can you post the patch please ?

Nope. Using the demo version.
BTW you are a much better sound designer than me, so you don't really need it.

[AnX]

There is people who's always trying hard to find flaws in everything. Though, it wasn't that hard to find flaws in Model D's and other analog synths. That's part of the charm, I guess.

Any developer doing an emulation of a synth of whatever kind will strive for perfection. Imagine we would have said "good enough" after Steinberg's Model-E. We hardly would be at such a high level of emulation now.

If one needs such a high level of emulation, with all the advantages, or disadvantages an analog synth, especially from that age, brings, is another question.

What i don't quite get is the involvement, also emotionally of some people here, who are trying to prevent any discussion about potential niggles, or questions concerning the authenticiy people have here. Shows who the real fanbois are though. Fact is, we have 3 different emulations on a high level now, and they all sound slightly different. That already should show, that emulation can at most be an approximation, and never will be 100%. So why not talk about what we think is not 100%? After all, that's very consctructive, and helpful for the devs. If we all say "Hey, good job, it's perfect.", then there will be no progress with future emulations at all. Nobody and nothing is perfect.

Its never going to be 100%. Its just not
possible.

When soft syths get this close tho (and quite a few have) my bank relaxes a bit as i dont have to keep spending 1000's on vintage hardware.

[chk071]

There is people who's always trying hard to find flaws in everything. Though, it wasn't that hard to find flaws in Model D's and other analog synths. That's part of the charm, I guess.

Any developer doing an emulation of a synth of whatever kind will strive for perfection. Imagine we would have said "good enough" after Steinberg's Model-E. We hardly would be at such a high level of emulation now.

If one needs such a high level of emulation, with all the advantages, or disadvantages an analog synth, especially from that age, brings, is another question.

What i don't quite get is the involvement, also emotionally of some people here, who are trying to prevent any discussion about potential niggles, or questions concerning the authenticiy people have here. Shows who the real fanbois are though. Fact is, we have 3 different emulations on a high level now, and they all sound slightly different. That already should show, that emulation can at most be an approximation, and never will be 100%. So why not talk about what we think is not 100%? After all, that's very consctructive, and helpful for the devs. If we all say "Hey, good job, it's perfect.", then there will be no progress with future emulations at all. Nobody and nothing is perfect.

Its never going to be 100%. Its just not
possible.

When soft syths get this close tho (and quite a few have) my bank relaxes a bit as i dont have to keep spending 1000's on vintage hardware.

I totally agree. Yet i still believe it is helpful and constructive to point out the (small) niggles one has with the one or the other emulation. And, no, i don't own a Minimoog. But i played Monark, Diva, and Legend, and they do sound different. So do different Minimoog models, fair enough. Though i doubt that they have big differences in the envelopes, rather in saturation, or filter drive.

[Teksonik]

Oh Teksonik.... If Synapse Audio would be like you, they'd still do synths like Steinberg's Model-E. Good to see that they actually have a demand though.

Nice try but....Epic Fail......

[Teksonik]

Can you post the patch please ?

Nope. Using the demo version.
BTW you are a much better sound designer than me, so you don't really need it.

Wow thank you very much for the compliment but I've never been good at doing drum patches because I always use samples so never really needed patches. I wanted to check your kick drum out to learn from it.

[fluffy_little_something]

The sound character is indeed very pleasant and lively.

Still, I wonder how they did the kick drum for Donna Summer's I fee love on a Minimoog (which Moroder said they did) if its attack was like Legend's. I don't seem to get that consistent punch from Legend.

Here is an interview about what he used:
https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/h ... -feel-love

He mentioned mostly using the Moog Modular.

Anyway concerrning the Bass drum he mentioend this:

You made every drum sound on it too?

The drums was all except the bass drum. Because the Moog couldn’t give me a punch sound, it would give me “oomph” instead of “dum." So that was the only thing, and that was Keith Forsey. Who had quite a job, quite a big job because the drummer is used to playing drums, right? So now he has to sit there and just do this [mimes playing the bass drum alone]. So I think it took him maybe five or six takes to finish it, because it’s so against the nature, because he couldn’t make any noise.

So the Bass Drum seemed to be a real drum?


This does not mean that the Minimoog could not do nice kick drums. You could also use pure self-oscilation without an oscillator for this.

