Softube Model 80 Five Voice Synth

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See if their standalone app Bidule works on your system. Plogue always gets it 100% first time, no need to sound demo.
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Another nice demo by that Japanese guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPsutK_fWXE

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BONES wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 6:30 am I'm not seeing how it's clunky at all. I like the way it works and I like the functionality it offers. Who else lets you put avatars into your patches?
One thing that is really annoying is that if the presets window overlaps with the plugin one when you go to tweak the plugin the preset window goes to the back and is not visible anymore.
dedication to flying

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beely wrote: Tue May 02, 2023 11:31 am What is it about Softube and dirty keyboards? I know they want a vintage vibe, but on their Juno they had keys that looked like they were nicotine-stained (always attractive!), and these ones look like they are covered in finger grease...

I don't have a problem with a bit of patina, but they don't have to make them look gross... vintage synths can be externally cleaned just as easily as new ones.
Maybe they could treat the dirt (or cleanliness) as part of a skin feature, kind of like a skinning counterpart akin to the piano condition slider feature like one finds on Pianoteq? They could have levels of grime/cleanliness like immaculate/new/unused/pristine-clean/mint/DON'T TOUCH IT!!!, used but newish, used clean, etc., all the way over to really dirty, post-Budweiser encounter, so-scuzzy-we-don't-want-to-talk-about-it, "hold onto your lunch," and probable biohazard. :D

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Last edited by dlandis on Sat May 06, 2023 2:33 am, edited 5 times in total.
“Madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push.”

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Well comparing it with Repro 5, I actually like the GUI more, the light grey makes it easier to read for me. Nevertheless the buttons for presets are totally unnecessary, they could have added an arp instead or not hide the additional modulation controls that are in a side panel.

I also come to realize that when it comes to emulations the simpler the better for me, so in that regard Model 80 feels easier to use than repro.

Sound wise both are great.

Presets, Repro is much better by far, it gets a lot of help from the effects to go into more places.
dedication to flying

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Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 1:50 pm
jksound wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 1:48 pm Arturia prophet 5 or Uhe repro 5 or Softube what is good for cpu and sound ?
I have all 3 (well, the Softube demo). See my earlier post in the thread for my opinions on why RePro-5/1 is the best.
Is this a fair question (or just weird): given the fact that we're dealing with 1980's vintage analog emulations, do all three (in the perspective of the user) offer variations of sound that are covered or conceivably explained/permitted by chalking them up to options within the opportunities of the variations that one might experience between three different Prophets of the same vintage?

I'm going back to something I heard about Joe Zawinul. He apparently owned two Arp 2600's (named "Ein" and "Zwei," unsurprisingly) because he heard differences in their respective sounds. One was bolder and the other more mellow. He orchestrated on them appropriately for what he was doing with Weather Report. Were the Prophet 5's similar in having a proclivity towards different "personalities?"
“Madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push.”

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dlandis wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 6:16 pm Were the Prophet 5's similar in having a proclivity towards different "personalities?"
Yes. All analog synths show individual variation like this, though it's mitigated somewhat by features like DCOs and "voice in a chip" ICs. The nature of the technology makes it unavoidable. It also means that if you have an original piece of gear and an emulation, they won't sound identical out of the box, because any accurate emulation will be based on a unit that was not identical to yours. Thus, some emulations are modeled on multiple units and provide "slop knobs" (service panels, whatever) to account for the differences.
I hate signatures too.

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The Arturia is a different rev than the other two, right? The oscillators behave pretty differently compared to Repro which I chalked up to them not emulating the same thing.
Softsynth addict and electronic music enthusiast.
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Greenstorm33 wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 7:19 pm The Arturia is a different rev than the other two, right? The oscillators behave pretty differently compared to Repro which I chalked up to them not emulating the same thing.
I think that it was Starsky Carr who mentioned that the Softube version is based on rev. 3.
“Madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push.”

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dlandis wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 6:16 pm Is this a fair question (or just weird): given the fact that we're dealing with 1980's vintage analog emulations, do all three (in the perspective of the user) offer variations of sound that are covered or conceivably explained/permitted by chalking them up to options within the opportunities of the variations that one might experience between three different Prophets of the same vintage?

I'm going back to something I heard about Joe Zawinul. He apparently owned two Arp 2600's (named "Ein" and "Zwei," unsurprisingly) because he heard differences in their respective sounds. One was bolder and the other more mellow. He orchestrated on them appropriately for what he was doing with Weather Report. Were the Prophet 5's similar in having a proclivity towards different "personalities?"
Not only did synthesizers vary from each other, there were additional differences over time due to changes in the production process. Some people seek certain serial number ranges or revisions of a synth for that reason. On top of that, the different reference units being modeled by each developer could have aged differently, varying their behaviors even more.

