Analog vs Digital Debate - What does everyone prefer?

[ghettosynth]

i prefer all my digital processors to be implemented using analogue transistors, and all my analogue gear to be passed through an ADC/DAC chain.

That takes out all of the digital soul though!

[HAL76]

I bet 20$ that there´ll soon be a majority of people preaching their radical "it´s all equal and sounds equal" philosophy.

OK, I'll start that ball rolling right now...

I'm currently using mostly analog (Prophet Rev2, Sub37, Slim Phatty, Minitaur, Pulse2, Bass Station 2) and some hybrids (Peak, Shruthi XT, MiniFreak) and just two digitals (Kurtzweil PC3X, Roland JU-06a), but I'm in the market for another Virus (digital) and probably won't keep the BS2, MiniFreak, or JU-06a, since I don't have the space or inputs for this many synths (not to mention my DrumBrute Impact, Digitakt, and Model: Cycles). I also regret selling my Minilogue XD keys (hybrid), and would like to pick up the module at some point.

Personally, I'm an equal opportunity synth enthusiast and find that my preference comes down more to the individual synth than whether it's digital, analog, or hybrid.

It´s not that relevant if she has blond, brown or red hair in the kitchen. But we could never decide for just one, that´d be boring - right?

I must admit that today I don´t really mind much about the synth itself anymore. Its all about what I can do with it and if it hits the sweet spot. But one thing is clear: I seem to prefer things and sounds that don´t get much love these days since they don´t really match that mainstream sound.

I love the MicoFreak by the way. It has lots of character.

[vurt]

analogue heart, digital brain, acoustic lungs!

[kritikon]

For me I don’t care as long as it whatever I’m using says “pro” in the name. That’s how you know your digital stuff sounds professionally anal-log.

If a company ever makes a synth with “Amateur” or “Novice” worked into the name, that would be an insta-buy for me

Introducing the new Novicetron 0.01 by Amateur Audio

Yeah, count me in. I'm looking forward to the Amateuria PolyBestial 0.69. Baaaaaaaaaaah

[licasto2]

Analog if I'm feeling frisky, Digital if I'm hella lazy. Most of the time a combination of the two.

[cryophonik]

For me I don’t care as long as it whatever I’m using says “pro” in the name. That’s how you know your digital stuff sounds professionally anal-log.

If a company ever makes a synth with “Amateur” or “Novice” worked into the name, that would be an insta-buy for me

Introducing the new Novicetron 0.01 by Amateur Audio

Yeah, count me in. I'm looking forward to the Amateuria PolyBestial 0.69. Baaaaaaaaaaah

Arturia should call their next upgrade from the PolyBrute the “BeginnerBrute”

And, then offer a much more stripped down version that costs $1000 more called “BeginnerBrute Pro” for the ultimate irony. Hipsters would lose their f’ing minds

[imrae]

It has been interesting starting to design my own modules. I have one design in progress that was originally inspired by analog parts but in the end will be mostly digital; as the requirements developed it became obvious that the digital approach would work better and be simpler to design and build for comparable cost. There is one part of the design which is more challenging in digital (a soft clipper) and this will be easily and cheaply implemented in analogue domain.

This is the way! Pictures please!

I'll try to write them up as I go Just finished writing-up my first module, which is an analogue distortion. Audio/video might have to come later, I don't have a tripod for my phone camera. Second module is done, write-up to follow. The digital one now has a fairly solid concept and initial prototype; I'm figuring out the panel wiring at the moment.

https://phaseboundary.com/2022/05/01/eu ... ope-thing/

[zerocrossing]

Back in the day when digital was new, I thought about it a bit, but only as in, “oh wow, this DX7 can really get different types of sounds than the Prophet 5.” I remember my manager hooking up a Yamaha TX 816 to a Jupiter 8 and playing some glorious synth string sound and we were all, “cool.” Comments were made about how “cold” the DX was in comparison to all the analogs in stock, but we quickly just dug it for what it was. I left music retail for a while after that and I was blissfully unaware of the GREAT ANALOG SELL OFF. Shame really, I would have loved to have bought some of the synths that I coveted that I couldn’t afford.

