Software vs. Analog in 2025 – Has the Balance Shifted?

[mambo888]

I have to say Zebra is the wrong example for not having WOW moments. Zebra 2 itself is amazing, I could play through the presets for hours having plenty of WOW moments, with the right studio monitors, speakers cranked up.

Listening to the Leipzig V3 video it’s nothing like a Gforce synth cannot match in sound, in fact all their stuff immediately reminded me of Gforce presets.

I feel honestly if someone thinks Soft synths don’t sound good or they have no bottom or sound thin, those people should buy bigger speakers and crank the volume up. Have you considered that it is not thin but have a wider range of frequencies - i.e more saturated? But you will not hear the bottom end if your speakers are small. For me minimum 10-12” what I can accept in speakers, anything below will be lacking especially when brands cheat with the diameter and include the case mount in the measurement.

If I put an EQ on a Moog synth and reduce the bottom end it will sound thin. Also thin sounding synths often fit the mix better because the low end is already occupied by bass, drums, pads, etc.

For how many years Depeche Mode got away with digital but suddenly analog is better, people are just coping to justify their 10-20k USD investments.

Every time I feel the GAS to buy hardware, I realise I already have Legend HZ, Spire, Falcon, Pigments, Synthmaster, Serum, most GForce synths, Zebra, Diva, Halion, Multi/poly, Avenger, Nexus, V collection…if you can’t make music with these, nothing and nobody can help you

[dellboy]

You can pretty much just whip out a Sub 37 or TEO-5 and play anything and it will basically immediately sound like "holy shit",

Yep holy shit that is boring as hell, a square wave coming going through a resonant filter, that was boring as hell in the early 1980s and still is today

your ears will perk up, something deep inside of you will be like "WOW"

Yep WOW a triangle wave going through a resonant filter OMG that was lame in 1983

and you will just have this inexplicable response to the depth and beauty of the sound.

Not really I will struggle to stay awake

Whereas if you whip out Zebra and play some basslines, I mean come on guys. I have never, ever had a "wow" moment playing a VST.

Of course not, you have established that a square wave going through a resonate filter is what you want so why are you using zebra? It's the wrong tool for the job, you seek simple analog synths that have limited modulation options, can only play a handful of waveforms, and lack polyphony

And that's the biggest issue with elitism, you like what you like and that's fine awesome use those tools, but it doesn't make you or anyone else special

So you do not like analogue? Really?

For me hardware means analogue. Anything else is digital in a box. I have a hardware Kurzweil K2700, and a Roland XV88, along with other hardware digital keyboards. Technically they are hardware, but they are mostly VST's in a metal box. They can sort of do analogue, but it's not the same as real analogue. I use and appreciate digital, but real analogue is where my heart is.

[_leras]

Listening to the Leipzig V3 video it’s nothing like a Gforce synth cannot match in sound, in fact all their stuff immediately reminded me of Gforce presets.

I feel honestly if someone thinks Soft synths don’t sound good or they have no bottom or sound thin, those people should buy bigger speakers and crank the volume up.

Please do share which g force synth will sound like that. I would love to hear it.

For sure soft synths can have bass and not sound thin.

[IvyBirds]

What exactly can't software match?

If you can't hear the solidity and presence of that rich Leipzig sound... sorry...

Legend HZ is a cracking synth for sure. Definitely one of the best sounding soft synths.

All I hear in that demo is a boring AF two VCA synth with a boring AF ladder filter, that is distorted and saturated. So once again it comes down to distortion and saturation that you find pleasing not actual synthesis.

If you want a boring AF synth and have to make up for that with heavy distortion awesome that's the synth for you

That sound can easily be made with multiple software synths however and you can add further distortion and saturation in myriad of ways

[IvyBirds]

You can pretty much just whip out a Sub 37 or TEO-5 and play anything and it will basically immediately sound like "holy shit",

Yep holy shit that is boring as hell, a square wave coming going through a resonant filter, that was boring as hell in the early 1980s and still is today

your ears will perk up, something deep inside of you will be like "WOW"

Yep WOW a triangle wave going through a resonant filter OMG that was lame in 1983

and you will just have this inexplicable response to the depth and beauty of the sound.

