Win a GForce Software OB-E (Mac & soon PC) - 10 chances

[briefcasemanx]

I care about character, uniqueness, emotional attachment etc. And don't care about presets or CPU usage.

I feel like most people who spend a ton on plugins should be on the same boat wrt caring about CPU usage. Just stop buying plugins for awhile and get a really nice CPU and that's a way better investment than any plugins.

[D.H. Miltz]

I did miss it indeed. I even reported the thread. My fault. I don't know how to unreport.

No problem, I just closed the report.

[elxsound]

I care about character, uniqueness, emotional attachment etc. And don't care about presets or CPU usage.

I feel like most people who spend a ton on plugins should be on the same boat wrt caring about CPU usage. Just stop buying plugins for awhile and get a really nice CPU and that's a way better investment than any plugins.

I didn’t understand the emotional attachment bit. I’m not picking on you, but if you or anyone else is willing to answer… What does it mean to be emotionally attached to a software instrument? Am I reading the question wrong?

[Jerome63]

I did miss it indeed. I even reported the thread. My fault. I don't know how to unreport.

Sorry about that rafa1981, did not want to make the email address a must is case someone just wanted to be anonymous...

[Jerome63]

Just took the survey. I have to admit, I found it difficult to understand many of the questions. Maybe it's just me, but what is a "desirable" or "not desirable" brand? And desirable or not desirable in what way? I mean, I don't know any plugin developers who I find morally objectionable! (OK, maybe one or two, but is that what is meant by "desirable"?)

And many of the questions were essentially impossible to answer in the abstract. What is good "character"? What is "emotional connection" vs. "good presents"? How do I know which I prefer in a specific synth without actually hearing it? I mean, I kind of understand where the questions were coming from for generic survey purposes, and did my best to answer truthfully, but these questions were very hard for me to answer when they are premised on subjective (and, indeed, fairly vague) descriptors like that.

Likewise, trying to assign value to what price is reasonable for an abstract good plugin, or what is too much, was almost impossible for me to answer. I can ballpark a general figure, which is what I did, but I've happily paid more in the past at times, but also often refuse to pay what I think a synth is "worth" if I don't really need it.

I do wish you luck on the survey, hope my contribution was helpful, and look forward to the results if you publish them here.

Thanks SirkusPi for the feedback and completing the survey too! And point taken, that kind of survey is usually used with very specific attribute (e.g. CPU Speed, RAM...) or a name brand, as the project is trying to identify high level attributes, some had to be defined in an abstract manner that might limit the survey. The attribute level (e.g. "desirable" / "not desirable" (etc...)) were defined with a focus group, the "not desirable" was associated with a mix of poor support and poor image by the focus group.

[perpetual3]

I took the survey but it never asked for my email address.

[zvenx]

I care about character, uniqueness, emotional attachment etc. And don't care about presets or CPU usage.

I feel like most people who spend a ton on plugins should be on the same boat wrt caring about CPU usage. Just stop buying plugins for awhile and get a really nice CPU and that's a way better investment than any plugins.

I didn’t understand the emotional attachment bit. I’m not picking on you, but if you or anyone else is willing to answer… What does it mean to be emotionally attached to a software instrument? Am I reading the question wrong?

I own several guitars, but they are two of them that when I pick up to play, I get especially inspired, I can play them for hours, even if I am not in the middle of a project.

Even though I am a multi instrumentalist, my first instrument was the piano. Put me in front of great sounding grand, and I can noodle and play for hour upon hours, without even noticing the time has gone by.
In days of yore when I had access to hardware synths, I could play an Oberheim OB-8 or the Roland JV-2080 in more recent times, for hours and hours.

There are a few software synths too that I have this connection with too: Model 72, Omnisphere, Tal j-8, Audio Damage Quanta (if only it wasn't so buggy), Repro-1, Diva and Zebra, and a few others.... put me in front of them and I can get lost in just composing, noodling, improvising etc.....

I would consider that an emotional attachment with those instruments even though in some cases (like soft synths), I have literally hundreds other choices.

my two cents of what I took as emotional attachment.

rsp

[Jerome63]

Its for a thesis of a business school. That tells exactly why the questions are what they are. Its all about marketing and price tags, not about musical decisions…
Especially, I think it was the 3rd question which does not cover what I would tick.
The question about emulations. I know the original hardware but only care about the sound quality in general, not how exact it is… But following the usual discussions in forums like KVR, this combination seemingly doesn’t exist…

ahah Thanks for the feedback and answering the survey. The survey is indeed in the field of marketing, trying to better understand us, as customers... ultimately to help manufacturers make products that better match our needs as customers and try to look at all the aspects of a products . Attributes such as uniqueness, character, playability (etc...) are attempting to define the musical side of a VI, but perhaps fail to do so in an adequate manner. Again thanks for the feedback

the 4 options for the question you mention are:
1/ I don't really care about accuracy as long as it sounds good
2/ I care about accuracy but I don't usually have experience with the original hardware synth
3/ I have a lot of experience with the hardware synth being emulated and would only buy a VST if it's accurate
4/ I don't buy emulation VST

[Jerome63]

I took the survey but it never asked for my email address.

HI Perpetual3, sorry you missed it, it's on the first page at the top... (I've added a note in the text of the check box as you are the second one to report missing it - hope this will do the trick)

[briefcasemanx]

I care about character, uniqueness, emotional attachment etc. And don't care about presets or CPU usage.

