Softube Model 84 (Juno 106)

[ghettosynth]

OK so I downloaded the trial version. I know its kinda not the general consensus here but this isn't exciting to me at all. Not to mention their preset browser is terrible and on the Mac the scrolling direction is f'ed up.

The GUI and implantation are not the strong points of this emulation.

But it’s also boring. I mean yeah it sounds good but it’s boring. Definitely not something I’ll be spending money on but glad for those who want this that there is an alternative to Roland Cloud.

It doesn't have a lot of complexity, that's not where it shines. Neither did the original, of course.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Try this...

1. Open Model84 - default preset (which has no name)
2. Modify it
3. Attempt to Save As a new preset

Result: Save As is grayed out.

Seriously Softube? Not only can I not overwrite the factory presets I can't even Save As on the default patch? Are you joking?

I really hope that's a bug and not a conscious design choice.

[simmo75]

Try this...

1. Open Model84 - default preset (which has no name)
2. Modify it
3. Attempt to Save As a new preset

Result: Save As is grayed out.

Seriously Softube? Not only can I not overwrite the factory presets I can't even Save As on the default patch? Are you joking?

I really hope that's a bug and not a conscious design choice.

Where is the default patch?

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Try this...

1. Open Model84 - default preset (which has no name)
2. Modify it
3. Attempt to Save As a new preset

Result: Save As is grayed out.

Seriously Softube? Not only can I not overwrite the factory presets I can't even Save As on the default patch? Are you joking?

I really hope that's a bug and not a conscious design choice.

Where is the default patch?

You open it and it makes a noise. That one. Modify that and try to save as.

[ELEX]

Try this...

1. Open Model84 - default preset (which has no name)
2. Modify it
3. Attempt to Save As a new preset

Result: Save As is grayed out.

Turns out "Save As" is only available for "User Presets". You first have to use "add preset...", which then finds it way to "User Presets". "Save" and "Revert Changes" only become available when a change is made to one of those.

[Mr Arkadin]

Try this...

1. Open Model84 - default preset (which has no name)
2. Modify it
3. Attempt to Save As a new preset

Result: Save As is grayed out.

Seriously Softube? Not only can I not overwrite the factory presets I can't even Save As on the default patch? Are you joking?

I really hope that's a bug and not a conscious design choice.

Yeah that is dumb and seems to be a design choice. Personally I'd like to resave all the original patches with a bit of velocity, especially the 'piano' patches which have a better chance of sounding like a piano if the notes are not banging at max volume all the time.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Turns out "Save As" is only available for "User Presets". You first have to use "add preset...", which then finds it way to "User Presets". "Save" and "Revert Changes" only become available when a change is made to one of those.

Thanks for that! I can make that work. I didn't notice the Add Preset thing. Still, having "Add Preset" in addition to Save As is completely unnecessary IMO but way less infuriating knowing there's some way to do it.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Yeah that is dumb and seems to be a design choice. Personally I'd like to resave all the original patches with a bit of velocity, especially the 'piano' patches which have a better chance of sounding like a piano if the notes are not banging at max volume all the time.

Yeah, I find the default patches too loud and would like to pad those out and drop the volume some but can't. Don't recall ever using a software synth that prevented this. I've seen it in some hardware, but don't recall any software behaving that way.

[4damind]

The Softube emulation reminded me quite a bit of some well-known sounds from Astral Projection. I'm not really a Goa-Trance expert and it's not my genre but I tried it anyway
Quite short and not mixed (it's just a test) with 5x Model 84, but the bass is from Repro-1.

Model 84 - Goa

... and a screenshot
2021-04-23 14_38_56-Cubase Pro-Projekt - Model 84 Test.jpg

Very nice! AP was a great Goa act.

Thanks! I think the Juno was also used a lot in this genre at that time. Astral Projection also had one (ok, they had pretty much every synth that was popular at the time anyway ).

I uploaded the track to Soundcloud and gave it a name. Whether such a Juno 106 emulation still makes sense today is of course the other question. But it's amazing that you can cover quite a wide range with this little synth.

https://soundcloud.com/52degree/softube-model-84-goa

[e-crooner]

Since all waves are derived from one and the same on the hardware, are their phases consistently offset by the same amount? Else one would hear an ugly bump with every note when using several waves, I suppose.

