Long Live the Soft Synth, Hardware Synths are dead

[pixel85]

What's the oldest VST you have installed?

VSTi: Battery 4 - 2013(?)
VST: Waves L1 - 1994 (it's updated to the 'new version' but it's only GUI update)

Besides Waves and NI (Komplete), which I'm installing as full bundles including old plugins, I don't have plugins older than 3, 5 years currently installed.

[audiouser720]

What's the oldest VST you have installed?

VSTi: Battery 4 - 2013(?)
VST: Waves L1 - 1994 (it's updated to the 'new version' but it's only GUI update)

Besides Waves and NI (Komplete), which I'm installing as full bundles including old plugins, I don't have plugins older than 3, 5 years currently installed.

Waves L1… Still the best software limiter for channels. Almost no latency and no aliasing… Old Waves plugs are like gold… All these new flashy mushy plugins when things like L1, Rcomp just sound the best, if you know how to use them.

[pixel85]

What's the oldest VST you have installed?

VSTi: Battery 4 - 2013(?)
VST: Waves L1 - 1994 (it's updated to the 'new version' but it's only GUI update)

Besides Waves and NI (Komplete), which I'm installing as full bundles including old plugins, I don't have plugins older than 3, 5 years currently installed.

Waves L1… Still the best software limiter for channels. Almost no latency and no aliasing… Old Waves plugs are like gold… All these new flashy mushy plugins when things like L1, Rcomp just sound the best, if you know how to use them.

I don't have RComp but RVox is still in use here. It's the quickest compressor plugin that always sounds good. People can complain as much as they want, but some of those old Waves plugins are still kickin' even today.

[Examigan]

I think Zebra, Rapture and Battery 3 are the oldest that I have installed, not totally sure though. Zebra of course has been updated over the years.

[gentleclockdivider]

What's the oldest VST you have installed?

I'd say it's Fabfilter One. It was the first plugin FF released wasn't it? In the about page it says (c) 2002 - 2021.

Same here

Pretty sure fabilter one was released in 2004 , fabilter as a company have existed since 2002

[sQeetz]

Pretty sure fabilter one was released in 2004 , fabilter as a company have existed since 2002

Still my oldest

[fster]

model e

[kobal]

all my old one are sold then i buy them again ...i think i have bought zebra 3 times.
acutally no i still have a 32 bit plugin folder with vaz and some other.
sometimes i use xhip and synth1 also i think it s old but the years? no idea but these adged well

[seismicfm]

all my one are sold then i buy them again ...i think i have bought zebra 3 times

zebra 3? where???

[kobal]

all my one are sold then i buy them again ...i think i have bought zebra 3 times

zebra 3? where???

my money is ready !

[recursive one]

all my one are sold then i buy them again ...i think i have bought zebra 3 times

zebra 3? where???

He bought it 3 times. So it's not available anymore, only 3 copies were made.

[BONES]

if i count since maybe 15 years or more all the plugins i bought to try to recreate the sound i had when using hardware.. the smart thing was just to rebuy hardware insteed of spending 100 here 100 there.. and not beeing satisfied totally with the sound

Why would you just want to recreate what you already had? Why wouldn't you want to be expanding, learning and growing. Building on what you had to make something even better? We're about to release an EP containing two songs from our first album, updated to take advantage of a) everything we have learned since then and b) all the amazing new synths that weren't available to us when we first did those songs. We are continually tweaking every song we play live. We don't make massive changes but there is always room for improvement. I would definitely never, ever want to go back to the sound we had when we were using hardware, what would be the point?

for beeing productive hardware can be a big plus.. you don t have to bother with updates, whats the latest plugin are ect..

That's down to your personal lack of self-discipline. In reality, working with hardware is a PITA - last year I spent as much money on peripheral rubbish like keyboard stands, cables, power-supplies, etc. than I did on software plugins. Setting it all up so that it runs reliably cost me far more man-hours than any minor distractions the internet might present. That's why we never use hardware for production, only for live performance.

you have your few synth and just make music like 10 years ago and in 10 years , also it could be cheaper.. you don t hav to find better alternatives as it s the real thing and if you cant do shit with it you can t blame the tools

Absolutely you can blame the tools, they force you into so many compromises.

