Would You Not Buy A Synth Because It's Not Skinnable?

[THE INTRANCER]

What thread was this from?

It came up in the DUNE v HIVE thread and seemed like something worthy of a separate discussion.

If the GUI is so stupid that you don’t understand a thing you’re doing, yes, maybe I’ll leave this synth to people who enjoy that mindf#ck.

Now that's something I have read, more than once, in relation to Olga. The thing for me, though, is that I love Olga's GUI, every part of it.

For me, it depends.
1. In how it looks by default.
2. How it functions, i.e (being able to scale up and down to adjust to resolutions)
... acceptable legibility at 1440p but doesn't have a skinning function, I would buy it.
... acceptable legibility at 1080p but doesn't have a skinning function, I might buy it.
... acceptable legibility at 1440p and has a skinning function, I would buy it.

What I read here is that you allow your monitor to decide which plugins you will use, rather than choosing your plugins and finding a monitor that works for them. To me that is totally arse-about.

I use a 1080P monitor with a graphics card that can force up the resolution to 4K if needs be, but the practicality is more like 1440P. It's actually the plugins that determine what resolution I use for my DAW, because if the plugins don't scale, I might need to use 1080P to use them properly. I simply don't have the desk space to use a bigger size monitor than the 24" I use. If needs be I can use my other 24" monitor as an extra screen that sits next to it. If I'm using Native Instruments instruments, I will change the resolution to 1080P.
It saves space and money at the end of the day.

[Vortifex]

..

[kritikon]

Same here. If it sounds good I'm likely to use it but not if the GUI is utterly unusable. But the skinability is way down on the list. For things like the old OhmForce plugins - if they hadn't offered those proper GUIs and only used the silly ones with indecipherable controls then I would never have bought any of them. If they had sold them with the silly skins but potential to skin them into something sensible...I probably wouldn't buy cos basically I shouldn't have to dick around changing the GUI (unless it's a simple mouse click). I'm not a coder or even close, so it's not my job to make it look usable. Offer me a shit product and I won't be interested. If it looks shit, I assume it's shit. Not worth spending any brain power on it IMO. Offer me a chocolate bar that looks like a turd - you're asking for me to not eat it. Pretty obvs innit?

[Synthman2000]

No one sees your synth skin when they hear you music. It's only your problem, literally the last thing I consider, in fact I don't even consider it. I give the developer some respect about their own choice of GUI character as long as I like the synth itself.

Vanguard2 is a slightly different case as it is an almost identical synth from 2004 so given its retro credentials it does not seem complete without looking like it did back then. It's the only synth where I have even thought about GUI... other than is this tricky or not and I just put up with it any as part of the synth character.

What did people do when we had hardware only, reject the synth cause of its colour ? No they got on with making music.

[ramseysounds]

But you dont hear the gui you hear the sound. Just another 1st world problem for entitled snowflakes imo

[BONES]

I use a 1080P monitor with a graphics card that can force up the resolution to 4K if needs be, but the practicality is more like 1440P. It's actually the plugins that determine what resolution I use for my DAW, because if the plugins don't scale, I might need to use 1080P to use them properly. I simply don't have the desk space to use a bigger size monitor than the 24" I use. If needs be I can use my other 24" monitor as an extra screen that sits next to it. If I'm using Native Instruments instruments, I will change the resolution to 1080P.
It saves space and money at the end of the day.

Or you could just run at 1080 all the time and not have to f**k about.

[vurt]

What thread was this from? I know the mod had to come in the Vanguard thread twice and clean up the mess related to skins. I know there are people who feel really strongly about skins, I didn't realize there were people who felt really strong against skins. Anyway, skinning is a very hot button issue, and any time I touch skinning code I know support is going to blow up if I break any skins.

no, it's not about being anti skins or skinning
in intrancers thread, his comparison started with how skinnable hive is compared to diva, as point one.
i was just surprised being skinnable, came before any mention of sound related stuff. which made me wonder, if a synth sounded great, had a good and usable gui, but wasn't skinnable would someone pass it by?

as i said on the other thread, of course ive walked away from synths that i feel don't have a usable gui, ive used alternative skins, so im not suggesting there is no reason for visual aesthetic.

[Scotty]

I can live with a good sounding synth with a poor gui but I have to be able to see the controls. Skins are nice but not a deal breaker in their absence.

[machinesworking]

Don't care at all whether a skin is 2D, scheuomorphic etc. Mostly if it's too small for even 1080p then I've got a problem with it, so resizable GUIs, or decent sized GUI's are more important to me. Squinting at a screen to tweak a plug in isn't any fun here.

[kritikon]

But you dont hear the gui you hear the sound. Just another 1st world problem for entitled snowflakes imo

So we should all use any old crap product just because you're a grumpy old misanthrope.
Oysters taste kinda OK though not particularly nice - swallowable at best is what I'd call them. But they go down the throat like semen - salty, slimey. Obvs I should just put up with eating something that reminds me of semen cos I'm an entitled snowflake 58 yr old. I don't eat semen, so why on earth should I use shite product? If the GUI is shite then it's shite - don't see why I should have any obligation to use it or want it.

And

[kritikon]

Oh yeah, I forgot...

[vurt]

Oh yeah, I forgot...

would you like some sausage for those rolls?

[T-CM11]

What I read here is that you allow your monitor to decide which plugins you will use, rather than choosing your plugins and finding a monitor that works for them. To me that is totally arse-about.

And thus stop choosing plugins after finding that monitor?

[machinesworking]

What I read here is that you allow your monitor to decide which plugins you will use, rather than choosing your plugins and finding a monitor that works for them. To me that is totally arse-about.

There are legit gripes with certain plug ins. NI just recently released the update for FM8, VST3 and and M1 ready etc. No GUI changes, the old tiny GUI is useable but barely IMO on a 1080p system. It's at this point ridiculous to think about running any resolution smaller than 1920x1080. This sort of thing though is why I don't bother upgrading my monitors, it's obvious that anything over 1080p is a problem for certain plug ins, unless you're an owl.

[T-CM11]

the old tiny GUI is useable but barely IMO on a 1080p system.

And all 1080P screens are the same size in your universe?

Plugins can have a fixed resolution, never a fixed size.