Sonic Academy ANA 2

[Spring Goose]

I'm exaggerating a bit now, to illustrate the point, but, with all that you said, why do you even feel a need to buy soft synths? Why don't you just download Synth1, and be done with it, forever?

Like Bruce Swedien said,"People don't walk down the street humming the console"

No they hum the bland version.

[BONES]

There are reasons why Serum and Spire are more popular than Ana. There are also reasons why they have a larger market for preset packs.

There are good reasons why Toyota Corolla is the best selling car in the world and why the Big Mac is the most popular hamburger in the world but they have nothing to do with anything I care about when it comes to cars or burgers. Similarly, whatever it is that makes Serum and Spire popular is of no consequence to me and my purchasing decisions, which is to say it has nothing to do with superior sound quality, ease-of-use or value for money.

[Ploki]

Popularity doesn’t mean quality true.
However it also doesn’t mean that lack of o popularity means quality

[Syngularity]

Dear developers - I adore ANA 2 very much. It has stability issues within Komplete Kontrol. My DAW is Cubase 11.5 Pro, system is Windows 10 Pro. Can you please check this?

[billcarroll]

New version of ANA 2 is out (ANA v2.0.991)

This version introduces the ability to manually edit/enter values using Alt + Click

[chk071]

Popularity doesn’t mean quality true.

Depends. If people choose a certain synth for its qualities in a certain area, then it surely has to do with quality.

All those comparisons don't make too much sense anyway. You don't go to McDonald's if you are looking for a delicious meal, and the people who rush in there aren't exactly gourmet cooks. Synths are special, and choosing a synth for a certain sound is even more special, and getting famous for what you do, because you might even be good at it, is extra special. So, we're talking about the special of the special of the special. Which makes all those Big Mac comparison kind of useless.

What always strikes me as funny is the clientele for such discussions though. I mean, um, yeah, if you couldn't care less about the sounds we're discussing, then, sure, you are allowed to give a crap about it, and just move on. I though that was self-evident. Why even discuss, if you give a shit? The mysteries of the internet.

Maybe the actual issue is that synths like ANA cater to a specific market, and not everyone who buys such synths is really doing it, because he/she is into that market.

[BONES]

Popularity doesn’t mean quality true.
However it also doesn’t mean that lack of o popularity means quality

No, what it means is that you're an idiot if you choose anything just because it's popular. It means that you should make up your own mind. It might make sense to use use popularity to sort the wheat from the chaff but, ultimately, you should use something because it works for you, not because it works for 10,000 other idiots. Think about it, you don't listen to Justin Bieber just because he sells shitloads of records, do you? So why would you buy Serum just because it sells shitloads?

Depends. If people choose a certain synth for its qualities in a certain area, then it surely has to do with quality.

What if those people are clueless idiots? Hype sells way, way more than quality.

You don't go to McDonald's if you are looking for a delicious meal and the people who rush in there aren't exactly gourmet cooks.

Which is exactly my point - things don't necessarily get popular because they are good.

Synths are special

Maybe to you but not to me. They are just tools I use to do a job and they don't really excite me any more than a set of ratchet ring spanners or a stubby claw hammer.

and choosing a synth for a certain sound is even more special

Again, not to me. Finding the right synth/sound only matters because it allows me to get on to the next thing that needs doing. In my 40 years of making music, there has only ever been one instrument I considered irreplaceable, Orion's Wasp, but since moving on from Orion I've found that a combination of several other instruments can near enough cover its absence that it doesn't really matter to me any more. When working on the 80s covers I've been doing, I deliberately decided to try and use the default ANA patch in every song, just for shits and giggles, and it turns out that in most of the songs it is the highlight of the piece. The exact same sound in 40-odd songs doesn't just work, it is the best part in most of them. That goes completely against what you're saying.

and getting famous for what you do, because you might even be good at it, is extra special.

Yet again, not to me. The only advantage of fame would be the opportunities to play live that it would open up. Beyond that, it's not something I would cross the street for. Making good music is what matters to me. Reviews like this (which my bandmate only discovered last weekend) or this matter to me, where our music gets compared to the artists we most admire. That it doesn't translate into sales or gigs is frustrating but, ultimately, it doesn't really bother me.

So, we're talking about the special of the special of the special. Which makes all those Big Mac comparison kind of useless.

