Sound of the 80s

[Maomoondog]

Some I notice missing from BlackWinny's extensive list :

Elektrostudio - SxMJune (Juno-6)
DCO-6 (Juno 106) Dev unknown.
GTG - JP 7A (Jupiter 6 ? )
HaHaHa CS01 V2 & CS01IV2 (Yamaha CS01 MK-I & MK-2)
ML-VST - PG8X (Roland JX8p)
Rjxp (Roland JX8p) Dev unknown.
Jv3P (Roland JX3p) Dev unknown - This IMO is better than the Stumm PG-23P

Apologies if they are included further in the thread.

@Fluffy_Little_Something - I do believe the Latte is based around an Oberheim synth. Nice sounds from it too.

[Numanoid]

Jv3P (Roland JX3p) Dev unknown - This IMO is better than the Strumm PG-23P

Interesting, will check it out, a dutch emu, by Jos van Ras: http://www.josvanras.com/synthesizer/

[Aiynzahev]

Not strictly VA synths, but check out UVI's Vintage Vault. Loads of great gear from the past. Emulator, Digital workstations, Fairlight, genuine stuff.

[Maomoondog]

Interesting, will check it out, a dutch emu, by Jos van Ras: http://www.josvanras.com/synthesizer/

Could do with a GUI that is easy to read, but very good sounds. I think the Stumm is a little "cold" in comparison.

[fluffy_little_something]

Some I notice missing from BlackWinny's extensive list :

Elektrostudio - SxMJune (Juno-6)
DCO-6 (Juno 106) Dev unknown.
GTG - JP 7A (Jupiter 6 ? )
HaHaHa CS01 V2 & CS01IV2 (Yamaha CS01 MK-I & MK-2)
ML-VST - PG8X (Roland JX8p)
Rjxp (Roland JX8p) Dev unknown.
Jv3P (Roland JX3p) Dev unknown - This IMO is better than the Strumm PG-23P

Apologies if they are included further in the thread.

@Fluffy_Little_Something - I do believe the Latte is based around an Oberheim synth. Nice sounds from it too.

GTG has various quasi emulations on their site:
http://www.gtgsynths.com/plugins.htm

The one at the top looks a bit like some ancient Roland synth from the 70s, maybe the SH-7.

[fluffy_little_something]

Not strictly VA synths, but check out UVI's Vintage Vault. Loads of great gear from the past. Emulator, Digital workstations, Fairlight, genuine stuff.

They also have a Rhodes Chroma emulation (a mostly forgotten synth which sounded pretty pleasant, though, in my view), but they no longer sell their synths individually

[Maomoondog]

The one at the top looks a bit like some ancient Roland synth from the 70s, maybe the SH-7.

The one at the top (NR2010) Is a very good synth.

I wonder if the GTG 44S is based on the Yamaha CS range from the 1970's ? It sure has the look of them

[BlackWinny]

Nice! I didn't know what to do tomorrow... Now I know.


Thanks everybody for your suggestions!


Beware also: in your suggestions try to select only really very good instruments.... because I must keep a list which remains credible for people looking for excellent tools. And especially when it is emulations.

And I would like to reach, little by little, a list which contains about 75/80% of real emulations of the 80s and about 25/20% of "generalist synths reminding the 80's but kept in the list because of their huge quality". Otherwise we could consider that any synth is able to remind the 80s among its sounds.

And I also want to avoid the generalist romplers (Kontakt, Sampletank, Halion, etc.), because they are simply engines made to read any type of sound previously recorded, they are not creations made specifically with an effort of focus on the 80s.

I think also that in the next days I shall indicate an idea of the price for each entry ("A" for more than €200, "B" for €150 to €200, "C" for €100 to €150, "D" for €50 to €100, "E" for less than €50, and "F" for... Free)


I have also in project to create a little website where I'll make something much more worked, with:

• emulations of synths of the 80s,
• emulations of organs of the 80s,
• emulations of electric pianos of the 80s,
• emulations of drums of the 80s,
• emulations of electric guitars especially good on sounds of the 80s,
• emulations of stompboxes of the 80s,
• emulations of amps of the 80s,
• emulations of synth effects of the 80s,
• links to the KVR forums of the products when they are very interesting,
• links to the product webpages of the developers when they are not discontinued (and to Wayback Machine when they are discontinued),
• links to the PDF operating manuals and service manuals of the original hardwares,
• etc.

With links, pictures, Soundcloud songs, Youtube demos (selected with a strict way on their quality), all that with the authorizations of the owners of course, it will be far better than this single list.

But I want it to remain quite simple.

