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

[machinesworking]

I can guarantee you if a bunch of hardware and software synths were posted side by side but you only had the audio you wouldn't be able to tell them apart reliably.

I think sonically software can get so close to hardware that it's a pointless exercise trying to defend that difference.

Modular hardware (Eurorack in my case) has a presence and clarity in the sound that software doesn't replicate. And generally, audio rate modulations and distortion in analog is still not equaled in software. The differences are easy to hear.

Whether that matters to each individual is another story. That level of sound quality matters to me, but so does the flexibility and ease of use of software. I'm glad to have both on hand.

Personally the big difference to me is sweet spots. Digital especially in software can sound amazing, but to get there you wander through harsh digital noise. Give me a random setting on hardware over software any day of the week.

[zerocrossing]

I can guarantee you if a bunch of hardware and software synths were posted side by side but you only had the audio you wouldn't be able to tell them apart reliably.

I think sonically software can get so close to hardware that it's a pointless exercise trying to defend that difference.

Modular hardware (Eurorack in my case) has a presence and clarity in the sound that software doesn't replicate. And generally, audio rate modulations and distortion in analog is still not equaled in software. The differences are easy to hear.

Whether that matters to each individual is another story. That level of sound quality matters to me, but so does the flexibility and ease of use of software. I'm glad to have both on hand.

I bought three Mother 32s and a System 1 and I found I was able to get results that were just as good using Softube Modular, and because I wasn't limited to what could fit in a specific rack, I was able to get far more variety. I made recordings of my comparisons and put them in a playlist that I had randomly play, and I was unable to tell the difference. I was totally leaning into overdriven sounds with lots of resonance and audio rate modulation. What are the magic modules that provide "clarity" and "presence?" I MUST KNOW!

I also get great results with Reaktor. The included Blocks are all great, but I especially love using the Toybox packs. Well worth the additional dollars. No lack of clarity or presence there.

(BTW, my little foray into modular did sound fantastic, but what a pain in the ass to work with)

[zerocrossing]

How many people have their synth(s) placed perfectly for ergonomics? Reaching and straining muscles and sitting or standing on awkward positions is also an issue. So is holding and turning little knobs. All of that is an ergonomics issue - possibly as much or more than using a mouse, which is pretty easy to use in a more ergonomic manner. Sorry, but I think this whole line of argument lacks a solid foundation and is completely speculative, created to support a viewpoint.

You don't know it but you're making my point. Wrist strain is tied to doing the same things over and over again, not being "inconvenienced" by reaching, tiny knobs etc. You're equating using muscles with repetitive stress injuries and carpel tunnel. Having to reach for something, get up off the chair etc. is not the cause of RSI, mice are.

RSIs can come from hardware, that's for sure. There was a point when I had really bad shoulder pain, and at first I thought it was because I was holding a guitar for long periods. I bought a Grace guitar stand (a stand that holds the guitar or bass out in space so there's no load on your back) but that didn't help. I finally realized that it was because I was using effects processors and synths that were all up in a rack that I had at eye level for easy editing. I moved them to a waist level rack and angled them up and things improved a lot. When I went with ITB editors and software, the problem disappeared.

Mice do suck though. I think it's because you can't relax your hand without pressing a button. I've tried a lot of cursor input devices, and the clear winner for me was the Kensington Expert Mouse, which is not a mouse at all, but a trackball. I use it for my graphics and music work, often putting in 10-12 hour days with no ill effects.

[Cavey Arrgh]

I think it's because you can't relax your hand without pressing a button. I've tried a lot of cursor input devices, and the clear winner for me was the Kensington Expert Mouse, which is not a mouse at all, but a trackball.

FWIW, and for those who don't like trackballs, I use an eVoluent 4 mouse and it relieved my wrist pain. You can relax hand/fingers w/o pressing any buttons. The one I got in 2012 is still going strong. I am not related to whoever makes it or getting any compensation.

[IvyBirds]

How many people have their synth(s) placed perfectly for ergonomics? Reaching and straining muscles and sitting or standing on awkward positions is also an issue. So is holding and turning little knobs. All of that is an ergonomics issue - possibly as much or more than using a mouse, which is pretty easy to use in a more ergonomic manner. Sorry, but I think this whole line of argument lacks a solid foundation and is completely speculative, created to support a viewpoint.

