I love MPOWERSYNTH
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 14985 posts since 26 Jun, 2006 from San Francisco Bay Area
Well, not the name...
But... THE SOUND.
More than pretty much any other "digital" synth, it feels and sounds like, hard to express... like an instrument. I mean that in the way a great guitar and amp feel, or how a great analog synth feels. If you've grown up knowing nothing but plug ins and MIDI controllers, I don't think you'd understand.
When I first tried it, I knew it was something. I think it was around Christmas or something... I was kind of distracted and I honestly didn't have much time to play with it. I picked it up with some Christmas money with a note to "get back to it" when I had some time. Today I had some time.
I had been seriously G.A.S.'n over the Modulus .002. That synth haunts my soul. I think about it all the time. I honestly considered selling off most of my hardware synths and just getting it. It just sounds right to me in pretty much every demo I've ever heard. ...but, it's $5200. I spent a lot of time with the instruments I'd have to give up to get one and it did feel scary to have all my eggs in a few baskets, as nice as those baskets were. I kept telling myself, "well you've got software too." And I do. Great stuff. I mulled it over for a while and decided that the .002 would be my "if I won the lottery synth." But, in all my hardware synth evaluation I kind of felt like I could let my Virus go and not be too sad. It hit me. Since it's been out I've lusted for a Fizmo. No such thing as a software Fizmo. Trust me, I've tried to get close to it's character in Serum and Codex and I couldn't. I spent all last night listening to Fizmo demos.
(So where the hell are you going with this Mark?) Anyway, something today made me think that before I put my Virus up for sale I should check out MPOWERSYNTH a bit more deeply. I had a vague memory of getting a really amazing kind of overdriven cloudy dark pad on it while it was still in beta. The kind of thing I love about the Fizmo.
I nailed it! Now, don't get me wrong, if you look at the feature list of both instruments you'd say, "What the hell are you blathering about, Mark?" I know, I know! But... there is something about it. I've never owned a Fizmo (though I spent hours playing around with one in a music store I worked in) but I have owned a TS-10 and that is one of those digital instruments that always felt like an instrument to me in a way that the Virus, various Roland ROMplers, Micron, never did. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun with the previous mentioned instruments, but they never felt the same to me as my guitars, TS-10 or some of my analogs.
What am I talking about? I can't quite put it into words. It's surely not the UI, which is not that great and can be confusing. I must say the core sound of the oscs do sound beautiful to me. Very, very little aliasing. The filters sound great too... and there are a lot of them. The effects as well. Great. Hands down the best effect section of a software synth. Maybe that's what I'm digging on. The way the synth functions seem to meld (pun intended) into the rest of the synth's features and not just a "I tagged on some reverb, chorus and delay" kind of thing. Perhaps it's this (oh I'm going to hate myself for using this word) synergy that makes it special. Somehow it comes together in a way I don't think many other digital instruments do. Most seem like a bunch of features stacked on top of each other rather than a stew of elements that work together.
But... THE SOUND.
More than pretty much any other "digital" synth, it feels and sounds like, hard to express... like an instrument. I mean that in the way a great guitar and amp feel, or how a great analog synth feels. If you've grown up knowing nothing but plug ins and MIDI controllers, I don't think you'd understand.
When I first tried it, I knew it was something. I think it was around Christmas or something... I was kind of distracted and I honestly didn't have much time to play with it. I picked it up with some Christmas money with a note to "get back to it" when I had some time. Today I had some time.
I had been seriously G.A.S.'n over the Modulus .002. That synth haunts my soul. I think about it all the time. I honestly considered selling off most of my hardware synths and just getting it. It just sounds right to me in pretty much every demo I've ever heard. ...but, it's $5200. I spent a lot of time with the instruments I'd have to give up to get one and it did feel scary to have all my eggs in a few baskets, as nice as those baskets were. I kept telling myself, "well you've got software too." And I do. Great stuff. I mulled it over for a while and decided that the .002 would be my "if I won the lottery synth." But, in all my hardware synth evaluation I kind of felt like I could let my Virus go and not be too sad. It hit me. Since it's been out I've lusted for a Fizmo. No such thing as a software Fizmo. Trust me, I've tried to get close to it's character in Serum and Codex and I couldn't. I spent all last night listening to Fizmo demos.
(So where the hell are you going with this Mark?) Anyway, something today made me think that before I put my Virus up for sale I should check out MPOWERSYNTH a bit more deeply. I had a vague memory of getting a really amazing kind of overdriven cloudy dark pad on it while it was still in beta. The kind of thing I love about the Fizmo.
