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

[D-Fusion]

[ghettosynth]

I really want Bazille as hardware and completely digital but with each voice running on it's own processor with it's own DAC. This way each voice can be clocked according to the pitch of that voice and any aliasing is related to the fundamental pitch of that voice, like old samplers and wavetable synths. It'll never happen but I can dream, lol!

Bazille is such a remarkable instrument, I'm still finding new ways to make it sound broken. Very few other synths handle feedback patching as well as it does.

I'd love to have your hardware Bazille!

Hardware or software, I consider Bazille one of the top 5 synths ever made.

While I agree. I think the only part of that vision that really needs to be hardware is the oscillators. That said, I like performance oriented semi-modular synths in Eurorack.

[ghettosynth]

I listen to and play a lot of techno, I think it's often pretty easy to pick out hardware sounds.

But yet you posted a bunch of videos that were the sound of software that were supposedly hardware

I mentioned Techno to my daughter, on the way home from Superman (more like Supermeh, amirite? ) and she had no idea what it was so I asked Apple Music for some Techno hits and her response was, "so, it's just a drum machine and some white noise?"

I'm not surprised your daughter doesn't know what it is. Most sheltered kids didn't know about it even when the underground scene skewed younger. This, the techno scene skewing younger, isn't really true today. Yes, the obnoxious festival scene still skews younger, but techno isn't really kids music, per se. I am surprised that 1) you needed to ask apple music for suggestions and 2) that you were tired of it after a couple of tracks. Your response, and hers, are exactly the response one expects from someone who doesn't understand what it takes to make "techno hits." I encourage you to make something with your phone and post it. It should only take you a few minutes, right?

For those actually interested in techno as a music form and what makes it tick, I can highly recommend Mark Butler's "Unlocking the Groove."

[pdxindy]

I really want Bazille as hardware and completely digital but with each voice running on it's own processor with it's own DAC. This way each voice can be clocked according to the pitch of that voice and any aliasing is related to the fundamental pitch of that voice, like old samplers and wavetable synths. It'll never happen but I can dream, lol!

Bazille is such a remarkable instrument, I'm still finding new ways to make it sound broken. Very few other synths handle feedback patching as well as it does.

I'd love to have your hardware Bazille!

Hardware or software, I consider Bazille one of the top 5 synths ever made.

While I agree. I think the only part of that vision that really needs to be hardware is the oscillators. That said, I like performance oriented semi-modular synths in Eurorack.

This magical Bazille would still be 16 voice polyphonic

[ghettosynth]

I really want Bazille as hardware and completely digital but with each voice running on it's own processor with it's own DAC. This way each voice can be clocked according to the pitch of that voice and any aliasing is related to the fundamental pitch of that voice, like old samplers and wavetable synths. It'll never happen but I can dream, lol!

Bazille is such a remarkable instrument, I'm still finding new ways to make it sound broken. Very few other synths handle feedback patching as well as it does.

I'd love to have your hardware Bazille!

Hardware or software, I consider Bazille one of the top 5 synths ever made.

While I agree. I think the only part of that vision that really needs to be hardware is the oscillators. That said, I like performance oriented semi-modular synths in Eurorack.

This magical Bazille would still be 16 voice polyphonic

Well, yeah, I suppose. You'll probably need a few more HP for 64 of those oscillators.

[ghettosynth]

*it's not that unusual, manual labour will play havoc with your body. Standing up sometimes sounds like jumping on a sheet of bubble wrap. Oh joy...

get on the medical weed like me!
turning my head sounds a bit like that, my neck and shoulders are ruined.

Too much time holding your arms out patching modulars will do that. Seriously. I had crazy debilitating neck and shoulder pain at one point and I figured out that it was coming from programming rack synths and effects for long periods of time.

it predates the modular by about 20 years

I'd say that spending too much time with your arms outstretched so that it causes crazy debilitating shoulder pain might go back a few more years than that.

[vurt]

*it's not that unusual, manual labour will play havoc with your body. Standing up sometimes sounds like jumping on a sheet of bubble wrap. Oh joy...

get on the medical weed like me!
turning my head sounds a bit like that, my neck and shoulders are ruined.

Too much time holding your arms out patching modulars will do that. Seriously. I had crazy debilitating neck and shoulder pain at one point and I figured out that it was coming from programming rack synths and effects for long periods of time.

it predates the modular by about 20 years

I'd say that spending too much time with your arms outstretched so that it causes crazy debilitating shoulder pain might go back a few more years than that.

yes, in my teens i was a zombie.

it's not from physical activities, it was caused by toxins. all i can say is workplace accident.

[IvyBirds]

For those actually interested in techno as a music form and what makes it tick, I can highly recommend Mark Butler's "Unlocking the Groove."

