New wavetable synth - Sektor by Initial Audio

[dr_who]

That's just ridiculous. You can't possibly have bothered to listen to the presets.

The only thing that’s ridiculous is making assumptions about what other people have or haven’t listened to.

I get that Sektor won't be to everyone's taste, it has a really nasty character to it that a lot of people wouldn't be into, but to say it's "thin" or that the filter is no good is just rubbish.

I never claimed the filter’s ”no good.” In comparison, however, it fails to hold a candle to the likes of Synthmaster One. To me, Synthmaster (both 2.9 and One) has one of the best sounding filters out there. To me, Sektor’s overall sound is on the weak side. I’m allowed to state my subjective opinion about a given synth and its sound, no?

If it’s working for you, then good for you.

Sheesh.

[Teksonik]

I actually like the sound of Sektor but it appears I missed the crazy sale price. Does anyone know where it might still be found for $15 ? Seems like a steal at that price.

[Karma_tba]

@Bones ..I'm glad I read your review ...I saw a lot of talk complaining Sektor is weak or thin, that the sounds aren't usable. I think a lot of the premier synths are just rehashing the same old thing. I own several VA's that have never made it into one of my songs, but I have already used Sektor in several tracks. Best $15 bucks I spent this year.

[BONES]

Yeah, that's exactly how I think of it, too. For this clown below to suggest it sounds "weak" is complete rubbish. I can certainly understand why people may not like it's sound but it is anything but "weak".
I only put the review up to counter that GRUMP dickhead, who has never made a single post on KVR but felt compelled to shitcan a perfectly good synth because he didn't feel the patches in the "Pads" category were actually pad sounds.

I never claimed the filter’s ”no good.” In comparison, however, it fails to hold a candle to the likes of Synthmaster One. To me, Synthmaster (both 2.9 and One) has one of the best sounding filters out there.

Out where? Somewhere with no internet access, presumably. I've not noticed anything at all special about Synthmaster One's filter. It's a great synth but the filter hasn't stood out at all when I've been using it. But the thing is, I don't need every synth I own to have the best oscillators and the best filters and the snappiest envelopes. I have so many choices that what I look for is the one that does the best of job of what I need doing at any particular time. Sektor does that for me more often than Synthmaster One does because it has a different sound, where S1 has to compete with Hive and ArcSyn and Thorn for the kinds of sounds it does best.

To me, Sektor’s overall sound is on the weak side. I’m allowed to state my subjective opinion about a given synth and its sound, no?

Just as I am allowed to state my opinion about your opinion. Your choice or words makes your opinion seem completely wrong. Far from sounding weak, Sektor has the ability to sound absolutely huge and to destroy speakers if not used carefully. So you could say you don't like it's sound but to describe it as "weak" is provably wrong.

[dr_who]

Yeah, that's exactly how I think of it, too. For this clown below to suggest it sounds "weak" is complete rubbish. I can certainly understand why people may not like it's sound but it is anything but "weak".
I only put the review up to counter that GRUMP dickhead, who has never made a single post on KVR but felt compelled to shitcan a perfectly good synth because he didn't feel the patches in the "Pads" category were actually pad sounds.

Pathetic. If you had two braincells you’d realise calling people names isn’t going to convince anyone of anything. But by all means, carry on. It’ll be amusing to spectate.

Out where? Somewhere with no internet access, presumably.

Ha ha ha... I’m sooo BTFO’d right now...

Besides throwing tantrums, spouting retarded insults with zero substance and calling people you disagree with names, are you capable of forming an actual argument? Like, are we gonna see one any time soon?

I've not noticed anything at all special about Synthmaster One's filter. It's a great synth but the filter hasn't stood out at all when I've been using it.

Yeah. I’m sure the Urs Heckmanns and Bülent Bıyıkoğlus of the world got it all wrong and they’ve been just wasting their time modeling and perfecting their filters for f-ing decades.

Here’s Computer Music magazine’s summary of S1:
”With dual wavetable oscillators, stunning filters and fast-paced interface, SynthMaster One sounds fantastic and stays out of your way while you work!”

But hey, they probably don’t know what they’re talking about either, right?

But the thing is, I don't need every synth I own to have the best oscillators and the best filters and the snappiest envelopes.

Why the hell not? Even with a simple sound, having the best possible filters/oscillators/envelopes matters as things add up. And if the CPU-footprint is still low, like it is with the likes of S1 and Hive, I can’t see a reason for compromising the sound. Unless of course, you really, really want to sound thin and weak. Maybe that’s a thing for some people, different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Just as I am allowed to state my opinion about your opinion. Your choice or words makes your opinion seem completely wrong. Far from sounding weak, Sektor has the ability to sound absolutely huge and to destroy speakers if not used carefully. So you could say you don't like it's sound but to describe it as "weak" is provably wrong.

