Software vs Hardware

[cyberheater]

I relative recently bought a few analogue hardware synths because I wanted to see if there was anything magical about the sound compared to modern hardware. Yes it's nice to have lots of dedicated hardware knobs etc... but they are all getting sold again as they offer no sonic advantage over modern plugins.

[Gam456]

It's always mind-blowing to me when people dismiss plugins because they want a tactile experience and go hardware when they have to accept the linited controls that the manufacturer sets up for them in a fixed way and menu diving

I can tell you. Omnisphere with the hardware integration and my Novation Summit
It's another level

Btw my Summit boot in 3 sec and probably the best of two world, digital/analog

[foosnark]

People greatly overestimate the impact of technical issues (especially piddly stuff like updating plugins and drivers) on music making. I have a full-time job and i still released 43 albums on Bandcamp since 2018, using a hybrid of hardware (mostly modular) and software.

I won't say there were never technical issues, but they just have not been a serious factor. Most of the ones in music gear have come from buying cheap/used gear, or factory defects that needed to be corrected.

I have hardware synths that no software has accurately replicated yet, and possibly never will. Other gear where, setting the raw sound aside, the feel of using it just isn't going to be the same in software form, and that in turn affects the results I get.

I have software synths and effects that do things none of my dedicated hardware can do, and plenty of cases where a software version of a thing is much more practical/cheap/convenient than a hardware one would be.

I feel like it'd be stupid to buy a rack full of equalizers in a world where I can slap Toneboosters EQ Pro on every channel.

It would be equally stupid to sell my Make Noise Strega and then complain that there are still exactly zero delays in the software world that sound properly like a PT2399 chip being underclocked.

And yet the Doepfer Wasp filter in VCV rack is... perfect. And it doesn't have chips that are known to literally burn up. And I can throw six instances of it into a patch if I want to.

Feedback patching in hardware sounds fundamentally different than in software. But both are valid.

Noise Engineering offers both modules and plugins; sometimes the plugins are vastly more full-featured or easier to work with, and sometimes the modules are more inspiring and sound and/or feel better. It depends on the individual piece of gear.

There is no "vs."

[IvyBirds]

I can tell you. Omnisphere with the hardware integration and my Novation Summit
It's another level

Absolutely.

MIDI control in general is another level than any hardware synth if you actually care about a tactile experience. Over the next few years as MIDI 2.0 comes onto the scene with thousands of available CCs it will be even more so

[Examigan]

So basically, if you invested $200 in a soft synth, after some 8 years it's vaporized.

I can't think of any synth I've used from many years ago that seems to be vaporized by OS updates or anything like that. (I am a PC guy). The only one I can think of is Wusikstation, but it's not because I can't use it...I just don't want to use it anymore. I have too many other great synth plugins and don't even think of it anymore.

Also, I only have two hardware synths and don't even have them hooked up now. It's just way easier to use everything ITB. I do love the sound of those two I have, but they're just not as convenient.

[vurt]

It would be equally stupid to sell my Make Noise Strega

yes, you would!
/wanders off to plug all 8 outs of multimod in to strega and see what happens...

[El°HYM]

People greatly overestimate the impact of technical issues (especially piddly stuff like updating plugins and drivers) on music making. I have a full-time job and i still released 43 albums on Bandcamp since 2018, using a hybrid of hardware (mostly modular) and software.

I won't say there were never technical issues, but they just have not been a serious factor. Most of the ones in music gear have come from buying cheap/used gear, or factory defects that needed to be corrected.

I have hardware synths that no software has accurately replicated yet, and possibly never will. Other gear where, setting the raw sound aside, the feel of using it just isn't going to be the same in software form, and that in turn affects the results I get.

I have software synths and effects that do things none of my dedicated hardware can do, and plenty of cases where a software version of a thing is much more practical/cheap/convenient than a hardware one would be.

I feel like it'd be stupid to buy a rack full of equalizers in a world where I can slap Toneboosters EQ Pro on every channel.

It would be equally stupid to sell my Make Noise Strega and then complain that there are still exactly zero delays in the software world that sound properly like a PT2399 chip being underclocked.

And yet the Doepfer Wasp filter in VCV rack is... perfect. And it doesn't have chips that are known to literally burn up. And I can throw six instances of it into a patch if I want to.

Feedback patching in hardware sounds fundamentally different than in software. But both are valid.

Noise Engineering offers both modules and plugins; sometimes the plugins are vastly more full-featured or easier to work with, and sometimes the modules are more inspiring and sound and/or feel better. It depends on the individual piece of gear.

There is no "vs."

Hybrid is the way to go! Kind of silly that some people still thinking you have to choose one side. Both have advantages, so just pick your weapons, or best of two worlds. Then combine those and create your own unique musical biosphere.

[vurt]

People greatly overestimate the impact of technical issues (especially piddly stuff like updating plugins and drivers) on music making. I have a full-time job and i still released 43 albums on Bandcamp since 2018, using a hybrid of hardware (mostly modular) and software.

I won't say there were never technical issues, but they just have not been a serious factor. Most of the ones in music gear have come from buying cheap/used gear, or factory defects that needed to be corrected.

I have hardware synths that no software has accurately replicated yet, and possibly never will. Other gear where, setting the raw sound aside, the feel of using it just isn't going to be the same in software form, and that in turn affects the results I get.

I have software synths and effects that do things none of my dedicated hardware can do, and plenty of cases where a software version of a thing is much more practical/cheap/convenient than a hardware one would be.

I feel like it'd be stupid to buy a rack full of equalizers in a world where I can slap Toneboosters EQ Pro on every channel.