During that period I just sort of bottom-fed off of what I could find cheap or free. I was mostly into guitar and synths were just sort of a fun thing to add some texture to a track. I was aware that my DX100 was digital, the Poly-800 was analog and the DW8000 was hybrid, but I never once thought about it in terms of “good” or “bad.” That still seems silly to me. Like saying oil paints are better than pastels. They’re just different, that’s all. I can’t imagine not having access to both. Why not?

[ghettosynth]

It has been interesting starting to design my own modules. I have one design in progress that was originally inspired by analog parts but in the end will be mostly digital; as the requirements developed it became obvious that the digital approach would work better and be simpler to design and build for comparable cost. There is one part of the design which is more challenging in digital (a soft clipper) and this will be easily and cheaply implemented in analogue domain.

This is the way! Pictures please!

I'll try to write them up as I go Just finished writing-up my first module, which is an analogue distortion. Audio/video might have to come later, I don't have a tripod for my phone camera. Second module is done, write-up to follow. The digital one now has a fairly solid concept and initial prototype; I'm figuring out the panel wiring at the moment.

https://phaseboundary.com/2022/05/01/eu ... ope-thing/

Very nice, thanks for sharing! Sometimes it's satisfying to building things on perfboard, or some variation of stripboard.

[BONES]

analog is better for fm synths

Right, because nobody ever rated the DX-7.

im sure if you were a billionaire and you could get any gear you want made then you could do most if not all of what can be done with digital with analog and it would sound better

Why would it? Because you say so? The shit you listen to could be done with anything and you wouldn't notice the difference.

Plus stuff like Roland's ACB technology, despite actually being digital of course, is sounding so analog (at least to my ears) that i don't even consider it digital anymore - it is “analog“ for me for all intents and purposes. And it is even more versatile than the original analog hardware it is emulating and you don't have to deal with dying pots/knobs/sliders/capacitors/resistors (yet) and don't have to pay a fortune for them

^^^^^^ THIS! ^^^^^^^ Any differences people perceive these days is just The Emperor's New Clothes syndrome. When they know it's analogue, they think it sounds better but when they don't know what it is, they have no idea which sounds better. I mean, seriously, have a listen to this and tell me it doesn't sound as good as any analogue synth you've ever heard -

https://soundcloud.com/alyjameslab/ob-x ... erheim-obx

Personally, I'm an equal opportunity synth enthusiast and find that my preference comes down more to the individual synth than whether it's digital, analog, or hybrid.

^^^^^^ AND THIS! ^^^^^^

I'll buy anything if it sounds good and unique - doesn't matter whether it's digital or analogue.

^^^^^ ALSO THIS! ^^^^^^

I do however draw the line at VAs - just don't see the point in those.

No point in 16 voice polyphony so you can play polyphonically with unison? No point in choosing between a few dozen different filter types? No point in multi-timbrality so you only need to lug one synth to a gig instead of half-a-dozen?

It's analogue synths I don't really see much point in, TBH, they are just to restrictive. I have both because I can but if I could only have one or the other, digital would win every time. And if it had to be one of the synths I currently own, it would be Ultranova.

During that period I just sort of bottom-fed off of what I could find cheap or free. I was mostly into guitar and synths were just sort of a fun thing to add some texture to a track. I was aware that my DX100 was digital, the Poly-800 was analog and the DW8000 was hybrid, but I never once thought about it in terms of “good” or “bad.” That still seems silly to me. Like saying oil paints are better than pastels. They’re just different, that’s all. I can’t imagine not having access to both. Why not?

^^^^^^ EVEN THIS! ^^^^^^ In 1983 I decided to buy a brand new synth. I had $1500 to spend and for that my choices were a Roland JX3P, a Korg PolySix or a Yamaha DX9. I bought the DX9 because it offered more versatility for the money, not because it was digital and the other two were analogue. It wasn't even a distinction anyone was making back then and it shouldn't be now, either.

[zerocrossing]

it's analogue

I wonder how much time you could get back by just not doing the bold tags every time.

