SPC ArcSyn

[Shiek927]

Sheesh, if anyone knows any contemporary VSTs that sounds like a Novation synths, feel free to let me know as well. Maybe I'll end up selling all this stuff sooner than I thought

but I wouldn't call the character between both synths really all that close imo. ArcSyn is still a great synth if you want a fat sounding and utterly digital synth!

you guys use, and have different expectations then me. i compared the two because they have the same architecture, and I use them in the same instances, and i wind up making the same patches with them. I am not talking about 1 -> 1 character. I'm talking about feel mostly, and behavior.

as far as novation goes, novation had a very plastic, and liquid sound that people loved because it was done to such a high degree. in other words, obviously VA, but that meant something different then. It was a high resolution liquid, plastic, obvious VA sound... a lot like the nord, but with a little more juice in the filter, and the nord was a lot dirtier. I don't have an obvious replacement, because... well, today's music is damn clean... most of the character aspect is lost. especially in dance music... all the noise is being eliminated, so... not sure how you are supposed to compare any more. I just go by how i use a software instrument in place of hardware one. the novation VA's sound the same, but they are desperately in need of updating. Almost unusable, so can't really recommend them. If novation was smart they would update those VA's.

No problem! I do agree you're right! the MicroQ and the ArcSyn don't really have a 1/1 character, but they do have the same sort of punchy, deep and thoroughly digital character, so it's a great substitute if that's all you're looking for .

[BONES]

The good old Novation V-station, still useable but thinner sounding next to my X-Station. Also the Bass Station VST, but again thinner than the hardware, but has a stereo version.

I proved many, many years ago that the V Station and K Station sounded identical. I posted the same phrase played by each, using the same preset, and the poll was a 50:50 split, indicating that it wasn't possible to tell one from the other. Given that I own the X-Station's successor, Ultranova, and I don't think the V-Station sounds "thinner" in any one-on-one comparison, I reckon you're full of it.

as far as novation goes, novation had a very plastic, and liquid sound that people loved because it was done to such a high degree.

When you say "people", I assume you mean certain section of the electronic dance music scene because "people" I know didn't make those kinds of distinctions. I wasn't attracted to V/A because they sounded like old synths, I was drawn to them because they offered a familiar workflow that other digital synths had long ago abandoned. I honestly wasn't aware of the whole analogue/digital debate until I started visiting places like this.

the novation VA's sound the same, but they are desperately in need of updating. Almost unusable, so can't really recommend them. If novation was smart they would update those VA's.

Let me get this straight - they used to be usable but now they aren't? That is one of the stupidest things I've read this week. Ultranova sounds as fresh and new and amazing today as it did the day it was released. I am certainly yet to hear better anywhere else, analogue or digital. My Analog Keys, for example, can't match the sound of Ultranova. Not even close.

[Dasheesh]

they've never been usable bones, but they do sound like novation to me. they should have been redone a decade ago.

[WordClock]

I'm selling ArcSyn 4 for $66 soon on the sales forum. I like that the presets can be randomized and are rich but I don’t like the factory sounds that come with ArcSyn included with the purchase I'll include good sounds from HomeGrown Sounds: ArcSyn Alectrona sound bank.

[BONES]

So it never occurred to you to make your own sounds for it? Too much work? Requires knowledge you lack?

they've never been usable bones, but they do sound like novation to me. they should have been redone a decade ago.

No, they can produce a certain narrow range of timbres that you may be able to pick as having a specific character but for 99% of the sounds we all use every day, one synth sounds just like another. That means the Novation character is there if you want to use it but if, like me, you have more important things to do with your synths, it is completely and utterly irrelevant.

Ultranova is the last of my hardware synths that I would even consider getting rid of. If that's down to it having a specific "Novation sound", which I honestly and sincerely doubt, then count me as a fan of that sound and never do anything to change it.

[layzer]

any synth that was ever produced since the 70's that cant produce a #1 hit with a single keypress from any of its factory presets is in dire need of an "upgrade"

[Shiek927]

Wow, I only asked a question! didn't mean for you guys to get like this hahaha. In any case, I've already sampled my Novation Nova so I feel satisfied as far as that's concerned. Gonna do the same with my Micro Q so I always have those sounds and maybe layer them with the ArcSyn .

[biscuitdough]

When I wrote to Novation asking them to issue a modern synth plugin with the Nova/Supernova/II features like sync skew and formant width, I got an enthusiastic, personal reply from their support. If enough of us ask, maybe they'll do it.

[JoeCat]

I love this synth, but not so much just for the rich pads and motion-y sounds it can do (that LFO matrix is sick, but I notice not too many patches use more than a few - that's getting into "patch a day" programming territory.) The combination of different filters and oscillators (esp. noise), along with phase reset buttons makes it great for programming unusual percussive sounds. I'm planning on spending a day making one off noises, sampling into my Digitakt, then farting around for a week making beats from Mars.

[lacandon]

Thats one of the best synths ever created kinda like digital buchla I can sit for 10 hours with the randomiser f**king insane results

[aMUSEd]

Anyone know if this works on Big Sur? Doesn't seem to have been updated in a couple of years