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

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Instruments Discussion
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Has digital finally dethroned analog?

Yes, software has clearly taken the lead
22
31%
No, analog still holds its ground
17
24%
About 50/50 - I balance both worlds
4
6%
Not sure, it's context-dependent
1
1%
Doesn’t matter. It’s about results, not tools
26
37%
 
Total votes: 70

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ADDITTIT: Upsi, that horse is already dead in this thread. LOL
ABX is enemy to GAS

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zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:52 pm Totally OT, but I find it hilarious that people are trying to get $800 USD for this piece of garbage.

https://reverb.com/item/81286393-teisco ... -japan-mij
It's got toobs!

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ghettosynth wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:00 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 6:46 pm I think so, but in a different way. Even looking at Diva, it’s pretty far off from the inspiration for the modules. It all doesn’t sound as good as the originals, but it also allows for new sounds and exploration, and sounds great in its own right.
For me, Diva is the right direction. It's not an emulator so much as it is a a very high level polysynth construction kit. You want DCOs with a SEM filter, you're there. I know Urs is focused on Zebra, but I wish he would do the Cat and then roll that filter into an updated Diva. I'm probably one of a few who would buy it twice, so I guess that's just not enough.
I once accidentally bought two licenses for Colour Copy. :lol:

Which reminds me. I bought a Dreadbox Hypnosis and after a few weeks with it, I found it to be worse in every way to using Colour Copy x2 and Twangström. I just didn't like the tone, and I found it too noisy. YMMV.
Arturia adds a few gimmicks here and there, but IMNSHO, they don't get it as right as they could for fear of competing with themselves.
I'm not sure what you mean by "competing with themselves."
All that said, when B releases their poly source, I'm buying two day of. My guy knows this and is on alert to put two on reserve for me.
They announced that so long ago, I'd totally forgotten it. Have they said anything about it recently to make you think it's on it's way?
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

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ghettosynth wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 9:53 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:52 pm Totally OT, but I find it hilarious that people are trying to get $800 USD for this piece of garbage.

https://reverb.com/item/81286393-teisco ... -japan-mij
It's got toobs!
I can assure you, that it does not... unless they made transistor versions for the US market and tube versions for Japan? Seems unlikely, but who knows?
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

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Here's an example of a bonkers plugin that no hardware maker would likely make... maybe in Eurorack, but is full of weird happy accidents and emulates nothing and costs nothing. I just came across it today.

https://www.effective-fx.com/poltergeist/
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

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zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:10 pm
ghettosynth wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 9:53 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:52 pm Totally OT, but I find it hilarious that people are trying to get $800 USD for this piece of garbage.

https://reverb.com/item/81286393-teisco ... -japan-mij
It's got toobs!
I can assure you, that it does not... unless they made transistor versions for the US market and tube versions for Japan? Seems unlikely, but who knows?
It does.

https://reverb.com/item/90965152-teisco ... ge-15watts

I looked it up, it used 7189A output tubes which people replace with EL84s. They may have reused the name for newer solid state versions. I really don't know much about Tiesco as a brand. They were cheap way back then. To me, it's the same kind of fetishism that people have for the mediocre budget analogs and hybrid analogs (DCO) of the early 80s, e.g., the Matrix 1000. (Cue the vintage preservation society police)

For consumers, solid state was viewed as an upgrade way back when. Instant on and no maintenance!

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zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:08 pm
Arturia adds a few gimmicks here and there, but IMNSHO, they don't get it as right as they could for fear of competing with themselves.
I'm not sure what you mean by "competing with themselves."
If they start to include features that are unique to one vintage synth as elements in another, then one of their products is competing with the other in a meaningful way. So, they do add extra features, but, they stay close to the emulation so that people both feel like they are getting the thing, but also so customer don't sub one thing for another.

Now, I suspect most of their synth buyers have their bundle, so it's less of a concern, but that's what I meant. If they produced a Diva like synth, I probably would buy just that.
All that said, when B releases their poly source, I'm buying two day of. My guy knows this and is on alert to put two on reserve for me.
They announced that so long ago, I'd totally forgotten it. Have they said anything about it recently to make you think it's on it's way?
Nope, I check in with my guy from time to time to see what's in the immediate pipeline and I watch what's happening online. There has been some discussion that they are making more progress at their uber factory. It may never show up. I'm not putting off buying something else because I'm waiting for it. But, if it does come out, I will be buying two as soon as I can get my hands on them.

I will also buy one Enigma.