I nailed it! Now, don't get me wrong, if you look at the feature list of both instruments you'd say, "What the hell are you blathering about, Mark?" I know, I know! But... there is something about it. I've never owned a Fizmo (though I spent hours playing around with one in a music store I worked in) but I have owned a TS-10 and that is one of those digital instruments that always felt like an instrument to me in a way that the Virus, various Roland ROMplers, Micron, never did. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun with the previous mentioned instruments, but they never felt the same to me as my guitars, TS-10 or some of my analogs.
What am I talking about? I can't quite put it into words. It's surely not the UI, which is not that great and can be confusing. I must say the core sound of the oscs do sound beautiful to me. Very, very little aliasing. The filters sound great too... and there are a lot of them. The effects as well. Great. Hands down the best effect section of a software synth. Maybe that's what I'm digging on. The way the synth functions seem to meld (pun intended) into the rest of the synth's features and not just a "I tagged on some reverb, chorus and delay" kind of thing. Perhaps it's this (oh I'm going to hate myself for using this word) synergy that makes it special. Somehow it comes together in a way I don't think many other digital instruments do. Most seem like a bunch of features stacked on top of each other rather than a stew of elements that work together.
Zerocrossing Media
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
- KVRAF
- 25852 posts since 20 Jan, 2008 from a star near where you are
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 14985 posts since 26 Jun, 2006 from San Francisco Bay Area
Numanoid wrote:Ich liebe mKraftSynthasiza
Zerocrossing Media
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
- Banned
- 10196 posts since 12 Mar, 2012 from the Bavarian Alps to my feet and the globe around my head
It's possible to fall in love with it as long as you don't stare too long at the GUI which makes you lose your m(an)power!
- KVRAF
- 6322 posts since 18 Jul, 2008 from New York
But you are supposedly a UI designer. How can you overlook the horrible multi-tab generic hideousness of Melda UIs? Have you gone insane?zerocrossing wrote:It's surely not the UI, which is not that great and can be confusing.
Actually some of the demos sound pretty impressive. If Melda would hire a professional UI designer, they could be a major player.
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 14985 posts since 26 Jun, 2006 from San Francisco Bay Area
Oh well, yeah. I was trying to be kind, but let's face it. It's a mess. On some level, they do get some things very right. I like that things line the modulation dialog is its own window so you can still move around the rest of the UI while you're making mod assignments. I did get used to his way of thinking with mdrummer as well, so perhaps I'm numb to it. At least everything is clear and you're always a click away from a help dialog. It's not Poly-Ana bad. :pFrantz wrote:But you are supposedly a UI designer. How can you overlook the horrible multi-tab generic hideousness of Melda UIs? Have you gone insane?zerocrossing wrote:It's surely not the UI, which is not that great and can be confusing.
Actually some of the demos sound pretty impressive. If Melda would hire a professional UI designer, they could be a major player.
Zerocrossing Media
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
- KVRAF
- 21195 posts since 8 Oct, 2014
I think MPowersynth is amazing. Sadly, I am so busy doing a number of things that I haven't had the time to devote to it that I'd like. But that's going to change in about a month or so when I design my first soundbank for it. Will be a lot of fun.
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- KVRist
- 152 posts since 25 Apr, 2009 from Taylorsville, KY
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Echoes in the Attic Echoes in the Attic https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=180417
- KVRAF
- 11053 posts since 12 May, 2008
Maybe I'll give it another shot. I lasted about 5 minutes with the demo because that many tabs are usually instant no for me. But I got used to omnisphere so I guess I could maybe get used to other dups like that, but I doubt it.
- KVRAF
- 2697 posts since 3 Aug, 2003 from Narnia
RhythM & Blues..?Halma wrote:You guys know that you can RMB the tabs to get floating ones?
- KVRian
- 1092 posts since 9 Apr, 2012
Andywanders wrote:RhythM & Blues..?Halma wrote:You guys know that you can RMB the tabs to get floating ones?
Underground Music Production: Sound Design, Machine Funk, High Tech Soul
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- KVRist
- 247 posts since 1 May, 2006
I love it too. Need undo of the non-global randomizers though.
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 14985 posts since 26 Jun, 2006 from San Francisco Bay Area
Do tell...Halma wrote:You guys know that you can RMB the tabs to get floating ones? Just a hint if you have not tried out.
Zerocrossing Media
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~