If You can only keep Four VST Synths You have. Which Ones ?

[Echoes in the Attic]

Wasn't the developer of polyana banned here because he got quite aggressive over criticism of the GUI, very stubborn guy.

Well he stuck to his vision for PolyAna and if I remember correctly the GUI design came before the synth. Again if memory serves me correctly he was a graphics designer first. So you can call him stubborn if you wish but I had respect for him for sticking to his original vision for so long even though I vociferously disagreed with that vision.

He defended that backwards tilt GUI for a long time but so many people said they wouldn't buy PolyAna with that GUI that he finally relented and allowed skinning.

But after the update was released that allowed non-tilted GUI and custom skins he said almost no one bought PolyAna and that left him rather disillusioned. I felt sorry for him that his work bore so little fruit.

Don't get me wrong we had knock down bloody battles here and by email. He turned on me like a rabid dog just for trying to help him.

So yeah the guy had an attitude and going after Ben and the Mods got him perma-banned. The thing is those of us who purchased PolyAna early on were the ones who kind of suffered the most since we could no longer interact with him here for bug reports, etc. I'd love to see him get a second chance and be reinstated but I fear the outcome might be the same although I suppose he could have mellowed over the years.

At any rate spurred on by this thread I fired up PolyAna yesterday after quite some time and I'd forgotten how good it can sound if you're after that old school analog vibe. I'm very happy to have it in my collection.

Yeah I would still love to use Poly-Ana, but as far as I know it is not apple silicone compatible. I emailed about that (he's always quick to respond to emails by the way), but he said he doesn't have an apple silicone to test with so it didn't sound like it was getting updated. Bummer.

[Teksonik]

I imagine the cost of an apple silicone system would be hard to justify without a guarantee of substantial increased sales.

I don't know if there's any way to tell if sales would jump if an apple silicone version was available or not.

He might be a little gun shy after the whole "we won't buy PolyAna with that GUI and then when he changed it they still didn't buy it in numbers.

[TechHaus]

Apple silicon macs are cheap. Got my used m2 mac mini with 24gb unified memory for $240.

Cheaper than old office pc's. Apple silicon price can't be an excuse.

Edit: the prime buying opportunity will be when the m5 mac minis drop. People sell cheap during upgrade cycles.

[BONES]

Not really. I bought a Surface Laptop Go for the office lady here at the marina (where I live) a couple of weeks ago for the equivalent of about US$150 and it looks to me like a brand new laptop that has never been used. The eBay seller said it was overs from a corporate order so it probably sat on a shelf for 3 years until the lease expired and they turned them all over. It is a beautiful thing and it seems quite snappy.

It was so good I bought one for myself. Somebody bid mine up higher but it's got better specs so it was still a bargain. It also looks unused. I've bought a 2TB SSD to upgrade the storage and, all up it will still only have cost me somewhere around US$400. It will be an excellent backup to my Legion Go for live work.

It can also be skinned so not the "ugliest UI of the world" although beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It's not the ugliness of the graphics, a couple of the available skins actually look quite nice, it's the way it is laid out. It's just a big, undifferentiated mess. It's hard to look at and see what's going on at a glance. If you compare it to DS-Thorn, for example, Thorn uses a mix of knobs and sliders to break the GUI into more digestible areas that stop it from overwhelming your eyes.

It's also on sale right now for $89.98 so I don't think that's "way too high" and no I'm not a fanboy of Admiral Quality just a fan of facts.

Well, not exactly. $90 is more than any GForce instrument at the moment, as they are also on sale, and I don't think you can put Admiral Quality on the same level as them, as a company providing customers with products and services. And ANA-2 is a whole lot more synth and is only 84 quid ($112). DS-Thorn is the bargain of the century at $39. Korg's ARP 2600 is $30 cheaper than PolyAna at full price and when Korg has a sale, ARP 2600 is down to $99. All of Cherry Audio's VSTi are cheaper at full price than PolyAna is when it's on sale. Tone 2 are having a sale and most of their instruments are $99 or less.

I'm sure it sounds great and can probably do a lot of things but there are plenty of alternatives out there that are at least as good in every area and a lot easier to look at and work with. Something that looks like that needs to be under $100 at full price and probably less than $50 when it's on sale. That is just a fact. But that's the Admiral's choice and he's the one who has to live with it. He might be happier getting good money from a few interested customers, rather than selling lots of licenses to a wider market and having to deal with whining idiots.

[SMH]

I asked AQ Mike he said I can tell you-

'I barely make enough to pay for the website and have to take other work to survive. The Admiralty has grossed only about $90 so far this year and we haven't sold a single Stunning Phaser since the 1.0 update came out 2 months ago. The latest Russian cracks that were just updated a couple weeks ago have been driving lots of traffic to the site, but of course none of them are buying. (I should turn the ads back on.) Enjoy your malware! '

[TechHaus]

Nobody said HY-POLY, eh?

[BONES]

Why would they? It's a nice enough synth but the filters aren't anything special, which lets it down.