... in the hardware world, 10 years is nothing

I'v enever kept a hardware synth for anywhere near that long in my entire life, except maybe for the Ultranova I still own, but haven't switched on in 3-4 years. On average, Id' say a hardware synth lasts maybe 2 or 3 years before I find something better to replace it.

in the software world, you could well end up in that time with software which isn't tested and updated anymore for use under current OS's.

In theory, yes, but how is that any worse than having your hardware synth break and not be able to get it fixed, which happens? e.g. What would I do if my Analog Keys broke? I am in Sydney, Elektron are in Sweden and, AFAIK, have no authorised repair agent here. It would cost me several hundred dollars to ship it to them, several hundred to get it back again and I could be without it for months.

OTOH, if one of my softsynths stops working because of an OS update, I have the option of reverting my OS, at least until I work out which other softsynth I can use to replace it. That's sort of what I had to do when we went to 64 bit and I had to abandon all my SynthEdit plugins. Compared to what I had to go through every time I upgraded my hardware 25 years ago, it was a doddle. And again, when we left Orin behind, I had to find a synth to replace Wasp, which we used in pretty much every song, and even that wasn't much of a hassle compared to any hardware upgrade I can recall.

You can't expect to be using ten-year old software (though it's nice when you can).

Of course you can!! The vast majority of the software I use is at least 10 years old - Studio One, Kontakt, Reaktor, Battery, DUNE, etc. The rest is stuff I fully expect will still work in 10 years time if I need it to. Even my old SynthEdit plugins still work in any 32 bit host, which I can still easily install on my current PC. In fact I have Orion 32 bit installed precisely so that I can still open those old projects with all those old synths. OTOH, I have a shoe box full of old floppies, Zip discs and SyQuest cartridges that I will never be able to extract data from again. All that old data is dead now that I no longer own any of the hardware I used to use it with. Sure, I could have kept all those old instruments, tens of thousands of dollars worth, but the same is true of your old computers - no-one forces you to get rid of it when you get a new one.

What's the oldest VST you have installed?

If I need to, I can load projects that used VSTi I have had since maybe 2002, like the original version of Scorpion, Junglist or ReFX Junox. The DLLs copy across with my old Orion install and they all keep working in Windows 10 with Orion 32 bit without me having to go through and manually reinstall any of them. Sometimes they'll pop up a dialog asking for a serial no. but I have all those safely stored on multiple external drives, so that's never a problem.

Oldest VSTi I'm still using? Probably V-Station. It was updated until 2 or 3 years or so. Won't complain too much, it's very ancient. But, I'm still wondering if they couldn't get some free beta testers to test the software on Windows 11

I can check if you're worried. I've got W11 running on my old Surface Pro 2 but I haven't installed anything music-related yet. We still use V-Station quite a bit and it still sounds great so installing something to host it and seeing how well it works won't be a hassle.

By way of comparison, the oldest hardware synth I currently use is the Waldorf Rocket, which only dates back to 2013. Even Ultranova only dates back to 2010.

[Introspective]

You can't expect to be using ten-year old software (though it's nice when you can).

Of course you can!!

Okay: of course you can expect it. But it's folly to do so.

The progress of technology and the cutthroat world of software development alone should be enough to clue you in that 80% of these software companies won't be around in 10 years, and even if they are, their software suite(s) will be completely different.

The vast majority of the software I use is at least 10 years old - Studio One, Kontakt, Reaktor, Battery, DUNE, etc.

This is survivor bias. You list a DAW, which isn't what I was talking about (DAWs don't cost 10% of hardware alternatives, which was my point), then three VSTs from what is probably THE single largest soft-synth developer (and thus has the means to at least minimally maintain the software against OS updates), and then one of the top five most popular synths from another one of the largest companies in the industry.