Strange, I had read that they used the Minimoog for the bass drum. But if they didn't - which that quote in red suggests - the emulation is probably spot on after all

((PS: Found the text, maybe I misinterpreted what it says there: "Robbie simulated a hi‑hat, snare and bass drum on there, as well as a swell pad".
http://www.soundonsound.com/people/donn ... sic-tracks
Section Moog Manoeuvres. ))

[Richard_Synapse]

Fact is, we have 3 different emulations on a high level now, and they all sound slightly different. That already should show, that emulation can at most be an approximation, and never will be 100%. So why not talk about what we think is not 100%? After all, that's very consctructive, and helpful for the devs. If we all say "Hey, good job, it's perfect.", then there will be no progress with future emulations at all. Nobody and nothing is perfect.

True. But different hardware units sound different due to part tolerances, different internal trimpot settings and also age, if the unit has not been serviced well. Thus, to me 100% is already reached if sw/hw cannot be separated in a blind test. We did some pre-release blind tests with The Legend, and this level has been reached for all test subjects. We mostly used Nico's (BT) clips to test, swapping the order randomly, and additionally performed some live tests with the same patch dialed in. The result was that noone could identify the hardware reliably. What's more the individual picks were random, i.e. there was no obvious pattern in the guessing, in the sense that everyone guessed a particular patch/sequence right or wrong.

Richard

[Kees49]

I bought this synth recently and am very satisfied with it! The sound has a nice analog vibe with character.
Thank you Synapse Audio!

[ENV1]

The drums was all except the bass drum. Because the Moog couldn’t give me a punch sound, it would give me “oomph” instead of “dum."

Thats odd. I mean sure, you get an 'oomph' when you have no click, but with a click you definitely get a very solid 'dum' even out of a software moog modular.


Recipe:

Click
- Route the output of an Envelope Generator into a Highpass, cut at circa 2500Hz with normal filter modules or at circa 6000Hz with the Highpass in the Noise module. (Latter preferred.) No Attack, a smidgen of Decay (5ms), no Sustain, no Release. Route Highpass output to a Gain Mixer, use 2 or 3 Gain Mixers in series to amplify the click as needed, route output of last Gain Mixer to VCA1. VCA1 EG: No Attack, no Decay, full Sustain, some Release (200ms) to avoid unwanted VCA clicks.

Body
- Disable Drivers Keytracking, route an Envelope Generator to Driver FM, route Drivers Sine Oscillator @ 32 feet to VCA2. Modulator EG: No Attack, short Decay (45ms), no Sustain, no Release. FM intensity to taste. VCA2 EG: No Attack, no Decay, full Sustain, some Release (200ms) to avoid unwanted VCA clicks.

- Balance VCA1 Level vs. VCA2 Level until it sounds right.

Result: Bassdrum similar to LinnDrum.

[zerocrossing]

There is people who's always trying hard to find flaws in everything. Though, it wasn't that hard to find flaws in Model D's and other analog synths. That's part of the charm, I guess.

Any developer doing an emulation of a synth of whatever kind will strive for perfection. Imagine we would have said "good enough" after Steinberg's Model-E. We hardly would be at such a high level of emulation now.

If one needs such a high level of emulation, with all the advantages, or disadvantages an analog synth, especially from that age, brings, is another question.

What i don't quite get is the involvement, also emotionally of some people here, who are trying to prevent any discussion about potential niggles, or questions concerning the authenticiy people have here. Shows who the real fanbois are though. Fact is, we have 3 different emulations on a high level now, and they all sound slightly different. That already should show, that emulation can at most be an approximation, and never will be 100%. So why not talk about what we think is not 100%? After all, that's very consctructive, and helpful for the devs. If we all say "Hey, good job, it's perfect.", then there will be no progress with future emulations at all. Nobody and nothing is perfect.

Its never going to be 100%. Its just not
possible.

When soft syths get this close tho (and quite a few have) my bank relaxes a bit as i dont have to keep spending 1000's on vintage hardware.

I totally agree. Yet i still believe it is helpful and constructive to point out the (small) niggles one has with the one or the other emulation. And, no, i don't own a Minimoog. But i played Monark, Diva, and Legend, and they do sound different. So do different Minimoog models, fair enough. Though i doubt that they have big differences in the envelopes, rather in saturation, or filter drive.

I've only owned one synth that's ever been emulated. (Juno 106) Is U-No 100% there? That doesn't really matter to me. I only care if it's good. Can I get that vibe? Do I even want that vibe? (I've not purchased it yet). I do know that I'm not buying a Juno or a Model D any time soon.

I'm buying Legend though. It sounds great. Nearly as good as some of my hardware analogs. (They don't sound exactly like Model Ds either) Mostly because I can run it as a polyphonic synth. I actually had it running as a 24 voice synth. Definitely did not sound like a Model D at that point.