Fathom Synth Development Thread

[glokraw]

About those new optimizations...










also (apply grains of salt as needed:

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/ ... Windows-10

https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... indows-10/

http://www.blackviper.com/service-confi ... gurations/

[glokraw]

I thought it might be placebo effect when I noticed that in win7,
the new Fathom seemed much faster overall. But I confirmed it
when setting up a vanilla Puppy Linux (stock kernel, stock wine,
and un-configured Reaper) and I had four instances running seq
presets, with enough cpu left for four more. It's a four-core,
eight thread i7 2600, several years old, at least. Attached a short loop,
I just picked a random sound from 3 commercial collections,
and one from the included Acid folder. (One of the three commercial
sounds I second guessed, as it was not a seq)

Looking forward to the AVX release, but very excited with this current
new version as well

[mxbf]

I want to learn Fathom, but I was wondering if I could ask this:

Why would someone choose Fathom over Vengeance, Hive, or Falcon?

In other words, what are its unique benefits that make it worth learning?

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

I want to learn Fathom, but I was wondering if I could ask this:

Why would someone choose Fathom over Vengeance, Hive, or Falcon?

In other words, what are its unique benefits that make it worth learning?

Concerning Hive......

Hive is a fixed architecture, very cool for what it does but limited. It is kinda geared for live EDM. It sounds good. The GUI is easy to navigate.
I would choose Fathom over Hive because of the envelopes if nothing else. Also there is something about the FM in Fathom that is really easy for me. It is not a typical FM set up but yields the results I want very fast.
learning Fathom will teach you things about other synths that you may never learn otherwise.

Cant comment on Vengence or Falcon

[Sinthoid]

Falcon is kind of it's own thing, it's more comparable to something like Omnisphere than just a softsynth. Avenger or Zebra are much more of a comparison to Fathom, as all three are deep modular instruments with a focus on outright synthesis. Fathom's standout features compared to the other 2 I'd say are it's per-voice distortion and wavetable module, which can load 2 wavetables at once and mix or morph between them in a variety of unique ways. Also, once it has the spectral morphing and analog emulation features Everett has mentioned, Fathom will be in a league of it's own imo.

[mxbf]

I'm using the Fathom CM version, I have to say it's a bit choppy. There's a lot of audio glitchiness. I am wondering if this has come any further since then if I should get an update? It seems pretty sonically powerful with some of the things you can do with the FM and waveshaping.

[FathomSynth]

Fathom CM is back at version 2.31 which is before I did all the efficiency changes which eliminates the choppiness during dial movement.

I am planning on sending them a new version but there is more testing involved in that process since it goes out to so many more people through the magazine.

All the editing choppiness should now be gone in the most recent version 2.33 and there were also massive CPU efficiency changes.

[glokraw]

learning Fathom will teach you things about other synths that you may never learn otherwise.

This is very accurate. One can learn by deconstructing
complex presets, and then rebuilding, and study the module
controls as you go. Those controls studies will carry over
to Hive etc. I wouldn't want to be without Hive or Fathom.

Open two Fathoms with a same favorite sound, and start
modifying one, in a mini A/B comparison lab. Discover
your favorite slots for a little distortion

https://www.fathomsynth.com/distortion

[FathomSynth]

The 4 best synths in the world right now, imho, are Serum, VPS Avenger, Omnisphere and uHe Diva.

Serum: Most beautiful sound and interface.
Avenger: Most raw power and features.
Omnisphere: Best preset and wave library.
uHe Diva: Best analog emulator.

The first three are the best options for a primary synth and the last is critical for true analog leads.

I intentionally designed Fathom to be the perfect second synth. It is priced accordingly. It does not attempt to compete with these in the number of effects and features, or analog emulation, but instead concentrates on little things which no other synth can do (listed below).

The perfect combination in my opinion would be Serum and Fathom. Serum can basically do (almost) anything, and now that Fathom has Serum Wave Table import export, using the two synths together is a great option. For instance, drawing waves in Fathom and importing them into Serum.

