Any new classic synth emus on the horizon? Moog, Arp, Obie?

[sfd]

In case you're interested in the sounds of the past.

Most of us don't have any hands-on experiences of most of those "classic" synths. I mean have many of you ever owned an ARP 2600, Minomoog, Polymoog, Synclavier, CS 80 etc ?

So, it's fair to say we got our experiences from the albums of the past.

Say, an Vangelis album.

If you'd like to re-create the sounds heard on that album it's not enough just getting some emulations of whatever synths was used.

You'd need the gear used to process those sounds too.

And so, you might want to hook up that "classic" synth onto an 1176 or run it trough a SSL 4000 console to get that sound.

I think there are more emulations of old or "classic" audio processing gear then there are emulations of old synths (Id' say not all old synths are "classic" ).

On a side note. There's an old synth that I'm going to lay my hands on. But not as a plug.in emulation.

Altair 231
And, no . There is no emulation of this synth.

[abernathy]

Why not, it seems the market is still there.
Everyone likes another flavor.
For me personally the software modular P900 is still the king and i even like to use it also more as a simple Minimoog as using specific modeled software for it where my favorite would be Moog Model D app followed by Synapse The Legend.
Repro is fantastic as well and i have a dozen other good emulations but again for me (and that is of course just my personal meaning) P900 is better as hardware in many cases for me and i doubt any software could beat it for me in the next 10 years as well when i think about analog sounds.
The one software synth i get the most organic feeling while playing with it.
Otherwise i‘m really more interested in new things like Alchemy 3 or so
Use just whatever you like, create stuff and do not wait for anything better....

I agree that P900 is in a league of its own. But even though I won’t be upgrading to Catalina anytime soon, I’m trying to only commit to plugins that look like they’ll make the transition to Catalina. P900 is one of those amazing plugins that I worry will not get upgraded... Do we know if there is any development going on at Pulsar?

[gnu23]

I'd love a Roland MT-32, a Kawai K1, and a Casio CZ-101..pretty sure the CZ is out there - can't remember where, though.

[AnX]

I'd love a Roland MT-32, a Kawai K1, and a Casio CZ-101..pretty sure the CZ is out there - can't remember where, though.

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... -virtualcz

[Cinebient]

Why not, it seems the market is still there.
Everyone likes another flavor.
For me personally the software modular P900 is still the king and i even like to use it also more as a simple Minimoog as using specific modeled software for it where my favorite would be Moog Model D app followed by Synapse The Legend.
Repro is fantastic as well and i have a dozen other good emulations but again for me (and that is of course just my personal meaning) P900 is better as hardware in many cases for me and i doubt any software could beat it for me in the next 10 years as well when i think about analog sounds.
The one software synth i get the most organic feeling while playing with it.
Otherwise i‘m really more interested in new things like Alchemy 3 or so
Use just whatever you like, create stuff and do not wait for anything better....

I agree that P900 is in a league of its own. But even though I won’t be upgrading to Catalina anytime soon, I’m trying to only commit to plugins that look like they’ll make the transition to Catalina. P900 is one of those amazing plugins that I worry will not get upgraded... Do we know if there is any development going on at Pulsar?

I´m on Catalina with my macbook and P900 works fine there. That is another interesting thing with P900. It might not get big updates (if any) but it gone trough several major OS updates now without any problems. When i then think about that it is a one man project it is just a masterpiece for me. Often i wish a bigger or more famous company would have made it but like some other one man projects it would never exist by now since many companies going to save and commercial of course.
At least im happy and thankful and use it like hardware....it is what it is and if it just run fine with future OS upgrades that is all i want.
But there is always place for me for more analog emulations. Not exactly recreations but more combinations of the best out of the analog world.
Some of my favorites here are under the radar or are just on my freaking smartphone as iOS app like the Model D app or Zeeon from Beepstreet (his Dagger VST/AU mono synth is also for me one of the best sounding synth for bass you can get).
But when i use synths not much people use it is good too

[Halonmusic]

