DUNE 3 is now available!!

[v1o]

Jesus what a thread!

Richard this is amazing update thank you! You just remember this is KVR and it's well...KVR...likely a staggering 1.22% of your user base. Don't feed the trolls.

Love new GUI and wavetable editor. Hopefully you have something in the pipeline for year 2019 for RE (rack extension) fans !?!?

Kriminal and Teksonik have not been doing their jobs.

[Elektronisch]

Richard, i have tried to play my soundbank on Dune v3 and i noticed that Triode Distortion sounds different, gives sort of lo-fi, grungy sound that eliminates the clarity.

[recursive one]

Today I had a chance to thoroughly A/B D3 with D2 and, even though D3 does sounds a tiny bit better in some aspects, the difference in sound quality is pretty much non-existent (even though we're talking about pretty subtle nuances here, I guess I kinda underestimated D2's sound in my memory).

Again, not trying to knock D3 or anything, but no real improvement on sound quality in this latest version.

I think they must sound absolutely identical if you don't use the new features. D3 is preset-compatible with D2.

As far as the new features go, some impressions after the first day of testing.

- AM filters sound really very good, all of them. They are notably different to other Dune's filters. I'm somehow disappointed that they are only LP though, I hoped for some new BP filters. Dune has now massive selection of LPs but only two BPs which both sound a bit weak IMO.

- Formant and especially vowel filters sound awesome

- Digging the saturator, it seems to be very useful for giving some "final touches" to the patches that don't need obvious distortion. When used subtly it makes the sound a bit thicker and more agressive but without radically changing it. This may adress my concerns about Dune sounding "too soft". I'd prefer to have it as a separate effect in the FX lane though (maybe together with exciter) - what if I want to put it after an actual distortion? I can use the second FX lane but it's a bit clumsy.

- There are more FM parameters available in the modmatrix. This is awesome, one can now modulate them at audio rate (from another osc for example) and this gives a whole new dimension to FM

- The new reverb and delay modes do sound good but in a mix the internal reverb/delay will in most cases be disabled and replaced with send effects anyway, so I'm not sure what's the point of these. Probably SA could release them as separate effect.

- I'm a bit disappointed that there are no new distortions and no new phaser. I always thought these effects didn't sound overly impressive in Dune 2 and for some reason I hoped there would be some improvements/additions to these (or am I missing something?).

- The WT editor is cool, I'm not so much into WT creation but it's quite intuitive and fun to tweak. I had some crashes with it though (W7, Studio One 3). Again, i'm disappointed that there are no improvements in the WT browser (I mean the one which is used to select the WTs directly form the main GUI). It's just a long list of WTs and if you add new ones it becames longer and harder to navigate. I thought it could have the same structure as the preset browser, that is it could show the subfolders, like, e.g., the Serum WT browser does.

All in all, I definitely will upgrade at some point but frankly as for now I feel it's more like 30-40 USD upgrade, not 80 Maybe I'll wait for 3.something. I think AM bandpass filters would make me upgrade immediately

[Caine123]

my impressions are VERYY MIXED and it shows a BAD manner/direspect to the customers in my opinion:

- the wavetable editor is ok, nothing new or groundbreaking, we got that already enough times but nice to have it in Dune finally and it is not groundbreaking soundqualitywise in my opinion, so far, what i heard

- the new effects are nice but i expect not only new effects in A NEW VERSION!

- the sound shall be better? no bashing but i didnt analyze it and i couldnt hear much difference, if any at all, will test more. so again i got the impression from BS marketing

- the new filters arent WOW for me either, i mean AVENGER filters arent the best on the market but i expected from D2 to D3 more.

i needd to check more new additions if there are any to mention at all.....

no one can tell me these additions are worth to call it V3 and anything special, they are good to have and i expected some already earlier but not as FULLY main features for V3. the workflow was not bad in D2 but still feels clumsy compared to others. D2 was wow,but D3 is meh in progression + the upgrade pricce of $79 is ridiculous!
and i know that a presetpack of Avenger costs $60, so you got KEVIN SCHROEDER PRESETS in the price included as well lol@richards response to me.... but i can also come and rub omnisphere and other vsts to those responses and how much they gave and get updated features for free.

the biggest letdown is the NON improved workflow and overall lacking features.

sadly synapse audio doesnt seem to care to respond to those issues so far.

again i love DUNE2 and thats why im so disappointed by the manners of synapse audio to present such A WEAK new version and especially the p*ss poor upgrade price.


when people now defend D3 upgrade and bash iZotope (another p*ss poor upgrade company) then think about it.