These are some of the features in Fathom which few synths have, and some which no other synth has:

Fully modular signal flow.
Double sided wave table.
Wave table math functions (not just morphing).
Skip cycle processing.
Free-hand wave draw.
Bezier curve wave draw.
Bezier curve envelopes.
Sin accelerator curves in both waves and envelopes.
Oscillator level FM distortion.
Modulated partials.
Fractal reverb.
Newtonian mechanical filter.
Gaussian partial filter.
Double modulation on mod amount and period.
True mathematical noise (not recorded noise).
Nonlinear detune.

Insane level of audio quality, 16384 samples per single cycle wave with cubic spline interpolation.

Insane level of modulation accuracy, per sample modulation, not per sample block like many synths.

User configurable gui with a user color picker for all graph.

In addition, Fathom’s Wave single cycle import export makes it compatible with any wave table synth provided they allow import, especially Serum in which you can import/export entire tables.

You could also use Fathom as your primary synth provided you have your own favorite effects unit to route it through in the host, and then another synth like Diva for analog leads.

Another huge advantage to the latest version is the user manual now includes the Windows optimization procedure which will literally double your CPU in Fathom.

There are other great synths like Dune, Hive, Spire, SynthMaster, Sylenth and Zebra, which are more direct competitors to Fathom, and choosing one is just a personal preference.

SynthMaster has always been very special to me since it is the synth which got me into computer recording in the first place, and I still use it in my own music. It mixes better than most synths due to the clearness of its sound. Sylenth has just basic features but is generally considered the highest quality oscillators and filters, with the possible exception of Diva.

However, of this bunch, in my opinion, Dune is the best. Dune has a detune algorithm unlike anything I've ever heard and you can use it to generate those thick iconic EDM sounds. This is no small task, since it is one thing that is difficult to do with any digital instrument and Dune covers that important base. You can get similar sounds from Fathom and you have more control over each parameter, but it takes more work and more oscillators. Dune can do it with one oscillator and one dial.

It usually comes down to ease vs control. People who like to spend extra time tweaking everything at the lowest possible level tend to prefer Fathom.

[Biscotto]

Those are exactly what I (recently) use the most:
Omnisphere, Serum, Diva, Falchom.

I also wish Serum had Dune’s detune algorithm.

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

The 4 best synths in the world right now, imho, are Serum, VPS Avenger, Omnisphere and uHe Diva.

Serum: Most beautiful sound and interface.
Avenger: Most raw power and features.
Omnisphere: Best preset and wave library.
uHe Diva: Best analog emulator.

The first three are the best options for a primary synth and the last is critical for true analog leads.

I intentionally designed Fathom to be the perfect second synth. It is priced accordingly. It does not attempt to compete with these in the number of effects and features, or analog emulation, but instead concentrates on little things which no other synth can do (listed below).

The perfect combination in my opinion would be Serum and Fathom. Serum can basically do (almost) anything, and now that Fathom has Serum Wave Table import export, using the two synths together is a great option. For instance, drawing waves in Fathom and importing them into Serum.

These are some of the features in Fathom which few synths have, and some which no other synth has:

Fully modular signal flow.
Double sided wave table.
Wave table math functions (not just morphing).
Free-hand wave draw.
Bezier curve wave draw.
Bezier curve envelopes.
Sin accelerator curves in both waves and envelopes.
Oscillator level FM distortion.
Modulated partials.
Fractal reverb.
Newtonian mechanical filter.
Gaussian partial filter.
Double modulation on mod amount and period.
True mathematical noise (not recorded noise).
Nonlinear detune.

Insane level of audio quality, 16384 samples per single cycle wave with cubic spline interpolation.

Insane level of modulation accuracy, per sample modulation, not per sample block like many synths.

User configurable gui with a user color picker for all graph.

In addition, Fathom’s Wave single cycle import export makes it compatible with any wave table synth provided they allow import, especially Serum in which you can import/export entire tables.

You could also use Fathom as your primary synth provided you have your own favorite effects unit to route it through in the host, and then another synth like Diva for analog leads.

Another huge advantage to the latest version is the user manual now includes the Windows optimization procedure which will literally double your CPU in Fathom.

There are other great synths like Dune, Hive, Spire, SynthMaster, Sylenth and Zebra, which are more direct competitors to Fathom, and choosing one is just a personal preference.

