KVR Audio

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:51 pm

Gonga wrote:That wouldn't be too hard to do! I literally got most of the materials at Radio Shack!

Unfortunately I think the synth itself is expecting a switch there (for Mod button) so I'm not sure it would be possible to wire in a pot in its place. Rolands have on/off mod as a built-in paradigm, with settings like delay to adjust how fast it rises. Square peg/round hole.

But maybe you could move a CV pedal input to beside the keyboard in place of a mod wheel, if that Roland supports control pedal input.

I wish you could buy proper pitch and mod wheels at Radio Shack!

Gonga · Post by **Gonga** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:09 pm

You could prolly get the wheels as replacement parts. After my experience though, I would never do the work myself again. I'd leave it to a real expert so as not to degrade the audio. If I were young again and playing out, I wouldn't hesitate though to hire a guy I know in Catskill NY (a Korg tech) to build a custom rig for me. I'd let him source the parts, then I'd build up the body in carbon fiber myself (I have some experience with canoe building). Doesn't a carbon fiber synth built to your specs, with custom controls sound good to you?

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:33 pm

Gonga wrote:You could prolly get the wheels as replacement parts. After my experience though, I would never do the work myself again. I'd leave it to a real expert so as not to degrade the audio. If I were young again and playing out, I wouldn't hesitate though to hire a guy I know in Catskill NY (a Korg tech) to build a custom rig for me. I'd let him source the parts, then I'd build up the body in carbon fiber myself (I have some experience with canoe building). Doesn't a carbon fiber synth built to your specs, with custom controls sound good to you?

What I really want is an 88 key full weighted hammer action keyboard that either splits or folds in half, and yes, uses modern lightweight composites wherever possible to save on weight. (And if it came with an awesome multi-sampled full-length piano sample audio engine, that would be nice too.)

Same with a lower organ manual. I wish someone would make a nice 61 note waterfall MIDI controller keyboard with zero clearance on top, so you could fit it as close as possible under your favorite clonewheel organ to make a lower manual. As it is now, it's virtually impossible to get two keyboards the correct distance apart in height to match a Hammond, unless they're built into the same rig.

But we digress.

djsubject · Post by **djsubject** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:01 pm

AdmiralQuality wrote:
Aroused by JarJar wrote:
AdmiralQuality wrote:
thecontrolcentre wrote:
trimph1 wrote:Virtual Digital

(Actually, that thing probably is digital.)
Buchla synths are hybrids.
Hi Bird!

Okay, I'll stop now.

JoeCat · Post by **JoeCat** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:43 pm

Gonga wrote:
JoeCat wrote: ...Make a Diva control bed, a Largo control bed... swap as needed. The dedicated controller aspect of hardware is the most insurmountable hurdle. They'll still be a few guys left to debate with scopes in hand, the rest of us will
Great idea Joe, you and I think alike

HOLY CRAP:
http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/nam ... ard-525488

Gonga · Post by **Gonga** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:15 pm

Well, it's a step in the direction...I guess it'll be interesting to see where it goes...

Gonga · Post by **Gonga** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 2:13 pm

Did you see this thread?

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4804028

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:07 pm

I just got the most analog sounding VST plugin:
http://www.moogmusic.com/products/apps/ ... or-windows

The only problem is that the required "dongle" is quite big and expensive...

Ingo

Gonga · Post by **Gonga** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:50 pm

LOL that looks a lot nicer than my old Voyager editor. Enjoy!

Arksun · Post by **Arksun** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:47 pm

Diva is a truly fine sounding synth no doubt about it.

But I gotta be honest, some of the digital vs analog threads that come about on KVR, the general obsession over ancient analog synths as some de-facto benchmark of what constitutes 'best' synth sounds still baffles me.

When I look at a synth like Diva I don't immediately think great I can recreate classic sounds. I just think hey this sounds really good, lets make cool interesting sounds. Synths of the past doesn't even cross my mind, as a sound designer I could not care less how accurate they may be to those synths of old.

