Have Modern VST Instruments Replaced Your Hardware Synths ?

[_leras]

You don't have to go expensive or look that far to find some pretty nice hardware sounds, that vsti are still not quite there for.

I had the MiniBrute 2. I liked it, but not love it (especially after about a week or so). It wasn't easy to reach the sound that I really want. In the end, I sold it. I liked the software RePro more to be honest and found it more useful for me.

Anyway, I have spent some time with Massive X yesterday starting from init and I could reach great results

Well the microbrute was really just a cheap example of a synth that has life and a solidity that vst do not quite get yet, I could equally have chosen a mopho video as an example. But it's true that both of these also have their own sounds, which not everyone would love.

I also like repro and have used it a lot in the past year. Massive X I think is also really great, but I haven't fully got my head round it yet - there are some types of sound that (as yet) I just can't seem to get out of it.

[recursive one]

Agree, there's something to Microbrute's sound that i don't hear in any of the analog emulation VSTi.
Very alive sound with lots of character.

That's not a kind of difference that would make or break a track but it's here.

A small jam with 4 instances of Microbrute and Replica delay

https://vocaroo.com/1owvbtr4VgSv

Microbrute as an acid lead in a psytrance track (some processing but not much)
https://vocaroo.com/19Ptmcn607Uc

[BONES]

Give me your MIDI and I will make something that sounds 10 times as good in software. That example isn't even impressive, it's just a bunch of synth sounds I could get out of any old thing. If that's the best you can manage, you have lost the argument spectacularly.

You don't have to go expensive or look that far to find some pretty nice hardware sounds, that vsti are still not quite there for.

Are you kidding? Microbrute does nothing you can't do with almost any VSTi and some effects. Which sounds, in particular, do you think would be hard to do in software?

I'm not skilled in computers enough to explain the fine details of this,but I've read that the cpu meter in the DAW takes other things than the cpu in consideration,such as your ASIO drivers.

Well, then, as someone who is actually skilled in computers, let me assure you that Task Manager knows what's going on much better than any DAW does.

If one of the cpu's cores is overloaded,your cpu meter in your DAW will hit 100% when in task manager the cpu in way less loaded because 7 cores are still available,for example.

11 threads, not cores, and that's what I mean - Task Manger knows what's going on, your DAW doesn't. The proof of this is in looking at the image I provided, which show Instance 1 using 24% and Instance 2 using 28%, yet the total CPU use it reports is just 29%. Clearly Studio One has no idea what's actually going on, it's probably just reading the CPU use for thread #1.

For me the first I use something is because it sounds good,before it is faster.

And... ? Are you suggesting there aren't dozens and dozens of VSTi that sound absolutely f**king amazing?

Well the microbrute was really just a cheap example of a synth that has life and a solidity that vst do not quite get yet

Pig's arse, you have absolutely no evidence to support a bullshit statement like that. What you're suggesting is absolute rubbish.

I could equally have chosen a mopho video as an example.

And it would still be the same bullshit.

[EnGee]

Agree, there's something to Microbrute's sound that i don't hear in any of the analog emulation VSTi.
Very alive sound with lots of character.

That's not a kind of difference that would make or break a track but it's here.

A small jam with 4 instances of Microbrute and Replica delay

https://vocaroo.com/1owvbtr4VgSv

Microbrute as an acid lead in a psytrance track (some processing but not much)
https://vocaroo.com/19Ptmcn607Uc

I don't know really! I don't find something special about it! I heard the examples, but I don't like psy. I don't dislike it either, but it is too fast for my taste. I mean I love Charlie Chaplin but I don't think I like fast music with repetitive kick. Don't mind me I'm old and grow up with 70's and 80's music.

Anyway, I remember that MiniBrute could do that, but are you sure you can't do that with plugins? Reaktor blocks have incredible filters and oscillators (there are some free blocks I think you can try with).

[EnGee]

I also like repro and have used it a lot in the past year. Massive X I think is also really great, but I haven't fully got my head round it yet - there are some types of sound that (as yet) I just can't seem to get out of it.

