Albino 3 returns.....

[Neon Breath]

I was running it cracked for a long time because it was discontinued. But I will be happy to buy it of course. Legendary synth.

Nice, best way to introduce yourself with a first post dude. Rock on!

[chk071]

And now I get Youtube video recommendations about Albino 3 cracks, just because I quoted that post...

Although, the algorithms can't be that smart, can they? Doesn't even say Albino 3 in the quote.

Weird coincidence though.

[syntonica]

I was running it cracked for a long time because it was discontinued. But I will be happy to buy it of course. Legendary synth.

Nice, best way to introduce yourself with a first post dude. Rock on!

When your first post is also your last.

[Nug Wrangler]

[Jac459]

....

Although, the algorithms can't be that smart, can they?
.....

Do you want the non-scary answer or the honest one ?

[MetroSonus]

Not every sound from a synth that is great requires deep filtering. A good filter is important but personally the high pedestal which filters have been placed is somewhat over played.
It very much depends on the sound being made or played so many don't depend much on a filter, even less so with high resonance.

Well said!

At KVR every synth is reduced to its filters even though they're just one element in the whole of synthesis. Subtractive synthesis is just one form of synthesis but the myopic view here is that's it's the only form of synthesis.

Not every patch even needs a filter. I've done so many patches that don't use a filter than I've long since lost count.

I find it sad that if a filter doesn't sound like someone stepping on a cat's tail then it's considered "bad" but I guess that's the local crowd for you. Everyone is trying to be the next Skrillex.

I'm willing to bet in vst land most people just assume that oscillators are based on the same simple mathematical formulas to generate output and they conclude that the filter must have more nuance and attention given to it that gives it unique character and that overall and more or less you're choosing a vst for 1 it's feature set and 2 its filter(s).

I don't entirely disagree. But I also think gain staging is quite important and there are plenty of vsts out there with equal attention given to the oscillators too.

[Teksonik]

more or less you're choosing a vst for 1 it's feature set and 2 its filter(s).

I choose a synth for:

1. The overall sound quality
2. The range of sounds it can make

The filter is simply one element in the overall sound of a synth. The importance of filters is overblown here at KVR because it's assumed all synthesis is subtractive. That's where the myopia comes in.

The whole of synthesis goes way beyond an analog waveform through a filter.

[chk071]

Interesting thesis, considering the term "subtractive synthesis".

I would venture the guess that most in today's music is subtractive synthesis, and that most of the sounds in that involve filters. So, it's a very common and important thing, to use subtractive synthesis with filters.

[MetroSonus]

more or less you're choosing a vst for 1 it's feature set and 2 its filter(s).

I choose a synth for:

1. The overall sound quality
2. The range of sounds it can make

The filter is simply one element in the overall sound of a synth. The importance of filters is overblown here at KVR because it's assumed all synthesis is subtractive. That's where the myopia comes in.

The whole of synthesis goes way beyond an analog waveform through a filter.

Well you add a filter onto anything and it becomes subtractive

I was more responding to the idea that the filter IS the sound for most people and I can kind of understand why that is, that's all I was saying.

And you're correct, there are lots more things out there that are quite interesting too and I also think there's more to a synth than just the filters.

[chk071]

Sure a synth is more than a filter. The world is more than black and white too.

I definitely think it's the sound defining thing in subtractive or wavetable synths though. Teksonik actually proved that more than once, by posting example comparisons of raw waveforms, which are nearly indistinguishable on most synths.

[Synthman2000]

Not every sound from a synth that is great requires deep filtering. A good filter is important but personally the high pedestal which filters have been placed is somewhat over played.
It very much depends on the sound being made or played so many don't depend much on a filter, even less so with high resonance.

Well said!

At KVR every synth is reduced to its filters even though they're just one element in the whole of synthesis. Subtractive synthesis is just one form of synthesis but the myopic view here is that's it's the only form of synthesis.

Not every patch even needs a filter. I've done so many patches that don't use a filter than I've long since lost count.