It would be equally stupid to sell my Make Noise Strega and then complain that there are still exactly zero delays in the software world that sound properly like a PT2399 chip being underclocked.

And yet the Doepfer Wasp filter in VCV rack is... perfect. And it doesn't have chips that are known to literally burn up. And I can throw six instances of it into a patch if I want to.

Feedback patching in hardware sounds fundamentally different than in software. But both are valid.

Noise Engineering offers both modules and plugins; sometimes the plugins are vastly more full-featured or easier to work with, and sometimes the modules are more inspiring and sound and/or feel better. It depends on the individual piece of gear.

There is no "vs."

Hybrid is the way to go! Kind of silly that some people still thinking you have to choose one side. Both have advantages, so just pick your weapons, or best of two worlds. Then combine those and create your own unique musical biosphere.

add some acoustic add youre good to go!

[El°HYM]

Sure thing. And also field recordings! But yepp OP specifically asked the War of the Worlds question.

[vurt]

Sure thing. And also field recordings! But yepp OP specifically asked the War of the Worlds question.

tune in next week, mac vs pc! the big debate!

[El°HYM]

Tune in another Week later. Semitone Vs. Whole tone, the ultimate debate.

[frag]

Of course, the real answer is that neither hardware or software matters unless we have the skill to use them.

I guess that's it. Both HW & SW have downsides and upsides.

The main reason why we worry about these electronic instruments is because we falsely believe that music is sound. It is not. Music requires harmony, structure and meaning. Even atonal, abstract music requires structure.
Good, memorable compositions do not depend on sound sources. You can play Chopin on any piano, or even other instruments, acoustic or electronic. I realized that I worried too much about instruments because I was focused on timbre, instead of structure and meaning.

I hope I will make at least a couple of tracks in my life which will be remembered.

[zerocrossing]

In 2025, virtual instruments sound so good that one doesn't even need to look at hardware.

Unless one prefers hands on bespoke interfaces, or unique feature sets and sonic character. For instance, there's nothing in software that sounds remotely like my Nina or PolyBrute.

Some VST-only synths sound better than most hardware, even when it comes to analog emulations.

What's "better?" Obviously an emulation of something can't sound more like the thing than the thing. Maybe you like how the emulation sounds, but that makes it a worse emulation, even though you prefer it. I had some dudes over to try and fix my furnace (failed) and they asked what I did and I told them I worked on video games and they went into a tirade about how so many of the new versions of the games they loved sucked because they tried to add too many improvements. Maybe a lot of people feel the new versions were better. It's not objective.

The problem is, In-the-box systems have quite limited life span. When you get DX7, JP-8000, or even older analog, it's not irrational to expect it will last you a lifetime. You bought it for the characteristic sound. Sure, some components go bad, but usually it's possible to replace them.

This is somewhat false and definitely misleading. It's trivial to keep an old computer running, if that's what you want. PCs and Macs were mass produced, where synths are a much tinier market, so if you want to replace the mother board on yh our DOS system, you can go on ebay and find one pretty easily. If your processor goes on your Andromeda, you're probably SOL. Hell, processors are so much faster now, that you may not need to keep an old computer running, as a modern computer can run a virtual machine to run your old software.

With PCs, it's different. I'd say you have 7-8 years on average before the system becomes outdated. Either you cannot use new instruments (including new versions of old VSTis) without issues, or computer components begin to malfunction, or both. So basically, if you invested $200 in a soft synth, after some 8 years it's vaporized. You bought nothing. On the other hand, if you got classic hardware for $2000, it's highly likely the value goes up after 8 years.

I've been running Zebra 2 since it came out, even though the machine I'm running it on is very different. It was so cheap that I could have bought it every 7-8 years since then and still not have spent nearly as much as it would have cost to buy a hardware version of it. I have a 2009 MacBook that still runs it just fine.

Also, the "likely" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that last sentence. Landfills are littered with synths that never took off that are not worth much at all. It's not a guarantee that you'll make money, usually you lose money even if the value holds or goes up, because of inflation. If you had put that money in index funds, you'd be way better off.

Hardware takes space, it's expensive, impractical to use (cables, audio recording, sync issues). But it lasts much longer than any PC. The sound you like stays with you.

I've been using both hardware and software for a very long time and both types of instruments have things that suck about them.

Personally, I don't have time to make music,

You could have instead of creating another thread about a topic that's been beaten to death on this forum.

Classical compositions are so good and stunning because usually composers worked with a limited, fixed set of physical instruments. I mean, they weren't exploring new version of piano every month.

I got into electronic music because I love exploring new tools, so that's a bonus for me. Things move a lot faster now, but at least we don't have to worry about bubonic plague... unless you know Don Jr. and ate some of the marmot meat he ate in China... even though it's banned because marmots are well known carriers of bubonic plague. He was so proud of breaking their laws and risking the plauge, he put it up on YouTube! Oh well!

[IvyBirds]

The thing about software synths is that if you can't use one anymore due to obsolescence, they're so cheap compared to hardware that buying a new one isn't a big deal and still far cheaper than buying its hardware equivalent.

And beyond that go on Reverb right now and see all the hardware synths being sold for hundreds if not thousands less than what people paid for them

What's the better play financially buy the $3500 hardware synth now and sell it in a few years for $2500? Or buy a software instrument for a few hundred bucks that might become obsolete or stop working at some point in the future and you lose a few hundred bucks ?

Or buy a hardware synth for $1000 have it break and cost $600 to repair or become unrepairable because it needs unobtainable parts

[El°HYM]

Still no accurate emulation of the Volca - Keys, which is a pity.