Has Bitwig ruined other synths/plugins for you?

[PhilipVasta]

Not at all. Bitwig synths jus don't sound anywhere near as good as other ones I have. I'd love to be able to use less third party plugins but there are too many that sound unique and too great. I barely use the bitwig instruments at all.

To what do you attribute that?

[UncleAge]

@OP: No, not really. I have collected quite a few vst's over the last 15 years and for me its about workflow. I know these vst's and that lets me work quickly, stay creative and "in the moment" so to speak. In addition I don't have a lot of extra time to learn new tools. About the only thing I lack is a nice keyboard/piano instrument. I have a Kawai DP and I might add Keyscape or Pianoteq. I don't see where Bitwig would address that need directly.

Over the years I have switched/used many DAWs and it became my habit to use 3rd party vst's so I could recreate projects a bit easier down the road. I have had Acid, Tracktion, eXT, Podium, Sonar, Reaper, Live and now Bitwig. And I was a beta tester on Studio One in the beginning.

With all that said I do use the sampler in most hosts.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Not at all. Bitwig synths jus don't sound anywhere near as good as other ones I have. I'd love to be able to use less third party plugins but there are too many that sound unique and too great. I barely use the bitwig instruments at all.

To what do you attribute that?

I have no idea. I just don't find the sound of Bitwig synths all that inspiring. Don't mind the organ and Phase-4 is ok. But when I use something like Ana2, Icarus, viper, u-h, synapse, gforce, Tal synths, NI, Omnisphere etc etc. the sound of those do inspire me constantly.

[PhilipVasta]

Thanks for all of the different perspectives everyone. I do need to at least break out Reaktor again, always forget I have that. Model 84 is tempting me though! By the way, what’s your take on Soundpaint?

[jkez]

Not for me. Ive really put the grid and other native synth throug a pace since Ive owned BW but it just doesnt cut it in comparison to beasts like Uhe stuff, Serum and Pigments. I usually design all sounds from scratch in both cases. Ive been experimentig with dual sound design (3rd party and BW native for same parts) and 3rd party always wins.

Grid is really fun to use interface wise (well done BW guys) but sonicaly whatever i try It unfortunately just doesnt get close to 3rd party stuff (which can be a pain to use in BW because the 3rd party stuff doesnt have undo). Ive tried direct identical wavetables from my collection in both cases. But note that this is for my use and my sound preferences.

[billcarroll]

I like Polymer a lot and have been using it quite a bit. It sounds fantastic.

[pdxindy]

I like Polymer a lot and have been using it quite a bit. It sounds fantastic.

I like Polymer too. It sounds excellent. I also make Grid patches with the wavetable Osc and Sampler. I think they sound as good as VST's.

I kinda dismissed Polysynth early on, but it does some really good sounds too (f.e. bass) and is very low on CPU. Now I use it regularly.

By default the Bitwig instruments have no FX and also the defaults settings tend to be plain like Osc's with perfect pitch and no detune. In that regard they are easy to not be impressed with.

[Held]

...SplitEQ transient tonal spectral separation algorithm is unique and in my opinion best in class.

That's not a feat if it's first of its kind, is it?

That functionality was available in MeldaProduction products for years, but it was never marketed in such an aggressive way.

[pierb]

In a way, yes.

I got into Falcon recently and it's so tedious compared to just using Bitwig's sound design capabilities. For my own music I'd never use Falcon, but using an instrument that can run in other DAWs makes a lot more sense as far as making presets.

I keep thinking that Bitwig should just make something like Falcon. A VST with all their devices that can run anywhere else.

[UncleAge]

Grid is really fun to use interface wise (well done BW guys) but sonicaly whatever i try It unfortunately just doesnt get close to 3rd party stuff...

Wouldn't it be wild if you could purchase (like rack extensions in Reason) different synth components to add to the grid? For instance, the oscillator in Zebra with all its functionality would be a lot fun all by itself in the Grid. Or the sequencers from different synths or filter sections...you get the idea. I hope...

[perpetual3]

...SplitEQ transient tonal spectral separation algorithm is unique and in my opinion best in class.

That's not a feat if it's first of its kind, is it?

It’s not the first of it’s kind.

[Chameleonman]

Yes. Before Bitwig all the effects with some built-in LFOs and multiband prosessors were magical features. Now those are waste of money. Also all the drum machine plugins are useless, although sometimes I hope Bitwig would fix their lame looking pianoroll step sequencer.
But one thing that Bitwig doesn't ruin things is the synth part of it. Bitwig is trying so hard to be a synth, but some how never end up in my productions. Polymer is fun. I play with that some times. Thats it.

[antic604]

...SplitEQ transient tonal spectral separation algorithm is unique and in my opinion best in class.

That's not a feat if it's first of its kind, is it?

It’s not the first of it’s kind.

I had no idea. Can you link to it? The closest I knew of was Neutron's and Ozone's multiband transient and imager modules, but they're not nearly the same and obviously the workflow is not nearly as intuitive.

[jkez]

Grid is really fun to use interface wise (well done BW guys) but sonicaly whatever i try It unfortunately just doesnt get close to 3rd party stuff...

Wouldn't it be wild if you could purchase (like rack extensions in Reason) different synth components to add to the grid? For instance, the oscillator in Zebra with all its functionality would be a lot fun all by itself in the Grid. Or the sequencers from different synths or filter sections...you get the idea. I hope...

Interesting idea.
But its very unlikely at the moment. There are quite a few compatibility problems (specially arturia) even with the full 3rd party stuff and when you report it it always sounds like the number of user is too small to get resolved with priority. The only thing Ive managed to concur that its usually due to the plugin sandboxing.

[perpetual3]

...SplitEQ transient tonal spectral separation algorithm is unique and in my opinion best in class.

That's not a feat if it's first of its kind, is it?

It’s not the first of it’s kind.

I had no idea. Can you link to it? The closest I knew of was Neutron's and Ozone's multiband transient and imager modules, but they're not nearly the same and obviously the workflow is not nearly as intuitive.

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