[Teksonik]

It can also be skinned so not the "ugliest UI of the world" although beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It's not the ugliness of the graphics

No, his statement was literally "ugliest UI of the world" and that's what I responded to. You can move the goalposts to justify yet another argument but the subject was not "it's just a big, undifferentiated mess", it was about being ugly which it is not when properly skinned. Yes PolyAna's GUI is very crowded but it's not impossible to use. The many patches that I and others have made for it are testament to that fact.

Well, not exactly. $90 is more than any.....

Again you're missing the point. There is a difference between being "way overpriced" and being priced somewhat higher than other alternatives at the moment.

PolyAna is not another lazy emulation of the usual hardware, it's designed to be something that would have been at home in the 70's so if someone is looking for originality and not just another emulation it might be for them.

less than $50 when it's on sale. That is just a fact.

No that is just the opinion of one person. Would he sell more at $50? Maybe, maybe not but he's set the price so either buy it or move on.

Again I really enjoy having PolyAna in my collection. Is it perfect? No of course not, nothing is perfect but I don't think it deserved the criticisms that were levelled against it which is why I responded to them. Other subjects are irrelevant to my original responses.

[Teksonik]

Nobody said HY-POLY, eh?

Why would they? It's a nice enough synth but the filters aren't anything special, which lets it down.

Yet from the HY Poly thread:

what a frickin' find Hy-Poly is! The first batch of patches, the Audilepsy ones (great name!), are amazing. Yes, it definitely has a very crisp, clear, "digital" character but it's filter is really nice.... this thing is a no-brainer.

Not to mention the sound. It's so crisp, yet rich/lush at the same time. Quality inside and out.

I finally had a dig through the factory presets last night and there are some really good sounds in this thing. It also sounds quite different to most of the other synths I have so I can see it getting quite a bit of use. It's a great synth engine, with very usable FM, and the effects push it right over the top. I am really impressed.

viewtopic.php?p=7803469&hilit=HY+Poly#p7803469

[BONES]

Yeah, six years ago the landscape was very different, wasn't it. Things that seemed great then can feel very ordinary now. Gotta love the march of progress.

No, his statement was literally "ugliest UI of the world" and that's what I responded to.

So f**king what? I wasn't responding to him, I was giving my f**king take on it. How was that not completely f**king obvious? That said, the default skin is really f**king ugly, which puts you off from the get-go.

You can move the goalposts to justify yet another argument but the subject was not "it's just a big, undifferentiated mess", it was about being ugly which it is not when properly skinned.

That may have been your argument but it wasn't mine but I suppose it's easier to pick a fight than to argue your case.

Yes PolyAna's GUI is very crowded but it's not impossible to use. The many patches that I and others have made for it are testament to that fact.

It doesn't have to be impossible to use, it just needs to be more effort than 100 other instruments that sound just as good or better for people like me not to bother with it. Some of us have work to do (which I should really be doing now, with a deadline looming). Again, how is that not completely obvious to you?

PolyAna is not another lazy emulation of the usual hardware, it's designed to be something that would have been at home in the 70's so if someone is looking for originality and not just another emulation it might be for them.

So more like Tone 2's Saurus, which is heaps cheaper and actually really good to work with? Saurus is great, I really need to use it a lot more than I do. Or Invader, which is donationware and does a similarly good job of reproducing a big vintage sound without being an emulation of anything. it's another favourite that I do use regularly. Or Vacuum Pro, which is an absolute beast that you can often pick up for $20. You see, there are plenty of great alternatives that offer way better value and don't offend your eyesight when you load them up.

Again I really enjoy having PolyAna in my collection. Is it perfect? No of course not, nothing is perfect but I don't think it deserved the criticisms that were levelled against it which is why I responded to them. Other subjects are irrelevant to my original responses.

Well I think they are completely justified and my opinion is worth at least as much as yours, so get the f**k over yourself.

[Teksonik]

So f**king what? my f**king take on it. f**king obvious? f**king ugly,
get the f**k over yourself.

Now we see once again why you've been banned so many times but you always manage to weasel back in. Good thing for you there are different rules for different fools here or you would have been gone permanently a very long time ago.

The irony of you telling someone else to "get over yourself" is so thick you'd need a chainsaw to cut it.

One of my biggest regrets is that you punked out meeting me in Vegas because I'd love to see you talk to my face like that you little princess.

[_leras]

Massive X
Strobe 2

Reakor, but if that's a cheat two of the following?

Serum 2, diva, phosycon, Uad opal

[_leras]

One of my biggest regrets is that you punked out meeting me in Vegas because I'd love to see you talk to my face like that you little princess.

Chill out Princess . Aren't you talking about how a UI looks?

[jtsterays]

kvr

[Tj Shredder]

I asked AQ Mike he said I can tell you-

'I barely make enough to pay for the website and have to take other work to survive. The Admiralty has grossed only about $90 so far this year and we haven't sold a single Stunning Phaser since the 1.0 update came out 2 months ago. The latest Russian cracks that were just updated a couple weeks ago have been driving lots of traffic to the site, but of course none of them are buying. (I should turn the ads back on.) Enjoy your malware! '

Tell him half the price will more than double the sales. If its that little as quoted, the $89 is just way way too much… Its a non supported 20 year old software. If he even doesn’t have a friend with an actual Mac, its a hobby project anyway… For a 20 year old hobby project to tell its worth $179 is just a joke…