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

[IvyBirds]

Analog filters did matter before digital technology became able to model them, in 2025 they no longer do

They do here, very much so.

No they don't, there are far more people in 2025 that pay a large variety of months and who make a large variety of music including Grammy winning platinum selling records, and who fill stadiums who never use any synth with analog filters

What that shows is in the real world having a filter actually be analog doesn't matter

In addition to that all one has to do is read any of the countless threads on Hardware Synth Forward Forums like GS and read any of the threads regarding any of the myriad of hardware synths that have analog filters

Someone will most certainly post on how they don't like the filter or how the new VCF sounds nothing like the original VCF or haw the filter sounds boring or harsh

What all this shows is that having an analog filter is not a panacea, it isn't a requirement to use them to sell out stadiums, or win a Grammy, or have a billion streams, or sell enough records to go platinum

Using them just doesn't matter

Now there might be a particular analog filter in a particular analog synth that you personally really like. If so awesome, buy it, use it, love it, to win a Grammy with it. But let's not engage in elitism and pretend it's superior to anything else, it's just something you personally like

[IvyBirds]

I agree, digital osc's or a combo of analog and digital osc's into a then fully analog signal path is a great combo. There are lots of great sounding hybrids these days.

I actually also do an emulated kind of this thing in the box. Sometimes I'll open up a synths filters and run it into a software filter like the UAD Moog's, or the drop.

Can get some interesting times this way.

So what you are saying is that Analog Filters don't matter and digital filters can do things that can't be matched with hardware

Analog filters did matter before digital technology became able to model them, in 2025 they no longer do

So to recap once again filters matter but if they are analog or digital really doesn't matter

If having filters be actual analog circuits mattered why does the 3rd Wave and the Waldorf M have digital filters?

Except that we've had countless examples shared in this thread where the filter and resonance from hardware synths has timbres that the softsynths can't match yet.

No we haven't, we have people like yourself post countless YouTube videos of analog synths running into all kinds of digital software based effects to make them sound good and then making hilarious claims that the sound of hardware is universally better, yet in their example we are hearing the sound of software

Perhaps you've lost the high end of your hearing.

Nope I can hear quite easily that you love the sound of software which is why you posted so many videos that were nothing but the sound of software

The Waldorf M has digital filters, at least in part to model an older digital synth. It's the analog filters that give it such a great sound. (Imo)

And why are they bothering to model older digital synths with a digital filter if the Analog Filters were all that people wanted and the only thing that makes the M sound good?

Why do you personally use digital filters?

The reality is Waldorf is using digital filters because in 2025 it doesn't matter if they are analog or digital, the same reason you yourself bypass analog filters and use software based ones

One thing Analog filters do excel at however is in getting people to spend money thanks to their own confirmation bias, they are a kick ass marketing tool

As P.T. Barnum is often misquoted as saying "There's a sucker born every minute"

[Papuzzo]

One thing Analog filters do excel at however is in getting people to spend money thanks to their own confirmation bias, they are a kick ass marketing tool

As P.T. Barnum is often misquoted as saying "There's a sucker born every minute"

I see that Moog has a 2022 reissue of the Model D. And it's only 5 grand! Now some people might think that 5 grand is a lot of money to spend on a monophonic synth with 44 keys, but we have to realize that it has analog filters. People just don't know how much "better" it sounds compared to Diva. And for the real purists who know better sound when they hear it, Moog has a Geddy Lee signature model that's only 600 bucks more. Now we all know that signature model will sound BETTER than the typical Model D. Think it over, only $5600 to sound just like Geddy Lee! What a bargain!

[IvyBirds]

One thing Analog filters do excel at however is in getting people to spend money thanks to their own confirmation bias, they are a kick ass marketing tool

As P.T. Barnum is often misquoted as saying "There's a sucker born every minute"

I see that Moog has a 2022 reissue of the Model D. And it's only 5 grand! Now some people might think that 5 grand is a lot of money to spend on a monophonic synth with 44 keys, but we have to realize that it has analog filters. People just don't know how much "better" it sounds compared to Diva. And for the real purists who know better sound when they hear it, Moog has a Geddy Lee signature model that's only 600 bucks more. Now we all know that signature model will sound BETTER than the typical Model D. Think it over, only $5600 to sound just like Geddy Lee! What a bargain!

Don't forget the Akai Timbrewolf. It has analog filters also and was the pinnacle of analog synths



Not only does it have analog filters but it has a VCA

According to the people in this thread that's all you need to make awesome sounds, sell out stadiums, go platinum and win Grammys

unless of course making filters analog and having a VCA is pointless and not relevant

[Papuzzo]

And I see the Oberheim OB-X is still available for purchase. And it's only 5 grand too! You just can't get the sound of Jump without those analog filters on the OB-X. So let me get this straight: for 10 grand I can get a Moog Model D and an Oberheim OB-X8. Gee, to sound "Better" that's not a whole lot of money. And I can finally do justice to Jump!

