Hello Bob !
you have a lot of gear... nice!
I suppose thet you were looking after some kind of sound and that,
despite all these instruments, you've never found..
Analog synths (virtual or not) have their own limits, as purely digital
instruments have their own too.
The AN1x is, on my opinion, a very good "analog" synth for a cheap
price, the main issue is that it is less "user friendly" than, say, a
Virus or a Nord Lead with one knob per function. But all are aimed at
the same thing: emulate the early real analog synths, with more
reliability and often more voices. Remember : the famous Prophet 5 has
only a 5 note poliphony, and, for MIDI equipped ones , on one channel only.
If you're looking for one of those of these famed ancestors?
A german company (Creamware) produces decent Prophet, Minimoog or ARP
2600 "virtual analog clones". I never heard the new Dave Smith
"Prophet", much more expensive, but with a keyboard. Assuming that the
"real things" are rare, expensive, not very reliable, and the parts are
now sometimes hard to find (dedicated Curtis or SSM ICs extensively used
in the early polyphonic synths).
You find that you always get "the same sounds"?
One suggestion : try to "mix" different types. I have 2 "virtual analog"
synths: yes, an AN1x, and a Red Sound Elevata . This one has a very
different sound range, more "raw" and aggressive, but it's "analog" too.
2 interesting things: aux inputs send to the internal VCF-VCA mixed with
its own VCOs , those being with a continuously variable waveform , from
square to saw.
And some digital synths (sorry!), a Casio CZ, a Kawa\ufffd K1 and an
Evolution EVS1.
The CZ has 3 complex 8 segment envelope generators, not a very common
feature, that can give interesting results impossible to get with
another synth. But once programmed, no real time change possible, except
mod wheel and pitch bend as usual.
The Kawa\ufffd K1 uses wavetable synthesis (and not "samples" as often told:
a single period of a waveform is not really a sample, even if it is,
electronically speaking, the same) . The 4 oscillators have their own
delayed ADSR with a joystick for real time mix. No filter at all... but
i can send its outputs to the external inputs of the Red Sound then
adding filtering to the Kawa\ufffd and 4 more oscillators(!) to the Red
Sound, with something else than the classic square, saw and sine.
The EVS1 uses different synthesis modes (FM, additive, phase
distorsion..) but is not very user friendly, to be polite, for
programming (dedicated DOS or Atari software!) . But some parameters can
be changed in real time using external MIDI controllers such as , for
example, the knobs of an AN1x....
What's missing me ? Time to program sounds, time to play, and only 2
hands to tweak all these devices...
Cheers !
J.F.
Bob S. a \ufffdcrit :
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>Just sold my MS2000R and am thinking of selling my AN1x too....
>having second thoughts.....maybe selling because I just seem to have to
>much in overlapping synth sound & capability with my hardware synths
>.....especially in the VA area...
>
>Maybe someone can talk me out of it....and maybe sell a different
>one....what will I lose if I sell my AN1x....
>
>Also have these VA synths: Waldorf microQ, Quasimidi PolyMorph, Yamaha
>CS6x with PLG-AN card & Virus B.
>
>Bob
>El Segundo, CA
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