Don't get me wrong, those old analog synths are classics for a reason of course!, for their thickness of tone and organic edge (and lack of any aliasing of course). As an inspiration they're a good source. But then I think of all the incredible ways waveforms can be generated and manipulated by todays digital soft-synths, ways in which are completely and utterly impossible with those analog classics. Does that then make those old analog synths suddenly inferior for being incapable?, of course not, just different.

I think thats why I love Zebra soo much, because its a synth which took some influences from the synths of the past, but Urs created an oscillator engine which was lightyears ahead in forward thinking, allowing the waveshapes to be drawn either as a vector with points and bezier curves, or completely hand-drawn, or as fundamental and harmonic points, 16 variations of which could be assigned and morphed between in one osc instance and thats just the half of it!.

I just think we need to get out of the mindset of constantly focusing on recreating the synths of old 100%, and look forward to evolve in cool interesting new ways.

There was a thread on KVR some time ago, might have been a few years I can't remember, another one of these typical analog vrs digital affairs. Someone posted up some old recording of an analog synth as an example of why it was teh-awesomeness. Someone else then posted up a soft-synth variation I can't even remember what soft-synth it was now. The funny thing is I actually prefered the soft-synth one. Now the soft-synth example got slammed because it wasn't 100% like the analog synth, and indeed it wasn't a spot on recreation. But that didn't matter to me, all that matter is that it was a sound I found pleasurable.

I also hope Urs won't take this as some Diva bash because thats not my intention at all!. Its a superb synth and the way the gain-staging through the filters is designed can do things I just can't do on any other soft-synth, so it is definitely a step forward for algorithms in many respects and should be congratulated on that. Also allowing switchable model types of osc and filter effectively creates brand new synth designs out of the old, so there's classic inspiration with some forward thinking there too.

I'm not bashing the synth at all, more just this general view out there in the producing world that classic analog synths are the be all and end all of what all artificially generated sound waves should sound like as the ultimate in perfection.

A world with many different flavours is far more interesting than just a few strong ones with only subtle variations in-between.

Oh and I just lastly wanted to say, superb selection of presets that come with Diva. Great to see a synth released with a very fine wide range of sounds to show it off already, good job

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:12 pm

Hey Arksun,

No worries, I agree 100%

The benefits of the modeling technique used in Diva are of course not limited to the simulation of old synth filters. Switching between draft and fast reveals the difference between the common 1-sample-delay approach and zero delay feedback. It's the very same algorithm, just different solving technique.

We hope to come up with new designs, and we hope to apply this to other areas, such as compressors, oscillator feedback fm etc. - experiments with FM show that aliasing is reduced radically, but also less harmonics are generated. It might nevertheless be a viable addition to the arsenal.

We'll see where this leads us... we've even hired another developer because we want to pump out a lot of stuff with this...

Cheers,

Urs

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:18 pm

Gonga wrote:Did you see this thread?

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4804028

Funny thing is that we've got a new coworker for the soldering iron because we want to explore our own controller designs. If this ever leads to a product we sell, I don't know. For now we'll just do this for our own fun, i.e. Musikmesse and other trade shows.

Gotta admit though, the TE stuff is funky.

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:51 pm

Urs wrote:
Gonga wrote:Did you see this thread?

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4804028
Funny thing is that we've got a new coworker for the soldering iron because we want to explore our own controller designs. If this ever leads to a product we sell, I don't know. For now we'll just do this for our own fun, i.e. Musikmesse and other trade shows.

Gotta admit though, the TE stuff is funky.

Is this thread going to go on forever? There ARE other synths out there

leggie · Post by **leggie** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:57 pm

Looking forward to the FM developments

i love FM i do.

mcnoone · Post by **mcnoone** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:20 am

Arksun wrote:Diva is a truly fine sounding synth no doubt about it.
But I gotta be honest...

Thanks.
That was one of the most sensible posts I've read in a long time.

Diva Vs. Real Analog