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rod_zero wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 5:27 pmOne thing that is really annoying is that if the presets window overlaps with the plugin one when you go to tweak the plugin the preset window goes to the back and is not visible anymore.
Yeah, I don't remember it doing that with Monoment Bass, which I bought two or three years ago but it might be the difference in the way Cubase handled it over Studio One. IT is definitely more annoying than it used to be, but I've found that a quick ALLT+TAB will give it focus again and if I move it to my second screen, it's not a problem (you can drag it outside your DAW's application window).
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hebex wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 9:19 am Another nice demo by that Japanese guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPsutK_fWXE
This guy can really play, I love his videos :)

Although I can't understand a word of it, I think at some point in the video he's making a remark on the limited polyphony and that he can play only one bass note with a chord.

Which is exactly why I don't like Model 80. I know it's authentic and all, but Repro and Prophet V don't have that restriction AND have great fx, which Model 80 lacks as well. I don't want to use external fx with an instrument if I don't have to.

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dlandis wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 6:16 pm
Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 1:50 pm
jksound wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 1:48 pm Arturia prophet 5 or Uhe repro 5 or Softube what is good for cpu and sound ?
I have all 3 (well, the Softube demo). See my earlier post in the thread for my opinions on why RePro-5/1 is the best.
Is this a fair question (or just weird): given the fact that we're dealing with 1980's vintage analog emulations, do all three (in the perspective of the user) offer variations of sound that are covered or conceivably explained/permitted by chalking them up to options within the opportunities of the variations that one might experience between three different Prophets of the same vintage?

I'm going back to something I heard about Joe Zawinul. He apparently owned two Arp 2600's (named "Ein" and "Zwei," unsurprisingly) because he heard differences in their respective sounds. One was bolder and the other more mellow. He orchestrated on them appropriately for what he was doing with Weather Report. Were the Prophet 5's similar in having a proclivity towards different "personalities?"
I think Rick Wakeman used to have like 5 minimoogs that he thought all had different characters.

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Echoes in the Attic wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 2:45 pm
dlandis wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 6:16 pm
Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 1:50 pm
jksound wrote: Wed May 03, 2023 1:48 pm Arturia prophet 5 or Uhe repro 5 or Softube what is good for cpu and sound ?
I have all 3 (well, the Softube demo). See my earlier post in the thread for my opinions on why RePro-5/1 is the best.
Is this a fair question (or just weird): given the fact that we're dealing with 1980's vintage analog emulations, do all three (in the perspective of the user) offer variations of sound that are covered or conceivably explained/permitted by chalking them up to options within the opportunities of the variations that one might experience between three different Prophets of the same vintage?

I'm going back to something I heard about Joe Zawinul. He apparently owned two Arp 2600's (named "Ein" and "Zwei," unsurprisingly) because he heard differences in their respective sounds. One was bolder and the other more mellow. He orchestrated on them appropriately for what he was doing with Weather Report. Were the Prophet 5's similar in having a proclivity towards different "personalities?"
I think Rick Wakeman used to have like 5 minimoogs that he thought all had different characters.
I put Prophet 5 V (I know, a different rev emulation), Repro 5 and my Prophet 6 up against Model 80, and the biggest difference was in how steep the filter was. I know they’re all supposed to be a 24 db low pass, but it’s clear that Model 80s’s got a steeper slope. Is that accurate? I have no idea, really. I don’t care too much. Each has its own vibe.

Much more glaring and important differences come from features. My 6’s high pass can be made to do super cool things that move it far from what any 5 or 5 emulation can do. Repro’s got the nice effects and mod matrix, and 5 V’s got the function generators. Model 80 seems to have… nothing? I didn’t even see a way to assign aftertouch or velocity. I guess if you want a pure emulation, it’s probably the best, but I’ve really got no interest in synths with that level of simplicity.
Zerocrossing Media

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zerocrossing wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 3:11 pm Much more glaring and important differences come from features. My 6’s high pass can be made to do super cool things that move it far from what any 5 or 5 emulation can do. Repro’s got the nice effects and mod matrix, and 5 V’s got the function generators. Model 80 seems to have… nothing? I didn’t even see a way to assign aftertouch or velocity. I guess if you want a pure emulation, it’s probably the best, but I’ve really got no interest in synths with that level of simplicity.
If you click the right of the interface it opens a panel with a few options including velocity to amp and filter. Not immediately apparent to be fair.

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