SynthMaster has always been very special to me since it is the synth which got me into computer recording in the first place, and I still use it in my own music. It mixes better than most synths due to the clearness of its sound. Sylenth has just basic features but is generally considered the highest quality oscillators and filters, with the possible exception of Diva.

However, of this bunch, in my opinion, Dune is the best. Dune has a detune algorithm unlike anything I've ever heard and you can use it to generate those thick iconic EDM sounds in a way that no other synth can. This is no small task, since it is one thing that is difficult to do with any digital instrument and Dune covers that important base. You can get similar sounds from Fathom and you have more control over each parameter, but it takes more work and more oscillators. Dune can do it with one oscillator and one dial.

It usually comes down to ease vs control. People who like to spend extra time tweaking everything at the lowest possible level tend to prefer Fathom.

This is a very honest assessment. You sound like a user not a developer.

[Kalamata Kid]

Everett,

I appreciate your honesty and your assessment of the plugins you mentioned.
Happy Fathom user here.

[FathomSynth]

Thanks, it's just my own opinion as a user.

There are so many great synths out there it is an very subjective question.

The two I've been hearing a lot about lately are Hive and Thorn, but sadly I've been too busy lately to try them, so I can't comment.

Serum is high on my list right now since I just started using it for my own music this summer and am really loving it. Everything is so intuitive and works exactly like you think it should. Something I'm still striving for in Fathom.

Also, I think it's important not to forget Omnisphere. Sometimes I think it gets overlooked because it's been around so long, but it is still one of the best sounding synths ever made. Their wave library is literally an encyclopedia of analog synths covering the entire history of their development. The oscillators are extremely high quality, equal to Sylenth in my opinion, and they also have more of an analog sound then most digital synths. Another thing I like about Omnisphere is that it is still very much in active development and is still the main flagship synth of Spectrasonics. Buying into a Synth which is still constantly developing new features makes a huge difference.

I often have the experience of experimenting with a synth, getting frustrated with the limitations and end up replacing the track with Fathom. The three synths that this does NOT happen for me in my mixes are Omnisphere, Serum and SynthMaster.

[Faiky]

Not to forget the Skip-Cycle function.
The 2D (like a x-y) wavetables are unbelievable with the different algortythms that can be modulated (like fm, but not only pitch or phase) by the second wavetable, without aliasing (all wavetable synths so far have only one dimension). And because it is not unique enough, there is also the skip-cycle function. And detailed settings like to change the polarity.
Tanal FM is unique as far as I know, very useful. There can't be enough FM possibilities.
It is the most advanced unison I know of.
The nice big anylizer screen and editing screen! The most detaild modulation options.
It's an absolute nobrainer for the money.

Only the ease of use often causes headaches, it is little self-explanatory and completely unfamiliar unlike other synths and the interface confusing. In other places it's exemplary intuitive. It's different.
But once you get the knack out, you can live with it if you stick to it. But well, Fathom is irreplaceable.

[FathomSynth]

Oh goodness, I completely forgot about the skip cycle function on that page, thanks!

Incidentally, shortly after the Intel AVX Parallel Processing release there will be a complete rewrite of the oscillator architecture. The code is actually done but needs to be merged into the main line of code. The existing oscillators will not change for backwards compatibility but there will be a new "Universal" oscillator which combines all the oscillators into one (with the exception of the wave table) so that you can morph between any of the oscillator types in real time.

But the big difference is many, if not most, of the parameters will have the skip cycle option. Skip Cycle gives you the ability to get some insane low frequency content (sub-oscillator) without losing tonality of the primary octave. As usual everything is modulate-able.

Functions like shift and expand will be applicable to all oscillators and the detune page will include phase doubling. There is also a high frequency phase modulation page on every oscillator that allows you to create the "Moog" sound which is so hard to duplicate digitally.

Also, yes thanks for highlighting the 2D wave table. However, it's only a matter of time before someone copies that. Fortunately for Fathom, attempting to do so will lead them into a coding doom and it may take a while for them to design their way out.

I love your synopsis of Fathom, very accurate, I may put that up on the web site.