Except we're not. There is nothing special about Serum or Spire, nothing at all that you couldn't do with literally dozens of other synths, may of them much cheaper than those.

Maybe the actual issue is that synths like ANA cater to a specific market, and not everyone who buys such synths is really doing it, because he/she is into that market.

You've got it back-to-front - it's Serum that is (mostly) only popular with a certain style of music and ANA that tries to cater to a broader market.

[Ploki]

Popularity doesn’t mean quality true.
However it also doesn’t mean that lack of o popularity means quality

No, what it means is that you're an idiot if you choose anything just because it's popular. It means that you should make up your own mind. It might make sense to use use popularity to sort the wheat from the chaff but, ultimately, you should use something because it works for you, not because it works for 10,000 other idiots. Think about it, you don't listen to Justin Bieber just because he sells shitloads of records, do you? So why would you buy Serum just because it sells shitloads?

Fwiw, I absolutely agree with that.

I do like one Justin Bieber track tho

[digitalboytn]

After a year using Ana 2 I can say that there is no synth I have or have tried that is as joyful to use. Legend may sound a bit better. Bazille may be more versatile in some ways. Synth master may have more features but I am always excited when I open up Ana 2.... inspiration just flows. I can generate a complex sound with all macros and MW that is usable and inspiring in minutes. Rinse and repeat. It would be the one left standing if I had to choose one.

I have a few nice soft synths in the toolbox,so ANA 2 is working alongside some fairly serious company every day of the week and the more I use this synth,the more impressed I am...

There are countless possibilities on so many different levels that I find both inspiring and rewarding...

I don't run around after the latest wizz bang wonders and I've used most of my tools for a while,so I get to appreciate their strengths and their weaknesses,as well as their idiosyncrasies in a working environment...

This is where ANA 2 really shines and as Scrubbing Monkeys said,it may well be the last synth standing...

It wasn't love at first sight,but over time,ANA 2 has become one of the centrepieces in my musical heart

[Norqa]

I stumbled on a workaround for those that want the Arp and Chord gen in ANA2 for free and forever.
The current Demo of ANA2 never disables that module, no nag screens, no white noise so it can be used as a standalone to drive other Synths.
The only downside is when the demo expires you better know your registry editor to put things right which is better than re-installing your OS. which would obviously grant you infinite use.
Not sure if its ethical or against the rules here?
I would still prefer a stand alone payed module though.

[dstep404]

Ok, McDonalds can be f’ing excellent sometimes, the Big Mac you deride particularly. I will not tolerate that slander. But only once or twice a year. If it’s a daily meal you will likely die young.

[EdSfer]

Since last version (2.0.991) preset switching has become quite tedious, as it takes something like 3 seconds to load a preset, be it by switching with left/right arrows, or by clicking in the browser. If Ana2 is playing while switching, you can hear it go by different states during those 3s before sounding like the actual target preset. Never noticed such issue with the previous versions, I didn't update each time but I think I did 1 or 2 updates previously this year and everything worked fine. Seems to come from one of the last versions, possibly the latest.

VST2 or 3 doesn't make a change. I'm on Ableton 11, Win10.

[EDIT 10/18/2021 : Mailed Sonic Academy support at the same time I was posting here and they answered only minutes after, on a sunday, which is to be noticed. After several emails exhanged between yesterday and today, the issue remains, but the devs are aware of it and should address it in a future update. Despite the fact that my issue couldn't be fixed (for now), they have been very friendly and responsive, and I wanted to give them credit for that. Especially shoot out to Stef ]

[EDIT 10/27/2021 : Received an email from the support to tell me that Beta 2.0.992b was available. It fixed the issue. Great support again]

[sqigls]

i'm still waiting to really get stuck into Ana2.
The GUI takes about 7 seconds to load, every time, every skin.
Does my head in.

[Eclipse_Audio]

Popularity doesn’t mean quality true.
However it also doesn’t mean that lack of o popularity means quality

Agree. ANA2 is really soft!

[Echoes in the Attic]

There's a new beta in our accounts that fixes the preset browsing issue in Bitwig. There were also times wen the wavetables were switching really slow for me, though may have ben a while back, haven't been using it. Anyways now presets and wavetables seem to switch very fast, everything seems good. Using the VST3 version.

Sonically I think Ana must be my favorite synth.