Why not, it seems the market is still there.
Everyone likes another flavor.
For me personally the software modular P900 is still the king and i even like to use it also more as a simple Minimoog as using specific modeled software for it where my favorite would be Moog Model D app followed by Synapse The Legend.
Repro is fantastic as well and i have a dozen other good emulations but again for me (and that is of course just my personal meaning) P900 is better as hardware in many cases for me and i doubt any software could beat it for me in the next 10 years as well when i think about analog sounds.
The one software synth i get the most organic feeling while playing with it.
Otherwise i‘m really more interested in new things like Alchemy 3 or so
Use just whatever you like, create stuff and do not wait for anything better....

I agree that P900 is in a league of its own. But even though I won’t be upgrading to Catalina anytime soon, I’m trying to only commit to plugins that look like they’ll make the transition to Catalina. P900 is one of those amazing plugins that I worry will not get upgraded... Do we know if there is any development going on at Pulsar?

I´m on Catalina with my macbook and P900 works fine there. That is another interesting thing with P900. It might not get big updates (if any) but it gone trough several major OS updates now without any problems. When i then think about that it is a one man project it is just a masterpiece for me. Often i wish a bigger or more famous company would have made it but like some other one man projects it would never exist by now since many companies going to save and commercial of course.
At least im happy and thankful and use it like hardware....it is what it is and if it just run fine with future OS upgrades that is all i want.
But there is always place for me for more analog emulations. Not exactly recreations but more combinations of the best out of the analog world.
Some of my favorites here are under the radar or are just on my freaking smartphone as iOS app like the Model D app or Zeeon from Beepstreet (his Dagger VST/AU mono synth is also for me one of the best sounding synth for bass you can get).
But when i use synths not much people use it is good too

Did the dev stop working on P900? I remember someone say that a Windows version was planned.

[zerocrossing]

I think that there’s quite a bit of fertile ground in the synth world for good emulations. Just off the top of my head I can think of...

ARP 2600 (Arturia... not there)
Prophet VS (ditto)

I'm not a big fan of some of Arturia's software synth sound, but I did compare the Prophet VS with my Sequential Circuits Prophet VS and although the calibration of settings was off, the sound was surprisingly close when I dialed them in. I started asking myself if I could get by with the software, and I could. The real deal is just not all that magical without quite a bit of effort IMO. I'm not a fan of the software interface for some reason, though. But yeah, I tested and recorded and compared both, thinking the real thing would kill it. If I just ignored looking at the software and only focused on the sound I was very impressed.

The real Prophet VS is a cool synth and all, but you have to work it to get it to be cool. It's sort of primitive, yet cutting edge for when it came out. It's almost like trying to go to the moon using the original rocket that first went there. If you don't like the software sound you probably wouldn't like the sound of the real thing any better. I do like the interface and feel of the real synth though, that's where it shines most. But the software has easy preset management, effects, etcetera.

I can’t say that I’ve ever owned a VS, but something I do know that Arturia changed is that they cleaned up the digital wave forms. I can clearly hear in any VS demo there’s that digital crunch of a low res wave going through those filters and that’s what makes me want one. I love that. John Bowen did a software plugin for the Sonic Core platform (I forget the name... Vectron or something?) and it gave the user control of the wave resolution and I thought it was a great feature. It made that emulation really spring to life in a way that the Arturia one just doesn’t. Same with the Prophet 5 side of Prophet V... it just sounds kind of dead. I’m not a “OG or go home” guy either. I love RePro, I really liked Vectron (though the Sonic Core platform is a dying mess, but that’s another story.) Hell, I love Dune 3 with it’s digital wavetables and analog modeled filters. I’m a big fan of software... but I also turn to hardware when the software sort of falls flat, and I think the early Arturia stuff falls flat. They’re newer stuff seems great to me. If they brought the old stuff up to their own standard, I’d be happy.

[zerocrossing]

Wayoutware (Jim Heinz) did a version of the ARP2600 which I thought sounded better than the Arturia one. Unfortunately it had a number of problems but I don't think it would be too hard to create a better emulation than those two.

