Retrologue by Steinberg

[IvyBirds]

Latest version of Retrologue 2, on a 16" MBP, not totally sharp at all.



Retrologue is at 200%, The Legend HZ is at 100%. Retrologue is noticeably unsharp to me.

Why don't you increase Legend to 200% as well to make things fair?

At -50% certain lines get lost, but who uses such a tiny resolution these days?

I used a literal magnifying glass, Sherlock Holmes type, and sharpness is fine at 200% just like it is at 100%.
I think the impression of lack of sharpness might come from the background panel, which is slightly textured to emulate metal.

Thanks to the magic of HDMI splitters and having a good GPU I have four monitors connected to my main studio PC. The biggest is a 75" 4K TV mounted to the wall, the next biggest is a 32" 4k monitor on my desk. Those two mirror each other. I also have a 27" monitor that is a touch screen and I can rotate in Portrait or Landscape mode, and a smaller 17" touchscreen that usually lays just about flat on my desk those two are independent of the other 3

Running Retrologue and The Legend HZ at 200% I have plain clear text on all of them. Unless I am sitting to close to them. But the entire reason to have larger monitors running at 4k is so you don't have to be to close to them. My smaller monitors are running at 1080p. So I have to scroll around at 200% but it's still plain clear text

Not sure why anyone wants to run 4k resolution on a 16" monitor. Seems rather silly, and at 1080p having Retrologue be 100% is just fine

[cobaia]

Here is a little audio of half a dozen of my patches showing the versatility of that synth No external effects etc.

https://app.box.com/s/l2gxfn9g2pwdlehky5tebusp17dccemk

[cobaia]

Latest version of Retrologue 2, on a 16" MBP, not totally sharp at all.



Retrologue is at 200%, The Legend HZ is at 100%. Retrologue is noticeably unsharp to me.

Why don't you increase Legend to 200% as well to make things fair?

At -50% certain lines get lost, but who uses such a tiny resolution these days?

I used a literal magnifying glass, Sherlock Holmes type, and sharpness is fine at 200% just like it is at 100%.
I think the impression of lack of sharpness might come from the background panel, which is slightly textured to emulate metal.

Thanks to the magic of HDMI splitters and having a good GPU I have four monitors connected to my main studio PC. The biggest is a 75" 4K TV mounted to the wall, the next biggest is a 32" 4k monitor on my desk. Those two mirror each other. I also have a 27" monitor that is a touch screen and I can rotate in Portrait or Landscape mode, and a smaller 17" touchscreen that usually lays just about flat on my desk those two are independent of the other 3

Running Retrologue and The Legend HZ at 200% I have plain clear text on all of them. Unless I am sitting to close to them. But the entire reason to have larger monitors running at 4k is so you don't have to be to close to them. My smaller monitors are running at 1080p. So I have to scroll around at 200% but it's still plain clear text

Not sure why anyone wants to run 4k resolution on a 16" monitor. Seems rather silly, and at 1080p having Retrologue be 100% is just fine

75", wow, you need to sit like 2m away

[Teksonik]

Not sure why anyone wants to run 4k resolution on a 16" monitor. Seems rather silly,

He's using a Mac Book Pro:

Latest version of Retrologue 2, on a 16" MBP, not totally sharp at all.

"The 16-inch MacBook Pro (Apple Silicon and newer Intel models) has a native resolution of 3456 × 2234 pixels at 254 pixels per inch". Perhaps not technically 4K but close enough.

At any rate for the record when I started this thread 14 years ago the market was much different back then. The subject was the original Retrologue not version 2.

As always it's better to start a fresh thread than dig up one from 14 years ago.

I no longer have Retrologue 1 installed and the upgrade to version 2 was more than I paid for the original so I told Steinberg to go sod themselves and have moved on.

[cobaia]

Not sure why anyone wants to run 4k resolution on a 16" monitor. Seems rather silly,

He's using a Mac Book Pro:

Latest version of Retrologue 2, on a 16" MBP, not totally sharp at all.

"The 16-inch MacBook Pro (Apple Silicon and newer Intel models) has a native resolution of 3456 × 2234 pixels at 254 pixels per inch". Perhaps not technically 4K but close enough.

At any rate for the record when I started this thread 14 years ago the market was much different back then. The subject was the original Retrologue not version 2.

As always it's better to start a fresh thread than dig up one from 14 years ago.

I no longer have Retrologue 1 installed and the upgrade to version 2 was more than I paid for the original so I told Steinberg to go sod themselves and have moved on.

I think it is rather cheap for what it offers, even the full price. They might as well charge 150+ dollars for it.

[Teksonik]

I think it is rather cheap for what it offers, even the full price. They might as well charge 150+ dollars for it.

