Cherry Audio Releases GX-80 Synthesizer

[sergiofrias]

gx-80 lowpass filter is 12db/oct,like the real unit ...arturia is 24db/oct...just saying

EDIT: actually is most like 15db/oct.

[sergiofrias]

tip ... engage the chorus see the lovely stereo panorama

(i would to see voice card trimpot calibration ,for more organic sound)

[zerocrossing]

I know what you are talking about, but it is not really like the high end is missing. It is just not as open and clear as many other synths. Like it is being played through a Roland KB-500 amp. The high frequencies are there, yet, they seem lifeless.

As Mark Barton said, you'll need to pull the BRILL paddle all the way down. I could be wrong but it sounds like zerocrossing turned all the knobs up, including the BRILL paddle, which might be the cause of what he's hearing.

I know the drill with the CS-80. What I’m hearing is a developer who rapid fires cheap plugins out of a Gatling gun to make a quick dollar on people who don’t care that much about quality or are running older computers. They’re OK, but the bar has been raised and it’s not 2005 anymore.

When I had an older computer, I had Voltage Modular and a lot of their add-ons. It was a good compromise, but when I updated my computer it no longer made sense to settle for mediocre sound. Now their plugins aren’t really that light on the ol’ CPU, but they still have that muted sound.

[WatchTheGuitar]

It’s not 1976 anymore either, but apparently we all still want CS-80s

[sergiofrias]

GX-80 is much more brighther than arturia .
take a look at this controls,they have a big impact.

[masterhiggins]

I know what you are talking about, but it is not really like the high end is missing. It is just not as open and clear as many other synths. Like it is being played through a Roland KB-500 amp. The high frequencies are there, yet, they seem lifeless.

As Mark Barton said, you'll need to pull the BRILL paddle all the way down. I could be wrong but it sounds like zerocrossing turned all the knobs up, including the BRILL paddle, which might be the cause of what he's hearing.

I know the drill with the CS-80. What I’m hearing is a developer who rapid fires cheap plugins out of a Gatling gun to make a quick dollar on people who don’t care that much about quality or are running older computers. They’re OK, but the bar has been raised and it’s not 2005 anymore.

When I had an older computer, I had Voltage Modular and a lot of their add-ons. It was a good compromise, but when I updated my computer it no longer made sense to settle for mediocre sound. Now their plugins aren’t really that light on the ol’ CPU, but they still have that muted sound.

Or, alternatively, you were talking out of your ass and didn’t know the drill about brill. Admitting you’re wrong is a sign of maturity.

[zzz00m]

I know the drill with the CS-80. What I’m hearing is a developer who rapid fires cheap plugins out of a Gatling gun to make a quick dollar on people who don’t care that much about quality or are running older computers. They’re OK, but the bar has been raised and it’s not 2005 anymore.

So your reasoning is that because they are inexpensive synths, they cannot possibly be as accurate an emulation, or as good sounding as synths that are much more expensive.

I have both the Arturia CS-80 V4 and the GX-80, and when I put them side by side in a DAW they are very close. And the CS-80 V4 is $199 (full retail).

I like them both!

[wagtunes]

Nobody here would be able to tell the difference in a mix anyway.

Just sayin.

[wwjd]

I have both the Arturia CS-80 V4 and the GX-80, and when I put them side by side in a DAW they are very close. And the CS-80 V4 is $199 (full retail).

My experience as well. I didn't drill down deep, just messed about, and they felt the same and a little different.

[inaheartbeat]

I have both the GX-80 and the Arturia CS-80 V4 plugins and have been using them both standalone and at the same time back and forth to get a sense of them. Here are my personal observations so far:

The GX-80 presets are fabulous. A big problem I have, though, is that the volume is baked into the preset so you can't just turn the global volume down and expect it to stay there as you flip through presets. I have mentioned this on the forum to Cherry Audio that they need a global master volume override at least for the standalone version. Your ears are going to get fried if you are not careful. Some of the presets have so much ballsy low end it feels like someone kicked me in the privates when I play a chord. Amazing.

I am fine with the GX-80 zoom feature. I think it works pretty well for a complicated synth. I understand they wanted to get the retro feel of the originals so given that design center it is inevitable you are going to get an odd interface. Agree that the metal fan plates serve no purpose. It is not like Omnisphere where if you click them something opens up that is useful.

The standalone GX-80 app does not have the ability to select a midi channel. You select a port and it is in omni mode as your only option. Frankly, this sucks. I mentioned this on the Cherry Audio forum and was told this was a feature request and not a bug. I totally disagree with that but as a VST it wouldn't matter anyway since the DAW would control all that.

Agree with everyone that wants to map the ribbon controller. I have a Solaris and it would be great to be able to map the slider to the synth. Cherry Audio says it will only ever get mapped to pitch wheel by design.