I find it sad that if a filter doesn't sound like someone stepping on a cat's tail then it's considered "bad" but I guess that's the local crowd for you. Everyone is trying to be the next Skrillex.

I'm willing to bet in vst land most people just assume that oscillators are based on the same simple mathematical formulas to generate output and they conclude that the filter must have more nuance and attention given to it that gives it unique character and that overall and more or less you're choosing a vst for 1 it's feature set and 2 its filter(s).

I don't entirely disagree. But I also think gain staging is quite important and there are plenty of vsts out there with equal attention given to the oscillators too.

We have wavetable synthesis where you can obtain significant changes without a filter just by scrolling through the WT itself. Also synths that have a form of either PCM or something labelled a "wave" like Predator does for the oscillator. Here we quickly depart from the timbres created by basic "analogue" shapes. Depending on the synth of course at oscillator level there is often a lot that can be done to produce a sounds texture before it moves onwards to a filter.

Rapid has plug ins that can manipulate the wavetable and Serums has plenty of options at oscillator level as well. RP synths have spread which is a bit like unison and beyond.
Rapid's filters are not superb they get a bit cutting as resonance goes up.

I presume you mean oscillator volume level into filter as far as gain staging / and or drive level. Drive does not always give you want you might expect I find, each synth sounds a bit different with drive.

I have been working with sounds that are not basic shape analogue recently so filter has been less important and why it feels easier to bring this up. Many other worldly textures come from oscillator level. I don't necessarily mean atonal sounds either i.e. you can still play a chord with them, it's just the texture is nothing like basic wave forms. I may dig out an example or 2 and upload.

It really depends what you are doing and needing for any given piece of music. Always demo the synths before hand, if there is one, no synth is guaranteed to be a hit with any individual or music type/need.

[Synthman2000]

I use sub oscillators, spread, symmetry, oscillator morph both the internal synth effects and external on synths and make sounds that do not even have a filter active in the synth.
Filters are important but you don't strictly need them to make great sounds.

[Teksonik]

I was more responding to the idea that the filter IS the sound for most people and I can kind of understand why that is, that's all I was saying.

I was just responding to the notion that a filter is the most important part of synthesis for "most people".

That's probably because many people around here are analog troglodytes.

There are thousands upon thousands of patches including countless ones of mine that don't even use a filter.

For just one example, the DX7 doesn't have a filter but it has been responsible for an untold number of tracks and it helped define the sound of an era. I can hear someone pounding away at their keyboard "but you can simulate a filter to some degree in a DX7" yes, but the point is it doesn't have an analog filter and didn't need one.

Maybe it's because I grew up using analog hardware and younger people are just experiencing it for the first time.

I still like a nice filter and subtractive analog style patch but I don't immediately and automatically reduce every synth down to it's filter as we see done here time after time.

Take Albino the subject of this thread as an example. It's capable of making a ton of great sounding presets without ever getting near a filter but that does require us to expand our grasp of synthesis beyond subtractive.

If one's definition of synthesis is limited to subtractive then the sounds they have on their palette will be limited as well. Some may be fine with that, I simply am not....

[Teksonik]

Sure a synth is more than a filter. The world is more than black and white too.

I definitely think it's the sound defining thing in subtractive or wavetable synths though. Teksonik actually proved that more than once, by posting example comparisons of raw waveforms, which are nearly indistinguishable on most synths.

The key words there? "Raw waveforms". Yes by definition they all should be nearly indistinguishable. But we aren't limited to raw waveforms in 2023. In 1973 maybe but not now.

But even with a raw saw wave we can apply Unison and Spread and end up with an really nice sound without filtering anything out. Same with Wavetables. We can sweep them or otherwise modulate them to get great sounds that don't need to be filtered. Even more so if the Wavetable engine allows Osc effects and so on and on and on....

[achtnullacht]

It’s Linplug’s best synth and I hope Papen’s “in-house programmers” don’t mess with it that much. A bigger gui will be nice.

For those of us who already own it, Albino 3 never disappeared. It’s been working great, and even works on Sonoma + Apple Silicon. A native version will be great though.

i love albino and it's support is great but spectral is at least as good.