I'm thinking that with some of the hardware there are actually two elements - the sound (oscillators, filters etc) and then the architecture. I remember having alot of fun with Zootooks Synthi emulation - probably more down to the architecture than the sound (which I assume was based on fairly standard Reaktor components).

but what would I know...

TimewARP did sound a bit better than 2600 V, but I wouldn’t give that dude another dime of my money, even if he updated it and made it even better. He totally let his customers down and he deserves no second chance.

The truth is, U-He, GForce, NI, Synapse Audio, XILS, TAL, Roland, and even new Arturia synths, have all raised the bar in the emulation game. It’s not like the old software is incapable of making some cool sounds, but those who claim that Mini V is as good as Legend, or Prophet V is as good as RePro... I think you’re not paying attention to the details. The thing that makes me mad is that Arturia keeps focusing on new models like their Synthi V, that sound great, and the old emulations just languish. I think I’m done with Arturia, at least until they go back and bring their old plugins up to modern standards. It’s not like I’ve not given them a ton of money... V Collection 6, Pigments, 3 Preamps, and a Microfreak. I’m still in the market for a great VS and CS80 emulation.

[Martkorg]

Wayoutware (Jim Heinz) did a version of the ARP2600 which I thought sounded better than the Arturia one. Unfortunately it had a number of problems but I don't think it would be too hard to create a better emulation than those two.

I'm thinking that with some of the hardware there are actually two elements - the sound (oscillators, filters etc) and then the architecture. I remember having alot of fun with Zootooks Synthi emulation - probably more down to the architecture than the sound (which I assume was based on fairly standard Reaktor components).

but what would I know...

TimewARP did sound a bit better than 2600 V, but I wouldn’t give that dude another dime of my money, even if he updated it and made it even better. He totally let his customers down and he deserves no second chance.

The truth is, U-He, GForce, NI, Synapse Audio, XILS, TAL, Roland, and even new Arturia synths, have all raised the bar in the emulation game. It’s not like the old software is incapable of making some cool sounds, but those who claim that Mini V is as good as Legend, or Prophet V is as good as RePro... I think you’re not paying attention to the details. The thing that makes me mad is that Arturia keeps focusing on new models like their Synthi V, that sound great, and the old emulations just languish. I think I’m done with Arturia, at least until they go back and bring their old plugins up to modern standards. It’s not like I’ve not given them a ton of money... V Collection 6, Pigments, 3 Preamps, and a Microfreak. I’m still in the market for a great VS and CS80 emulation.

Same re: Arturia,V6 I personally think it is awful,the Prophet5,Jupiter8,Minimoog ......I was disappointed,they sound thin,I had an older version Collection 2 which in my opinion sounded to my ears far superior ,more like analogue equipment,I don't find Collection 6 as good soundwise,gone are the fat Minimoog bass,the Jupiter 8 strings etc

[abernathy]

I´m on Catalina with my macbook and P900 works fine there. That is another interesting thing with P900. It might not get big updates (if any) but it gone trough several major OS updates now without any problems. When i then think about that it is a one man project it is just a masterpiece for me. Often i wish a bigger or more famous company would have made it but like some other one man projects it would never exist by now since many companies going to save and commercial of course.
At least im happy and thankful and use it like hardware....it is what it is and if it just run fine with future OS upgrades that is all i want.
But there is always place for me for more analog emulations. Not exactly recreations but more combinations of the best out of the analog world.
Some of my favorites here are under the radar or are just on my freaking smartphone as iOS app like the Model D app or Zeeon from Beepstreet (his Dagger VST/AU mono synth is also for me one of the best sounding synth for bass you can get).
But when i use synths not much people use it is good too

I think the problem with Catalina will be if you need to install or re-install a plug-in that hasn't been updated for Catalina's security settings. Or if you even install an update that isn't made for Catalina - I think that would kill the install. I would feel much better about P900 if the developer would tell us he's updating it for Catalina. When people say "we already have every soft synth we need", I think about how richer P900 sounds than even The Legend, because Pulsar did an amazing job of emulating a more complex synth. I would love to hear Synapse or u-He do their own Moog modular, Model 10/15, etc.