The CS-80 V4 sounds absolutely great and I have played a real CS-80. It does NOT have the same balls as the GX-80 and that is no surprise given they are totally different instruments. You CAN make the GX-80 sound like the CS-80 V4 by muting down one of the voice stacks. Why would you want to though?

For anyone saying the GX-80 sounds thin I have to say I am utterly mystified. Maybe you need new monitors or headphones but it most certainly does not. I am putting them through Focal CMS 65 monitors with no sub and it is a monster.

I can't believe we are this deep into a discussion of these plugins and nobody has mentioned the Advanced page in the CS-80 V4 which pulls up a playground for modifying the synth a la Augmented Strings, Piano, and Voice instruments. This is a huge feature and a big positive for the CS-80 V4 over the GX-80 synth. It allows some nice sound mangling well beyond the capabilities of the original instrument.

Oversampling on the GX-80 is just plain dumb to me. Unless your DAW/Audio interface sample rate is 24K or something why would you even bother? I run at 48K always and 1X is indistinguishable sonically from 2,3, or 4X. I have a very fast computer and 4X just turns to digital glitching. Just leave it at 1X.

As mentioned, having to enable the effects section on a switch that clicks down for on at the bottom left of the synth to change reverb or delay on the GX-80 is really annoying. I don't think they needed to be that faithful to that interface.

I got the GX-80 for less than $50 on special and it was absolutely worth it! Please fix the sustain pedal issue though!!!! When I hold the sustain pedal it should not stop after 6 seconds.

[masterhiggins]

I have both the GX-80 and the Arturia CS-80 V4 plugins and have been using them both standalone and at the same time back and forth to get a sense of them. Here are my personal observations so far:

The GX-80 presets are fabulous. A big problem I have, though, is that the volume is baked into the preset so you can't just turn the global volume down and expect it to stay there as you flip through presets. I have mentioned this on the forum to Cherry Audio that they need a global master volume override at least for the standalone version. Your ears are going to get fried if you are not careful. Some of the presets have so much ballsy low end it feels like someone kicked me in the privates when I play a chord. Amazing.

I am fine with the GX-80 zoom feature. I think it works pretty well for a complicated synth. I understand they wanted to get the retro feel of the originals so given that design center it is inevitable you are going to get an odd interface. Agree that the metal fan plates serve no purpose. It is not like Omnisphere where if you click them something opens up that is useful.

The standalone GX-80 app does not have the ability to select a midi channel. You select a port and it is in omni mode as your only option. Frankly, this sucks. I mentioned this on the Cherry Audio forum and was told this was a feature request and not a bug. I totally disagree with that but as a VST it wouldn't matter anyway since the DAW would control all that.

Agree with everyone that wants to map the ribbon controller. I have a Solaris and it would be great to be able to map the slider to the synth. Cherry Audio says it will only ever get mapped to pitch wheel by design.

The CS-80 V4 sounds absolutely great and I have played a real CS-80. It does NOT have the same balls as the GX-80 and that is no surprise given they are totally different instruments. You CAN make the GX-80 sound like the CS-80 V4 by muting down one of the voice stacks. Why would you want to though?

For anyone saying the GX-80 sounds thin I have to say I am utterly mystified. Maybe you need new monitors or headphones but it most certainly does not. I am putting them through Focal CMS 65 monitors with no sub and it is a monster.

I can't believe we are this deep into a discussion of these plugins and nobody has mentioned the Advanced page in the CS-80 V4 which pulls up a playground for modifying the synth a la Augmented Strings, Piano, and Voice instruments. This is a huge feature and a big positive for the CS-80 V4 over the GX-80 synth. It allows some nice sound mangling well beyond the capabilities of the original instrument.

Oversampling on the GX-80 is just plain dumb to me. Unless your DAW/Audio interface sample rate is 24K or something why would you even bother? I run at 48K always and 1X is indistinguishable sonically from 2,3, or 4X. I have a very fast computer and 4X just turns to digital glitching. Just leave it at 1X.

As mentioned, having to enable the effects section on a switch that clicks down for on at the bottom left of the synth to change reverb or delay on the GX-80 is really annoying. I don't think they needed to be that faithful to that interface.

I got the GX-80 for less than $50 on special and it was absolutely worth it! Please fix the sustain pedal issue though!!!! When I hold the sustain pedal it should not stop after 6 seconds.

YoU dOn’t uNdeRstANd. iT’s cHeAp, sO iT cAN’t SouNd goOd!

[zerocrossing]

I know what you are talking about, but it is not really like the high end is missing. It is just not as open and clear as many other synths. Like it is being played through a Roland KB-500 amp. The high frequencies are there, yet, they seem lifeless.