[tony10000]

I am thinking if you don't like it or think it is worth the price, you can wait a few years for 3.5 or get something else. That said, many of us really like it and think it *is* worth the price. I believe in supporting developers who provide great products and Synapse is in my top 5. YMMV. Just my .02.

[sacer]

A converter from Dune1 presets into Dune3 would be realy cool feature.
Thank you very much for this update, I love the filters.

[Ghost Dog]

I think they must sound absolutely identical if you don't use the new features. D3 is preset-compatible with D2 ....

Like I said (even though I first made an error of comparing the actual sound of D3 to what I remember D2 sounding like), it does sound a tiny bit better in terms of VA oscillators (as for the WT oscillators, I was wrong; either there is no improvement or I just can't spot any difference) and the new filters are somewhat of an improvement over the older ones, so all of this would be a killer D2 ("2.8", or whatever you wanna call it) update and this is what I would be perfectly content with in DUNE 2.

But calling all of this a new version is kinda crappy.

I've already seen one or two used D2 licenses popping up over here for less than what the asking price for the D2>>D3 upgrade is and that (if it's still an option), for that kind of money, is something I can see myself doing.

I still like the perspective of having a synth that's 85% of what I'm looking for in terms of sound quality (even though it's only 60 percent, at best, of what I'm really looking for in a synth in terms of functionality), in a CPU efficient package.

Plus, those vintage saw and clean pulse wavetables I've created earlier this year have made things even better.

But regarding this newest version, SA won't have my business.

[v1o]

Dune 3 has been in development for a very long time I'm sure. Possibly more than a year? If I remember correctly they started after they finished The Legend. A huge amount of effort has gone into this and it is definitely worth every penny.

To be honest if you didn't like the workflow in D2 there is little point in expecting major changes. There are many paying customers who are fans of this workflow and would get riled up if things drastically changed too far. There's a reason why Dune 2 became a hit synth - people like the workflow.

[Caine123]

I am thinking if you don't like it or think it is worth the price, you can wait a few years for 3.5 or get something else. That said, many of us really like it and think it *is* worth the price. I believe in supporting developers who provide great products and Synapse is in my top 5. YMMV. Just my .02.

it is with everything, is it worth to get the new jeans, the new car etc. in the end these things are just products for consumers. but it is THE WAY, the treatment, the presentation, the weakness in features. nothing else.

[tony10000]

Dune 3 has been in development for a very long time I'm sure. Possibly more than a year? If I remember correctly they started after they finished The Legend. A huge amount of effort has gone into this and it is definitely worth every penny.

To be honest if you didn't like the workflow in D2 there is little point in expecting major changes. There are many paying customers who are fans of this workflow and would get riled up if things drastically changed too far. There's a reason why Dune 2 became a hit synth - people like the workflow.

Yep, why mess with success?

[tony10000]

I am thinking if you don't like it or think it is worth the price, you can wait a few years for 3.5 or get something else. That said, many of us really like it and think it *is* worth the price. I believe in supporting developers who provide great products and Synapse is in my top 5. YMMV. Just my .02.

it is with everything, is it worth to get the new jeans, the new car etc. in the end these things are just products for consumers. but it is THE WAY, the treatment, the presentation, the weakness in features. nothing else.

I think the new features justify the price:

-dual filters
-dual arps
-improved oscs
-new effect algorithms (including GEQ)
-wt editor
-500 new patches

Maybe not enough for some but enough for me.

[Lotuzia]

Here are some reasons why Richard would not want to either sell or give away Dune 1.

1. Too costly to maintain. Code will probably stop working on new computer systems and Richard has no intention of making any updates to it.

2. Lack of sales. Customer service headaches outweigh income.

3. Giving away alienates customers who paid for software. By removing it, it gives the software a sense of exclusivity for those who did buy it. It becomes kind of a collectors item.

And that's just off the top of my head.