You need to get out more often. It's a toy compared to other synths on today's market especially if it were in the $150+ range.

I might buy it again for the $50 I originally paid for version one but only if it didn't require the installation of any Steinberg bloat which I imagine it does.

[cobaia]

I think it is rather cheap for what it offers, even the full price. They might as well charge 150+ dollars for it.

You need to get out more often. It's a toy compared to other synths on today's market especially if it were in the $150+ range.

I might buy it again for the $50 I originally paid for version one but only if it didn't require the installation of any Steinberg bloat which I imagine it does.

A toy?!
Diva is 180 euros (not sure about USD).
And frankly, if I had to choose one of the two, I would definitely choose Retrologue 2, even if it cost exactly the same.

Synapse Audio's Obsession is also 100 bucks like Retrologue, but also clearly simpler.

[Teksonik]

Well that's two out of the hundreds of other synths on the market. Put it up against DUNE 3, Avenger 2 or Nexus 5 then you'll see why Retrologue is a toy. (DIVA is a toy as well which is why I sold it on many years ago but that's going to make fanboi heads explode so I'll get my asbestos suit on before the flames started rolling in )

Anyway I've downloaded and installed the Retrologue version 2 demo but it....

A: installed the eLicenser which I thought was deprecated long ago.

eLicenser.png

B: installed a demo version from 2015 which as far as I can see has no resize option and is postage stamp small at 1920x1080.

Retro Demo.png

I'm off to uninstall the trash.......

[cobaia]

Frankly, I installed it years ago and don't even remember how it worked. And I try not to touch anything to do with licensing. I am happy it is running without problems.

I check for updates for the synth like twice a year. Just checking is quite a procedure via the Download Assistant app, which itself usually has to be updated before it can check for synth updates. Sometimes the DA update fails due to some login problem. Then I try again and it works all of a sudden They should drop all that complicated crap.

Yes, Diva is rather popular, so beware

[PAK]

Just some quick things..
Retrologue is literally just a simplified interface which uses the HALion VA engine. If you want more features, than it provides, then the answer is HALion.

Regarding an AU version - There is one, but you MUST also leave the VST3 installed. This is because it’s actually a 992KB AU wrapper for the VST3

[cobaia]

But why would a quality synth be a toy? I don't get that. By that logic most classic hardware synths would also have been just toys because many of them were much more basic than Retrologue 2 for instance. And yet those "toys" were used to make classic songs.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Retrologue is a bit grainy, which gives it sort of a blurry look, even though it isn't really. But anyways, it sounds great. I think I got it for 10 dollars or something at some point, used I guess. Haven't used it for quite some time and just updated to get the resizability. Sounds really great. Definitely not a toy, not any more than any other synth (all synths are toys to some extent). I don't even understand that comment.

[mothra]

But why would a quality synth be a toy? I don't get that. By that logic most classic hardware synths would also have been just toys because many of them were much more basic than Retrologue 2 for instance. And yet those "toys" were used to make classic songs.

Its as much as a "toy" as the synths that come with Logic Pro that everyone seems to just rave about heh. I mean apparently the 'almighty' Diva is a toy too.. You know "real pros" cant use that stuff, they're just way beyond the common musician and need the "good stuff".

[Teksonik]

But why would a quality synth be a toy? I don't get that. By that logic most classic hardware synths would also have been just toys because many of them were much more basic than Retrologue 2 for instance. And yet those "toys" were used to make classic songs.

Now you're getting it. That's why I sold all of my analog hardware synths. Sure they were used in songs because....that's all we had back then.

I sometimes use the word Toy when comparing one synth with another. It's a comment on the feature set....or lack thereof.

A three Osc synth with a fixed waveform set doesn't hold much appeal to me these days when I have several synths with 24 or more Oscs and theoretically unlimited waveforms that sound just as good or most often even better....to me. After 46 years of owning synths the simple ones with a limited feature set just bore me. YMMV.

Yeah back in 2012 when I started this thread Retrologue was much more impressive to me than it is today due to the other options available literally at our fingertips in 2026. Progress marches on.

We are truly living in the golden age of synthesis.

[Teksonik]

I mean apparently the 'almighty' Diva is a toy too.. You know "real pros" cant use that stuff, they're just way beyond the common musician and need the "good stuff".

When compared to other options, yes DIVA is a toy. Limited Oscs, limited waveforms, no layers, etc,etc.

I know it's a cult favorite but I sold mine on because I got bored with it. I thought about buying it again during the last big sale but had to remind myself that it wouldn't be long before I got bored with DIVA again.

It has nothing to do with being a "real pro" it's just that I have more complex synths that I like better both for quality and range of sounds.

But then I'm not part of the Cult.......