U-He Repro 5 Vs Softube Model 80 - Blind Test Comparisons + Settings to Match Them

[zvenx]

Anyway..
I took plugmon transfered presets, disabled all effets.. tried to balance levels by ear.
Three different set of instruments.. same midi, one I played whilst hearing the repro-5 and two I heard whilst playing the model 80 (I think playing whilst hearing gives that instrument an advantage).

One track is without drums and I added drums which is most likely how they would be heard in a commercial song... no eq, no compressors, no limiters nothing...


48 Khz 24 bit Wave files.

Without Drums:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1m02d5mrrfr54 ... 5.wav?dl=0

With Drums:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vcqfb04223zx0 ... s.wav?dl=0


as usual with kvr, you have to right click and use a different tab to play them.
rsp

[zvenx]

My two cents.
I have bought both.
Clearly I have way more time and experience with the Repro one.

Advantages of the Model 80 for me is:

1) The layout is more akin to what I remember of the Prophet 5 that I had daily access to for 2 or so years...I didn't much use it to be honest though, the one I had access too was notoriously unstable AND I also had access to Rolands which I much preferred the sound of.

2) It does sound a tinsey winsey more like a raw analog synth than the repro which does sound a bit polished to my ears... there will be times when I favour one over the other.

Advantages of Repro:
1)The fantastic effects with it.
2) More voices than 5.
3) Better Cpu usage on my system even with HQ on..
4) Much Much more presets.
5) I know down the road u-he will add even more to it, softube doesn't seem to be so inclined in general.

If I was a real prophet fan I could use either though.
as is I still can use either at different times.

I am pretty sure if I listen back to my audio above in 3-4 weeks time without looking at the DAW project to remember the order, I myself probably couldn't tell which was which.

rsp

[Etienne1973]

@zwenx

My guess: Repro-5 then 2 times Model 80

[zvenx]

I PM'ed you the answers.
Thanks for listening.
rsp

[chk071]

Dunno about the first and the third one, but, I'm pretty sure that the second is Model 80. The Softube synths are all very clicky.

[zvenx]

Thanks for listening.
Just to be clear there are three pairs, that is each pair has repro and a model 80.....so I assume when people give one answer they are saying that their answer is the first of the pair in each of the three instances.

So one of the 1-1 Brass is model 80 and one is repro,
one of the solid bases is model 80 and one is repro
and one of the subwhateverthepatchisnamed is model 80 and the one is repro.
rsp

[Produkt_Audio]

Guys look at the very end of the video the blind test answers are there at 15:14...

INDIVIDUALS

RESONANT SWEEP
A - MODEL 80
B - REPRO 5


2. PWM BASS
A - MODEL 80
B - REPRO 5


3. OPEN PWM-SAW-NOISE LEAD
A - REPRO 5
B - MODEL 80


4. RESONANT FAST ENV SQUARE BASS
A - REPRO 5
B - MODEL 80


5. OSCILLATOR FM
A - MODEL 80
B - REPRO 5

6. FILTER FM
A - MODEL 80
B - REPRO 5


JAM TRACK
A - REPRO 5
B - MODEL 80


also there is nothing biased, I said im going to be releasing the same presets for Repro 5 so its not like im trying to make either synth sound one way or another

a huge important key also for Repro5 is to use the "rounded" filter.. tbh the poly filter default init sounds just bad to my ears, the cutoff jumps like crazy per note, totally unstable, its very odd.. you can hear in starskys in the mix video how the repro sounds like its warbling everywhere vs stability of softube and prophet 5 immediately the rounded filter sounds "on" and correct and sounds like the filter chip of softube.

also I Think Plugmon was off here in saying that the way to get repro sounding the same is saturation, ive tried it and it distorts the signal, and doesnt sound the same, the way is changing the filter to rounded.

Also Im willing to go with Urs here in saying the difference could amount to the difference between two hardware units.. thats how close i personally think it is

[BBFG#]

Guys look at the very end of the video the blind test answers are there at 15:14...