You don't know it but you're making my point. Wrist strain is tied to doing the same things over and over again, not being "inconvenienced" by reaching, tiny knobs etc. You're equating using muscles with repetitive stress injuries and carpel tunnel. Having to reach for something, get up off the chair etc. is not the cause of RSI, mice are.

You absolutely can get repetitive stress injuries to your shoulders, elbows, and back from constantly having to reach out to adjust things that are not ergonomic. And you absolutely can get knee, hip, and back issues from constantly getting up and down from sitting on the floor

RSI are caused by performing the same motion over and over for extended periods, while in an unnatural position and isn't just muscular, it includes injuries to your tendons and joints as well

Over time you also damage your cartilage in things like your shoulders and elbows and you can develop arthritis and other wear tear joint issues.

[D-Fusion]

Darn it - enjoying listening to a bunch of great sounding hardware synths.

Here's a selection of them that I found great. What a great time for synths. So many new ones and so many resources and demos easily accessible. Incredible.

dreadbox artemis


Oberheim Teo 5


Behringer Cat


dreadbox typhon


buchla 208C


Vermona Perfourmer


Korg Poly 61


Vermona 14


Roland Jupiter 6


Studio Electronics SE-3X


Novation Summit

Everything sounds amazing when it is drenched in Delays and Shimmer Reverbs.

There is lots of processing done to them to make them sound better than they really are.
None of these synths give me any goosebumps or a sound that is worth over $1000 when they are played dry.

[vitocorleone123]

How many people have their synth(s) placed perfectly for ergonomics? Reaching and straining muscles and sitting or standing on awkward positions is also an issue. So is holding and turning little knobs. All of that is an ergonomics issue - possibly as much or more than using a mouse, which is pretty easy to use in a more ergonomic manner. Sorry, but I think this whole line of argument lacks a solid foundation and is completely speculative, created to support a viewpoint.

You don't know it but you're making my point. Wrist strain is tied to doing the same things over and over again, not being "inconvenienced" by reaching, tiny knobs etc. You're equating using muscles with repetitive stress injuries and carpel tunnel. Having to reach for something, get up off the chair etc. is not the cause of RSI, mice are.

Not just mice are, and mice are easier to adjust your workspace for. Your point isn’t as sharp as you seem to think.

Ergonomics can be an issue for any studio - and the issue(s) may, or may not, include the mouse.

RSI can result from ANY repetitive movement. And that’s not the only ergonomic issue. Someone with a key board 6” off the ground on a rack - or straining to reach the top of the top synth - is a suffering from poor ergonomic choices.

Nor does using a mouse necessarily result in RSI. Everyone is different. And that’s goes for use of other studio gear. Or even just the way you sit or stand.

[IvyBirds]

Darn it - enjoying listening to a bunch of great sounding hardware synths.

Here's a selection of them that I found great. What a great time for synths. So many new ones and so many resources and demos easily accessible. Incredible.

dreadbox artemis

The Artemis has an analog section and digital section that runs the effects, this demo you posted uses those digital effects. You are hearing the sound of software running on a computer so I guess we can say you love the sound of computer hardware running software< anything you claim is "Life" and "Presence" is the direct result of software

Oberheim Teo 5

The TEO 5 has 5 voices of polyphony, that demo is making very heavy use of reverb and other effects, if you can't hear that you should get your ears checked. Once again we are hearing the sound of software running in a computer. That life and presence you think you hear? It's software, and you can tell it's software because he is playing chords and when he lifts his hands in the demo and plays a different chord the sustain keeps on going because we are listening to reverb tail not the actual synth

Behringer Cat

The title of that video literally says it has effects, and the description says he is using reverb and delay and when you listen it's clearly digital. So once again you are saying the sound of software has life and presence

dreadbox typhon

This demo is to showcase the new digital effects that were introduced via a firmware update. Once again we are hearing the sound of software running on a computer. So any life and presence you hear is 100% software and not analog

I could go on but why? You have proven that the synths sounds you like that you claim has the mystical powers of giving life to inanimate objects and provides immeasurable and undefinable things like "presence" is the sound of software running on a computer. You have already proven that Software is the superior choice

When it comes to software running code it doesn't matter if that code is running on a computer built into a hardware synth or inside of a PC it's exactly the same it's 100% digital 100% software manipulating 1s and 0s.

