Proxima - Synapse Audio

[MattLeschuck]

Definitely picking this one up. Dune 3 and Legend HZ are two of the best sounding soft synths out there IMO. Antidote is another one i used A LOT back in my Reason days.

Thanks again Richard, your hard work is always appreciated.

[BONES]

I stand corrected. But IMHO they should try harder for that money

Maybe you just need to have a go with it before you judge? It's absolutely f**king awesome, easily my favourite and most used Synapse synth. (It was in beta for two years or more, so I've been using it for ages.)

sounds alot like dune 3 tbh

It sounds nothing like DUNE 3, although DUNE 3 is definitely versatile enough to sound a lot like Proxima.

Really? Well, we never buy without discount. Ever. Didn't you know? Oh well, we all have to learn something new so now and then

Clearly not, as Synapse rarely do discounts and seem to sell plenty.

Kudos to SA for putting the mod matrix on the front and doing tabbed FX.

Yeah, after years of all the beta-testers whinging about it, Rich finally had an epiphany about not making it the same as the RE version. Although the MM was always on the front, from the first alpha.

It does, at least, look to have a more usable UX - perhaps the best to date from Synapse.

Not even Dune3 and Legend Hz? Both are definitely in my top tier.

I think DUNE's UX is terrible. I literally hate working with it and pretty much never do any more. I've got a handful of go-to patches and only ever use it for those, really. Yes, there is a lot going on but that's the problem. I love the way it sounds, I just hate having to deal with the stupid centre screen and the layers.

Just to reiterate and expand, Proxima is easily my favourite and most used Synapse synth. As I said, it's been in beta for ages so I've had a lot of time to play with it. It got a name change a couple of months ago, and it really surprised me how many songs I had to go and swap it into. It has found its way into 20 or more of our songs and features prominently on our new album, which will be out next month. It's really easy to use, the sweet spots are plentiful and very wide and the sound is absolutely huge.

[Examigan]

I would have preferred the SSM2040 filter from the Prophet Rev 2, but at least it's not another Prophet 5 emulation. We have plenty of those: Messiah, Repro, Prophet 5 V, Model 80, P-10 (also a Prophet T8 emulation, I think), and Expanse 5

Yeah, that was one reason to go for a different synth, and U-he did a great job on their emulation (the others I haven't tried). The SSM2040 is a fascinating chip for sure, the CEM3372 is equally interesting though in our opinion. Its distinct saturation sets it apart from the other chips out there. Lots of character within a single VCF/VCA chip

Richard

Hi Richard

Congrats on the release!

I haven’t tried the demo yet (of course) but one thing I thought of was those 10 matrix slots. It would be nice to have more, since I’m used to usually having more than that. Who knows, maybe I’ll find I won’t need as many depending on how it’s designed.

[mi-os]

sounds alot like dune 3 tbh

It sounds nothing like DUNE 3, although DUNE 3 is definitely versatile enough to sound a lot like Proxima.

[Alchemedia]

Congrats Richard!

[vitocorleone123]

My ears have yet to be convinced long-term by any Synapse synth (I ended up selling the couple I had and not buying the others after demo), but I'm always willing to try another!

It does, at least, look to have a more usable UX - perhaps the best to date from Synapse.

Not even Dune3 and Legend Hz? Both are definitely in my top tier.
rsp

Agreed. I know sound is personal, but, Vito have you honestly listened to DUNE 3 - one of the best sounding VST, if not the best sounding out there. !!!!!

I have. I preferred Hive2 and, later, Spire. And now Serum2. I'm not quite a collector, or I'd eventually pick up Dune 3.

As soon as I heard Model 72 (which sounded more "like hardware" even with its flaws), I sold The Legend (which sounded more "like software" in comparison). I didn't need the poly aspect of it, and I also have an SE-02, so, between the 72 and 02, I was then covered on the Moog-y front. The Legend HZ I just didn't hear anything special enough to purchase, either, and also didn't enjoy the UX (which has been a major issue for me with the Synapse Synths to date).

Caveat: I'm not a huge Moog fan (nor a huge Prophet 5 fan, for example).

