Sonic Academy ANA 2
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
I ended up with having both Ana and Spire, and use them both a lot. If I had to pick one that probably would be Spire but that's because I have had it for much longer, made a lot of sounds for it can pretend I know it reasonably well, but Ana also sounds nice and can do things Spire can't (e g it has a wavetable engine and wt import, and more advanced arp). Even where they overlap, it's kinda different flavors of the same thing.
Both go on sale with huge discounts every so often, if you wait long enough you can have both for the regular price of one.
Both go on sale with huge discounts every so often, if you wait long enough you can have both for the regular price of one.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
- KVRAF
- 8181 posts since 22 Sep, 2008 from Windsor. UK
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- KVRAF
- 6459 posts since 17 Dec, 2009
- GRRRRRRR!
- 15952 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle
Of course, the fact it's about $100 cheaper doesn't hurt, either.
I think ANA is the best sounding synth I own. It's not the kind of instrument where I worry too much about the filters, that's not what it's about. That Beautiful Dread Lead or whatever it is that loads by default is so gorgeous, I've made a point of trying to use it every one of the 80's covers I've done. If I've done 50, it's probably in 45 of them. It's so rich and creamy, I want to pour it all over my pudding (make of that what you will).
If you honestly believe that, then all I can say is [REMOVED AND WARNED]. Seriously, it's one thing to say you prefer Spire but if you can't acknowledge that ANA-2 sounds great in it's own right, then what I said above is 100% on the money.
ANA-2 is always on sale, you don't have to wait to get it for way less than it's worth.recursive one wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 8:10 amBoth go on sale with huge discounts every so often, if you wait long enough you can have both for the regular price of one.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.
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- KVRAF
- 6459 posts since 17 Dec, 2009
I redacted my previous statement - i dont think it sounds bad, it just sounds like a utility synth, like alchemy or pigments - not imposing its own character.
You can more easily tell its Serum or Spire and they have a certain sound, ANA2 imo doesn't, which doesn't make it bad. Having a specific character can be worse if the character doesnt fit.
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
Just checked, it's 140 pounds on the SA site. I bought it for 45 pounds or so few months ago, I think it probably will go back to that price at some point.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
- KVRAF
- 8181 posts since 22 Sep, 2008 from Windsor. UK
All good.
At least you're not Bones
But honestly, I work for various companies but to me ANA2 is geniunely standout as an all round bread and butter synth. Lots of other synths do particular things 'better', but ANA2 does everything well (with the possible exception of the chorus which I don't like). And (as subjective as it is) I also genuinely don't like the sound of Spire, whether it fits into the EDM remit or not. I can use it for certain styles (trance in particular) but I have to bypass all the onboard FX, EQ and particulary the X-Comp.
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- KVRAF
- 8181 posts since 22 Sep, 2008 from Windsor. UK
I think with ANA2 you have to dial in the filter drive to find the sweet spot for character, and I would also agree that it doesn't have the ultimate fizz of something like Diva or Repro, but it's also not as single focussed as those. For the vast majority of real world uses it has the balls to create an 'analogue' style tone that will fit into a mix.
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- KVRian
- 823 posts since 27 Aug, 2020
Having no distinct character is arguably a desirable feature, especially given that wavetable synthesis in and of itself is a kind of a shortcut and an attempt to emulate different synthesis methods without necessarily synthesizing everything from scratch.
If I want character, digital or analog, I will turn to dedicated emulations of the gear of the past.
Unless we're dealing with a sparse arrangement, I think I prefer sonic chameleons and thinner synths, as they're more useful in more situations. As long as ANA's filters sound pleasing enough, I don't think I care.
Spire is obviously about being beeeeg and ballsy in the EDM sort of way, that being said, the more I produce the more I prefer 'thinner' sounds, easier to mix later on.
