[sdiy] vco's

[Seb Francis]

Scott wrote:
> These days, its sad but most people don't care about the subtleties.  Everyone's using software synths, and listening to low quality compressed musc, through low quality DAC's, etc.  I guess that's why a lot of people here found this mailing list.
>
>   

I'm not so convinced about the evils of soft-synths ;)

I have a fair selection of nice analog synths including a decent 
modular, but I've also been using a lot of soft-synths recently and have 
been really blown away by the sonic power and indeed sonic quality of 
some of the more recent synths.  Take something like Native Instruments 
Massive for example ... not the most CPU efficient, but this is an 
amazing sounding synth.  And the sonic possibilities that are packed 
into the relatively simple interface are vast - even with a room size 
modular synth you wouldn't get close to what this thing can do.  85 
wavetables from basic analog waves to the more esoteric, 12 different 
filters, massively flexible routing and modulation.  I won't go into all 
the details - you can read more (and hear samples) here if you like:
http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=massivedetails&L=1
(I have no affiliation with Native Instruments by the way!)

In short, if I want a basic analog sound then I might still use real 
analog gear, but for more complex, interesting sounds I'm reaching for 
the software more and more.  And I know this is the same throughout many 
dance music studios - and is it causing a drop in quality?  I don't 
think so: in dance music there is higher production quality and more 
amazing sounds around now than ever before.


> I must admit, I don't hear much difference between my old 90's analog modeling synth (novation nova) and my modular vco's.  When I add in filters, or just about anything else, the modular quickly takes the lead.  I guess the nova takes the lead in being in tune.
>   

I would agree that the older analog modelling synths left a lot to be 
desired, but I really feel that software/digital is coming of age now.

It's the same with digital mixing desk technology - I had a Mackie D8B a 
few years back and I hated the sound.  I was sold on the idea of instant 
recall and automation, but all my mixes just came out sounding thin and 
brittle.  I quickly went back to an analog desk.  But now I have no desk 
at all - just a 40 in / 40 out high quality audio interface to hook up 
all the hardware synths and outboard.  The entire mix takes place inside 
the computer in 32 bit floating point.  I'm totally happy with the sound 
(to say nothing of the convenience).

There's certainly some amazing new technology out there...

Seb