Software vs Hardware

[kritikon]

If you think he is only using VSTs and a midi controller you are terribly mistaken and not paying attention.

Yet you might have noticed that being mistaken and not paying attention doesn't stop him incessantly posting nonsense . Obviously Zimmer has all that hw purely for show as an impressive and very expensive ornament and he never uses it . Trolls will troll and no amount of bleaching will stop their skin being green . Until you repent and admit you are so wrong to use any hw, he'll continue spouting any old garbage he can make up. Sometimes entertaining, but mostly intensely irritating. The mute feature is your friend .

[_leras]

Things that take up physical space:

Computers
LCD/OLED Monitors
Monitors (audio)
Controllers
UPSs

I've not seen a setup that can't sneak in a few hardware synths among the rest of that gear.

It wasn't all that long ago that to have a home setup you'd need a mixer, some form of recorder or multi track recorder, probably some rack with synths and or FX, and you'd still need monitors and an an amp, a sequencer or computer with midi and a screen, a box full of cables.

If using a computer and a sound card, it's pretty simple to have some synths/hardware off to the side. Probably cheaper and easier than ever.

No one is forcing people to use hardware, but I'm surprised that people are pushing back so hard at those who do, but then I guess it is KVR.

[cryophonik]

A83356D8-C726-4474-B4E8-23D612B81DB7.jpeg

I can’t think of anything else I’d want to put in that space. And, yes, there are a ton of soft synths on that computer, too.

[vurt]

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I can’t think of anything else I’d want to put in that space. And, yes, there are a ton of soft synths on that computer, too.

where's your modular?

[Uncle E]

I can’t think of anything else I’d want to put in that space. And, yes, there are a ton of soft synths on that computer, too.

What is this sexy thing?

whatisthis.jpg

[IvyBirds]

You will notice several things, first he is in a room full of modular Synths that he is not using, instead he is using a Minimoog inspired virtual instrument. On a computer with a midi controller and his own custom programmed controller

Hans Zimmer will use anything to make his music. He don't care about software or hardware, digital or analog. He have a wall of modular synth on a wall next to a Virus Ti and Zebra on the PC.
An open mind musician.

And yet he is using software 99% of the time for his professional work

Despite the narrative being pushed that true professionals use hardware because it fosters and the unwashed masses of hobbyists are unable to see the value of it

He is most definitely not using software for 99% of his professional work unless you are referring to using a DAW. He's using real musicians playing real instruments, full on orchestras for some scores, creating his own instruments as he did below for Dune 2,

Weird it's like you didn't even watch the video and are applying your own confirmation bias

So now you are reduced to arguing about orchestras. Weird that an orchestra isn't a hardware synth. For those according to his own words he is 99% in the box using Cubase and samples

But 99% means he is still using a tiny bit of hardware like Osmose for example. But again your entire premise was hardware is faster and again according to Hans that is not true

What we have is a true professional who could literally use any they wanted blowing up your entire narrative that professionals prefer hardware because it's faster. That is simply not true and you know it. Why else would Hans' entire workflow be based around Cubase, software instruments and samples

[Gam456]

I can’t think of anything else I’d want to put in that space. And, yes, there are a ton of soft synths on that computer, too.

What is this sexy thing?whatisthis.jpg

Looks like a lovely Sequential Pro One 3

[cryophonik]

A83356D8-C726-4474-B4E8-23D612B81DB7.jpeg

I can’t think of anything else I’d want to put in that space. And, yes, there are a ton of soft synths on that computer, too.

where's your modular?

It consumes the entire wall behind me.

I can’t think of anything else I’d want to put in that space. And, yes, there are a ton of soft synths on that computer, too.

What is this sexy thing?whatisthis.jpg

That’s my Pro 3!

It looks pretty odd because of the blue lights.

[IvyBirds]

If you think he is only using VSTs and a midi controller you are terribly mistaken and not paying attention.

Yet you might have noticed that being mistaken and not paying attention doesn't stop him incessantly posting nonsense .

And yet I never said that so why are you posting nonsense that I did?


Yet you might have noticed that being mistaken and not paying attention doesn't stop him incessantly posting nonsense . and you endorsing that nonsense when you repost the lie

[BONES]

If Hans Zimmer's own words can't convince you that hardware has real value for professionals, I am just pissing in the wind here.

I think about Hans words all the time, thanks so much for bringing him up.

Do you guys really care about what some old dinosaur has to say? I honestly and sincerely couldn't give a flying f**k what he or anyone else has to say on a subject like this. There was a time when I might have watched a video or two, although I never actually have, to see if there are any useful tips on a specific subject to be had but beyond that, what the f**k does he know about what's going on in 2025? e.g. I'll guarantee he uses Cubase because he's always used Cubase, not because he owns every DAW under the sun and did a critical evaluation of each over an extended period of time before deciding Cubase was best for his needs. I'd be extremely surprised if he's ever spent more than 5 minutes looking at any of the alternatives to Cubase. Why would he, he's got shit to be getting on with?

Hans Zimmer does what he's been doing for 40+ years. Sure, he will have incorporated new processes and techniques along the way but at some point in the distant past he chose a path that, very likely, he would not choose again if he was just starting out today. So why would anyone think he has much useful advice to offer in 2025? Maybe if your goal is to be "successful" but if you just want to make your music, you'll get a lot more useful information from your peers than from people like him (or, sadly, from a place like this).

