Software vs. Analog in 2025 – Has the Balance Shifted?

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Instruments Discussion
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Has digital finally dethroned analog?

Yes, software has clearly taken the lead
22
31%
No, analog still holds its ground
17
24%
About 50/50 - I balance both worlds
4
6%
Not sure, it's context-dependent
1
1%
Doesn’t matter. It’s about results, not tools
26
37%
 
Total votes: 70

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justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:57 pm I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?
you have to hand in your patch cables immediately!
:ud:

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zerocrossing wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 6:16 pm
justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:57 pm I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?
No, but you should move up to the Korg plugin, which is a lot better.
I've been meaning to try it. I've never been bothered by the fact that the 2600V doesn't sound like the real thing. Along with Bazille, it's one of my favorite plug-ins to just dick around with. I go back to it because of familiarity mostly but I never thought it sounded bad, per-se. It's made it into lots of projects anyway.

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vurt wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:17 pm
justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:57 pm I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?
you have to hand in your patch cables immediately!
:cry: Even the alligator clips for my Pulsar? I use those for... other things too! lolololol

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I’m thinking the KORG ARP 2600 should be close to their HW version. It sounds great imo at any rate.

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justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:25 pm
vurt wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:17 pm
justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:57 pm I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?
you have to hand in your patch cables immediately!
:cry: Even the alligator clips for my Pulsar? I use those for... other things too! lolololol
you can keep the nipple clamps :o
:ud:

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pekbro wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:25 pm I’m thinking the KORG ARP 2600 should be close to their HW version. It sounds great imo at any rate.
I'm sure it is but I guess I don't really need something that sounds close to a hardware 2600, because I have a hardware 2600. I'm sure it sounds great! Most plug-ins I've used recently sound great when taken on their own merits.
When I mess with software synths which have hardware counter-parts, I'm not at all concerned about whether it sounds close to the hardware it emulates. I know I'm probably in the minority there. I'm really more interested with what I can make it do. Can it keep my interest? ...and I guess from that perspective I may even prefer if it doesn't sound exactly like the hardware or at least (and this is where software emulations often shine) add to the feature set of the hardware, so it makes more sense in a software workflow.

I'll spend some time with Korg 2600 later tonight. I'm still fine with 2600V, but if it really adds something I like, I'll certainly buy it.
Last edited by justin3am on Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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vurt wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:28 pm
justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:25 pm
vurt wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:17 pm
justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:57 pm I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?
you have to hand in your patch cables immediately!
:cry: Even the alligator clips for my Pulsar? I use those for... other things too! lolololol
you can keep the nipple clamps :o
I meant for electronics testing you perv...
and also roach clips.

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justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:40 pm
pekbro wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:25 pm I’m thinking the KORG ARP 2600 should be close to their HW version. It sounds great imo at any rate.
I'm sure it is but I guess I don't really need something that sounds close to a hardware 2600, because I have a hardware 2600. I'm sure it sounds great! Most plug-ins I've used recently sound great when taken on their own merits.
When I mess with software synths which have hardware counter-parts, I'm not at all concerned about whether it sounds close to the hardware it emulates. I know I'm probably in the minority there. I'm really more interested with what I can make it do. Can it keep my interest? ...and I guess from that perspective I may even prefer if it doesn't sound exactly like the hardware or at least (and this is where software emulations often shine) add to the feature set of the hardware, so it makes more sense in a software workflow.

I'll spend some time with Korg 2600 later tonight. I'm still fine with 2600V, but if it really adds something I like, I'll certainly buy it.
Yea I know you have one, just thought it might be good to have the plugin for messing around without much setup. It’s certainly complex enough.

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Yeah, for sure! When I'm at the Nektar office, it's basically all plug-ins all the time and I have a lot of fun testing stuff out with our controllers. The old Korg Legacy collection was staple around here too. My colleague mapped the new Korg collection, so I haven't had an excuse to play with them much myself, lol.

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seafire wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 6:08 pm
IvyBirds wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 3:50 pm
seafire wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 11:57 am
IvyBirds wrote: Mon Jul 14, 2025 11:43 pm
Analog filters did matter before digital technology became able to model them, in 2025 they no longer do
They do here, very much so.
Nothey don't, there are far more people in 2025 that pay a large variety of months and who make a large variety of music including Grammy winning platinum selling records, and who fill stadiums who never use any synth with analog filters.

What have other people got to do with me?

They matter here. Its not up for debate.
If you don't care about other people why do you keep referring to groups of people rather than just yourself?

On any case Awesome they matter to a small group of people here but not to the overwhelming majority of people everywhere

So because it matters to a few people we should universally declare that it matters to everyone

The Amish don't like cars so then let's universally declare that all cars are inferior to the horse and buggy because there are a small group of purists who say so. I am less than two hours away from Lancaster and a few times a summer my wife take a day and go up there. Next time I am there I will just drive my car into the river and abandon it because the Horse And Buggy matters to a small group of people there

if you want to say it matters to you, awesome say so, because for the overwhelming majority of people it doesn't matter in the least

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he did say so.
:ud:

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justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 7:22 pm
zerocrossing wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 6:16 pm
justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:57 pm I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?
No, but you should move up to the Korg plugin, which is a lot better.
I've been meaning to try it. I've never been bothered by the fact that the 2600V doesn't sound like the real thing. Along with Bazille, it's one of my favorite plug-ins to just dick around with. I go back to it because of familiarity mostly but I never thought it sounded bad, per-se. It's made it into lots of projects anyway.
True, the old emulation could be quite useable, for sure, but the Korg one... it's really next level. Don't expect to get lots of voices out of it, but if you have a specific part that needs to shine, it's amazing.
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

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justin3am wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:57 pm I use the Arturia 2600 sometimes even though I have a real Arp 2600. Am I still allowed to be a hardware purist?
Nope, the real hardware purists don't sully themselves by having a synth plugin installed!

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IvyBirds wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:06 pmThe Amish don't like cars...
But dat jam tho
Zerocrossing Media

4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~

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IvyBirds wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:06 pm

if you want to say it matters to you, awesome say so
I did. Which part didn't you understand?
IvyBirds wrote: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:06 pm
So because it matters to a few people we should universally declare that it matters to everyone
Why's that? Like I said, what everyone else uses is of no interest to me. Seems to bother you sufficiently to keep posting your drivel here tho. Maybe you should pick up some extra gigs to take your mind of it, or join a gym or something.
How original

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