The rest is stuff I fully expect will still work in 10 years time if I need it to.

No. Most of it won't. I mean, maybe for you, but not for most people. Period!

Clearly you care enough to keep a computer running the last OS it worked on, off of the internet, and somehow maintain it. More power to you! ...but then it's really you keeping the software running, not the company, isn't it? You are a special snowflake!

I mean, don't get me wrong: I am not saying companies are at fault here. I'm saying it is what it is... and it's a large part of the reason that software is a better value than hardware. You are saving in cost what you take on with risk. ...that is both reasonable and fair.

In fact, I would go so far as to say this is mostly OUR fault! ...By constantly demanding Shiny New Shit™, we force companies to focus their resources in developing the Next Big Thing™, rather than in updating and maintaining the old. ...With the exception of the most popular synths, of course, which will have such a large user base that investing in updates is worthwhile. You can bet good money that there will be a Pigments 5, but you've probably got a hard lesson to learn if you're waiting for the next version of AX73 (which I think is great, I am not picking on the synth, just its popularity).

And good luck to you if you want to try taking someone to court because the $150 VST you bought 10 years ago isn't supported. Let me know where the trial is being held, I'll want to sit in on it. Should be good for a laugh.

[Introspective]

What's the oldest VST you have installed?

If I need to, I can load projects that used VSTi I have had since maybe 2002, like the original version of Scorpion, Junglist or ReFX Junox. The DLLs copy across with my old Orion install and they all keep working in Windows 10 with Orion 32 bit without me having to go through and manually reinstall any of them. Sometimes they'll pop up a dialog asking for a serial no. but I have all those safely stored on multiple external drives, so that's never a problem.

Oldest VSTi I'm still using? Probably V-Station. It was updated until 2 or 3 years or so. Won't complain too much, it's very ancient. But, I'm still wondering if they couldn't get some free beta testers to test the software on Windows 11

I can check if you're worried. I've got W11 running on my old Surface Pro 2 but I haven't installed anything music-related yet. We still use V-Station quite a bit and it still sounds great so installing something to host it and seeing how well it works won't be a hassle.

Wow, serious nostalgia from that list. I haven't even thought of most of those in ages.

...Well, except V-Station. There's a part of me that still wishes I'd bought it somewhere along the line. There were times when it was like $10, too. I should have grabbed it. Alas, I kept convincing myself it didn't sound special and I already had waaaaaaay too many VAs.

Scorpion, though! Damn! That takes me back.

ChronoX! You didn't mention it, but you reminded me of it. ChronoX and Albino. ...there are two more synths I would like to see resurrected. Really interesting, both of them. I always have a synth around that I consider to be "the new Albino," but really nothing will ever quite scratch that itch as well as it did. I wrote the first music that I was legitimately proud of using mostly Albino. LOL! Back when I was still going by "Introspective," even. (Sorry, KvR doesn't allow us to change our username, as far as I can tell.)

Good times, good times.

I do miss a lot of the synths from back then. Hell, part of me still wishes I had a copy of Triangle to play around with. And Claw...

[gets lost in reminiscing]

P.S.: Good on you WRT to the hardware. While I said earlier that I wouldn't think much of it if someone said they loved their Supernova ... I do think that MODERN hardware is really all that's worth investing in. ...and there are some good ones out there. Still, as you say: best for live use, less useful in a studio situation.

[chk071]

Oldest VSTi I'm still using? Probably V-Station. It was updated until 2 or 3 years or so. Won't complain too much, it's very ancient. But, I'm still wondering if they couldn't get some free beta testers to test the software on Windows 11

I can check if you're worried. I've got W11 running on my old Surface Pro 2 but I haven't installed anything music-related yet. We still use V-Station quite a bit and it still sounds great so installing something to host it and seeing how well it works won't be a hassle.

Sure, would be great.

I somehow have a soft spot for that, even though I don't use it super frequently. But, when I do, I enjoy it.