Korg multi/poly native - reimagined Mono/Poly Synthesizer plugin

[tumface]

How do you rate it against Dune 3? I recall it was one of your favs. I know it’s not a like for like exactly, but I swear between that and Repro/Diva most of what Multi-Poly offers is covered

I'm not the person you were asking, but as an owner of all of these: Dune 3 has no cross-mod, no true oscillator sync, no continuous phase mode between oscillators ("contiguous phase," "phase memory," "flow," "free phase"), layered editing is based around unison instead of independent layers, no advanced step sequencer or modulation sequencer, way fewer creative oscillator options (just a weak FM mode and wavetables with no warp modes) and doesn't have a lot of options for analog-like imitation behavior (voice card drift, noise injection, etc.)

On the other hand, Dune 3 supports MPE and MTS-ESP, has less plugin jank than multi/poly native, has two full MSEG editors, can handle way higher voice counts with ease, has an option to run all modulation at audio rate (multi/poly native only runs some of them at audio rate), loads extremely fast, allows oscillator phase reset and initial oscillator phase position (but does not have "contiguous phase", only randomized phase) and is better at stacked unison sounds, especially supersaws.

Dune 3's filters tend towards being cleaner by default and require turning up the drive a lot to get extra distortion out of them. multy/poly has filter modes like MS20 where they drive pretty hard just by turning the resonance up. The filters in both of these plugins are excellent.

Dune 3's filter FM does not sound as good as multi/poly's filter FM, to me, even when Dune 3 is set to audio-rate modulation. That being said, I don't use filter FM very often.

Compared to Diva, multi/poly has a lot more options. It has dual filters, more oscillators, layers, more envelopes, more LFOs, step sequencers, way way way more modulation possibilties, and a lot more FX. multi/poly native's GUI requires quite a bit more paging than Diva. multi/poly native uses less CPU per-voice than Diva, but if you use multiple layers, multiple oscs, and multiple filters, it starts to add up and can end up using more CPU per voice than Diva. multi/poly cuts a few corners that Diva doesn't cut (like the amp envelope in multi/poly doesn't run at audio rate.) Diva has options for oscillator reset and filter state reset. multi/poly, as mentioned above, doesn't. Diva loads faster and its GUI is more responsive.

Diva has a CLAP version and supports advanced CLAP modulation. Diva supports MPE and MTS-ESP. As mentioned above, multy/poly doesn't support those things.

[zerocrossing]

I also can't easily decide buying this, because have some gforce synths, that produce similar sounds....

No slight to GForce, I own most of them, but multi/poly is really a completely different animal. There is no GForce synth with 4 oscillators, 2 filters, tons of modulation, two layers, etc. Multi/Poly is more like a modern Diva than any analog emulation.

How do you rate it against Dune 3? I recall it was one of your favs. I know it’s not a like for like exactly, but I swear between that and Repro/Diva most of what Multi-Poly offers is covered

Well... it's better in some ways, worse in others. It's got one of the best filter FMs around, even better than Dune when Dune's modulation quality is set at the highest. The drive is cleaner too. But Dune exposes all the oscillators in the mod matrix, so that's fun. Multi/Poly has a nice voice offset feature, but you can mimic that in Dune's mod matrix. Dune has great oscillator and flexible voice unison. Dune has a lot more filter models, a lot of them interesting. Dune has per voice effects that are very useful. Dune has a great wavetable import/editor. They're really both great synthesizers, they just have different strengths.

[jobinho]

Great to hear your thoughts, thank you both.

I may hold off until I have a better computer anyways, one area I love Dune 3 is how efficient it is.

Edit: Been playing around with this and its awesome, very physical / circuitry kinda sound. Strange there's no MSEQs given it has the pigments mod UI for it but I can see why, re hardware... very tempting

[Passante]

Can you reset the phase of the oscillator or is it random cycling by default? I can't find where to reset it.

[tumface]

Can you reset the phase of the oscillator or is it random cycling by default? I can't find where to reset it.

You can't reset it. It's not random, though. Each virtual voice card resumes from the phase it had when its previous note ended. ("Phase memory," "contiguous phase," "flow," etc.)

[Passante]

So it's like in an Analog synth...nice to know.

[zerocrossing]

So it's like in an Analog synth...nice to know.