Begin off-topic
And I'd like also to make another webpage... to collect all the free gems from the past with the help of all the contributors of this thread.
End off-topic

[fluffy_little_something]

Wow, so bored, eh? I am not so sure all the things you plan such as categories, links to manuals etc. are worth the trouble, frankly. Life is only so long. And the original poster has never even returned to their thread

Nor do I really understand why there is that aversion towards samples. Good sample libraries of a given synth probably yield more authentic results than the usual SynthEdit emulation based on stock or CK modules.

Maybe it would be better to stick to emulations only, else your list will become either endless or arbitrary in terms of selection. Any decent synth can make 80s sounds. Who decides what a really very good instrument is, anyway?

[mridlen]

For me, I like SQ8L the most (nails it almost all the time), Hexter (I use a 3rd party reverb but I love the sound), Arppe 2600va, U-No-LX, MiniMogueVA, OBXD. But really any FM synth has that throwback sound, so there are a lot that work.

Also, I think a large part of the 80's sound is that gated reverb sound. (e.g. Wham, George Michael)

[Slarti]

.
No-one mentioned Dexed yet?

The great free 'true' emulation of the DX-7, isn't it?

[BlackWinny]

.
No-one mentioned Dexed yet?

The great free 'true' emulation of the DX-7, isn't it?

It's been a while that Dexed is in the list.


And I'm also currently compiling a huge collection of sysex, without any duplicate. A first taste is already online (see my posts in the page target of the link).

[BlackWinny]

Wow, so bored, eh? I am not so sure all the things you plan such as categories, links to manuals etc. are worth the trouble, frankly.

For me they are, at least for the pleasure.

And the original poster has never even returned to their thread

Yes, but I don't mind... the subject is enthralling in itself. It is the most important.

Nor do I really understand why there is that aversion towards samples. Good sample libraries of a given synth probably yield more authentic results than the usual SynthEdit emulation based on stock or CK modules.

No, no, I haven't any aversion for samples. I simply think that there are no comparison between the work of someone who suffers for months to create a synth and someone who just records samples. Even if there is of course quite a few work to do after the recording it has absolutely nothing to do with the hard work and the sweat for months to create oscillators, filters, etc. in C++ (even if the GUI is SynthEdit based).

I don't spit on samples. I'm a lover of Dimension Pro and of the Garritan products for example (I have spent many time with Sampletank previously). And the banks made for Kontakt are generally splendid banks. But here we talk about products which have been made with sweat to recreate the more accurately possible the oscillators and filters of original hardwares, often in C++ and quite always with a long, long study of the electric schemas in the service manuals, the characteristics of the components, etc.

Maybe it would be better to stick to emulations only, else your list will become either endless or arbitrary in terms of selection.

Yes. That's why I try to have about 75/80% of true emulations at the minimum, the other 25/20% being other synths which are not exactly emulations but which are excellent to reproduce the sounds of the synths of these years. For example Oxium is not an emulation, however it is in the list, because it features an awesome reproduction of the oscillators and filters of the 80s, you can check it with the bank "Vintage Hardware". And it is one of the rare synths to reproduce quasi-perfectly the sounds of the Jupiter-8 with its bank "Inspired by Jupiter-8". And at the contrary there are crowds of pseudo-emulations which are so bad that I prefer to not mention them.

Any decent synth can make 80s sounds.

Yes. I said it, by the way. But this list has the purpose to introduce the creations made with a special effort of study focused on the analog components or on the digital ROMs of these years. It doesn't prevent anybody to attempt (with success) to reproduce the sounds of the 80s with any modern generalist synth like Bazille, Zebra, Z3TA, Rapture, Alchemy, Dune, Sylenth, etc.

This list that I do is not made to say "Don't buy anything else if you want to make music based on the 80s" but to say "If you love the sounds of the 80s here is a collection of products which have been specifically made for that purpose". It's not at all the same thing. No matter the original post of the thread. Anyway, we remain in the topic, the title being "Sounds of the 80s". That's why it was not necessary to initiate a new thread.

Who decides what a really very good instrument is, anyway?

Technically, the person who analyzes correctly the characteristics of the instrument. Purpose of the feature, then details of the treatment, then measured results.

Musically, everyone as soon as the instrument pleases to the ears.

[fluffy_little_something]

At the end of the day I only care what the plugin sounds like. Sure, programming is not simple, but just because someone invests a lot of time and energy doesn't mean the result is better than samples, maybe they just suck at programming and physics

[V0RT3X]

Just get Diva & Synthsquad and like 80 percent of your needs will be covered.