I've not seen a setup that can't sneak in a few hardware synths among the rest of that gear.

You can' t have looked too hard, I've posted several studio pics here in the past. Here's one from just now, where do you suggest I should put my hardware?

Zone-V_Afloat.jpg

Here's a couple of setups I tried 8 or 9 years ago but neither lasted more than a few weeks, they were completely unworkable -

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Meanwhile, my band-mate has a whole room in his house for his studio but his hardware, which includes a Korg Prophecy and a Moog Subsequent 37, sits under dust covers on a keyboard stand in the far corner and gets zero use. It's all hooked up to his Yamaha mixer, all he'd have to do is switch it on but even that is more effort than it's worth.

I remember when he bought the Sub37, he was having really bad problems with mains hum that ended up with him having to fork out more than $100 on a little box to smooth out the power to stop the hum. Mains hum can be a huge problem on stage, too, which is where a laptop can come into its own, because it can run on its battery, you don't need to have it plugged in. Noise and mains hum has stopped me using my Uno Synth on stage, too. It's a great little synth with a really big sound but it's just too much hassle to be bothered with. I've tried everything to fix it, short of a $100 black box (because then you have another box to set-up, which creates another potential point of failure), but it's too much work for no real benefit.

Obviously Zimmer has all that hw purely for show as an impressive and very expensive ornament and he never uses it.

I'm pretty sure he didn't buy it last week, he's been building it for 25 years or more. When he started it would have made a lot more sense than it does today. I can guarantee he never uses it himself, he'd be paying other people to program it for him, because he'd see it for the waste of his time that it is. And whilst you might have meant it sarcastically, I'd suggest the huge modular system is very much a marketing tool, a way to remind directors and producers who enter his domain that he's the guy and they should f**king well listen to what he says, as much as anything.

I can’t think of anything else I’d want to put in that space. And, yes, there are a ton of soft synths on that computer, too.

And I can't think why anyone would want any of that shit cluttering up their studio at all. You're probably really proud of it but to me it makes you seem like a sad, insecure, little man. And what's with the coloured lights, was it once a child's bedroom or something?

It's something I see quite often and it always surprises me. e.g. There's a guy at work who, when he heard I was in a band, couldn't wait to show me his home studio with close to a dozen guitars tastefully mounted around the walls and all the rest of it. He doesn't make music in it, never has, it seems to mostly be a monument to his wasted youth, but he's so proud of it. I find that shit totally bizarre and more than a little bit sad.

[BONES]

Even you yourself acknowledged that the plugin doesn't sound 100% like the M4000D. So by definition the hardware M4000D is making a sound that software plugins can't accurately replicate.

And if that's really the best argument you have, you'll understand why you have lost.

Stay safe and enjoy making music with whatever tools you prefer

That's the nub of it, isn't it? Everyone should use what they prefer,. These arguments only arise because too many people feel the need to try and prove that their way is the best way, when it just isn't.

There is no more ardent supporter of working ITB than I am but I still own 7 hardware synths. We use 'em on stage but I'd never, ever consider using them in production because the hassle involved, assuming you want them to sound as good as your softsynths, is an order of magnitude more complex than simply loading up a softsynth and getting on with it. 20 years ago, sure, hardware sounded measurably better than even the best softsynths but over the second decade of this Century, software caught up to the point where absolutely nobody will be able to tell what you've used in a mix. Nobody. Not even you.

[_leras]

So rational persons usually turn to these role models -
…..
Jarre's best stuff is based on Bach, it's a modern, reductionist, dark version of Bach. That's why it worked so good and sticked to our ears.

I prefer irrational artists. Jarre isn’t the best example, though he made some gems I adore, the majority of his music isn’t very interesting and far from the mastery of Bach, who wasn’t that known or successful in his time…
If a music will last for a long time, only time can tell…

I think that's all a but unfair on JMJ he was pushing synth music to new places.

His Equinox album from 1978 still holds up amazingly today in terms of getting both beautiful sounds and expressivity out of synthesizers. It's for sure still a 10/10 synthesiser album.

[cryophonik]

And I can't think why anyone would want any of that shit cluttering up their studio at all. You're probably really proud of it but to me it makes you seem like a sad, insecure, little man. And what's with the coloured lights, was it once a child's bedroom or something?

Do you guys really care about what some old dinosaur has to say? I honestly and sincerely couldn't give a flying f**k what he or anyone else has to say on a subject like this.

Irony. Look it up.

Also, being offended by other people's opinions or choices is insecurity. Sorry I made you cry again.

[BONES]

Don't give yourself too much credit, you have no capacity to offend me whatsoever, as your opinions are, by and large, worthless to me. I get that when I go into a commercial studio, everything is set-up like your home studio, because they are trying to impress me so that I will spend lots of money on them, but why do you feel the need to do the same, who are you trying to impress?

I look at it the other way - I'd like people to hear our music, then see my studio and wonder how the f**k anyone can possibly do what we do with the set-up I have. To me that is far more impressive than what you've got, which is not to say it makes me look clever so much as it highlights just how amazingly good the technology is that allows a complete idiot like me to do what we do. OTOH, I look at your set-up and think "thank f**k I haven't had to work like that in 30+ years, I'd never want to go back to that again".

[zerocrossing]

I've not seen a setup that can't sneak in a few hardware synths among the rest of that gear.

You can' t have looked too hard, I've posted several studio pics here in the past. Here's one from just now, where do you suggest I should put my hardware?

Love will find a way.