Waves Elements or Steinberg Retrologue?

[bibz1st]

Whenever a synth comparison thread pops up nobody ever seems to mention MUX by Mutools.
I don't have the separate vst but the one built into Mulab, its the same anyway and I can highly recommend it, very versatile, takes a little getting used to but the sound quality is fantastic.
Give the demo (vst or Mulab) a try, nothing to lose and you might be pleasantly surprised

[fluffy_little_something]

Whenever a synth comparison thread pops up nobody ever seems to mention MUX by Mutools.
I don't have the separate vst but the one built into Mulab, its the same anyway and I can highly recommend it, very versatile, takes a little getting used to but the sound quality is fantastic.
Give the demo (vst or Mulab) a try, nothing to lose and you might be pleasantly surprised

Well, maybe it's because the thread is about only those two synths

I have Mulab as well, but I use another DAW now. So I can no longer use the built-in Mux, either. I don't miss it enough to buy the separate Mux, frankly.

[VitaminD]

Hmm, pretty different opinions here.

This will happen every single time when the question relies on personal opinion... many differing opinions. Each of our musical goals and tastes make our opinion on matters travel in varied directions. One is no better off asking 'Red or Blue?'

[fluffy_little_something]

One of the things I don't get with Element is why one has to waste an entire mod slot for something as simple as setting the bend range. And the scale goes from 0 to 100, one octave seems to be 66.6%.

[PatchAdamz]

These are two very different sounding synths.
Both have some tasteful qualities.

There is not much overlap between the two so if you like both, get the one you like the most now, and the other later.

Retrologue is underrated, its capable of some sweet pads and rich basses.

You can demo them so get some hands on experience.

[fluffy_little_something]

Elements is a new wavetable synth but sounds more analog then other wavetable synths.

AFAIK, Element is neither new nor a wavetable synth, maybe you are confusing it with Codex?

[bibz1st]

Well, maybe it's because the thread is about only those two synths

I have Mulab as well, but I use another DAW now. So I can no longer use the built-in Mux, either. I don't miss it enough to buy the separate Mux, frankly.

It is yes, just thought I'd "big up" Mux

[Timman]

Although I don't really like/prefer Waves, Elements is a nice synth if you can grab it at a cool discount. Perhaps during the upcoming black friday/cyber monday deals.

[KingTuck]

I wanted to pick up Retrologue a while back but the eLicenser DRM kinda pissed me off. Not being able to install the software on my desktop and laptop was a pretty big buzzkill but for $50 I was willing to tough it out. Once I found out that I couldn't have the 32 bit AND 64 bit version installed on the SAME computer I said f**k it and ditched it. It was before I had my setup all running 64 bit and it would have obstructed my workflow enough for me to wonder why I paid for something that puts limitations like that on me. Retrologue sounds really really good and I like it's interface, but I also don't need it whatsoever (many other synths can do pretty much the same job) and the DRM scheme in addition to that was enough for me to back down. With that in mind it really does sound very good, is very cheap, and if the DRM doesn't bug you I'd say go for it.

I'm a bit more inclined towards it than I am Elements. Like so many other synths though, they aren't really 1:1 comparable. The Waves DRM kinda sucks too.....quite a bit really....

My personal vote is for Retrologue.

I'm pretty sure these both have demos right? Just check em out and see what you're into!

[hibidy]

Waves elements is the credit card for the interesting sounds in music making. Do you like interesting? Do you like unique and functional. Yes, this migh be for you.........."oh my, it's

Evolving and spacial, with unique tones and funny arps.........

[Integratron]

I like Mux as well - I have Retrologue and can not get the factory preset to show up in Reaper or Tracktion after install of Steinbergs optional sounds sets. (they do show up in Studio One) I contacted Steinberg tech support but (sorry) they were not helpful. I would like to uninstall and reinstall but I fear that if I lost what I have, Steinberg will not be interested in helping me.

[simon.a.billington]

I'm a big fan of Element.

I love what they are doing with their Virtual Voltage technology. So much, that I was keen to check out Codex, even though I'm not a fan of wavetables. It turned me around on that subject matter.

I've never tried Retrologue, so I'm afraid I can just give you a biased view.

[fluffy_little_something]

Here is a little list of suggestions I have sent to Waves. They seemed to care, but let's wait and see if any of them get implemented...

- separate panning or a spread knob for the oscillators (currently they sound a bit claustrophobic)
- better unison implementation (maybe a drop-down menu with 2x, 4x, and 8x options) with spread knob
- improved mouse operation of knobs (changes are a bit hard to dose, which can lead to unwanted output jumps; sometimes I get the feeling there might be a limiter already, but I am not sure, it doesn't work well if there is one)
- a bigger GUI as an option
- the red bar of the output LED meter doesn't go away once lit, one has to click on the meter; no idea if that is on purpose and what that purpose would be
- sub waveform selector
- switches to turn off the displays
- an improved retrigger mode for the envelopes; currently they are set to pick up, but they do that in an unpleasant way, often producing a low-frequency bump (I prefer a complete restart, sounds better with pad chords etc.)
- maybe adding pink noise, but that's not so important to me
- setting the bender range should be simpler than it is

In the license center one has to enter one's sign-in data every time, which is a bit annoying.

[fluffy_little_something]

I'm a big fan of Element.

I love what they are doing with their Virtual Voltage technology. So much, that I was keen to check out Codex, even though I'm not a fan of wavetables. It turned me around on that subject matter.

I've never tried Retrologue, so I'm afraid I can just give you a biased view.

Yes, in combination with the effects the oscillators can sound like wire on fire One can almost hear the electricity sizzling. (Without the effects they sound boring, though.)
Perfect for leads and other monophonic sounds, even sound effects. For polyphonic sounds and soft stuff Element is not so appropriate in my view.

[raymondwave]

I see this is an old thread, but why not reply anyway.

I have both, but I like and use Element more. I like the basic sound of it more I guess. It's more "analog", darker, fatter. Also I find the features just right, I don't really miss anything in Element. The unison is different than what you have today, it can't do a supersaw kind of sounds, but try it on a bell or a pad and it may surprise you. Personally I'm not a huge fan of it tho, because it's a bit phasey with it's weird panning.

Retrologue can do some of the best unisons if you want it to just stack voices and detune, but it too has a hardcoded pan to it, when you add enough voices, it starts to spread automatically. Retrologue doesn't have an arpeggiator, which is big minus in my book. These days I almost never use Retrologue even if it does have quite decent sound to it. Retrologue is "crispier" than Element, doesn't sound as "analog" to me.