Well, my opinion about your opinion about my initial opinion is that it is utter garbage. You don’t get to decide what words people are allowed to use to describe a particular synth and its sound. Subjective taste is never ”provably” anything, FFS. And what the hell does that "seem" part even mean? Are you trying to assert something here or not? Furthermore, are you suggesting that the same point worded differently would've made some kind of a difference? "Your choice or words..." Err? This has to be the most retarded sentence I've had the displeasure of encountering in a long time. Also: "So you could say you don't like it's sound..." LMFAO, can't even spell for shit.

Anyways, to me, sounding huge and fat is about more than just cranking up the low end to the point your speakers blow up. It’s about width, it’s about thickness in the mids, it’s about the unison engine and its detune curve, it’s about saturation induced by the filters, it’s about all kinds of adjustable irregularities and imperfections that can enrich the sound further. And a whole bunch of other factors. And while one weak sounding module isn’t going to ruin the whole sound, this kind of stuff adds up quickly.

That being said, Sektor isn’t FUBAR. The routings are pretty flexible. There’s potential in the way you can manipulate individual unison voices. And while I’m not big on drawing wavetables, having the editor at my disposal certainly doesn’t hurt. If they supported proper user-importable multisamples with round-robins and all, I’d be a whole lot more interested.

I got it as an impulse purchase just to satisfy GAS (that’s on me), so I might as well keep an eye out for future developments. But as it stands right now, it’s not bringing much to the table for me.

[Teksonik]

I think I'll go ahead and pick Sektor up while it's still on sale. Found it for $29 which for a synth like this is still a great deal.

If I can't get 30 patches worth a buck a piece out of it that's my fault. I admit the filter is not the strong point but it's possible to do quite a few sounds without ever touching a filter.

Lifetime free updates makes it even more of a good investment. Will it be my favorite synth ? No but I think it adds a nice alternative flavor to Hive 2, Dune 3, Avenger, etc.......

[BONES]

Pathetic. If you had two braincells you’d realise calling people names isn’t going to convince anyone of anything.

And what, exactly, do you think I was trying to convince anyone of? The guy's dickheadedness is there for all to see.

Besides throwing tantrums, spouting retarded insults with zero substance and calling people you disagree with names, are you capable of forming an actual argument? Like, are we gonna see one any time soon?

Sorry, as you presented no argument to back up your plainly absurd assertion, I didn't see any reason to do otherwise myself.

Yeah. I’m sure the Urs Heckmanns and Bülent Bıyıkoğlus of the world got it all wrong and they’ve been just wasting their time modeling and perfecting their filters for f-ing decades.

Actually, that's fairly true in a sense, as the one most of them seem most obsessed about is the Moog ladder filter, one of the weakest filter types I'ver ever encountered. Even Bob Moog acknowledged it's shortcomings. In fact, Sektor's filter is a little bit similar - as you increase the resonance, the bottom end drops out - which is why I don't rate it more highly. The best soft synth filters are those which don't seek to sound like something else but try to be the best filter they can be. Wasp in Orion and ArcSyn are two that come to mind. I also rate the PolySix's filter very highly, from back in the day, and I think it has been well replicated in the KLC soft synth version.

Here’s Computer Music magazine’s summary of S1:
”With dual wavetable oscillators, stunning filters and fast-paced interface, SynthMaster One sounds fantastic and stays out of your way while you work!”

Seriously? CM? Worst. Magazine. Ever. Sound On Sound haven't reviewed it so there isn't a decent review to go by.

But hey, they probably don’t know what they’re talking about either, right?

Nope, they don't care. They pander to an audience.

But the thing is, I don't need every synth I own to have the best oscillators and the best filters and the snappiest envelopes.

Why the hell not? Even with a simple sound, having the best possible filters/oscillators/envelopes matters as things add up.

I don't need snappy envelopes for pad sounds, I don't need great filters when I am using them wide open (which I do a lot) and oscillators become less important when I am using a lot of filter resonance with snappy envelope modulation. This is especially true of filters - the vast majority of patches take zero advantage of any of the character of the filter. You could use any filter and get the same result. Snappy envelopes really only matter for basslines and, even then, only sometimes. Oscillators definitely matter the most, which is really why the MiniMoog is so revered (not because of the filter), but the other stuff rarely makes much difference. A great example would be Massive - it's filter is absolutely horrible but that doesn't stop people from using it for all sorts of things and loving the results. Thorn's filter isn't very good, either, but it is still just about my favourite soft synth. I just don't use it for big, resonant basslines because I have other synths that can do that so much better.

And if the CPU-footprint is still low, like it is with the likes of S1 and Hive, I can’t see a reason for compromising the sound.

OTOH, a lot of the time I see synths like that has massive overkill if I can get the right result from TRK-01 Play Bass or even a simple sample player like Maschine.

Unless of course, you really, really want to sound thin and weak.