This is strictly a personal preference and not an attempt to generalize anything about Synapse Audio products. I know many people completely love them and I wouldn't fault that.

I 100% plan to demo this one.

[mi-os]

The closest is Repro, which was years ago. Not sure it has much in common with the rest of their catalogue. Competition is always good, for both devs and customers

Nope. Totaly different sounding synth compared to Repro.
Repro 1 and 5 are much closer to each other than the Prophet 600 is to both of them.

Repro 5 was derived from Repro 1. So that's kind of expected. But Repro 5 can pretty much sound like a P5 (see Marius Leicht demo). Since a P5 sounds (subjectively) better than a P600, Repro 5 should also sound better than a P600 emulation, at least in theory.

[BONES]

Yeah, it doesn't quite work out that way, though. The other thing is that Proxima's CPU usage is, as usual for Synapse, extremely low for the sound quality on offer. I haven't thought to do a direct comparison but I can if anyone is interested.

I have. I preferred Hive2 and, later, Spire. And now Serum2. I'm not quite a collector, or I'd eventually pick up Dune 3.

I have Hive 2 and Spire and whilst I use Spire more, I definitely think DUNE sounds better than either of them.

As soon as I heard Model 72 (which sounded more "like hardware" even with its flaws), I sold The Legend (which sounded more "like software" in comparison).

Yeah but they still both sound like a MiniMoog, so there's that. OTOH, Legend HZ sounds like a whole 'nuther thing, which is what a properly good synth should be about.

The Legend HZ I just didn't hear anything special enough to purchase, either

You must have forgotten to turn your speakers on because Legend HZ is so much better than I could have believed when I first saw it.

and also didn't enjoy the UX (which has been a major issue for me with the Synapse Synths to date).

No argument there but Rich has definitely addressed that comprehensively with Proxima. It's one of the easiest synths I've ever worked with. Part of that, I think, is the best-on-class patch management, which makes it so easy to organise your sounds. It took Rich a long time to get around to offering a patch browser but when he did it, he did it better than anyone else.

Too many people under-value ease of use and workflow but it's always been crucial in my assessment of any synth. e.g. I bought Hive just before v2 was released and I never used it because the interface/workflow was so bad. It actually made me think the synth didn't sound any good because I just couldn't make the effort to tweak anything. Then I discovered a 3rd party skin (from Ploki) with a much more intuitive layout that completely changed my attitude towards Hive 2 and now I find myself using it regularly. Of course, DS_Thorn remains my go-to ubersynth but Hive, Spire and DUNE all get some use.

[trusampler]

does this have a working demo to test ?

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

does this have a working demo to test ?

It will. Might come tomorrow.

Was answered by Richard earlier in the thread.

[trusampler]

thnx

[zerocrossing]

October Rocktober Release Month continues...

Fixed that for ya!

[Funky40]

This sounds really nice from the demos. very balanced.

Not overdoing the highs with some saturation to mimic an "analogish" sound for some untrained ears. Like acoustica does it so penetrant (taking measures on the subtle side). ....and others as well. I´m in the meantime allergic to that "mimic" sound. This one gives me from a listeners perspective totally an analogish sound feel. From this soundquality on and upwards would i nolonger see any need -for me- for real HW. (refering to real analog sound => vs. once recordet to disk)

[SonicDimension]

Synapse Audio, u-he, and Softube are definitely in the top tier or analog modeling softsynths these days, but I've noticed that Synapse and u-he synths tend to have more of a 'modern' voicing of the synths they emulate. The Softube Model series synths tend to have a more authentic 'vintage' sound, as if you're playing a real fifty-year-old synth.

Part of that comes from the extended features and built-in FX, of course, but I think it goes beyond that. It reminds me of the modern recreations of classic hardware synths, like the Sequential OB-6 and Prophet-6. Those synths sound great, but they don't quite capture the subtle imperfections of the old beasts, I think.

Maybe the u-he and Synapse teams decided that a modern, polished analog sound is more in demand than a super-authentic emulation? Anyway, it's cool to have both options!

[HydrogenHuman]

I wonder when/if Thomann will put Proxima for sale on their website. They've done so for every other Synapse product, so I'm guessing they will. They usually offer it for slightly less.