Have we reached the end of hardware synths with software plug-ins?

[Uncle E]

The Arturia patch panel is pretty great. They should make a PolyBrute V with controls matched to the PolyBrute and MatrixBrute. Or maybe make a MIDI controller with that patch panel. Would the modular bro's lose their minds over that or does it have to have patch cords and funny module names?

My recently acquired JD-XA has a lot of features you would normally only find in software, such as 8 sequencers and 4 loop-able envelopes. Sadly, from what I can tell, the MIDI implementation is lacking compared to the System-8 and it doesn't seem like it will be a very good controller.

[pdxindy]

I agree. Software modulars are horrible to use - apart from Bitwig Grid! It is an absolute joy for me the way you connect things dragging the modules into position and swapping them etc, it is a new way to use modular synths for me using a screen to its advantages rather than fiddly mouse patching.. I really dislike things like VCV and the endless choice of modules. I did build quite a few too and do miss the Serge Resonant filter and things like that but way more productive with software now. Also my case ended up with loads of little screens in it and multi function modules.. was less fun to use than a laptop in the end.

Yup... Bitwig's Grid was an eye opener. It is so much faster and more fluid than other software modulars. After getting used the the Grid, I stopped using other software modulars.

[yobare]

Do the big hardware companys sell alot? Just a question. Curious to know.

Anyone who knows for real?

Its millions of software synths these days!

But i think people go more for software synths because they r much cheaper.

And those who want more nostalgia buy hardware because they just love the feeling?

Am i right?

[whyterabbyt]

Do the big hardware companys sell alot? Just a question. Curious to know.

Anyone who knows for real?

Its millions of software synths these days!

But i think people go more for software synths because they r much cheaper.

And those who want more nostalgia buy hardware because they just love the feeling?

Am i right?

No.

[SLiC]

I agree. Software modulars are horrible to use - apart from Bitwig Grid! It is an absolute joy for me the way you connect things dragging the modules into position and swapping them etc, it is a new way to use modular synths for me using a screen to its advantages rather than fiddly mouse patching.. I really dislike things like VCV and the endless choice of modules. I did build quite a few too and do miss the Serge Resonant filter and things like that but way more productive with software now. Also my case ended up with loads of little screens in it and multi function modules.. was less fun to use than a laptop in the end.

Yup... Bitwig's Grid was an eye opener. It is so much faster and more fluid than other software modulars. After getting used the the Grid, I stopped using other software modulars.

Yes, and I am starting to feel the new built in effects are also better than most of the 3rd party FX plugins I was using...maybe it is the 'all in one DAW' will kill of the need for additional 'software plugins'?!

[PieBerger]

Do the big hardware companys sell alot? Just a question. Curious to know.

Anyone who knows for real?

Its millions of software synths these days!

But i think people go more for software synths because they r much cheaper.

And those who want more nostalgia buy hardware because they just love the feeling?

Am i right?

Pure speculation here, but I wonder if the democratisation of synthesis by way of affordable, high quality VSTs, combined with cheaper and more readily components (compared to the 70s/80s) and therefore lower manufacturing costs and selling prices, is the reason for the modern hardware resurgence.

People like physical stuff, it's not just a nostalgia thing but hardware has historically been out of reach for the majority of people for many years and the barriers that existed before just aren't there any more. Of course premium analog polys are still out of reach for most people, but £200 for a Behringer clone to noodle around on and take a break from staring at a computer screen etc. is very much accessible for the masses.

[SLiC]

And those who want more nostalgia buy hardware because they just love the feeling?
Am i right?

People who buy hardware are often musicians that play live and/or value the integrated and immediate hands on optimised for 1 thing approach of hardware. Some people just prefer 'real' to 'virtual' and dislike sitting down at a desk with a computer and mouse like a glorified accountant! (no offence to accountants)

You will note that developers keep copying hardware and making software look and operate like the hardware...it's a stupid paradigm that has persisted for decades based on an assumption (by developers?) that people are 'pretending' they have hardware...every GUI in software should just be sliders with plant clear GUI's, but most is 'fake' hardware layouts, makes me think people still secretly covert hardware.