But whatever the reason, it's Richard's company and he can do what he wants. I certainly wouldn't want people telling me how to run my company. Most likely I'd ignore them anyway.

You wanted Dune 1? You should have bought it when it was available.

Thats why he should make it open source.

And then the customers who paid for it feel cheated because now, as open source, you can get it for free.

Thats a fallacy as i have explained in this thread already. If someone purchased it then that means they bought it because they figured it was worth it. So no loss for them. They got a good deal, paid a price they agreed to. Making it open source doesn't make it any less of a product.

I paid full price for veber audio surge and when it went open source i was super happy. Now the code can be updated and kept alive. I paid for it at the time it was for salw and i thought it was a good price so i dont feel ripped off or anything.

If someone feels cheated because someyhing they have is being sold less or given away then oh well. They paid a pruce they agreed to at the time. Fair is fair.

Well, that's you. Some people may not feel that way. And as a developer, I don't want to take the chance that I'm going to alienate any of my customers by giving away something that I used to sell.

Imagine if one day I decide to get out of the library creation business and give away every library I ever made. How do you think my loyal customers, some who have bought all of my libraries, would feel?

Sorry, you just don't do that. And I'm sure Richard will not be giving Dune 1 away for free or making it open source.

So as Jim Croce used to say, you can spit in the wind all you want. All you're gonna get is a wet face.

Your library and softwares are two completely different things. Software can be updated by the community to future proof it. Not your library. And if one day you decided to close shop, i dont see any reason why you wouldnt want as many people to have your sounds as possible and not give them away.

If my little shop closes one day (and it probably will at some point in the -very far- future), I'll never give the libraries for free. With a few good reasons -imho-

1/ I highly respect my customers : They paid for it, and that would be betraying them to give for free what they have purchased with their hard earned money.
2/ I highly respect my peers ( Well, a lot of them at least). And that would be a bad thing to give alternatives for free while they still struggle to sell their own sounds. Nature hates emptyness, when I'll no longer want to sell my libs, some other will appear, and some others will already be there.
3/ I also respect myself : I'm very fortunate to have many people liking my work and willing to pay the price of a pizza for patches I've sweated during long months to create. Like most of you who read me, I don't work for nothing, and my hours and experience have a certain price.
Then, I'm not the least interested by the idea to have my sounds in every home. It's already the case for the homes I deserve, and I'm tbh only interested in new ones that are really connected to my real work.

Short story : You don't like my sounds, just buy something else or strictly make your own sounds, or keep your money for better things -4 cheese pizza is as a good buy as a soundbank-. You like them ? Just honor my work and dedication and buy them. In any case, you'll never get them for nothing, at least in a legal manner.

[AdvancedFollower]

Dune 3 has been in development for a very long time I'm sure. Possibly more than a year? If I remember correctly they started after they finished The Legend. A huge amount of effort has gone into this and it is definitely worth every penny.

To be honest if you didn't like the workflow in D2 there is little point in expecting major changes. There are many paying customers who are fans of this workflow and would get riled up if things drastically changed too far. There's a reason why Dune 2 became a hit synth - people like the workflow.

Yep, why mess with success?

Yeah, it's tricky. If you mess too much with the workflow, some of the old fans get upset and refuse to upgrade. If you don't change it, people will complain that there aren't enough changes to justify the upgrade. You could try to keep the old workflow while implementing something new on top, but this might make the plugin a cluttered mess...

Updates will always be incremental by their nature. If you want something completely different, buy a completely different plug-in...

[carrieres]

Open source would make sure people can update it as times change.

You can't make every software open source because some use licensed third party libraries.

you can still buy Dune1 for $49 if you want :

Dune 1 is removed because there is really no point in having D1 and D3 in the shop (makes no sense). If someone still wants Dune 1 though, they can always email us, it's not a problem they can still have it for $49 if they wish

[AnX]

Open source would make sure people can update it as times change.

You can't make every software open source because some use licensed third party libraries.

you can still buy Dune1 for $49 if you want :

Dune 1 is removed because there is really no point in having D1 and D3 in the shop (makes no sense). If someone still wants Dune 1 though, they can always email us, it's not a problem they can still have it for $49 if they wish

while that is a nice gesture, it wont stop the whining, cos it wont be "updated" (even tho it has been, to V3)