As Mark Barton said, you'll need to pull the BRILL paddle all the way down. I could be wrong but it sounds like zerocrossing turned all the knobs up, including the BRILL paddle, which might be the cause of what he's hearing.

I know the drill with the CS-80. What I’m hearing is a developer who rapid fires cheap plugins out of a Gatling gun to make a quick dollar on people who don’t care that much about quality or are running older computers. They’re OK, but the bar has been raised and it’s not 2005 anymore.

When I had an older computer, I had Voltage Modular and a lot of their add-ons. It was a good compromise, but when I updated my computer it no longer made sense to settle for mediocre sound. Now their plugins aren’t really that light on the ol’ CPU, but they still have that muted sound.

Or, alternatively, you were talking out of your ass and didn’t know the drill about brill. Admitting you’re wrong is a sign of maturity.

If you think GX-80 is as good as Arturia’s CS-80 V, then you’re already being punished, so I’ll just leave it there.

[zerocrossing]

I know the drill with the CS-80. What I’m hearing is a developer who rapid fires cheap plugins out of a Gatling gun to make a quick dollar on people who don’t care that much about quality or are running older computers. They’re OK, but the bar has been raised and it’s not 2005 anymore.

So your reasoning is that because they are inexpensive synths, they cannot possibly be as accurate an emulation, or as good sounding as synths that are much more expensive.

I have both the Arturia CS-80 V4 and the GX-80, and when I put them side by side in a DAW they are very close. And the CS-80 V4 is $199 (full retail).

I like them both!

Nope, I’m saying that I put them up against each other, setting for setting, and the Cherry Audio plugin sounded worse, but at least it’s cheap. Think of yourself as lucky you can’t hear a difference. You can save a lot of money not being able to appreciate quality.

[zerocrossing]

I have both the GX-80 and the Arturia CS-80 V4 plugins and have been using them both standalone and at the same time back and forth to get a sense of them. Here are my personal observations so far:

The GX-80 presets are fabulous. A big problem I have, though, is that the volume is baked into the preset so you can't just turn the global volume down and expect it to stay there as you flip through presets. I have mentioned this on the forum to Cherry Audio that they need a global master volume override at least for the standalone version. Your ears are going to get fried if you are not careful. Some of the presets have so much ballsy low end it feels like someone kicked me in the privates when I play a chord. Amazing.

I am fine with the GX-80 zoom feature. I think it works pretty well for a complicated synth. I understand they wanted to get the retro feel of the originals so given that design center it is inevitable you are going to get an odd interface. Agree that the metal fan plates serve no purpose. It is not like Omnisphere where if you click them something opens up that is useful.

The standalone GX-80 app does not have the ability to select a midi channel. You select a port and it is in omni mode as your only option. Frankly, this sucks. I mentioned this on the Cherry Audio forum and was told this was a feature request and not a bug. I totally disagree with that but as a VST it wouldn't matter anyway since the DAW would control all that.

Agree with everyone that wants to map the ribbon controller. I have a Solaris and it would be great to be able to map the slider to the synth. Cherry Audio says it will only ever get mapped to pitch wheel by design.

The CS-80 V4 sounds absolutely great and I have played a real CS-80. It does NOT have the same balls as the GX-80 and that is no surprise given they are totally different instruments. You CAN make the GX-80 sound like the CS-80 V4 by muting down one of the voice stacks. Why would you want to though?

For anyone saying the GX-80 sounds thin I have to say I am utterly mystified. Maybe you need new monitors or headphones but it most certainly does not. I am putting them through Focal CMS 65 monitors with no sub and it is a monster.

I can't believe we are this deep into a discussion of these plugins and nobody has mentioned the Advanced page in the CS-80 V4 which pulls up a playground for modifying the synth a la Augmented Strings, Piano, and Voice instruments. This is a huge feature and a big positive for the CS-80 V4 over the GX-80 synth. It allows some nice sound mangling well beyond the capabilities of the original instrument.

Oversampling on the GX-80 is just plain dumb to me. Unless your DAW/Audio interface sample rate is 24K or something why would you even bother? I run at 48K always and 1X is indistinguishable sonically from 2,3, or 4X. I have a very fast computer and 4X just turns to digital glitching. Just leave it at 1X.

As mentioned, having to enable the effects section on a switch that clicks down for on at the bottom left of the synth to change reverb or delay on the GX-80 is really annoying. I don't think they needed to be that faithful to that interface.

I got the GX-80 for less than $50 on special and it was absolutely worth it! Please fix the sustain pedal issue though!!!! When I hold the sustain pedal it should not stop after 6 seconds.

YoU dOn’t uNdeRstANd. iT’s nOt GoOD, sO At lEAsT iT’s. CHeAp!

Fixed that for ya.

[wagtunes]

And the nastiness and flat out rudeness at KVR continues.

Some things will never change.