[pekbro]

I hate that song… heh

[IvyBirds]

I hate that song… heh

Why it was recorded using a synth with VCOs VCAs, and an analog filter

That's all that's required for a good song, and if you have those things it's impossible to make bad music, but if you don't have those things you can't make good music and should just take up golf

At least that is what the purists think

[vurt]

I hate that song… heh

that sir, is why you will never win a grammy!

[justin3am]

I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?

[seafire]

According to the people in this thread that's all you need to make awesome sounds, sell out stadiums, go platinum and win Grammys

How strange, I can't find a single post in the thread where someone said that.

[seafire]

Analog filters did matter before digital technology became able to model them, in 2025 they no longer do

They do here, very much so.

Nothey don't, there are far more people in 2025 that pay a large variety of months and who make a large variety of music including Grammy winning platinum selling records, and who fill stadiums who never use any synth with analog filters.

What have other people got to do with me?

They matter here. Its not up for debate.

[zerocrossing]

In case you want to waste 22 minutes of your life.

I stopped watching when he said, “I tried to match settings and not get them to sound the same.”

Stupid. Lots of developers decide to increase the range of parameters to extend the range of sounds that can be made with the software. Often the range of the hardware had some limit based on the nature of the components used, so why should that carry over, when the same limits don’t exist? The correct way to make comparisons is to do things like crank up the resonance of the filter and match the cutoff frequency, using a spectrum analyzer, so the exact peak frequency can be determined. The correct way to measure the frequency of an LFO is to make a recording when it’s in square wave mode and count the ms, then match that on the software.

It’s a huge pain in the ass, which is why most YouTube channels don’t bother, but if you don’t do it, you’re not comparing apples to apples, and you may as well not bother.

I do it. I do of often, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it. I also know where the problems with software are likely to be. Here are the issues that I often encounter:

Wave forms. Not sure why this is often a problem, but a lot of software gets the filter right, but uses a generic wave form that is more like what a sawtooth sounds like mathematically than what’s frequently found on analog synthesizers.

Parameter ranges, as I already mentioned.

Resonance. Sometimes, if you are in self oscillation, it can sound good up until higher frequencies, where you can hear either aliasing or it just sounds a bit dull. This is getting more rare and most of the best emulations don’t suffer from this.

Oscillator sync. It can sometimes seem mushy and less distinct at higher frequencies. This is also more rare.

Distortion. Filter drive is often limited, and sounds fine, as hardware is often fairly limited, but if you have a synth like the Analog Four or Nina, most likely you aren’t getting that in hardware, and if you do, you’re getting aliasing on higher notes. Massive X and multi/poly are very good in this regard.

Feedback. Only a few of plugins do this well, as far as I can tell. UAD’s Model D, NI’s Massive X, Reaktor Blocks and Softube Modular.

Filter and oscillator FM. They can be either weak or alias at higher frequencies, but this is generally rare now.

All of these attributes are generally done well enough to make all of pop music that happened before the later 80s. The VA of the 90s did a worse job, and people seem to love it. There’s such a huge hypocrisy by people who complain about plugins and turn around and gush about the Virus. If it had never existed, and was now released as a plugin, it would be panned by people. Now it’s classic VA!

When I got sick of having my desk dominated by the Dominion 1, I went through a very careful process of checking every damn thing about it while up against either plugins or my ATC-X. It turned out, I didn’t even need to turn to the ATC-X, as I was able to match all of the functions using modular plugins, except for all the filter modes. I couldn’t match them, but I could get acceptable replacements, and go way beyond. The Toybox filters for Reaktor are amazing. I kept the ATC-X because I couldn’t find a buyer that was willing to pay me what I thought it should be worth, and I wasn’t willing to take a big hit on it. It’s also good to have because those plugins that do a good job at mimicking it, are pretty CPU intensive, and it’s useful to be able to offload some tasks to hardware.

[zerocrossing]

I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?

No, but you should move up to the Korg plugin, which is a lot better.

[whassup]

I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?

I am glad you asked!

[vurt]

According to the people in this thread that's all you need to make awesome sounds, sell out stadiums, go platinum and win Grammys

How strange, I can't find a single post in the thread where someone said that.

or anyone but them going on about grammys!! does anyone care about that kind of thing, outside the ceremony/piss up? did a couple of the nme ones years back, free bar ftw!