Not really I will struggle to stay awake

Whereas if you whip out Zebra and play some basslines, I mean come on guys. I have never, ever had a "wow" moment playing a VST.

Of course not, you have established that a square wave going through a resonate filter is what you want so why are you using zebra? It's the wrong tool for the job, you seek simple analog synths that have limited modulation options, can only play a handful of waveforms, and lack polyphony

And that's the biggest issue with elitism, you like what you like and that's fine awesome use those tools, but it doesn't make you or anyone else special

So you do not like analogue? Really?

For me hardware means analogue. Anything else is digital in a box. I have a hardware Kurzweil K2700, and a Roland XV88, along with other hardware digital keyboards. Technically they are hardware, but they are mostly VST's in a metal box. They can sort of do analogue, but it's not the same as real analogue. I use and appreciate digital, but real analogue is where my heart is.

Analog subtractive Synthesis is awesome, having a Monosynth with two VCAs, basic envelopes, and a ladder filter is rather boring

Boring is useful sometimes however and can be used to fill various parts of a mix, but I have dozens of plugins that can be used as a Monosynth and stripped down to just having two oscillators, very basic envelopes, very basic modulations, and run them through a resonating ladder filter

The only thing that makes the particular synth in question remotely interesting is that it distorts and saturates, and that video highlights that perfectly, but that gets boring also as it's a one trick pony

What this thread is exposing is that simple analog synths have been totally replaced with software with the possible exception of saturation and distortion which many people prefer to happen in the analog domain. I have a really good friend and bandmate who is a pretty kick ass metal guitarist. He would never touch an amp sim and wants to be all analog all the time, again awesome. I have another friend I jam with with is another kick ass metal guitarist who doesn't even bring amps to the gig and just uses amp sims plugged directly into the board

As I mentioned previously I use a Mackie Mixer that I run hot and that gets me the distortion and saturation that I want, that is in addition to distortion and saturation plugins and amp sims.

I just find it rather funny that the hardware crowd is reduced in 2025 to posting examples of distortion and saturation they like rather than actual Synthesis they like, that they claim can't be replicated in software.

[mambo888]

Listening to the Leipzig V3 video it’s nothing like a Gforce synth cannot match in sound, in fact all their stuff immediately reminded me of Gforce presets.

I feel honestly if someone thinks Soft synths don’t sound good or they have no bottom or sound thin, those people should buy bigger speakers and crank the volume up.

Please do share which g force synth will sound like that. I would love to hear it.

For sure soft synths can have bass and not sound thin.

On Imposcar the Bassline patch took me into the territory as the first patch in the video on Leipzig, on Minimonsta Ballad Bass was close enough that I didn't care about the difference.

On Diva XS Analog Bass with compressor and soft distortion took me there, I'm not sound designer, I'm sure if someone with all the expertise tries it they would get very close.

Interestingly Youtube is louder than Logic, I had to increase the volume to get the same impact.

Nothing against the Leipzig personally, this is just for the digital vs analog discussion. Analog is nice to have but not irreplaceable.

[El°HYM]

It is not about soft synths having less bass; it is about analog synths having tighter bass (as we all know). Think of something like a Transformer and how it impacts the sound, for example. Furthermore, it shouldnt be about digital vs. analog (this is baby talk - grow up!) at all, as both have their advantages or disadvantages. So its more about knowing your Tools and when to choose the right ones.

[HAL76]

I have to say Zebra is the wrong example for not having WOW moments. Zebra 2 itself is amazing, I could play through the presets for hours having plenty of WOW moments, with the right studio monitors, speakers cranked up.

Listening to the Leipzig V3 video it’s nothing like a Gforce synth cannot match in sound, in fact all their stuff immediately reminded me of Gforce presets.

I feel honestly if someone thinks Soft synths don’t sound good or they have no bottom or sound thin, those people should buy bigger speakers and crank the volume up. Have you considered that it is not thin but have a wider range of frequencies - i.e more saturated? But you will not hear the bottom end if your speakers are small. For me minimum 10-12” what I can accept in speakers, anything below will be lacking especially when brands cheat with the diameter and include the case mount in the measurement.