[Atlatnesiti]

I have countless Vst’s and Au’s from Arturia, Roland, NI, KORG and many others.
I’ve owned over many years hardware synths from above mentioned and sold them all.
My existing studio setup consists of only one master keyboard - NI Kontrol S49 and NI Machine Micro.
Everything else is software based running on the latest Mac Studio.
I can understand that hardware synths still play major role in live performance setup situations but, for my studio only use, they’re redundant

[chk071]

Its millions of software synths these days!

There aren't millions of software synths, rather a few thousands (if even). And that's also the figures they sell in. A few thousand licenses. At least the big names.

And, no, I don't think the hardware companies sell more, rather less.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

I play piano with one finger
I will buy and use hardware synth for sound design and production,if some day hear superior sound and see better workflow build in,but this probably will never happened,so hardware synths r just a another hobby for people with well paid job imho:)
Cheers

[chk071]

I will buy and use hardware synth for sound design and production,if some day hear superior sound and see better workflow build in

If you want to hear superior sound, go to a store, and play a (good) analog synth. If you want better workflow, no, you won't find it in hardware.

As the latter is very important to me, and more current software synths do a great job on the first, I don't feel inclined to change anytime soon.

And, I know myself, if I ever decide to go the hardware route, I want to have more than one hardware, so I will run into space constraints, and cable management constraints, and, ultimately, money constraints... And then, one day, I might decide that it all isn't for me anymore, and I ended up with a shed load of hardware I have to sell. No no. Maybe one machine which I really lust for, but, surely not exclusively.

[YnJ]

At home I prefer software, I've always used hardware synths when playing live though. If Markus Krause ever makes commercial hardware versions of Electra or Nemesis I'll get them

[vurt]

I play piano with one finger
I will buy and use hardware synth for sound design and production,if some day hear superior sound and see better workflow build in,but this probably will never happened,so hardware synths r just a another hobby for people with well paid job imho:)
Cheers

i don't even know where to begin, so ill just

[YnJ]

My annual income is less than the average income for my age group, I can still afford a decent hardware synth

[BONES]

I have hardware on stage because I think it looks cool. It's basically set decoration. I don't need it, using it makes things a lot more complicated but I do it because that's what I've always done. Which is to say that those of us who do it are basically just f**king idiots.

Do the big hardware companys sell alot? Just a question. Curious to know.
Anyone who knows for real?
Its millions of software synths these days!
But i think people go more for software synths because they r much cheaper.
And those who want more nostalgia buy hardware because they just love the feeling?
Am i right?

Pretty much. Most of them sound more and more like hoarders to me. They probably also have some amazing BNiB Star Wars memorabilia, too.

People like physical stuff, it's not just a nostalgia thing but hardware has historically been out of reach for the majority of people for many years and the barriers that existed before just aren't there any more.

Not really. An SH101 was $450 in 1985 when I bought mine and I picked up my used Korg Delta for around $200, I think. My used Arp Axxe was about the same. When I eventually went to MIDI, I came back from a deployment in Hong Kong with a CZ-101, a Yamaha QX-7 sequencer and two or three half-rack Boss FX units, with a bespoke rack/stand, and the whole lot cost me less than a grand.

You will note that developers keep copying hardware and making software look and operate like the hardware...

Yeah, because customers will fall over themselves to get it. It's all about supply and demand.

it's a stupid paradigm that has persisted for decades based on an assumption (by developers?) that people are 'pretending' they have hardware...

Wait on, first you say you don't want to feel like an accountant, now you're suggesting softsynths would be better if they were more like spreadheets. Make up your mind. Hardware synth didn't develop in isolation , they were always being made for people to use. So it stands to reason that what works in hardware will work in software, too. I mean, what could be more like a laptop with a MIDI controller than an ARP 2600? They are far more the same than they are different.

every GUI in software should just be sliders with plant clear GUI's,

Most of them are, in my experience. maybe with a little embellishment but comparatively few slave themselves to a hardware paradigm if there's a better way to do something.

makes me think people still secretly covert hardware

Or maybe we want all the good things about hardware without having to put up with all the shit that goes with it?