[HunterKiller]

TimewARP did sound a bit better than 2600 V, but I wouldn’t give that dude another dime of my money, even if he updated it and made it even better. He totally let his customers down and he deserves no second chance.

You know what's even worse, after Jim promised to update it, with all these incredible ideas (I was talking privately to him, and his version 2 was gonna be brilliant), nothing happened.

He then sold the synth to Sonivox who also promised to update it, several years back, and then nothing. If this synth has not been plagued by a string of bad luck I don't know what has. Even since it was released, back in 2004, when everyone hated iLok, it just would not take off, because of that. And then when iLok got its game sorted out, it had largely been forgotten about.

That said, to this day I really like it, because of its non-Moog sound. It sounds like an ARP, more raw and "off the map", similar to the EMS synths.

[X86]

Synapse is working on Prophet-600, OB-X, and maybe at some point also a Memorymoog.

Hope the OB-X is next! Is there much point in the Prophet 600 now that we have Repro-5? I really don’t know... is there much difference?

Probably not. I also would like to see the OB-X.

[zerocrossing]

TimewARP did sound a bit better than 2600 V, but I wouldn’t give that dude another dime of my money, even if he updated it and made it even better. He totally let his customers down and he deserves no second chance.

You know what's even worse, after Jim promised to update it, with all these incredible ideas (I was talking privately to him, and his version 2 was gonna be brilliant), nothing happened.

He then sold the synth to Sonivox who also promised to update it, several years back, and then nothing. If this synth has not been plagued by a string of bad luck I don't know what has. Even since it was released, back in 2004, when everyone hated iLok, it just would not take off, because of that. And then when iLok got its game sorted out, it had largely been forgotten about.

That said, to this day I really like it, because of its non-Moog sound. It sounds like an ARP, more raw and "off the map", similar to the EMS synths.

Yeah, I had heard such things. It really leaves a big giant hole in the emulation world. I would hope that GForce would fill that hole, since they have already emulated the ARP filters in Oddity. Arturia could obviously do it, but they seem to have their sights set on other things.

[abernathy]

TimewARP did sound a bit better than 2600 V, but I wouldn’t give that dude another dime of my money, even if he updated it and made it even better. He totally let his customers down and he deserves no second chance.

You know what's even worse, after Jim promised to update it, with all these incredible ideas (I was talking privately to him, and his version 2 was gonna be brilliant), nothing happened.

He then sold the synth to Sonivox who also promised to update it, several years back, and then nothing. If this synth has not been plagued by a string of bad luck I don't know what has. Even since it was released, back in 2004, when everyone hated iLok, it just would not take off, because of that. And then when iLok got its game sorted out, it had largely been forgotten about.

That said, to this day I really like it, because of its non-Moog sound. It sounds like an ARP, more raw and "off the map", similar to the EMS synths.

Yeah, I had heard such things. It really leaves a big giant hole in the emulation world. I would hope that GForce would fill that hole, since they have already emulated the ARP filters in Oddity. Arturia could obviously do it, but they seem to have their sights set on other things.

I always thought TimewARP was sadly unappreciated and then neglected. It still has a unique hardware-like randomness, like electronics gone crazy - which I imagine is what twiddling the hardware is like.

Will be interesting to see if Arturia ever does a real version 2 of something (redoing the sound engine). But I’d rather have a Gforce or Synapse 2600.

My first concert was the Edgar Winter Group... seeing Frankenstein performed live with Edgar throwing his whole body on his 2600 left an indelible print on my brain!

[BlackWinny]

Xavier Oudin (Xils) could be also another challenger. And perhaps he could ask Jean-Michel Jarre (who uses Syn'X) to lend him his 2600 to work quietly on it all the time needed. It would be a great collaboration, even if JMJ's role were limited to that loan.