What do you think a filter is for, if not to make the sound thinner and weaker? That's it's main purpose, to remove sonic content from the signal being passed through it. Sometimes you add resonance to beef it back up but most of the time you're just filtering out the bits you don't need. You do that so that it fits into a mix, where you will have other parts all trying to be heard. You use the filter to stop one part from overwhelming another. e.g. You remove the high frequency content from your bass part so that it doesn't interfere with your vocals or a mid-range part.

You don’t get to decide what words people are allowed to use to describe a particular synth and its sound. Subjective taste is never ”provably” anything, FFS.

Of course it's provable and it is as simple as listening to the synth or, to forestall argument, comparing it to as many other synths as you like.

And what the hell does that "seem" part even mean? Are you trying to assert something here or not?

Often you find that something which seems a certain way doesn't actually turn out to be that way. e.g. A sawtooth wave will sound like a sawtooth wave but if you look at it in an oscilloscope it might only approximate a sawtooth wave. But how it "seems" is really what matters, not how it "is".

Furthermore, are you suggesting that the same point worded differently would've made some kind of a difference?

Yes, because Sektor very obviously does not sound "thin" or "weak". Quite the opposite, most people on this thread (and elsewhere) who have said they don't like it find its sound too aggressive, which is hard to do if you sound thin or weak. Those comments make sense to me because they align with my own experience. The difference being that I appreciate its aggressive sound.

"So you could say you don't like it's sound..." LMFAO, can't even spell for shit.

Ah, pedantry, the last refuge of the loser of arguments. If that's where we're at, though, I'd point out that punctuation and spelling are two different things.

Anyways, to me, sounding huge and fat is about more than just cranking up the low end to the point your speakers blow up. It’s about width, it’s about thickness in the mids, it’s about the unison engine and its detune curve, it’s about saturation induced by the filters, it’s about all kinds of adjustable irregularities and imperfections that can enrich the sound further.

All things which Sektor does extremely well. Crank up the drive into the filter and the mid-range explodes. Add as much width as you like through the built in effects and get exactly the right unison detune for every job, per oscillator!

I got it as an impulse purchase just to satisfy GAS (that’s on me), so I might as well keep an eye out for future developments. But as it stands right now, it’s not bringing much to the table for me.

Maybe so but that has nothing whatsoever to do with the way it sounds.

[BONES]

Will it be my favorite synth ? No but I think it adds a nice alternative flavor to Hive 2, Dune 3, Avenger, etc.......

Exactly! It has quite a unique character that makes it worth having in your collection.

[Russell Grand]

I just purchased and installed Sektor and I'm having some issues with running the program.

I included a screenshot of what I'm experiencing.

thanks!

Sektor Screenshot.JPG

Yikes!

[Russell Grand]

Unfortunately, I have to agree. The GUI is nice indeed and it’s got some promising feats but at its current state it’s pretty much useless to me. The sound is just so thin.

That's just ridiculous. You can't possibly have bothered to listen to the presets. Backtobassic, which is one of the first Bass presets you'll encounter, is speaker-bustingly huge in the sub-bass. Or try the first Lead preset, 10ten Trap-a-Thon 1, and listen to how big that is. OK, it's a little bright but you can fix that with the LP filter or by applying a bit of EQ. I think it was when I got to 10ten Trap-a-Thon 3 that I decided I really wanted this synth in my collection.

. Considering you can get Synthmaster One for like 29 € right now, even the 15’ish € is too much. Just compare the filters of the two. It’s like night and day.

There is nothing wrong with Sektor's filters, you can use the resonance to crank the bottom end as much as you like, just what a good filter should do.

At current prices, I reckon getting both Sektor and Synthmaster One makes sense because there is not really a huge amount of overlap between them. I get that Sektor won't be to everyone's taste, it has a really nasty character to it that a lot of people wouldn't be into, but to say it's "thin" or that the filter is no good is just rubbish. If I could only have one, I think Sektor is the better choice for what we do.
As it stands, though, you can have them very cheaply so why wouldn't you get both? I am off to get the other one now, while it's still cheap.

+1
I agree with all your points, BONES.

[Russell Grand]

Will it be my favorite synth ? No but I think it adds a nice alternative flavor to Hive 2, Dune 3, Avenger, etc.......

Exactly! It has quite a unique character that makes it worth having in your collection.

Agreed.

[Jbravo]

if the unique character is "here's a tune I just made on my computer" then yes it's handy for that

(personally I do everything to avoid that sound)

[Ou_Tis]

Not sure. One of the fixes for the latest beta was

-In MPE Mode Glide wasn’t always polyphonic.

so it looks like MPE mode is working for someone enough to determine that something wasn't working with glide.

Has anyone tested it with MPE since the update?...

[db3]

If anyone's looking for Sektor it's now $14.99 at ADSR.
https://www.adsrsounds.com/product/software/sektor/

[Russell Grand]

If anyone's looking for Sektor it's now $14.99 at ADSR.
https://www.adsrsounds.com/product/software/sektor/