I feel like most people who spend a ton on plugins should be on the same boat wrt caring about CPU usage. Just stop buying plugins for awhile and get a really nice CPU and that's a way better investment than any plugins.

I didn’t understand the emotional attachment bit. I’m not picking on you, but if you or anyone else is willing to answer… What does it mean to be emotionally attached to a software instrument? Am I reading the question wrong?

I think its just about if it inspires you. Whether it sounds good or "bad" or anything else about it is irrelevant. Usually things that inspire me sound good, but not always, lol, or at least I wouldn't expect that others think they sound good or have the same emotional attachment.

Like patches I make in MSoundfactory/Mpowersynth I usually think would sound better if they had filters or oscillators from other developers, but it still inspires me to make weird sounds even if I think the sound quality could be better. I have emotional attachment because it's just kinda fun and/or leads to interesting results.

[elxsound]

I care about character, uniqueness, emotional attachment etc. And don't care about presets or CPU usage.

I feel like most people who spend a ton on plugins should be on the same boat wrt caring about CPU usage. Just stop buying plugins for awhile and get a really nice CPU and that's a way better investment than any plugins.

I didn’t understand the emotional attachment bit. I’m not picking on you, but if you or anyone else is willing to answer… What does it mean to be emotionally attached to a software instrument? Am I reading the question wrong?

I own several guitars, but they are two of them that when I pick up to play, I get especially inspired, I can play them for hours, even if I am not in the middle of a project.

Even though I am a multi instrumentalist, my first instrument was the piano. Put me in front of great sounding grand, and I can noodle and play for hour upon hours, without even noticing the time has gone by.
In days of yore when I had access to hardware synths, I could play an Oberheim OB-8 or the Roland JV-2080 in more recent times, for hours and hours.

There are a few software synths too that I have this connection with too: Model 72, Omnisphere, Tal j-8, Audio Damage Quanta (if only it wasn't so buggy), Repro-1, Diva and Zebra, and a few others.... put me in front of them and I can get lost in just composing, noodling, improvising etc.....

I would consider that an emotional attachment with those instruments even though in some cases (like soft synths), I have literally hundreds other choices.

my two cents of what I took as emotional attachment.

rsp

Makes sense. It’s never happened to me with soft synths. Guitars yes… I’m not a guitarist, but I play and each one I have has its own story.

[Tj Shredder]

I care about character, uniqueness, emotional attachment etc. And don't care about presets or CPU usage.

I feel like most people who spend a ton on plugins should be on the same boat wrt caring about CPU usage. Just stop buying plugins for awhile and get a really nice CPU and that's a way better investment than any plugins.

I didn’t understand the emotional attachment bit. I’m not picking on you, but if you or anyone else is willing to answer… What does it mean to be emotionally attached to a software instrument? Am I reading the question wrong?

I own several guitars, but they are two of them that when I pick up to play, I get especially inspired, I can play them for hours, even if I am not in the middle of a project.

Even though I am a multi instrumentalist, my first instrument was the piano. Put me in front of great sounding grand, and I can noodle and play for hour upon hours, without even noticing the time has gone by.
In days of yore when I had access to hardware synths, I could play an Oberheim OB-8 or the Roland JV-2080 in more recent times, for hours and hours.

There are a few software synths too that I have this connection with too: Model 72, Omnisphere, Tal j-8, Audio Damage Quanta (if only it wasn't so buggy), Repro-1, Diva and Zebra, and a few others.... put me in front of them and I can get lost in just composing, noodling, improvising etc.....

I would consider that an emotional attachment with those instruments even though in some cases (like soft synths), I have literally hundreds other choices.

my two cents of what I took as emotional attachment.

rsp

Makes sense. It’s never happened to me with soft synths. Guitars yes… I’m not a guitarist, but I play and each one I have has its own story.

Emotional attachment is actually the most important. First time it happened to me with a hardware Arp2600, but until Cherry Audios CA2600 it did not happen at all with Arturia or Timewarp. As I play any soft synth with my expressive LinnStrument, its crucial that it supports MPE. Often its a specific preset which helps getting into that playing mood to noodle for hours…
For designing synths and marketing that attachment isn’t really accessible. Its bound to personal taste, it can happen with good presets though. Himalayas MPE presets can do that, and then I would be encouraged to do my own sounds… But mostly I turn to the Grid if I have specific ideas in my mind…
What is really inspiring are people creating sounds in youtube videos. Omri Cohen comes to mind. If you watch those, you stop buying fixed architecture synths though… You realize one modular would be enough…; - )

The motivation to buy emulations is solely driven by nostalgia and collectors mind. They end up as preset machines if they get used at all. Usually they are too limited to what we can have today… Some sound damn good though…

[nirm123]

I took the survey but it never asked for my email address.

it asks in the first page but oddly enough it's not a mandatory field, I had to redo the all thing...

[BONES]

I don't get how the survey manages to score on playability when I don't recall any questions about it. Elsewhere, some of my answers may have been skewed by specifics, in that I would never pay $179.99 for any plugin, no matter how good, so I always chose the other option when that figure appeared. Apparently my top priorities are CPU Load, followed by Price, with Character in a distant third place.

[rafa1981]

I did miss it indeed. I even reported the thread. My fault. I don't know how to unreport.

Sorry about that rafa1981, did not want to make the email address a must is case someone just wanted to be anonymous...

If possible please add me manually (an alias or my address via PM). Sorry for the FUD. The address field wasn't that visible in between all that legal stuff that I never read. It should probably be its own question.