Absynth 6

[Echoes in the Attic]

Can you explain to me what was so special regarding synthesis in Absynth 5, except the esoteric-/alienship-like GUI? Was it kind of semi-modular? FM? Was it similar to AIR Music Loom 2?

It's like a laboratory for sound design - it combines many sound generation methods - people often tend to think of it as mainly granular/sample based but it also had (has) FM, Fractal and Additive synthesis (including a limited form of resynthesis and drawable waves) along with some exotic sound processing modules combining complex MSEG's (which are used all over the place), resonators, complex comb filtering and the 'Aetherizer' which is a grain based delay/reverb. Back when it came out and for a long time there was nothing like it and even today I can't think of any synths that combine all those elements in a similar way. It also had (has) support for multiple forms of surround sound, again very few synths have that even today and when it came out this was also ground breaking. Last but not least because it attracted so many fantastic sound experimenters and designers there is a huge legacy library of amazing sound design.

Absynth was doing custom user waveforms and multi-point envelopes way before it caught on in other synths that's for sure! I doubt the granular capabilities are really any better than anything else these days, as everyone has granular. Up until V4 or so there weren't many outside of Reaktor.
The rhythmic modulation stuff is probably still more advanced than anything out there.

So I wonder what they've done to make the synthesis methods as competitive as possible with the current synth landscape. Wavetable import would probably make sense. Improved resynthesis to compete with Alchemy/Harmour/Myth etc. would also be cool.

[Examigan]

I wonder how much they will charge if someone doesn’t own the original version?

Most people own the original. They will probably do a small discount for folks who own A5. Same as Massive

Whatever they decide to do price-wise, this clearly isn't the same prospect of Massive -> Massive X. Massive X was a totally different synth, whereas Absynth is a new version of the same synth.

You'd hope it would be a fairly modest upgrade price for existing users.

Unfortunately I don't own the original version, but I have several other NI products such as Monark, Kontakt, Electric Vintage, Battery3/4, FM8, Massive X, etc.

Maybe I'll get a slight discount...who knows. I'll check when it goes on sale.

[Funky40]

You'd hope it would be a fairly modest upgrade price for existing users.

That´d be $49 in my book.

i doubt that this will be the case. Even $79 might be very optimistic (just my thoughts).

[machinesworking]

Can you explain to me what was so special regarding synthesis in Absynth 5, except the esoteric-/alienship-like GUI? Was it kind of semi-modular? FM? Was it similar to AIR Music Loom 2?

It's like a laboratory for sound design - it combines many sound generation methods - people often tend to think of it as mainly granular/sample based but it also had (has) FM, Fractal and Additive synthesis (including a limited form of resynthesis and drawable waves) along with some exotic sound processing modules combining complex MSEG's (which are used all over the place), resonators, complex comb filtering and the 'Aetherizer' which is a grain based delay/reverb. Back when it came out and for a long time there was nothing like it and even today I can't think of any synths that combine all those elements in a similar way. It also had (has) support for multiple forms of surround sound, again very few synths have that even today and when it came out this was also ground breaking. Last but not least because it attracted so many fantastic sound experimenters and designers there is a huge legacy library of amazing sound design.

Absynth was doing custom user waveforms and multi-point envelopes way before it caught on in other synths that's for sure! I doubt the granular capabilities are really any better than anything else these days, as everyone has granular. Up until V4 or so there weren't many outside of Reaktor.
The rhythmic modulation stuff is probably still more advanced than anything out there.

So I wonder what they've done to make the synthesis methods as competitive as possible with the current synth landscape. Wavetable import would probably make sense. Improved resynthesis to compete with Alchemy/Harmour/Myth etc. would also be cool.

The overall sound is just much different than other synths, even synths with the same basic functions of Absynth don't sound like Absynth. It would be cool if the granular and sample capabilities were improved, some new osc and filter types etc. but being on Apple Silicon and dealing with a horribly broken Absynth 5 in Rosetta I'll be happy enough to use it in whatever shape it's in. I'm pretty confident in Brian Clevinger though, I think he cares about the legacy and what is improved is worth the upgrade price.

[nightjar]

I wonder what they've done to make the synthesis methods as competitive as possible with the current synth landscape. Wavetable import would probably make sense. Improved resynthesis to compete with Alchemy/Harmour/Myth etc. would also be cool.

Hmm.. and maybe embrace physical modeling more deeply like Plasmonic?

[EvilDragon]

Pretty sure Brian doesn't want to encroach on his other product

[Echoes in the Attic]

The comb filters do get into pm territory for sure though. But yeah wouldn't expect it to cannibalize plasmonic in any way.

[EnGee]

For me, the GUI and audio engine upgrade are most what I'm looking for. A resizable (4k compatible) GUI and upsampling option would be great. Everything else is extra.

However, I will keep my Absynth 5 installed even if I upgrade to Absynth 6 (as I'm doing now with Massive and Massive X. They are different synths and not compatible like A5 and A6 however).

[Shabdahbriah]

Have prices been announced yet?

[EvilDragon]

Nope.

[jules99]

Have prices been announced yet?

Nothing has been officially "announced" yet except for NI heavily teasing it and sites like SynthAnatomy and Gearnews leaking it.

So, loads of things will only come out next week. Unless any of the gazillion webshops decides to leak its full details early. Which we've seen before.

[JasonSpatola]

One thing about Absynth is that it doesn't want to be owned. It doesn't want to be perpetual. It's ethereal. Ephemeral. More an event than a synth.

The fairest pricing I can think of:
1. Subscription only
2. $15 (USD) monthly
3. Access ends permanently on December 31, 2029

I speak for all of us when I say this is what the market wants. Hopefully NI listens.

[soundman007]

One thing about Absynth is that it doesn't want to be owned. It doesn't want to be perpetual. It's ethereal. Ephemeral. More an event than a synth.

The fairest pricing I can think of:
1. Subscription only
2. $15 (USD) monthly
3. Access ends permanently on December 31, 2029

I speak for all of us when I say this is what the market wants. Hopefully NI listens.

[noiseboyuk]

Don't mind admitting Absynth - great sounds - has always intimidated me programming-wise. I've always stuck to tweaking the macros.

I had a look today for a simple online tutorial that walks through the architecture in a friendly way, but didn't have much luck - anyone have any good starting points?

[wagtunes]

One thing about Absynth is that it doesn't want to be owned. It doesn't want to be perpetual. It's ethereal. Ephemeral. More an event than a synth.

The fairest pricing I can think of:
1. Subscription only
2. $15 (USD) monthly
3. Access ends permanently on December 31, 2029

I speak for all of us when I say this is what the market wants. Hopefully NI listens.

I know you're only kidding. If they did this I would boycott NI for life.