a feeling i get about synths

[rpc9943]

Hey

with all these amazing synths... freeware etc

i get this feeling... most of them are more or less the same arent they? I mean you can get similar if not identical sounds out of all these things, right?

I don't get it. can someone enlighten me?

what makes these others better or worse?

sick of riding upon the back of presets,

RonC

[beej]

All these musical instruments, I mean, they all play a "C" right?
Why would I need a violin when I can just play a "C" with my piano?

Short answer. You are both right and wrong. Different things sound different and have different features, meaning some sounds are easy to get with synth A and impossible with synth B.

But you can program broadly similar sounds on a lot of different synths. But you couldn't make a physically modelled guitar on a one-oscillator VA.

[waiting man]

all freebies have cheddar in it, yes.
you solved the mistery.
let's skip to brie.

[adydub]

Hey

with all these amazing synths... freeware etc

i get this feeling... most of them are more or less the same arent they?

sad but true.

but is this also being a case of giving people what they want? people do download the freebies, people do buy the latest 'classic' retrosynth plugin. i know i'm very happy with the korg legacy collection, perhaps an example of something that is 'more or less the same' but is stands well in its class.

fortunately there is also plenty non pcm/va stuff out there.

[crimsonwarlock]

You do have a point here, although beej is right too. The thing is that you better focus on a select set of instruments that cover a good range of posibilities.

I used hardware synths for many years and I always set to have a few instruments that could cover both digital and analog sounds. In those days for me those where my DX7 for the digital sounding stuff and my ESQ-1 for the more analog sounds. When I switched to VST-synths I used the same idea: I bought the Pro52 for analog sounding things and because the FM7 didn't exist yet I got the PPG Wave for the more digital sounds.

Now I do have the FM7 as well, but the PPG Wave and the FM7, although both digital sounding, are very different beasts. However, Albino for example does cover close to the same sonic teritory as the Pro53 for me.

So even with free stuff, get a good analog synth, maybe two or three and some synths with a more digital focus. Then throw in a good organ, electric piano and maybe a string-ensemble.

If I would suggest a set of free instruments that cover a broad range of sounds it would be something like this:

- Superwave P8
- FreeAlpha
- Synth1
- Triangle II
- Crystal
- Cheeze Machine
- Organized Trio
- Mr. Ray
- 4front Piano

Then get something to play drum samples (I would suggest Loopazoid) and maybe a soundfont player (look at SFZ).

With this setup you have already such an incredible sound arsenal that there is not much that you can not do with it

I'm sure I missed some important free instrument here, but this is a good start.

[ew]

There's also the issue of CPU usage. Things like PPG, FM7 and Pro-53 have astoundingly low CPU usage for what they do- FM7 averages .5% CPU per voice on my 3500+, and the other two are even lower...

ew

[ChipCurtis]

It is easy to become beguiled by the massive amount of great freeware out there. The trick is to sort it down to a few high quality tools that will help you create the music you want to create. Whatever works for you. It's nice to check out these forums because you get some opinion and feedback from people about what's good and what's not, but even then you need to try them out yourself and form your own opinion about it.

Sure, there's a hell of a lot of freebies that all seem to sound alike (many of them made in SynthEdit), but there's a few really unique ones out there like Superwave and Crystal that kind of stand out from the pack a little.

[pd]

Hey rpc9943, you playing with us?
With 3493 posts you must have learned something along the way.

[BONES]

i get this feeling... most of them are more or less the same arent they? I mean you can get similar if not identical sounds out of all these things, right?

If sound was the only factor you would definitely have a point but I find usability to be at least as important as any other factor when working with an instrument. Then there is the fact that some people like to use an uber-synth or two to cover all of their needs whilst others like to have a range of more straightforward synths to cover different sonic territory. That's why I don't understand why most developers just go for a single version of most of their VSTi. They make an excellent sound engine but wrap it up in a package with limited appeal. Why not have a package for the uber-synth brigade and a cut-down version for those who prefer usability to total parameter overkill? It just makes sense to me to leverage the hard work that goes into making something without having to reinvent the wheel for each new product. The hardware companies have always done it. KORG are still leveraging the Triton engine in the new microX yet software developers don't see the same mileage in doing it. Weird.

[seamoss]

VCO's make the difference

[M'Snah]

VCO's and filters make the difference

[ugo]

i agree with pretty much everything thats been said so far. while there can be a lot of overlap between synths, there are also differences in features, tone and interfaces. sometimes the differences are subtle, sometimes drastic, but its for those differences that i've got so many synths.

so sure, i could do similar sounds on a lot of them but, instead of using them for their commonalities, i use them for what i feel their strong points and differences are. of course, in most cases it may not be necessary for me to do that and i could just use far fewer synths and achieve a similar enough result, but i enjoy the variety, even when the difference may be subtle. i guess when it comes down to it, its just fun for me.

-ugo

[Sickle]

There's also the issue of CPU usage. Things like PPG, FM7 and Pro-53 have astoundingly low CPU usage for what they do- FM7 averages .5% CPU per voice on my 3500+, and the other two are even lower...

ew

Not to mention Pro-53 and FM7 can still go toe to toe with damn near anything still to this day. FM7's an incredible sounding instrument and it's HOW old now?

[M'Snah]

I think one of the problems here is that many free synths are SynthEdit based, and use the same oscillators and the same filters, etc. so they sound the same. (When you've heard Superwave, you've heard them all). Innovative examples are HG Fortune, Algomusic and Ugo.

On the other hand, it also depends on the listener too. I demonstrated my MicrowaveXT and my OB12 to my parents, and they wondered why I needed two of them . Why do you need 5 compressors or 5 reverbs?

[egarrard]

Why do you need 5 compressors or 5 reverbs?

Because no one singer will slaughter a song quite like any other.