UAD PolyMAX - This thing is Sick

[Lbdunequest]

If you can make great sounds with this synth that means the filter is great. End of story.

You can make great sounds with a DX7. That means it must have a great filter too

Yes it does. In my 18 years of making music i still dont understand this obsession with filters. It doesnt sound productive to obsess.

[drunken jesus]

Are you drunk?

When you initiate fillter cutoff either its low pass or high pass it naturaly lowers the output amplitude. So in this case every synth has a bug. It just physics.

Obviously, but I never used a synth where cutoff linked to the master volume knob
(example: cutoff is at 100 master volume is at ~50%, attempt to move cutoff knob, BAM!!! volume is 100) can move the main volume knob independently but touching the cutoff kicks it back up to wherever the cutoff is

@Funkybot, no didn’t even have a controller hooked up was just moving them with a mouse, may be a savihost bug, I’ve noticed some issues with VST3s

[elxsound]

u-he does it. If I may paraphrase Urs, I think he said the filters that don’t compensate bass sound better, and that the bass compensation itself is what messes them up.

Of course, maybe UA messed up and went too far. I don’t use a lot of resonance with poly synths so I didn’t notice.

A 4 pole cascade filter with global feedback (eg Moog Transistor Ladder, Jupiter-8 OTA etc) will naturally attenuate the frequencies below the cutoff as resonance increases. This can be compensated by increasing the input volume, or by increasing the output volume, or a combination of both. Depending on how this is done, and where the non-linearities occur in the circuit it can change the tone of the filter - which is actually an important part of the sound of some filters.

As an example in the JP8 filter there is partial compensation through the resonance OTA, which changes the frequency response of the resonance signal before it hits a non-linearity, which changes the resonance tone considerably. This means the resonance doesn't get drowned out as easily by large input signal levels:



In digital it's trivial to increase the input volume to the filter automatically with resonance and it will be equivalent to turning up the level knobs on all the oscillator inputs together, which would not change the tone of the filter since the resonance path remains untouched.

Also I really don't think the synth geek crowd at KVR is the target audience for the PolyMAX. They are deliberately keeping things as basic as possible for their customer base, which I think is the right decision from them.

Damn, what the hell did I get myself into as a new UA customer? Something I should know? I was moving on from Waves, and have concerns about Plugin Alliance, via the whole NI merger and then buy-out.

But... I'm not in it for the synths. Polymax just got me in at a very affordable price.

[vitocorleone123]

If you can make great sounds with this synth that means the filter is great. End of story.

You can make great sounds with a DX7. That means it must have a great filter too

Yes it does. In my 18 years of making music i still dont understand this obsession with filters. It doesnt sound productive to obsess.

Well, they change the sound of a synth as you use them. Seems pretty obvious, no?

[audiouser720]

If you can make great sounds with this synth that means the filter is great. End of story.

You can make great sounds with a DX7. That means it must have a great filter too

Yes it does. In my 18 years of making music i still dont understand this obsession with filters. It doesnt sound productive to obsess.

You need more years in. In my 20 years of making music I already know that filters are the most important part of it. In every stage. Trust me. It will come. Just 2 more years and you shall be obsessed.

[plexuss]

If you can make great sounds with this synth that means the filter is great. End of story.

You can make great sounds with a DX7. That means it must have a great filter too

Yes it does. In my 18 years of making music i still dont understand this obsession with filters. It doesnt sound productive to obsess.

You need more years in. In my 20 years of making music I already know that filters are the most important part of it. In every stage. Trust me. It will come. Just 2 more years and you shall be obsessed.

I've been at it 45 years (no shit) and i am so over the filter thing now. modulation is what jazzes me. maybe in another 25 years you'll be jazzed to!

[martinjuenke]

I‘m 50 years in music and like the sound of water drops on oak wood. Better than filters and modulators for sure.

[Aloysius]

For me it depends on what type of wood the wooden cheeks are made of. Some resonate better than others. The best VSTi developers model this behavior in their designs.

[martinjuenke]

Yes, you’re feeling it more than hearing it, but it‘s definitely there!

[Uncle E]

I‘m 50 years in music and like the sound of water drops on oak wood. Better than filters and modulators for sure.

Wasn’t that how Faithless created their Pizzagogo sound?

[LFO8]

I‘m 50 years in music and like the sound of water drops on oak wood. Better than filters and modulators for sure.

That's nothing.. I'm 60 years in making music and the sound of snow falling yazzes my pants.

[zerocrossing]

For me it depends on what type of wood the wooden cheeks are made of. Some resonate better than others. The best VSTi developers model this behavior in their designs.

This is how the Great Guitar Tone-wood War spills over to the synthesizer world.

[plexuss]

I can hear the glue they use in assembly, in the sound of the synth.

[JoeCat]

Different synths for different folks, to paraphrase.

I usually find the low-end drop to be a feature for leads, whereby I often add just enough resonance to act as a bit of a high-pass. Works really well with some synths. For synths where you can modulate the resonance, it also provides another way to mod the bass response.

[dubguy99]

PolyMax is still my go-to for a lot of things. Just works.

Oscillators also sound amazing as sub bass.