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ghettosynth wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:20 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:10 pm
ghettosynth wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 9:53 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:52 pm Totally OT, but I find it hilarious that people are trying to get $800 USD for this piece of garbage.

https://reverb.com/item/81286393-teisco ... -japan-mij
It's got toobs!
I can assure you, that it does not... unless they made transistor versions for the US market and tube versions for Japan? Seems unlikely, but who knows?
It does.

https://reverb.com/item/90965152-teisco ... ge-15watts

I looked it up, it used 7189A output tubes which people replace with EL84s. They may have reused the name for newer solid state versions. I really don't know much about Tiesco as a brand. They were cheap way back then. To me, it's the same kind of fetishism that people have for the mediocre budget analogs and hybrid analogs (DCO) of the early 80s, e.g., the Matrix 1000. (Cue the vintage preservation society police)

For consumers, solid state was viewed as an upgrade way back when. Instant on and no maintenance!
So, yes, this is exactly it. In 1964 the Checkmate 15 was a solid state amp. In 1966 the Checkmate 15 wasn't available in the United States, but, the 14 and 16 were, both solid state, the Checkmate 15 name was reused for a different tube based amp just for the Japanese market. While there aren't any current past or present listings on Reverb/Ebay of the Checkmate 15 that I can find, similar solid state amps go from between $100 and $300. So, for minty ones, there is some weird collector demand, but, the Japanese models fetch high prices precisely because they are a 60s tube amp.


https://teiscotwangers.com/timeline
1964
This selection included the first solid-state amps although tube amps continued to be available at least up to 1966. There were at least seven amplifiers, three Teiscos and four Checkmates. The three Teisco amps known of were the Miny, the Amp-71R (purple with just a sprinkling of glitter) and the Teisco-88. There is no info on these but they looked like rectangular cabinets with top-mounted controls. The Miny had the italicized T logo on the front. The Amp-71R had reverb and the Teisco-88 (probably a tube amp) had "Teisco" and a big "88" on the grillcloth. The Checkmate amps (solid-state) were the 15, 20, 25 and 50. The numbers probably represented the output wattage. The style of these were lightly-covered rectangular cabinets with dark grillcloths and front-mounted controls. Two were combos (15 and 20) and the two higher rated amps were tops. That's all we know at the moment on these.

1966
At least eleven solid-state Checkmate amps were listed in the American Teisco Del Rey catalogs this year: the 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 25, 50, 100C and Infinite. Style was a rectangular cabinet with dark tolex covering and large checkered grillcloths. They all had the Teisco Del Rey and Checkmate logos on either corner. The controls were front-mounted.

Specifications for these combos were as follows:

Checkmate 10 (6 watts, 6" speaker, two inputs, striped grillcloth)
Checkmate 12 (9 watts, 8" speaker, three inputs)
Checkmate 14 (14 watts, 8" speaker, three inputs, tremolo)
Checkmate 16 bass amp (20 watts, 10" speaker, volume, tone)
Checkmate 17 (20 watts, 10" speaker, reverb, tremolo)
Checkmate 18 (30 watts, two 10" speakers, reverb, tremolo)
Checkmate 20 (40 watts, 12" speaker, reverb, tremolo).
Top amps were:

Checkmate 25 (50 watts, 15" speaker, reverb, tremolo)
Checkmate 50 (two-channels, 100 watts, two 15" speakers, reverb, tremolo, "E tuner")
Checkmate 100C (two channels, voice input, 200 watts, two 15" speakers, reverb, tremolo)
Checkmate Infinite (200 watts, two 15" speakers, stereo/mono preamp section, reverb, tremolo and a bunch of other switches! The one shown in the catalog actually has a block Teisco logo and carried the Japanese-marketed name - King - in the lower corner.)
The Japanese catalog shows several additional amps including the Teisco-88 combo (8 watts), Checkmate-15 combo (15 watts), and the Bass Note combo bass amp. These were tube amps.

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zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 9:02 pm
seafire wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:45 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:32 pm
Dual income? Sounds posh.
Two people who both have jobs is posh?

