Is GForce M-Tron Pro still the best "Tron" vst?

[wagtunes]

I have M-Tron and M-Tron Pro.
I have always found them somewhat thin and edgy sounding.

Recently I purchased UVI Synth Anthology 2 which has some trons.

These Trons are MUCH warmer and rich.

Makes me wonder about their tron collection, any one own this?

As somebody who grew up with the early mellotron recordings, if you listen to them, they were anything but warm and rich. So if the synth anthology collection sounds warm and rich, I have the question the authenticity of the sounds, at least as far as what I remember growing up with listening to bands like Genesis, King Crimson and Yes. In fact, listen to the beginning of "Watcher Of The Skies" off of Foxtrot by Genesis. Which tron collection does that sound closer to? Dollars to donuts, it's not the synth anthology collection.

[Examigan]

I have M-Tron and M-Tron Pro.
I have always found them somewhat thin and edgy sounding.

Recently I purchased UVI Synth Anthology 2 which has some trons.

These Trons are MUCH warmer and rich.

Makes me wonder about their tron collection, any one own this?

As somebody who grew up with the early mellotron recordings, if you listen to them, they were anything but warm and rich. So if the synth anthology collection sounds warm and rich, I have the question the authenticity of the sounds, at least as far as what I remember growing up with listening to bands like Genesis, King Crimson and Yes. In fact, listen to the beginning of "Watcher Of The Skies" off of Foxtrot by Genesis. Which tron collection does that sound closer to? Dollars to donuts, it's not the synth anthology collection.

I don't have the MTron, but I have Synth Anthology II. I will check it out when I get home today. Maybe it is effects and EQ that UVI added to the Tron sound?

Also, there is Mello by UVI. I have that one too so I will check.

[wagtunes]

I have M-Tron and M-Tron Pro.
I have always found them somewhat thin and edgy sounding.

Recently I purchased UVI Synth Anthology 2 which has some trons.

These Trons are MUCH warmer and rich.

Makes me wonder about their tron collection, any one own this?

As somebody who grew up with the early mellotron recordings, if you listen to them, they were anything but warm and rich. So if the synth anthology collection sounds warm and rich, I have the question the authenticity of the sounds, at least as far as what I remember growing up with listening to bands like Genesis, King Crimson and Yes. In fact, listen to the beginning of "Watcher Of The Skies" off of Foxtrot by Genesis. Which tron collection does that sound closer to? Dollars to donuts, it's not the synth anthology collection.

I don't have the MTron, but I have Synth Anthology II. I will check it out when I get home today. Maybe it is effects and EQ that UVI added to the Tron sound?

Also, there is Mello by UVI. I have that one too so I will check.

Yes, and absolutely listen to Watcher Of The Skies.

[wagtunes]

Here's the link if anybody wants to listen. Definitely not warm and rich. Very thin and edgy especially in certain places.

[Gamma-UT]

The Synth Anthology presets tend to have a velocity-mapped filter and FX in place which make them sound darker – considerably more so than on the defaults in the Mello library.

[Krakatau]

[billw]

Not to knock GForce, but I've noticed that the library that comes with M-Tron pro doesn't contain the best versions of these sounds (hence the release of the add-on Streetly Tapes expansions). The stock Mellotron samples in my Kronos are much clearer.

[billw]

Watcher of the Skies is 3 MK II Mellotron sounds: MK II Brass (also referred to as "Brass B") and MK II Violins blended in the right hand, and the MK II Bass Accordion in the left. The output of Tony's Mark II was run through EQ, delay and a Leslie cabinet, so it's not the naked sound of the Mellotron tapes.

[wagtunes]

Watcher of the Skies is 3 MK II Mellotron sounds: MK II Brass (also referred to as "Brass B") and MK II Violins blended in the right hand, and the MK II Bass Accordion in the left. The output of Tony's Mark II was run through EQ, delay and a Leslie cabinet, so it's not the naked sound of the Mellotron tapes.

For that matter, no synths on recordings are played unprocessed. Still, I wouldn't call that sound warm and rich regardless of what was done to it.

[billw]

Watcher of the Skies is 3 MK II Mellotron sounds: MK II Brass (also referred to as "Brass B") and MK II Violins blended in the right hand, and the MK II Bass Accordion in the left. The output of Tony's Mark II was run through EQ, delay and a Leslie cabinet, so it's not the naked sound of the Mellotron tapes.

For that matter, no synths on recordings are played unprocessed. Still, I wouldn't call that sound warm and rich regardless of what was done to it.

Ha...very true. That combination is particularly jarring, but some of the Tron sounds can sound quite warm and rich with the right processing.

[wagtunes]

Watcher of the Skies is 3 MK II Mellotron sounds: MK II Brass (also referred to as "Brass B") and MK II Violins blended in the right hand, and the MK II Bass Accordion in the left. The output of Tony's Mark II was run through EQ, delay and a Leslie cabinet, so it's not the naked sound of the Mellotron tapes.

For that matter, no synths on recordings are played unprocessed. Still, I wouldn't call that sound warm and rich regardless of what was done to it.

Ha...very true. That combination is particularly jarring, but some of the Tron sounds can sound quite warm and rich with the right processing.

Not only was it jarring but it was revolutionary at the time. Arguably one of the top 5 mellotron parts ever recorded.

My point is this. I'd rather have a library that was closer to the actual Mellotron sound dry than one that was processed to give it richness and warmth. You can add stuff to a sound to make it rich and warm if you want but it's very difficult to take rich and warm out of a sound, even if it can be done. Why go through the extra work?

I guess the only way to settle this is to find 3 recordings.

1) A real melltron dry
2) Gforce M-Tron dry
3) Synth Anthology Tron dry

Listen to them all and try to determine what was done to the copies, if anything. Shouldn't be too difficult a test to conduct.

[Examigan]

There's the Rompler soundset for Electra2 which has Mellotron sounds in it too. That's another one I can check when I get some time later today.

[billw]

Revolutionary indeed...and that intro is what made me a Genesis fan (I'm the keyboardist in a DC-based Genesis tribute).

[wagtunes]

There's the Rompler soundset for Electra2 which has Mellotron sounds in it too. That's another one I can check when I get some time later today.

The problem with Electra 2, which I own, is that when you load a sample into a patch, the engine of Electra 2 colors the original sound. It doesn't sound exactly as the actual wave file. So I don't know how accurate a test this would even be.

[wagtunes]

Revolutionary indeed...and that intro is what made me a Genesis fan (I'm the keyboardist in a DC-based Genesis tribute).

That's really cool. I've been a fan since that day in 1972 when Scott Muni played it for the first time. The second it went on I was like "what the hell is this?"

There has been nothing like it since. The whole album, for that matter, is a classic. Supper's Ready is a work of art.

But don't get me started or I won't be able to stop.