What you have proven (and thank you for that) is that you love Software and the sound of software. You like taking a very basic synth sound made by a few oscillators and a filter and then making that sound digital and manipulating it with software like reverb, delay, and other effects

i enjoy the same things, however I just use a desktop computer to do that because I get more options and far less cost. With the money I save I can buy even more software and get even more options

I have all of the Valhalla Effects Software, all of the Eventide Effects Software, all of the Strymon Effects Software, using those I get world class effects options that simply blow away the software running inside of the built in computer on any hardware synth I have ever seen, including the ones in your demo

Beyond that I have a ton more

I view my entire Computer System including my MIDI controllers as a giant hardware synth. Using it I can make sounds using every synthesis type imaginable and run them through any effect type imaginable. My MIDI controllers offer me more physical controls than I have ever seen on a hardware synth and have the added advantage of being setup exactly how I want them to be

Much like you I love the sound of software and find dedicated computer hardware to be the superior choice

Thank you so much for posting these demo videos of the sound of software you love so much and think sounds so good.

In conclusion since you enjoy the sound of software so much, you should use software for the synthesis that drives those software based effects so much. For example if you use a hardware Prophet 5 even the reissue you are left with a mono output and have to run mono signals into a stereo effect. While that can sound pretty good if you use something like Repro you get to run a stereo signal into your stereo effects which is mind-blowing. Each voice can be panned to a different place in the stereo field

Anyway thanks again for showing us all your love of software and how software sounds

[zerocrossing]

Darn it - enjoying listening to a bunch of great sounding hardware synths.

Here's a selection of them that I found great. What a great time for synths. So many new ones and so many resources and demos easily accessible. Incredible.

dreadbox artemis


Oberheim Teo 5


Behringer Cat


dreadbox typhon


buchla 208C


Vermona Perfourmer


Korg Poly 61


Vermona 14


Roland Jupiter 6


Studio Electronics SE-3X


Novation Summit

Everything sounds amazing when it is drenched in Delays and Shimmer Reverbs.

There is lots of processing done to them to make them sound better than they really are.
None of these synths give me any goosebumps or a sound that is worth over $1000 when they are played dry.

I’m always amazed by the cats that expect any dry synthesizer to sound like what they’re used to in recordings, as if they’re ever just left alone, or even can be left alone. One dude swore his System 1 sounded better than the plugin. After pressed a bit, he admitted that he was running it hot into a mixer.

One thing that is clear, is that every comparison video or recording that I’ve posted, even ones I’ve done, has been ignored or dismissed for “reasons.”

[machinesworking]

Mice do suck though. I think it's because you can't relax your hand without pressing a button. I've tried a lot of cursor input devices, and the clear winner for me was the Kensington Expert Mouse, which is not a mouse at all, but a trackball. I use it for my graphics and music work, often putting in 10-12 hour days with no ill effects.

I went with a mouse pad with a wrist rest, and that solved most strain. My point was if you do the same motion over and over again it's bad, we're designed to do many motions in all direction, injuries almost always come from repetitive behavior. We're not meant to do the same exact thing over and over without working other parts of out bodies, period. Varying the motions you use to make music is a good idea.

[whassup]

Personally the big difference to me is sweet spots. Digital especially in software can sound amazing, but to get there you wander through harsh digital noise. Give me a random setting on hardware over software any day of the week.

Sweet spots is a cool topic.
There are synths that to my taste are plastered with sweet spots and then there are synths who are almost completely the opposite.
And that is personal as I tend to different things than you do.
Leipzig, while nice sounding, doesn't itch me. Nina does.
Diva has many sweet spots.
A DX7 and their replicants doesn't have sweet spots at all. To me that is. Yes, I heard great sounds made with them. But I can't be a****d to wade through all those thousands of presets to find a FEW good ones. Tried that lately and gave up after a few hundred or so.
Vital is a synth that can do so many cool things for me after I learned a few things: sweet spots. Has awesome workflow for me.
Hive doesn't, Synthmaster doesn't. Both sound really great. But making my own sounds with them: Not fun at all. And I can't put my finger on it why exactly. Unispiring looks, some workflow decision that are not mine, etc.
See?
I heard so much stuff that I would at best politely call uninspired and boring while other people seem to JUST KNOW how to get to sweet spots easily.
Databroth is one of my heroes regarding this.