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Yeah, a family in the 60s with two incomes! They must have been swimming in it! :lol:

Actually, I just looked it up, and Eddie's father wasn't a janitor (BTW, we lived next to my middle school janitor's house) but he had janitor's job to supplement his income as a jazz musician, who evidently played at country clubs in the Pasadena, CA, a nice suburb of LA. So let's boost that number two a 3 income family.
Yes because musicians are never broke, that never happens ever, and Pasadena in the 1960s was very different than it is today especially the older section. They used to say they built the 210 to cut out the riff raff

https://www.cityofpasadena.net/about-pa ... #1950-1970

So we have a guy trying to be a full time musician, but failing so he is forced to get a day job as a janitor and even then he is doing so poorly his wife is forced to be a maid

Yeah sounds like they were just swimming in cash. I am sure Eddie had multiple 1957 Les Paul Goldtops, and walls of amps and cabs, it's a wonder he was able to fit all of them into his Ferrari when going to gig, maybe he took his father's Rolls Royce in stead? I mean when he wasn't using it to drive to work to scrub toilets

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ghettosynth wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:20 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 10:10 pm
ghettosynth wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 9:53 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:52 pm Totally OT, but I find it hilarious that people are trying to get $800 USD for this piece of garbage.

https://reverb.com/item/81286393-teisco ... -japan-mij
It's got toobs!
I can assure you, that it does not... unless they made transistor versions for the US market and tube versions for Japan? Seems unlikely, but who knows?
It does.

https://reverb.com/item/90965152-teisco ... ge-15watts

I looked it up, it used 7189A output tubes which people replace with EL84s. They may have reused the name for newer solid state versions. I really don't know much about Tiesco as a brand. They were cheap way back then. To me, it's the same kind of fetishism that people have for the mediocre budget analogs and hybrid analogs (DCO) of the early 80s, e.g., the Matrix 1000. (Cue the vintage preservation society police)

For consumers, solid state was viewed as an upgrade way back when. Instant on and no maintenance!
Interesting. Well, what I got for $60, that included a guitar, was definitely solid state, and basically garbage. That's why my guitar technique is well known around the world. :lol:
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

Post

IvyBirds wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 1:56 am
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 9:02 pm
seafire wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:45 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 8:32 pm
Dual income? Sounds posh.
Two people who both have jobs is posh?

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Yeah, a family in the 60s with two incomes! They must have been swimming in it! :lol:

Actually, I just looked it up, and Eddie's father wasn't a janitor (BTW, we lived next to my middle school janitor's house) but he had janitor's job to supplement his income as a jazz musician, who evidently played at country clubs in the Pasadena, CA, a nice suburb of LA. So let's boost that number two a 3 income family.
Yes because musicians are never broke, that never happens ever, and Pasadena in the 1960s was very different than it is today especially the older section. They used to say they built the 210 to cut out the riff raff

https://www.cityofpasadena.net/about-pa ... #1950-1970

So we have a guy trying to be a full time musician, but failing so he is forced to get a day job as a janitor and even then he is doing so poorly his wife is forced to be a maid

Yeah sounds like they were just swimming in cash. I am sure Eddie had multiple 1957 Les Paul Goldtops, and walls of amps and cabs, it's a wonder he was able to fit all of them into his Ferrari when going to gig, maybe he took his father's Rolls Royce in stead? I mean when he wasn't using it to drive to work to scrub toilets
IvyBird, met me on camera two.

Dude, I like you and we agree on a lot, but frankly, you are not coming off well. If your argument to "he could have afforded a fuzzbox" with, he was asking for Gray Poupon from the back seat of a Rolls, you're either dumb as a bag of doorknobs or just being a jerk for the fun of it. I hope it's being a jerk, so at least you're having some sort of fun. Considering you buy his b.s. story, I fear i might be the first one.
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

Post

If the digital calculations are processed by and emitted by physical components and travel through the air into the variously shapely ears (some more shapely than others) of various humans, I'm not sure what the rather verbose question in the OP is about.

However, for the short term I would advise against upgrading your star-scooter's OS when you are between systems and not safely docked.

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havran wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 2:55 am If the digital calculations are processed by and emitted by physical components and travel through the air into the variously shapely ears (some more shapely than others) of various humans, I'm not sure what the rather verbose question in the OP is about.

However, for the short term I would advise against upgrading your star-scooter's OS when you are between systems and not safely docked.
My ears are Spock level shapely. My mother used to tease me about being careful stepping into the wind. Fortunately for me, my head has grown massively since then so it's not so bad anymore, as long as I'm rocking shoulder pads. I loved the 80s.

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vurt wrote: Wed Jul 02, 2025 7:38 pm not me, i play a dan electro. :shrug:
Nice. My favourite guitar is a vintage 1980 epiphone genesis in red. Sounds a bit Les Paul like. £200 on eBay for a collection only that happened to be down the road from someone I knew could collect it.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/i ... cherry.jpg

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Parco Molo wrote: Mon Jun 30, 2025 8:49 pm The best thing I could have done with this 60-page diarrhea would have been to ignore it.

Oh great creator, why couldn't I?

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Summer Brain Burnout Thread Dyarrhea.
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