I wonder whether ANA2 or Spire is more optimized in terms of CPU usage, maybe somebody can elaborate. Spire used to be CPU intensive from what I've read, but it seems to have changed recently. Not sure about ANA2, but I don't recall reading about it being a CPU hog.
Sounds like my kind of thing.tehlord wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 9:39 am I think with ANA2 you have to dial in the filter drive to find the sweet spot for character, and I would also agree that it doesn't have the ultimate fizz of something like Diva or Repro, but it's also not as single focussed as those. For the vast majority of real world uses it has the balls to create an 'analogue' style tone that will fit into a mix.
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- KVRAF
- 6459 posts since 17 Dec, 2009
Absolutelytehlord wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 9:39 am
I think with ANA2 you have to dial in the filter drive to find the sweet spot for character, and I would also agree that it doesn't have the ultimate fizz of something like Diva or Repro, but it's also not as single focussed as those. For the vast majority of real world uses it has the balls to create an 'analogue' style tone that will fit into a mix.
If i were more interested in sample layering i'd probably pick it up, but i didn't care for it that much and for WT/OSC stuff i prefer workflow (and sound) of hive, which i already have, so i passed on it
I also totally adore Hive's dirty mode.
I criticised filters as being "underwhelming" but i would certainly say they're pleasing enough.crickey13 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 9:41 am Having no distinct character is arguably a desirable feature, especially given that wavetable synthesis in and of itself is a kind of a shortcut and an attempt to emulate different synthesis methods without necessarily synthesizing everything from scratch.
If I want character, digital or analog, I will turn to dedicated emulations of the gear of the past.
Unless we're dealing with a sparse arrangement, I think I prefer sonic chameleons and thinner synths, as they're more useful in more situations. As long as ANA's filters sound pleasing enough, I don't think I care.
Spire is obviously about being beeeeg and ballsy in the EDM sort of way, that being said, the more I produce the more I prefer 'thinner' sounds, easier to mix later on.
I wonder whether ANA2 or Spire is more optimized in terms of CPU usage, maybe somebody can elaborate. Spire used to be CPU intensive from what I've read, but it seems to have changed recently. Not sure about ANA2, but I don't recall reading about it being a CPU hog.
re: CPU
test: Logic, trackstack (being a trackstack means every track is switch to "live" mode - so the audio buffersize in settings, in my case 64)
I opened it on my M1 and got roughly the same track count as spire with the default ANA2 preset.
16-note chord, 37 instances without crackles or dropouts.
With spire i got 40 on the same test, so i'd say its on par with Spire.
With Hive i get much more
edit: 56 with similar settings as ANA2 default preset (OSC1 2 unison , OSC2 1 voice, delay, reverb, phaser, one filter)
Last edited by Ploki on Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 35424 posts since 11 Apr, 2010 from Germany
I can relate to what ploki wrote. I demo'd ANA 2 a while ago, and, it didn't sound very characterful to me. It also has that kind of "soft" and clean vibe that a lot of soft synths have these days (most prominently Dune). Not very much into that. I like synths which ooze with character. I also like music which oozes with character, and video games which ooze with character.
Unfortunately, there's way too little character these days everywhere.
Unfortunately, there's way too little character these days everywhere.
- KVRian
- 512 posts since 22 Aug, 2014
Hey! Lets buy Anacreon 2.5!
Anacreon has big character!
Anacreon has big character!
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
I totally agree about Dune, but Ana can sound pretty far away from "clean and soft", it can be quite dirty in a good way.chk071 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:48 am I can relate to what ploki wrote. I demo'd ANA 2 a while ago, and, it didn't sound very characterful to me. It also has that kind of "soft" and clean vibe that a lot of soft synths have these days (most prominently Dune). Not very much into that. I like synths which ooze with character. I also like music which oozes with character, and video games which ooze with character.
Unfortunately, there's way too little character these days everywhere.
I think it's more similar to Spire than Dune (and can even remind me of Virus TI sometimes).
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try