I think in an analog synthesizer, the oscillators are just always going. The random phase is due to drift and timing of the envelope controlling the VCA.

[ansolas]

Can we meanwhile set the phase of the oscillators?? please

analog polys

Analog ? it is a virtual analog synth.

[tumface]

Analog ? it is a virtual analog synth.

The Access Virus and JP-8000 are virtual analog synths. Korg multi/poly native and u-he Diva are plugins that model analog components from various analog hardware synths combined into a single interface.

[grandmasterbird]

I listened to a demo of the hardware version online and it sounded great. Very rich sound. Admittedly I haven't really looked into it properly, but if this plugin version is exactly the same as what's running on the hardware (and sounds exactly the same), then am I right in thinking that when you buy the hardware version you are essentially paying an extra £500 or so for a dedicated hardware controller? Or are there any extras that come with the hardware? Just curious if anyone here has and uses both?

[tumface]

I listened to a demo of the hardware version online and it sounded great. Very rich sound. Admittedly I haven't really looked into it properly, but if this plugin version is exactly the same as what's running on the hardware (and sounds exactly the same), then am I right in thinking that when you buy the hardware version you are essentially paying an extra £500 or so for a dedicated hardware controller? Or are there any extras that come with the hardware? Just curious if anyone here has and uses both?

It does sound identical. If you want to play on the go or in a live setting without a PC, or you just want to turn on some hardware and jam without worrying about PC software, the plugin version isn't a replacement for the hardware version. The hardware version also costs no CPU from your PC. You get a steep discount on the plugin version if you buy the hardware version.

[grandmasterbird]

I listened to a demo of the hardware version online and it sounded great. Very rich sound. Admittedly I haven't really looked into it properly, but if this plugin version is exactly the same as what's running on the hardware (and sounds exactly the same), then am I right in thinking that when you buy the hardware version you are essentially paying an extra £500 or so for a dedicated hardware controller? Or are there any extras that come with the hardware? Just curious if anyone here has and uses both?

It does sound identical. If you want to play on the go or in a live setting without a PC, or you just want to turn on some hardware and jam without worrying about PC software, the plugin version isn't a replacement for the hardware version. The hardware version also costs no CPU from your PC. You get a steep discount on the plugin version if you buy the hardware version.

Ok thanks for the info. I guess perhaps it offers the best of both worlds- the convenience of software and a tactile hardware interface to use, as long as it's not too menu-driven! I've gotta say I think Korg have largely been brilliant over the last few years in providing good sounding stuff at comparatively affordable prices

[Gam456]

So it's like in an Analog synth...nice to know.

I think in an analog synthesizer, the oscillators are just always going. The random phase is due to drift and timing of the envelope controlling the VCA.

yes some analog can reset the phase.

[suthnear]

for a dedicated hardware controller?

Just to clear up any potential misconception, it's not a controller for the hardware. There is no relationship between the two whatsoever. It's even something of a PITA to share presets between them (see below). Very few of the multi/poly's controls even transmit midi CCs (this is my second biggest criticism of the hardware, fwiw). So far from being something along the lines of overbridge, you (mostly) can't even set up the hardware to control the plugin e.g. via midi learn or such). They share the same sound engine and that's it.

Korg's separate editor application can control everything about the hardware. So they could have added this to the plugin but chose not to. And that leads to my biggest criticism: the editor application and the plugin are both running on your computer. It would be trivial to get the editor application to sync presets between plugin and hardware. Instead you have to import/export files.

[grandmasterbird]

for a dedicated hardware controller?

Just to clear up any potential misconception, it's not a controller for the hardware. There is no relationship between the two whatsoever. It's even something of a PITA to share presets between them (see below). Very few of the multi/poly's controls even transmit midi CCs (this is my second biggest criticism of the hardware, fwiw). So far from being something along the lines of overbridge, you (mostly) can't even set up the hardware to control the plugin e.g. via midi learn or such). They share the same sound engine and that's it.

Korg's separate editor application can control everything about the hardware. So they could have added this to the plugin but chose not to. And that leads to my biggest criticism: the editor application and the plugin are both running on your computer. It would be trivial to get the editor application to sync presets between plugin and hardware. Instead you have to import/export files.

I see, that's kind of surprising tbh. I was under the impression it was a bit like the old Virus Ti setup but from what you're saying that's not the case