If I put an EQ on a Moog synth and reduce the bottom end it will sound thin. Also thin sounding synths often fit the mix better because the low end is already occupied by bass, drums, pads, etc.

For how many years Depeche Mode got away with digital but suddenly analog is better, people are just coping to justify their 10-20k USD investments.

Every time I feel the GAS to buy hardware, I realise I already have Legend HZ, Spire, Falcon, Pigments, Synthmaster, Serum, most GForce synths, Zebra, Diva, Halion, Multi/poly, Avenger, Nexus, V collection…if you can’t make music with these, nothing and nobody can help you

This way to think and the availability of cheap substitutes is why music sounds so lifeless and clean today.

At the end of the day it´s all about perception and targets. That seems clear.

But do you even have an analog synth? A Vintage (<1990s) analog synth? A class A analog vintage synth?

Trust me - even if the VSTs offer filters, Sync, XMod and all these options - the good old analog synths don´t just sound different, the options also generate different results. I´m just playing around with Unison and Sync on my MKS-80 - and I promise you that you have never heard such sounds from softwares.

If you add some Highpass on the sound it becomes dry like bread that will cut through every mix while I´ve never heard a really dry sounding patch from any VST for well known reasons [...].

[dellboy]

What this thread is exposing is that simple analog synths have been totally replaced with software with the possible exception of saturation and distortion which many people prefer to happen in the analog domain.

I agree that software is really good now. I spent an hour or two yesterday testing various software Junos against my Juno 6 and DeepMind 12. With a bit of tweaking they all get in the same ballpark. Softube 84 could replace the hardware, although I have a softspot for the Cherry Audio 106.

I have a Nektar P6 which has nine sliders and nine buttons (many more with menu diving) which are automatically assigned by the Nektar software. Using those controllers I can edit without looking at the screen when using Model 84 - but its somehow not the same (for me) as using the dedicated hardware synths. I have periods where I pack all the hardware away and just go in the box, but it somehow creeps back into my studio room over time.

[IvyBirds]

This way to think and the availability of cheap substitutes is why music sounds so lifeless and clean today.

The biggest culprit for that is the fact that for 40+ years many people can't get past the need to make every instrument they own based on 1970s technology, a few VCAs, playing the same boring waveforms, with boring ADSR envelopes, and filter designs from. 40-60 years ago has been done to death

That goes for hardware and software versions

So music gets recycled over and over again, compare that to the 1980s where new Synths and new technology was being used with every new release and pushed music forward

[dellboy]

I´m just playing around with Unison and Sync on my MKS-80 -

Cool. What controller do you use to edit it?

[_leras]

On Imposcar the Bassline patch took me into the territory as the first patch in the video on Leipzig, on Minimonsta Ballad Bass was close enough that I didn't care about the difference.

On Diva XS Analog Bass with compressor and soft distortion took me there, I'm not sound designer, I'm sure if someone with all the expertise tries it they would get very close.

Nothing against the Leipzig personally, this is just for the digital vs analog discussion. Analog is nice to have but not irreplaceable.

Imposcars not a bad synth, and of course you can make music with any soft synth, but the imposcar although having that brighter noisey character fall short.

It also falls short of the original OSCar hardware synths (below).

And Diva I like a lot, but it doesn't have the bite and presence of the Leipzig either...

Original OSCar, there's no VST example that has that real sound...

[dionenoid]

As I mentioned previously I use a Mackie Mixer that I run hot and that gets me the distortion and saturation that I want

Aha. So you actually do prefer analog.

[_leras]

It is not about soft synths having less bass; it is about analog synths having tighter bass (as we all know). .

Furthermore, it shouldnt be about digital vs. analog (this is baby talk - grow up!) at all, as both have their advantages or disadvantages.

You're right. It's about analog having tighter bass, and more presence generally.

You're also right, it's not just analog bs digital/vst.. hybrid also is not (quite) matched by software.

Another example where software can't match sonically.

[_leras]

and wake me up when this can be done in software

(Old synth, old pedal, modern sound)