Upcoming Synapse OB-Xa: Obsession

[SLiC]

I realy can't think of a reason (especially now) why its all so secret squirrel- if its with beta testers and they are talking about it openly (that it exists!) then why not at least officially announce that it is a new product that is being developed with XX (provisional) features and an estimated XX release date?

It's a very bad idea to name a definite release date. So much can happen and break in software development. Arturia did the right thing by... not announcing anything.

I don't really know what to say to this. I mean, all that's been "leaked" (by Richard himself) is that they're working on a Oberheim OB-Xa emulation, and that was already years ago. He's not to blame for impatience, but, as has been mentioned, with some beta testers teasing non stop, it's a bit difficult to keep the mob under control. Don't think that really did a favor.

And, my opinion is that he should take all the time in the world. Noone benefits from a unfinished or buggy instrument. And, it's probably the same people who will complain then, who complained about the synth not being released yesterday before the release.

The people who can't wait should just get the Arturia synth, and maybe, if budget is thick enough, get the Synapse one as well. I decided that it's be silly not to wait and to compare, especially as I think Synapse will do a better job than Arturia (even though the Arturia synth isn't that bad really).

I agree with most of what you said, but I don't think it would hurt (given this thread!) for a formal announcement that it realy is happening other than a post at Gearslutz in a 'Legend' thread saying he is also working on an OB-XA emulation. He may be working on a ton of different emulations for all I know...in parallel or just experimenting .

I still have seen nothing official saying this will be realised as a product ('this year' or 'next year' or even 'when its ready!) and it seems strange that there is just a rumour that it will be a product from Beta testers!

Personally I suspect most people will only get the Arturia OB as part of a V collection update (or 7 users will be very tempted with the 49USD price) rather than buying it as a 'single' but that wont stop anyone buying another one down the line...

Ultimately this thread has no official information at all about anything and second hand information from beta testers seems a strange way to communicate forthcoming features....so people can speculate/guess here or actually try/use a real product now and comment on that one!

[Ingonator]

I just talked with Richard from Synpase Audio and he allowed me to tell that the Synapse Audio OB-Xa plugin will include a Bandpass filter with 12dB and 24dB modes.

[enCiphered]

I just talked with Richard from Synpase Audio and he allowed me to tell that the Synapse Audio OB-Xa plugin will include a Bandpass filter with 12dB and 24dB modes.

Definitely a game changer!

[recursive one]

I just talked with Richard from Synpase Audio and he allowed me to tell that the Synapse Audio OB-Xa plugin will include a Bandpass filter with 12dB and 24dB modes.

Cool!

I wonder if this filter might also be added to Dune3 at some point.

Iirc when D3 was released Richard or someone of the beta team said that the AM filters might be later updtaed to include BP and HP filters, which I'm still patiently waiting.

[AnX]

I realy can't think of a reason (especially now) why its all so secret squirrel- if its with beta testers and they are talking about it openly (that it exists!) then why not at least officially announce that it is a new product that is being developed with XX (provisional) features and an estimated XX release date?

It's a very bad idea to name a definite release date. So much can happen and break in software development. Arturia did the right thing by... not announcing anything.

I don't really know what to say to this. I mean, all that's been "leaked" (by Richard himself) is that they're working on a Oberheim OB-Xa emulation, and that was already years ago. He's not to blame for impatience, but, as has been mentioned, with some beta testers teasing non stop, it's a bit difficult to keep the mob under control. Don't think that really did a favor.

And, my opinion is that he should take all the time in the world. Noone benefits from a unfinished or buggy instrument. And, it's probably the same people who will complain then, who complained about the synth not being released yesterday before the release.

The people who can't wait should just get the Arturia synth, and maybe, if budget is thick enough, get the Synapse one as well. I decided that it's be silly not to wait and to compare, especially as I think Synapse will do a better job than Arturia (even though the Arturia synth isn't that bad really).

exactly this

[revvy]

Synapse are a German company? I always imagined Rich would be English.

(Random question I know, don't yet own any SA)

[AnX]

German

[revvy]

Thanks.

Wow.

Germans in audio SW eh?

[AnX]

the march other bloke who works with Rich (Marcin) is Polish I believe

[carrieres]

anyone with some humor ?

[Calenberger]

anyone with some humor ?

No, we're German...

[revvy]

In fairness it was a shit joke.

[toonertik]

He's not to blame for impatience, but, as has been mentioned, with some beta testers teasing non stop, it's a bit difficult to keep the mob under control.

I just talked with Richard from Synpase Audio and he allowed me to tell that the Synapse Audio OB-Xa plugin will include a Bandpass filter with 12dB and 24dB modes.

[e-crooner]

My mom? And who is "we" in your sentence?

My band. I don't work on my own, I actually know other people. In the real world. I don't even write most of the songs, although we share arranging duties and I do most of the production and write most of the lyrics (because I'm the one who has to scream them at a microphone).