RePro is fantastic. I don't care if it emulates precisely the Pro1 or Prophet 5, but as a synth, it sounds great but not for everything. Massive X is more "global" or "general purpose" if I can put it this way. Just start with init and in no time you would have great presets! That if you have some experience with the old Massive, otherwise just few minutes watching short tutorial, you can figure it all It is absolutely a capable synth, but I believe it depends also on you how to design the sound and choosing which components to go together. I consider Massive X a semi modular, because you can make different routings as well.

Another nice wavetable synth that I like a lot is Ableton's Wavetable. This is also a great synth and very flexible, but it is only for Ableton Live

[recursive one]

Agree, there's something to Microbrute's sound that i don't hear in any of the analog emulation VSTi.
Very alive sound with lots of character.

That's not a kind of difference that would make or break a track but it's here.

A small jam with 4 instances of Microbrute and Replica delay

https://vocaroo.com/1owvbtr4VgSv

Microbrute as an acid lead in a psytrance track (some processing but not much)
https://vocaroo.com/19Ptmcn607Uc

I don't know really! I don't find something special about it! I heard the examples, but I don't like psy. I don't dislike it either, but it is too fast for my taste. I mean I love Charlie Chaplin but I don't think I like fast music with repetitive kick. Don't mind me I'm old and grow up with 70's and 80's music.

Anyway, I remember that MiniBrute could do that, but are you sure you can't do that with plugins? Reaktor blocks have incredible filters and oscillators (there are some free blocks I think you can try with).

I don't pretend these examples are something, just random noodlings. For actual tracks I mostly use software (Repro 1 and 5 and Massive X are among my favourites btw). Also i'm not trying to say Microbrute has superior sound, just somewhat different.

[ScrLk]

Massive X is one of the most underrated new synths out right now.

[EnGee]

I don't pretend these examples are something, just random noodlings. For actual tracks I mostly use software (Repro 1 and 5 and Massive X are among my favourites btw). Also i'm not trying to say Microbrute has superior sound, just somewhat different.

Yes sure it is different. Especially the filter (Steiner-Parker multimode filter). It might be the best synth among those budget monophonic synths. Especially the build quality is really high, and for the price it is really a good bargain.

After few minutes with Ableton Wavetable, I'm really in love with this synth! It is so fast to do presets, but it is not like Massive X. Anyway, the simplicity (although it has FM!) and cpu usage are a plus. It also has more visual feeback than Massive X. Kinda reminding me of Kilohearts Phase Plant, but easier and nicer (IMO).

[recursive one]

For me the fastest wavetable synth to do presets is Hive2 (okay, I'm sounding like a fanboy now, it seems that I mention this synth in half of my posts lately ). It also has some "hardware" sound to it, but more similar to Virus or maybe old Novations than analog synths.

Massive X has exceptional sound quality though, probably the most "analogue" sounding one of the synths that don't aim to actually emulate analog.

[chk071]

Nothing wrong in liking your gear.

[EnGee]

I thought to buy Hive 2, but when I demoed it, I couldn't find any FM. There is no sync between the oscillators, right? So, it is lacking for me. Nice GUI and workflow though

[Cinebient]

I wonder if Beepstreet Dagger is the only one which offers the Steiner Parker filter (together with some others filter types) in software land? Indeed Dagger is my favourite mono software synth. It cuts trough everything and lives up to the name. It just has cojones.
Must be the closest to a Brute in software land.
Its however nice that its so easy in software land to make it polyphonic if needed plus MPE if you want.
Dagger has indeed in general my second favourite sounding filters in software land.

[AnX]

I wonder if Beepstreet Dagger is the only one which offers the Steiner Parker filter
Must be the closest to a Brute in software land.

it may be the closest (prob the only one that tries) but its not close enough to be convincing

[chk071]

Doesn't the Korg MS-20 have a Steiner-Parker filter? Should be emulated in the KLC version then.

[recursive one]

I thought to buy Hive 2, but when I demoed it, I couldn't find any FM. There is no sync between the oscillators, right? So, it is lacking for me. Nice GUI and workflow though

There is no FM or sync but there are wavetables that emulate that. No real replacement, but can approximate it in some situations.

When I need "real" FM or sync I use synths which have that.