[2:43AM]

Has anyone else GUI issues if he uses more than 4 instances, where the GUI isn’t closed.
Ableton reacts very slow. If I disable OpenGL than i don’t have the Problem. I am using 3 monitors on win 10

Ableton Live user here. I am testing this possible issue now. I did experience something like this a couple versions ago with Softube Tape and Heartbeat. There was some sort of memory leak going on, and if a GUI was left open, I could visually see the memory actively being consumed in the Task Manager. It would keep climbing and climbing until everything slowed down, and the GUIs looked like hollowed-out, blackhole skeletons! I believe the solution then was to disable OpenGL.

While I have been typing this post, 4 instances of Model 84 have been banging out atonal nonsense for the last few minutes. Live's memory consumption has been steady at 625MB; CPU at 21%. OpenGL was OFF.

Changed Model 84 instances to use OpenGL, saved the project, closed and reopened Live. Memory consumption now at 945MB, with bursts of 949, 975, 989, then back down to 945. When Live's transport is playing, memory is constant at 988MB.

So it appears that this bug really was fixed but still affects the system. Ultimately, is there a point in the OpenGL mode? Softube should just abandon this feature.

PS - Those two, yellowed, smoker keys though. Why, Softube, why!?

[Synth Master Jedi]

Ultimately, is there a point in the OpenGL mode? Softube should just abandon this feature.

PS - Those two, yellowed, smoker keys though. Why, Softube, why!?

I wonder if the OpenGL mode has anything to do with some people experiencing blurry text and graphics? It seems like I'm one of the few people here, at least in the last few pages, who doesn't suffer from blurry text or a blurry gui. Mine looks good and sharp. I just checked the settings on the synth, and mine was set to OpenGL enabled.

As for the 2 yellow keys, I kind of like it, because it's realistic and I can relate to it.

You can consider yourself lucky that I didn't design the GUI because I would have probably added a few cigarette burns on the keys. I used to put cigarettes down on the hardware 106 from time to time and sometimes they would burn the keys if I forgot about them for a moment and it would leave a brown burn mark on the keys which is a bit more noticeable than just a yellowed key.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Ultimately, is there a point in the OpenGL mode? Softube should just abandon this feature.

PS - Those two, yellowed, smoker keys though. Why, Softube, why!?

I wonder if the OpenGL mode has anything to do with some people experiencing blurry text and graphics? It seems like I'm one of the few people here, at least in the last few pages, who doesn't suffer from blurry text or a blurry gui. Mine looks good and sharp. I just checked the settings on the synth, and mine was set to OpenGL enabled.

As for the 2 yellow keys, I kind of like it, because it's realistic and I can relate to it.

You can consider yourself lucky that I didn't design the GUI because I would have probably added a few cigarette burns on the keys. I used to put cigarettes down on the hardware 106 from time to time and sometimes they would burn the keys if I forgot about them for a moment and it would leave a brown burn mark on the keys which is a bit more noticeable than just a yellowed key.

What's your platform (Mac/PC), Monitor Resolution & DPI, as well as DAW+plugin format? Using Windows 10, 2560x1080, 100% scaling, and Reaper+VST2 or VST3...no combination of OpenGL on or off (yes I restarted the DAW) has any bearing on the blurriness of the GUI when resized.

So my guess...you're not on Windows and it probably doesn't work at all there.

[Synth Master Jedi]

Ultimately, is there a point in the OpenGL mode? Softube should just abandon this feature.

PS - Those two, yellowed, smoker keys though. Why, Softube, why!?

I wonder if the OpenGL mode has anything to do with some people experiencing blurry text and graphics? It seems like I'm one of the few people here, at least in the last few pages, who doesn't suffer from blurry text or a blurry gui. Mine looks good and sharp. I just checked the settings on the synth, and mine was set to OpenGL enabled.

As for the 2 yellow keys, I kind of like it, because it's realistic and I can relate to it.

You can consider yourself lucky that I didn't design the GUI because I would have probably added a few cigarette burns on the keys. I used to put cigarettes down on the hardware 106 from time to time and sometimes they would burn the keys if I forgot about them for a moment and it would leave a brown burn mark on the keys which is a bit more noticeable than just a yellowed key.

What's your platform (Mac/PC), Monitor Resolution & DPI, as well as DAW+plugin format? Using Windows 10, 2560x1080, 100% scaling, and Reaper+VST2 or VST3...no combination of OpenGL on or off (yes I restarted the DAW) has any bearing on the blurriness of the GUI when resized.

So my guess...you're not on Windows and it probably doesn't work at all there.

I'm on Mac OS Mojave on a hackintosh, RX 560 GPU, monitor is 4k, the resolution I was using was 3008x1692. I use Logic and AU plugins.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

That makes sense. It was another Mac user that said it worked for them. It probably works on some Macs (depending on OS version/resolution/format) and not at all on Windows.