INDIVIDUALS

RESONANT SWEEP
A - MODEL 80
B - REPRO 5


2. PWM BASS
A - MODEL 80
B - REPRO 5


3. OPEN PWM-SAW-NOISE LEAD
A - REPRO 5
B - MODEL 80


4. RESONANT FAST ENV SQUARE BASS
A - REPRO 5
B - MODEL 80


5. OSCILLATOR FM
A - MODEL 80
B - REPRO 5

6. FILTER FM
A - MODEL 80
B - REPRO 5


JAM TRACK
A - REPRO 5
B - MODEL 80


also there is nothing biased, I said im going to be releasing the same presets for Repro 5 so its not like im trying to make either synth sound one way or another

a huge important key also for Repro5 is to use the "rounded" filter.. tbh the poly filter default init sounds just bad to my ears, the cutoff jumps like crazy per note, totally unstable, its very odd.. you can hear in starskys in the mix video how the repro sounds like its warbling everywhere vs stability of softube and prophet 5 immediately the rounded filter sounds "on" and correct and sounds like the filter chip of softube.

also I Think Plugmon was off here in saying that the way to get repro sounding the same is saturation, ive tried it and it distorts the signal, and doesnt sound the same, the way is changing the filter to rounded.

Also Im willing to go with Urs here in saying the difference could amount to the difference between two hardware units.. thats how close i personally think it is

It appears I preferred Repro in every test I could discern a difference then.
Whether it was "exacting" is always secondary to what just "grabs" me.

[zerocrossing]

"So that the repro would be a "far, far better overall instrument" may be your view, but not for the user that has the sound of the synthesizer as the first priority.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that some characteristic of one synthesizer will make people forget its limitations. Model 80's capabilities are a subset of what RePro can do, so while one might get all in a tizzy about how it can sound "better," one could leave it in the dust by creating a great sound that Model 80 could not even attempt.

I personally don't really care that much about accuracy, because I'm not asking myself "should I buy a Prophet 5 r3 or Repro?" The r3 wouldn't work in my world for the same reasons the Model 80 doesn't.

I will say one other thing, and that's that I prefer the sound of my Prophet 6 a lot of the time over Repro. Obviously the 6 isn't a 5, but I notice the sound of Repro is a bit muted in the high frequencies when using the filter, giving it a bit more of a focused kind of sound, where my 6 sounds a bit more "open." This is confirmed when I tune the filters identically using cranked resonance and then turning it back down and matching the levels of both the fundemental and the resonance. It's not really obvious in Bitwig's spectrum analyzer, but even my old ears can hear it. It's not some extreme thing, and something that wouldn't really matter in a busy mix, but in a sparse mix or along, it's definitely something. I can also get the filter FM sounding a lot meater on the 6, where on Repro it sounds a honkier, for lack of a better word.

But in the day to day when I'm creating patches to each of their strengths, they're both lovely instruments.

[zvenx]

....

it was hebex that said this not me.
rsp

[AdvancedFollower]

Go to a hifi-forum, for example, there are endless discussions over the last 1-2%, or less...

Hifi forums are the last place anyone will find useful information about sound quality.

That's just because you haven't bought that $1000 audiophile networking cable, so the Youtube video isn't coming across as intended. The 1's are less one-y and the 0's aren't as clean, leading to distorted sound. No wonder you can't tell the difference between Model 80 and Repro 5.

[gauderbock]

That's just because you haven't bought that $1000 audiophile networking cable, so the Youtube video isn't coming across as intended. The 1's are less one-y and the 0's aren't as clean, leading to distorted sound. No wonder you can't tell the difference between Model 80 and Repro 5.

The hifi dudes don't have golden ears, they have platinum ears and we mortals just can't compete.

[izonin]

RePro's oscillators have a slightly artificial sizzle in the high frequencies. Softube's are spot on. Maybe Urs has re-capped the Prophet he used as a model, giving it more energy in the upper freqs.

[Urs]

RePro's oscillators have a slightly artificial sizzle in the high frequencies. Softube's are spot on. Maybe Urs has re-capped the Prophet he used as a model, giving it more energy in the upper freqs.

I'm not sure what you mean, but I might have a hunch.

If we find the time to show our process, we'll certainly talk about the quirks of the VCO chip, which indeed adds a spike to some outputs, albeit one that is barely audible due to filtering thereafter.

Maybe others have chosen to omit this in their models? But if it's audible and character defining, wouldn't it be necessarily important in regards of accuracy?

[izonin]

RePro's oscillators have a slightly artificial sizzle in the high frequencies. Softube's are spot on. Maybe Urs has re-capped the Prophet he used as a model, giving it more energy in the upper freqs.

I'm not sure what you mean, but I might have a hunch.

If we find the time to show our process, we'll certainly talk about the quirks of the VCO chip, which indeed adds a spike to some outputs, albeit one that is barely audible due to filtering thereafter.

Maybe others have chosen to omit this in their models? But if it's audible and character defining, wouldn't it be necessarily important in regards of accuracy?

It's great to have variety. I'm sure that your modeling is perfect, and recreates that little spike exactly the way it is in the hardware you have measured. For some sounds though, I prefer the rounder, vintage tone of Softube's oscillators.