Why will software people not admit hardware sounds better?

[IncarnateX]

WTF are you guys babbling about??? Just...give...me...some...friggin...ATTENTION...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!

[IncarnateX]

Yes, kiddo, mummy sees you.

Hi mom. I didn't do it. Don't believe them if they tell you anything else.

[funky lime]

Computers are hardware.

Computers are not hardware synths

It's a powered box where I press keys and an analog signal (i.e. sound) comes out. Sure, the insides of the box are going to vary, but the end result is the same as any hardware synth. Press keys, make music.

If the music sucks, it doesn't matter what's inside that box. And if the music is great, it doesn't matter what's inside that box. The music isn't the box's doing.

You're free to like whichever box you prefer. But it's still a box. So just find whatever box that makes you happy.

[IncarnateX]

My PC is not my Bass Station 2, nor my Deepmind 6. Period. A PC is a PC. It is not an instrument. Has never been and will never be. It is hardly usable for music at all but a box piled up with clusterfucked codes, most of it related to work as far as my own concerns, and it is a crime to associate it with music at all. I have taken the consequence and do not use PC for anything music related (though I cheat a little by using iPad instead but no rules without exceptions).

[FapFilter]

OK then

[thecontrolcentre]

I have taken the consequence and do not use PC for anything music related (though I cheat a little by using iPad instead but no rules without exceptions).

... a little?

[zerocrossing]

IncarnateX in the mood for trolling, I see.

Well to be no fun, there is no difference in quality. Anyone who claims otherwise is an irrational idiot (and they almost certainly can't make good soup). It's always fun to watch them go revisionist and qualify their statements after a blind test.

As for me, I pretty much don't use hardware even when it's available. I have a Moog sitting on my desk, but I can't be bothered to turn the stupid thing on. Working ITB is so much more convenient, hardware synths in the studio are nothing more than a work-flow killer. Live performance is a different matter, of course, plenty of reason to have them. But if you are working in a studio, there just isn't a justification for the space they take up.

Trolling indeed, but like everything, it’s not as black and white as people like to make it out to be. One thing I often think about in threads like this is when people say, “The Prophet 08 sounds like a VST!” My response is always, “I’d love to replace my Prophet 08 with a plugin, so can you recommend one that sounds like it?” I never once got a response. However, people will say the Prophet 08 sucks... the Prophet 6 sucks... etc. Name a synth and unless it’s an actual CS80, Prophet 5 rev2 or original Model D, there is someone on a forum that will tell you it sucks.

The truth is, people have different needs and different tastes. Surprise! Here’s what I know about myself:

I love synthesizers. Hard, soft, whatever. I’ve got an electric kazoo. I’m lucky to have money and space for hardware, but sometimes hardware doesn’t do what I want it to do. For instance, I use polyphonic aftertouch a lot, or MPE. There are few hardware synths out there that respond to those control types, so my choices are super limited. In software land, those features are more common, and if a synth doens’t at least respond to aftertouch, I can add channel aftertouch using Bitwig. Now, if the sound quality of software synths was sub-par, I’d just live with the hardware synths that did what I want, but the truth is, there are a ton of them that sound fantastic, and in some respects, a lot better than their hardware counterparts. Take the KingKORG, for instance. It sounds great, but when you put it up to something like Diva, Diva sounds a bit better in some respects, like aliasing. Maybe you love the Virus line, but in terms of pure sonic quality, I could name a dozen software synths that sound better. Analog emulations like RePro, Legend and Oddity might not sound better than their originals, but they hang with my hardware with no problems, and add features that are plain and simply not available on hardware synths.

Then there’s distortion... I do feel like that and feedback are still things that are better done in the realm of hardware. The wild crazy things I can do with my Tempest (soon to be replaced by a Prophet 12 module) and Pro 2 are not equaled in software, even though Dune 3 does a pretty decent job. Listen to the filter drive parameter in Pigments and it is horrible. A joke. Legend is a lot better, but still not quite as good as hardware. The drive setting in my 002 sounds amazing. The boost and filter drive on my Pro 2, sublime.

Also, the software that does do these things pretty well (Legend, MPowersynth, RePro, Dune 3, Reaktor Blocks) are very CPU intensive, so even if I decided they were good enough, I don’t think I could get all the real time voices I want using them unless I got a serious upgrade to my CPU.

So, anyway, if you think hardware sounds better by default, good for you. For some it’s just worth it to have the option to not turn on a computer. I get that, but I love the ITB workflow. I love the flexibility and features of software. I love the sound of software as well.

[vurt]

ooh get you, with your electric kazoo.

[IncarnateX]

I have taken the consequence and do not use PC for anything music related (though I cheat a little by using iPad instead but no rules without exceptions).

... a little?

Compared to how much I feel like cheating and could, absolutely. But a man has to stick to his principles, orderly and with great self-restraint. And the latter is my middle name indeed

[Hink]

I have taken the consequence and do not use PC for anything music related (though I cheat a little by using iPad instead but no rules without exceptions).

... a little?

Compared to how much I feel like cheating and could, absolutely. But a man has to stick to his principles, orderly and with great self-restraint. And the latter is my middle name indeed

well that's just a silly middle name, Incarnate And The Latter X...wouldn't Incarnate And The Letter X make more sense

[donkey tugger]

Yes, kiddo, mummy sees you.

You're his dad? Does he live in the Scotchland?

Shhh, dont let on or he'll start jumping up and down for attention again.

Will you calm him with some Irn Bru, a bit of square sausage and a Tunoch's teacake?

Is that the time? Best do that recording with the 2 pairs of six strings (hardware) guitar before the reggie starts downstairs.

[funky lime]

A PC is a PC. It is not an instrument. Has never been and will never be. It is hardly usable for music at all but a box piled up with clusterfucked codes

That sounds like user error. Or perhaps a staggering lack of imagination. Or bored troll is bored. Cheers

[IncarnateX]

Compared to how much I feel like cheating and could, absolutely. But a man has to stick to his principles, orderly and with great self-restraint. And the latter is my middle name indeed

well that's just a silly middle name, Incarnate And The Latter X...wouldn't Incarnate And The Letter X make more sense

Now, isn't that just a disgrace? A mod trolling in such an honest, curious, openminded and explorative thread like mine Where is that report icon anyway now a days?

[Hink]

go spoon yourself

[IncarnateX]

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