I make music that sounds good to me

I think you have to. You'd need to be a really, really good musician and song writer to be making music you didn't feel any connection to and do a decent job of it.

What sounded great 37 years ago as in the case of Thriller, still sounds good today.

Not to my ears. A good song from back then is still a good song, although I never thought Thriller was anything more than a good video clip, but the sounds they used in that song are absolutely cringeworthy by today's standards. Now, you will argue that it's a "classic" but the thing with classics is they get reinterpreted all the time. Go and see any modern production of Hamlet or Macbeth and you will see what I mean.

I'm sure going over old ground fees safe and cosy but isn't this a creative medium? Shouldn't we be pushing boundaries, extending ourselves? e.g. Last night when I got home from work I spent an hour watching YT videos on how to create neuro bass sounds, even though I have no interest in the styles of music in which those types of sounds are used. For me it was an opportunity to look at an unfamiliar way of doing things, in an effort to push my own personal boundaries. In a similar vein, I installed the Ujam BM Void demo a couple of weeks ago, even though I have no interest in the kinds of music it is designed for. Again, I thought taking myself out of my comfort zone might be inspiring.

Progress in terms of sound quality has become slower and slower over the years and decades. There were huge improvements from the 60's to the 80's, but less so from the 80's to 2020.

That's absolute rubbish. Do you have any idea how much it cost to produce an album like Thriller? Only the top 1 or 2% of working musicians back then could have hoped to get access to the equipment used on that album. Just listen to how bad early Metallica sounds so get what I mean. Or listen to the krap sounds I was using in the 80s. Today every bedroom musician has access too equipment that will allow them to sound every bit as good as Michael Jackson if they have the talent to do so and that revolution has mostly happened since the turn of the Century.

Personally, I clearly prefer the sound of the mid-80, and I am by far not the only one

That the world is full of idiots is not news to me. After all, Justin Bieber has sold more records than Barbara Streisand, Billy Joel or U2 and Rihanna has sold more than Pink Floyd. There is simply no accounting for taste.

My mom actually has a more modern, eclectic taste of music than me. She listens to Celine Dion and such crap, which I also consider torture

Honestly, I see little difference between Celine Dion and Michael Jackson, both churn out mindless, glossy pop music for mass consumption. Both leave me equally cold. Thriller was released the same year as Killing Joke released Revelations, one of my all-time favourite albums, which you have probably never heard in your life.

And therein lies the difference - I have heard all the music you like and for a long time I was happy enough with it. But then I got a chance to hear something else, something different that made a far deeper connection than any of the stuff you know about ever could. But over time many of those connections fade so I am always seeking new ones, which is why I still spend up to $100 a month buying music. In the last month or so, for example, I have bought music by 8 different artists I had never heard before.

Fresh connections are always the best but some fade more quickly than others. The classics are the ones that endure over decades but I'd hate to think there wasn't more new music out there for me to discover, maybe the next classic.

Hehe

"cringeworthy by today's standards"
I just don't share that view at all. For instance the pad in the intro (Jupiter 8?) still sounds beautiful to me. The bass too, it sounds fine to me.

I used to have hundreds of albums in the 80's, 99% of them sounded great back then and still sound great to me today. The sounds were/are fine because the synths and other tech used were fine. The sounds came from the same synths which developers today are trying hard to recreate in software, ideally sounding exactly like the originals 40 years ago, because that still appeals to people. The human hearing has not changed, physics has not changed, there is only so much to sound. The same goes for effects, even tape is being emulated because of its sound. Overall the sound quality has improved little since the 80s, despite the shift from analog to digital.
To the contrary, the exaggerated dynamics and perfection common today sounds sterile and unpleasant to me.
Something like Kool and the Gang's Summer Madness might sound dated, but it does so in a positive, charming way.

Regarding connections, I still love the music I loved 40 or 30 years ago. Sure, occasionally I hear something new that I like. I listen to it for a few days or maybe even weeks, but then the thrill is gone as BB King would say. I no longer listen to it and don't miss it. It's as if it had never happened because music as such is not interesting to me, only when tied to memories and feelings.

Dion, Jackson, etc. made pop music, so lyrics are usually crap. But musically I find some older Jackson stuff very appealing, not because of Jackson, but because of the composers, musicians, arrangers, producers etc. Thriller not so much actually, I just picked it because I know they used the Minimoog we were talking about. Billie Jean is much better in my view, not to mention the Off the Wall album. Jones-Swedien had a signature sound I love (mix of subtle synths and "real" instruments such as brass, strings, bass, not to mention the Rhodes piano, the most beautiful piano sound to my ears), found on lots of albums by Patti Austin, James Ingram, George Benson, MJ, etc.

[e-crooner]

the march other bloke who works with Rich (Marcin) is Polish I believe

I was already wondering the other day why there is a dedicated contact for Polish speakers on the SA site