[ghettosynth]

it's analogue

I wonder how much time you could get back by just not doing the bold tags every time.

Oh, stop being a party pooper.

[j wazza]

analog is better for fm synths

Right, because nobody ever rated the DX-7.

im sure if you were a billionaire and you could get any gear you want made then you could do most if not all of what can be done with digital with analog and it would sound better

Why would it? Because you say so? The shit you listen to could be done with anything and you wouldn't notice the difference.

digital fm can be great too but if youve done analog fm with a dixie or something you can hear a big difference

emulations or sampled synths often remove the need for real analog for subtractive synthesis, but for fm i can still personally hear a big difference and i personally prefer analog fm

the other thing was a hypothetical point, i thought that for basically the reasons i said in that other thread about this debate, i cba to argue about it and repeat everything, we can agree to disagree, i can sometimes hear a difference in analog vs virtual analog vs digital, but often i cant, very often i cant for analog vs virtual analog, but fm is one of the things where i often can tell

[kritikon]

I mean, seriously, have a listen to this and tell me it doesn't sound as good as any analogue synth you've ever heard -

It doesn't sound as good as any analogue synth I ever heard. That was easy. it sounds steppy, horribly thin and full of grainy digital noise and distortion in the worst possible way. I genuinely think that sounds pretty bad.

No point in 16 voice polyphony so you can play polyphonically with unison? No point in choosing between a few dozen different filter types? No point in multi-timbrality so you only need to lug one synth to a gig instead of half-a-dozen?

I really don't want or need 16 voice polyphony. I actively decided against buying a big analogue poly recently (was daft enough to think I needed one). 16 voices is pretty irrelevant to me, but then a digital 16 voice synth is also irrelevant - my Opsix & Wavestate have 64 voices apparently - I don't think I will ever use them all, not even close - what a waste of 60 voices IMO. Polyphony in unison? Nah - I never want to fill the whole spectrum with one single sound. Not that unison doesn't have its place but if I were to play chords in unison I know for a fact the first thing I'd have to do in the mix is to drastically cut some Eq to stop that type of sound drowning out everything else. Sorry - I don't see the point of that. Filter types - yeah that's useful - it's a real limitation in some quite expensive analogues and should be better IMO. Multi-timbral - nah again I see no point in that. I haven't used multi-timbral synths in decades...especially in the digital age with DAWs, cheap plugins etc - why would I want 16 of the same synths inside one synth? I don't gig. Never will. So I won't ever want what you want in synths. Complete opposite usually...actually, a very powerful monotimbral mono (can be multi-oscillator) with one voice, is more what I actually use and want every day of the week. I don't want it to play hundreds of notes at once, I don't want to have to use 16 of its voices to get a powerful sound when one will do and I don't want it to sound tinny and metallic.

There is no absolute right however loud you shout it. It has never been and never will be objective. You want what you want and that is only ever right for you, definitely not me. I really do want different things to what you want or need in a synth. 'Tis what it is.

[kritikon]

i can sometimes hear a difference in analog vs virtual analog vs digital, but often i cant, very often i cant for analog vs virtual analog, but fm is one of the things where i often can tell

I'll agree with that and take it further. I haven't ever heard any sw or hw digital synth do decent osc sync or cross mod. It's usually just really nasty and obvious. As you mention FM - also audio rate mod - quite often even analogue synths use digital for stuff like envs and LFOs - for envs I'm perfectly happy with that, but audio rate digital LFOs can sound really crappy too. A lot of the other stuff, digital can have some great advantages. But in certain aspects analogue and digital do NOT sound the same. Some day they might.

For a lot of their range of sound I struggle to hear the difference between VA and analogue (if the VA is a good one) but at extremes of sound it's usually very obvious. Though even some supposed good ones to me sound very metallic. Those Cobalt thingies seems to have a good name - bloody hell though...they sound tinny. The higher their filters are pushed the more metallic they sound. Whereas Nords etc can sound very good. So as with anything - a good coder can do great things, an average coder can make it sound obviously digital. And there are poor analogues - many of them. But only a real eejit would say all digital and analogues are the same.