Minimoog Softsynth Shootout: Diva MiniV3 Monark Legend Minimonsta vs Model D

[Pyrotek45]

Currently our preference is to do one of the big poly synths, like the Memorymoog, Elka, JP-8

All 3 of these are already emulated in software

None of them well. 75% accurate max.

who cares if they're perfect, thats what i never understood about emulations. they never will be perfect. they'll come close sure and that's ok. nobody is going to know. i get wanting to be able to buy something that sounds like something you can't afford,but wanting it to sound perfect is nonsense imho. 75% is high if you think about it, the average listener wont care and most producers wouldn't be able to tell within a mix. instead of doing something that's already been done, I would suggest coming up with new oscillator types and unique routings. for instance, arcsyn has some very creative oscillators(props to the creator) but even that could be taken a step farther. It would be cool to have a synth that has different distortions or effects between each segment of a waveform or whatever. waverazer has a cool new osc and it seems really interesting and new, makes me wonder why no one else thought of it first. I feel like devs dont want to be creative when it comes to making new synths. instead, limiting themselves to the limitations hardware once had. I'm tired of subtractive,additive,wave-table synths. I want something new.

[liquidsound]

Is the MiniMoog as good as these VST?

[Aliens]

who cares if they're perfect, thats what i never understood about emulations. they never will be perfect. they'll come close sure and that's ok.

They have to at least come close. Memorymoon, for example, just doesn't.
A synth like the MM deserves at least one decent developer's attempt at it.

[AnX]

Currently our preference is to do one of the big poly synths, like the Memorymoog, Elka, JP-8

All 3 of these are already emulated in software

None of them well. 75% accurate max.

who cares if they're perfect.

You obviously have trouble reading. I didnt say perfect.

75% is nowhere near good enough. I care, because if im spending my money on stuff, its for a good reason. If i want a synth that sounds "a bit like a minimoog" i'll use freeware.

If you are calling something an emulation, it better be that. 97-99% is acceptable. Anything else is a fail.

[fluffy_little_something]

Make an original synth instead, one that combines the best aspects of all the classics, not emulating any specific model or sound, but aiming at the best sound quality, period. Add some modest, yet innovative features not found on other plugins. Finished ^^

I think people only buy emulations a lot because those are based on limited hardware and thus easier to understand and operate, not because they sound 1:1 like hardware, which most people never played, anyway.

[Aliens]

Make both and let the market decide. Surely it doesn't have to be just one or the other.

[pdxindy]

who cares if they're perfect, thats what i never understood about emulations. they never will be perfect. they'll come close sure and that's ok.

They have to at least come close. Memorymoon, for example, just doesn't.
A synth like the MM deserves at least one decent developer's attempt at it.

Yeah... lots of previous emulations, just did not capture the spirit of the instrument they were emulating.

I don't care if the emulation is perfect in the absolute sense, but it has to feel right. There is a reason those original instruments want to be emulated. Recent emulations like RePro, Legend, they are getting there now.

[chk071]

So, no OB from Synapse, and u-he makes the Octave Cat?

[Aliens]

Yeah... lots of previous emulations, just did not capture the spirit of the instrument they were emulating.

I don't care if the emulation is perfect in the absolute sense, but it has to feel right. There is a reason those original instruments want to be emulated. Recent emulations like RePro, Legend, they are getting there now.

Agreed, and yes, those two were almost completely nailed.

[Mutant]

75% is nowhere near good enough...[snip]...97-99% is acceptable.

LOL, how do you even get these numbers ?
Did you poll 1000 random people and were only 75% of them fooled into thinking that Arturia JUP8 was Roland Jupiter 8 ?

[goldenanalog]

[What's next for you guys on the vintage analogue emulation front Richard?

We still haven't started- right now we are busy with DUNE 3, so another vintage emulation may come afterwards, unless we get started very soon. Currently our preference is to do one of the big poly synths, like the Memorymoog, Elka, JP-8 etc, because it should be interesting to work out the subtle differences between the individual voices, and its impact on the sound. It also depends what we get our hands on, the vintage poly synths are rather rare.

Another reason for us to do poly synths is that essentially we get 6-8 synths in one (one voice board for each voice), which should make an emulation somewhat more generic. With monophonic synths there is usually some variance between instances, and in practice it is impossible to obtain say 8 vintage Model D's and check all of them.

Richard

With apologies: the following is definitely OT in the context of this thread; but I wanted to address what you wrote & I underlined above, Richard:

What I have yet to see a dev such as yourself, do - interestingly enough - is to emulate in software a vintage 'hybrid-tech' sampler like The Great E-MU III - which played back 16-bit samples through actual analog filters - (1) for each of it's voices - I'm well aware that there are many software emulations of samplers - but it would be a different beast indeed to have some heavy coding dedicated to emulating individual analog filter characteristics independently in great detail for each individual sampler voice -

As a guy who's first *sampler* was a playback-only System 360 keyboard, I can attest to the fact that samplers that used a DAC-to-resonant-analog-filter topology for each of it's voices individually (of which there were actually very few 16-bit offerings available) indeed sounded more alive -

[Pyrotek45]

75% is nowhere near good enough...[snip]...97-99% is acceptable.

LOL, how do you even get these numbers ?
Did you poll 1000 random people and were only 75% of them fooled into thinking that Arturia JUP8 was Roland Jupiter 8 ?

I was thinking the same thing....

[Urs]

Make an original synth instead, one that combines the best aspects of all the classics, not emulating any specific model or sound, but aiming at the best sound quality, period. Add some modest, yet innovative features not found on other plugins. Finished ^^

You mean, like, Diva?

[Elektronisch]

Currently our preference is to do one of the big poly synths, like the Memorymoog, Elka, JP-8

All 3 of these are already emulated in software

None of them well. 75% accurate max.

Even Rolands emulation wich is same as synth from Boutique line and by alot of reviews said to be almost 1:1 with original?

[AnX]

75% is nowhere near good enough...[snip]...97-99% is acceptable.

LOL, how do you even get these numbers ?
Did you poll 1000 random people and were only 75% of them fooled into thinking that Arturia JUP8 was Roland Jupiter 8 ?

No. I used my ears. I judged them myself. I didnt use other ppls opinions. They dont count, its not their money im spending.

BTW, the 1-3% missing is the stuff that makes analog a pain to use. Some ppl call it magic, but ask anyone who, like me, has used analog since the 70's and they will tell you... stuff like noise floor, drift, no patch memory etc etc. I can easily live without those restrictions.