That's a good read, I have read it, but it came out in 2006 and cites all kinds of other books and papers from the 1970s until then

I don't think you can draw any conclusions on anything from a 20 year old book citing sources from 50+ years ago when it comes to music production or what makes a hit record in 2025

It's main conclusion from that book is that Techno is for people to dance to in clubs, apply that to 2025 and go to any dance club anywhere in the world, you will find a bunch of people under the heavy influence of alcohol and/or drugs listening to music being played most often from a digital source

Doubt any of those people tripping on Molly can even tell you what a VCA is, or if an actual VCF makes any difference when they just want to get high AF and hook up with some random person when the night is over

The main take away from the book is that Techno is all about the beat, which more often than not even back then is going to come from a sample, either off a drum machine or samples from a record. If one is using samples for drums being played in some shitty club, on some shitty speakers probably in Mono for drunk high/high people does it really matter if that's from a MPC, an Akai S2000, or some plugin with Abelton Live? I am thinking no

Plus we all know when it comes to Techno all you need is a Korg 01/W

[vurt]

Doubt any of those people tripping on Molly can even tell you what a VCA is,

i beg to differ...

or if an actual VCF makes any difference when they just want to get high AF and hook up with some random person when the night is over

now youre just killing the romance of it all

shouting! mega mega white thing! going back to romford!!!!

[zerocrossing]

A fella has to have some emergency HP!

Like for when you run out of ketchup?

I read is as he took too much damage and now his HP ran out and he's waiting to respawn.

Um, duh! New modules are an attack on your compositional space. You need to have a spell of compositional expansion at the ready. Although he's from the olden days, just after electricity, Rick Wakeman understood this intuitively, which is why he always wore a cape, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice.

Some of you really need to brush up on your music history!

Warning, the following clip contains real hardware. You might want to cast a spell of mommy's protection if your soyboy plugins are currently in use.

You're saying that as if Mr. Richard Wakeman had a choice of what to use. Modern Rick uses many digital instruments, including plugins.

https://equipboard.com/pros/rick-wakeman

Has he had any hits lately?

case closed.

Has anyone in this thread had a hit... ever?

[ghettosynth]

The main take away from the book is that Techno is all about the beat

Is that all that you got from it?

[ghettosynth]

Like for when you run out of ketchup?

I read is as he took too much damage and now his HP ran out and he's waiting to respawn.

Um, duh! New modules are an attack on your compositional space. You need to have a spell of compositional expansion at the ready. Although he's from the olden days, just after electricity, Rick Wakeman understood this intuitively, which is why he always wore a cape, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice.

Some of you really need to brush up on your music history!

Warning, the following clip contains real hardware. You might want to cast a spell of mommy's protection if your soyboy plugins are currently in use.

You're saying that as if Mr. Richard Wakeman had a choice of what to use. Modern Rick uses many digital instruments, including plugins.

https://equipboard.com/pros/rick-wakeman

Has he had any hits lately?

case closed.

Has anyone in this thread had a hit... ever?

So no then, that's what I thought.

[vurt]

Like for when you run out of ketchup?

I read is as he took too much damage and now his HP ran out and he's waiting to respawn.

Um, duh! New modules are an attack on your compositional space. You need to have a spell of compositional expansion at the ready. Although he's from the olden days, just after electricity, Rick Wakeman understood this intuitively, which is why he always wore a cape, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice.

Some of you really need to brush up on your music history!

Warning, the following clip contains real hardware. You might want to cast a spell of mommy's protection if your soyboy plugins are currently in use.

You're saying that as if Mr. Richard Wakeman had a choice of what to use. Modern Rick uses many digital instruments, including plugins.

https://equipboard.com/pros/rick-wakeman

Has he had any hits lately?

case closed.

Has anyone in this thread had a hit... ever?

ive just had one.

[HAL76]

The part you're leaving out, is that the analog resurgence started around 20 years ago. So, yes. At that time there was still a pretty noticeable gap between an emulation and even the least expensive analog synthesizer. Enough for people like me to buy an ATC-1 and Evolver, and later a MoPho and Prophet '08. A lot has happened in twenty years. It's like comparing the digital effects in Revenge Of The Sith to Andor Season 2. The emulation quality is so much better now, that of those mentioned instruments, I only have the ATC, which I upgraded to the -X version. As a former Pulse 2 owner, I assure you, it does not sound that great, though it does have an interesting character.

We don´t have to argue about the past I think. Analog was somehow never all dead. But many many people jumped on the DAW train at some point and raved about Alchemy, Kontakt, Zebra and so on. Locating the revival in the 2000s lacks any valid basis.

Especially the Pulse 2 can sound very rough, hard and solid. For me no VST even comes close. VSTs sound exactly not like that. They´re SOFTsynths. It´s often too much, not (really) sweet or warm, but extremely versatile - so better don´t judge too fast about it. I´m always again surprised. MXR Stereo Chorus on top and it´s just as noisy as a Juno

[HAL76]

More cowbell.

Uhhhh! Gotta bookmark this one. Maybe even sample it one day. Thank you!

Glad I could help. Shortest vid I´ve ever seen