Vital - Released

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

It's not the lack of self oscillating, it's the way how they self-oscillate. It's just a thin whistle to me.

That was my experience too.

It's a really nice synth, but the filters are kind of vanilla compared to others out there. Are they useless? No. Of course not. Are they great? No. Would Vital be improved with some "better filters" in the future? I think it would. Just an opinion of course. Shouldn't really be controversial.

[Teksonik]

When I think of the hundreds and hundreds of patches I've done over the years that don't use a Filter at all I can't get that worked up over Vital's filters. As mentioned they are quite functional but not outstanding compared to filters in other synths I own.

Filters are just one component in one form of synthesis so I feel their importance is often overrated. To entirely dismiss a synth like Vital just because of its filters is rather myopic in my opinion but to each his own.

Even if Vital had no filters at all I would find ways to use it to make nice patches.

It's odd I never heard anyone complain about the filters it Matt's Helm plugin. Perhaps there were complaints but I don't remember seeing them...

[AnX]

I gave it some time over the weekend (free version)

not really for me. WTs don't do much for me anyway, but thought I would try it.

nothing bad about it, just doesnt do anything I want to do already.

[Shabdahbriah]

Filters are just one component in one form of synthesis so I feel their importance is often overrated. To entirely dismiss a synth like Vital just because of its filters is rather myopic in my opinion but to each his own.

Even if Vital had no filters at all I would find ways to use it to make nice patches.

Indeed. ... {also has a Vst folder titled: "Filters"}

[Igro]

Because Vital has so many envelopes, it would be cool to have two separate fx chains. I just wanted to use a third OSC for a longer sustained sound to accomplish some delayed plucks, but because everything went through the delay, it was not possible. Sure I can have a "combined synths" feature in Studio One, but it would be more convenient to have it in Vital.

A volume knob on an Envelope panel would be a good addition, because if I assign an envelope to the OSC volume, then I cannot lower the oscillator volume anymore if needed (it is possible in the LFO module though if I use is as a envelope)

[Whywhy]

If you add a negative mod, you should be able to lower the osc volume.
Just for fun:
One Vital instance:

[AZZIN]

Whoah, looks like I arrived at the party a bit late. Looks like there's no documentation yet. Has anyone hammered out some information about the different spectral warping modes? A lot of them are self explanatory, but some of them aren't so easy to understand.

If you do a sound bank for VItal for me it will be "instant buy".
Please do it!!!

[pdxindy]

Because Vital has so many envelopes, it would be cool to have two separate fx chains. I just wanted to use a third OSC for a longer sustained sound to accomplish some delayed plucks, but because everything went through the delay, it was not possible. Sure I can have a "combined synths" feature in Studio One, but it would be more convenient to have it in Vital.

A volume knob on an Envelope panel would be a good addition, because if I assign an envelope to the OSC volume, then I cannot lower the oscillator volume anymore if needed (it is possible in the LFO module though if I use is as a envelope)

The Osc's have a direct out option... it bypasses the FX

[Hink]

If you add a negative mod, you should be able to lower the osc volume.
Just for fun:

There we go, it's still all about the mods (forgive me, I'm just being silly while waiting for a rough storm)

ftr I appreciate how well we have moved on and are on topic

[mtytel]

I feel like I should address the filters since it seems to be a point of debate.
There is one main criticism that I feel is valid and should comment on.

Resonance/Self-oscillation:
This is probably the biggest difference between Vital and some analog (and analog-modelled) filters. Many have noted that Vital's self-oscillation is pretty quiet compared to other synths. This is true and it's by design. If you don't like this, you can lower the level of the oscillator going into the filter and turn up the master volume to make it have louder resonance.

Why would I do this by design? This requires a little background in how filters work.

The cutoff in many analog filters is interestingly slightly modulated by the input level. This is most obvious with a ladder filter, try sending a really low freq sine wave (something like 2hz) into a self resonating ladder filter and you'll hear some vibrato in that resonance. Effectively the input level does cutoff FM, and the louder the signal the stronger the FM is. I think this really adds a lot to the character of ladder filters and other models. I really enjoy this self-oscillating driven sound and wanted more of it so I designed the filters in Vital to be more driven by default. A side effect of that design is that it lowered the resonance/signal ratio and I actually prefer that. If you don't, as I said above lower the osc input and raise the overall volume


I'm assuming that a lot of the complaints are because Vital's filters don't behave like some other synth and not that there aren't interesting sounds you can make with Vital's filters.
There are a lot of unique blending options (Ladder: Notch Spread is my favorite) and tools (like audio-rate key-tracked lfos) that I feel I've opened some new synthesis options just with the filters. I made a short video a while ago doing some Fitler FM with key-tracked LFOs. Might be a little harsh for some people out there but I think it creates some really interesting tones



PS I was hoping the spectral oscillator warping would 'drive' more of this conversation..

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

I'm sure Vital could produce a lot more musical stuff for vast spectrum of music styles,first impression was that harmonic morph and modulations are amazing:)

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

it just need these capabilities to be shaped more musical way i guess,it's impressive now need to be used somehow in music tracks

[plexuss]

PS I was hoping the spectral oscillator warping would 'drive' more of this conversation..

Using human anatomy as an analogy, filters are like the most obvious sexy part of a person that we generally obsess over first. Once we get that out of the way we dig deeper into things like their mind and what kind of food they like, so soon we'll talk about your oscilators. Don't you worry.

[databroth]

PS I was hoping the spectral oscillator warping would 'drive' more of this conversation..

Using human anatomy as an analogy, filters are like the most obvious sexy part of a person that we generally obsess over first. Once we get that out of the way we dig deeper into things like their mind and what kind of food they like, so soon we'll talk about your oscilators. Don't you worry.

yeah, but we don't f**k synths for one
for two we try to see people for more than just their "most obvious sexy part"
and even when we don't find someone attractive we still get to know them and understand them for their deeper qualities instead of just going on about how "the obvious most sexy part" of them isn't up to our standards

but I get what you're saying

[Tricky-Loops]

Some people cannot imagine that there could be more sexy things on this planet than manipulmodulating self oscillating filters on their secret resonance point until your ears are vibrating like electrified ...