The Mysterious Synapse-Audio HZ

[chk071]

I haven't been keeping up, is there any guess at a release date for this?

2024.

[cytospur]

If it's good, no one will care about the name. Obsession, The Legend, you could say the same about those. Cytomic has The Scream, The Drop, The Glue, you could say the same for those. No one cares. The products are good.

Presumably the dev cares

as much as any parent i imagine.
and remember, some parents name their kids some weird shit!

Such as 'vurt'?

thats both rude, and uninformed!
vurt is not my given full name, its short for intravurtopolis.

Please accept my apologies. All I can say is I was very, very drunk

[osiris]

Augur.

Already taken (nice synth too)

https://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/down ... are/Augur/

I thought it sounded familiar.

[Ou_Tis]

Aside from adding features like MSEG, did they do anything to improve the sound quality? It sounds a lot worse than the hardware:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NBJuQVtPwA

Even in Synapse Audio's own test, it's lacking the saturation and complexity of the hardware:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIPu2Su-V9Q&t=12s

... though I guess some of the new stuff could help compensate by adding saturation---or at least complexity....

Also, will it have MPE controls for Pressure and Y Axis/Slide (aka "Timbre") set up?

Personally I'm not that into old analog synths, especially not ones from the 70's (probably the least appealing synth decade for me). But the Dune 2 connection and new features make it seem modern in an interesting way. Plus the massive influence the Minimoog has had on so many subsequent synths. But for bass in particular I prefer the modern Moog sound of Mariana (among other bass sounds...).

[zvenx]

The first video you posted (done by Kevin I believe) I can hear the difference between the hardware and the software.
The second one that I am 99.99% sure was done by BigTone, I couldn't really tell the difference and in a blind fold test I am pretty sure I couldn't tell the difference.

So for me Legend was ok...I had issues with the factory bank (I ended up doing quite a few of my own which were the ones I used when I used Legend), the Gui shape and size and rearrangement of elements since I had used a minimoog for quite awhile years ago so muscle memory was important for me... Whilst I did prefer the sound and presets in Monark, the load Reaktor first was an unnecessary pain in the ass for me...
Once Model 72 came out, both Legend and Monark got shelved for me.


Without giving out any info that I don't think is already out there... I really really like Legend HZ, it (and Dune 3) are the only Synapse synths that are in my Prime Time vst collection list as I call them (my go to, first call lists of vsts).

It is not only a lot more flexible than The Classic Legend, feature wise (already mentioned), but the presets are a lot more modern (for obvious reasons, I think KS and HZ made them for use in actual movies HZ has done... according to a KS post on vi-control, when it is released there will also be an HZ video speaking about it).. so once I got past, this will not be my go to minimoog bass and lead replacement synth, but instead thinking of it as a great sounding very versatile analogue emulation synth, I fell in love with it.

ymmv when it is released.
rsp

[seafire]

The first video you posted (done by Kevin I believe) I can hear the difference between the hardware and the software.
The second one that I am 99.99% sure was done by BigTone, I couldn't really tell the difference and in a blind fold test I am pretty sure I couldn't tell the difference.

Good reason for that.

Legend is modelled on BTs Mini, KS is playing either his own, or HZs mini.

[Ou_Tis]

the presets are a lot more modern (for obvious reasons, I think KS and HZ made them for use in actual movies HZ has done...

But I'm a little concerned that the new presets might all (or almost all) be very "cinematic"... though I do like including cinematic elements, and hip-hop has helped popularize the use of cinematic elements in (non-soundtrack) songs, and "cinematic" can cover a wide range of styles, I'm interested in making songs, not (generally) soundtracks.

[zvenx]

When it is released you can judge for yourself if the presets are useful for you.

For me they are.
rsp

[zvenx]

....

Legend is modelled on BTs Mini, KS is playing either his own, or HZs mini.

Indeed...
Plus for my tastes, BT is a better sound designer and for sure seems (only based on the presets I have heard from both on different synths) better at doing analog vintage sounds.

rsp

[seafire]

Agreed

[seafire]

the presets are a lot more modern (for obvious reasons, I think KS and HZ made them for use in actual movies HZ has done...

But I'm a little concerned that the new presets might all (or almost all) be very "cinematic"...

I would imagine as it is a collaboration with HZ, this is highly likely.

On the plus side, the additions to the original Legend should make it a more powerful/interesting tool for sound design outside of that category.

[zvenx]

....
On the plus side, the additions to the original Legend should make it a more powerful/interesting tool for sound design outside of that category.

Yes..
rsp

[briefcasemanx]

Aside from adding features like MSEG, did they do anything to improve the sound quality? It sounds a lot worse than the hardware:

Oh, so you mean it's exactly like every single software synth emulation ever made?

[vurt]

I haven't been keeping up, is there any guess at a release date for this?

2024.

or sooner.

[Ou_Tis]

Aside from adding features like MSEG, did they do anything to improve the sound quality? It sounds a lot worse than the hardware:

Oh, so you mean it's exactly like every single software synth emulation ever made?

I like the Youtube demo of their Oberheim a lot more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pACWUTCv5zs

But yeah, still not quite as good as the hardware when the patches are matched (this comparison plays the same piece with the hardware two times then the software two times):

http://www.synapse-audio.com/obxa-comparisons.zip

For one, the high end on the pads is smoother for the hardware, for the software the high ends sounds harsher and more elevated (aliasing maybe?). In the second example the hardware again sounds smoother, while the low end in the software seems disjointed from the rest. Still, that Youtube demo sounds very good, and not excessively cheesy like a lot of vintage 70's stuff (or the factory presets in Diva, the vast majority of which I don't like at all).

Incidentally I just noticed it's 43% off now at Thomann (so $56). Supports MPE but I'd assume the presets don't already have Pressure/Aftertouch and Slide/Y axis/Timbre mapped? Doing that myself for every preset gets really tedious... if The Legend HZ doesn't already have MPE mappings set up that will be a major negative. I think I got the Plugin Alliance Oberheim for free but it doesn't support MPE so I haven't bothered with it yet.


[Edit: come to think of it, I also got the Arturia Minimoog for free and haven't bothered installing it. But I'll be sure to do shoot-out between The Legend HZ, Arturia, Diva, and some Moog-like Generate patches, and maybe multisampled Minimoog patches if I have any somewhere.]

[Second edit: I was mistaken about the Oberheim modeled for Obsession being from the 70's; it's based on the Ob-Xa which was released in 1981.]