[whassup]

One more on this: Synth1. Recently discovered for the first time as a synth that can do sounds I totally dig for the first time after many years of thinking it is a poor little toy.
Because it can sound so *'§"%Ö& and many people gave me good reasons for this opinion. Poor kiddy factory presets. etc etc
Until...
And for the fun of it: Certain Synth1 presets have smack and presence that I didn't hear in any other synth like that. Certain rawness and grit. Character.
When sounds provokes emotions in me. Really strong ones.
And these are EXACTLY the things I am looking for. Not the price or else.
And this is why I like certain hardware videos that were posted here.
Repro5 does similar to me.
While that formerly posted video with the Prophet5 factory presets (Doctor Mix) sounds so super boring minus the last sound in that video.

[machinesworking]

Personally the big difference to me is sweet spots. Digital especially in software can sound amazing, but to get there you wander through harsh digital noise. Give me a random setting on hardware over software any day of the week.

Sweet spots is a cool topic.
There are synths that to my taste are plastered with sweet spots and then there are synths who are almost completely the opposite.
And that is personal as I tend to different things than you do.
Leipzig, while nice sounding, doesn't itch me. Nina does.
Diva has many sweet spots.
A DX7 and their replicants doesn't have sweet spots at all. To me that is. Yes, I heard great sounds made with them. But I can't be a****d to wade through all those thousands of presets to find a FEW good ones. Tried that lately and gave up after a few hundred or so.
Vital is a synth that can do so many cool things for me after I learned a few things: sweet spots. Has awesome workflow for me.
Hive doesn't, Synthmaster doesn't. Both sound really great. But making my own sounds with them: Not fun at all. And I can't put my finger on it why exactly. Unispiring looks, some workflow decision that are not mine, etc.
See?
I heard so much stuff that I would at best politely call uninspired and boring while other people seem to JUST KNOW how to get to sweet spots easily.
Databroth is one of my heroes regarding this.

I'm not sure you 100% get what I meant by that? I meant that digital and soft synths tend to have areas they just don't excel at. Whereas I just got a Dreadbox Hades, and everything out of it sounds thick no dirt areas. I'm sure there are analog synths that have dull spots, but digital and software in general have areas where it sounds bad in general.

In terms of soft synths, I don't own Vital but Hive is dead easy for me to build patches in. That difference is more about taste.

[whassup]

I'm not sure you 100% get what I meant by that? I meant that digital and soft synths tend to have areas they just don't excel at. Whereas I just got a Dreadbox Hades, and everything out of it sounds thick no dirt areas. I'm sure there are analog synths that have dull spots, but digital and software in general have areas where it sounds bad in general.

In terms of soft synths, I don't own Vital but Hive is dead easy for me to build patches in. That difference is more about taste.

I understood that you find more sweet spots on hardware while you easier find digital poo on software.
That might be the case as there are so many poo and uninspiring sounding softsynths.
Synths that some people use to great sonic success.
But my experiences with hardware are not the ones that give me fuel for what you said. Different yes! Generally better? More or wider sweet spots? Not per se.
Again: A Prophet 5 can easily sound boring and not good. When you do it that way.
The tool makes it for what YOU like. Then totally yes.
Check this video of Tonepusher who is a totally cool dude, cool videos with interesting infos.
What he is doing with that synth and calls it great is eh.... Not so great in my book.
I got WAY more interesting sounds outta Diva with the MS20 modules. Taste.

[_leras]

Dude, the Poly-61, the Jupiter-6 and the Vermona can't make those sounds - at least not directly. Even if you can't hear the added delay and reverb plus other work, did you not even check the text below? "All processing in Ableton Live."

tbf, who doesn't use a bit of delay or reverb? I think these are totally fair to use in a demo. Remember these are demos by people trying to show the music and sounds that can be made by these synths.

And you can't exactly say softsynth demos don't have any of this. Most softsynths have FX literally built in these days.

There seems to be very few decent softsynth demos, done musically the way people do for hardware synths. Most softsynth examples are, unfortunately, just presets. And those presets generally contain FX as well.