Instruments • Re: I don't really have any software synths that I LOVE !

I tend to prefer playing keys and improvising timbral changes, rather than carefully crafting lanes of automation, CC's, step sequencing notes, etc etc.

I don't see that as incompatible with working ITB at all. About the only time I automate anything is to do a volume fade at the end of a song.

Bass Station II - great for arps, basses of course, and anything where you want that classic squelchy sound

That's available as a softsynth, or it used to be.

Summit - a good workhorse synth, can do pads, basses, leads, keys, pretty much the lot. Built in delay and reverb are very nice, and enough modulation possibilities to get some great sounds.

Something like DUNE, DS_Thorn, ANA 2 or Hive would probably fill that role for you just as well.

Iridium - thies is an absolute madman of a synth, and the more I think about it, the more I'm looking for a soft-synth version of it, or as close to as I can get. If ever was there a synth that I "loved" then this is it.

Again, those synths I mentioned above can probably manage that pretty well.

I've been playing with Vital and Pigments 5 all morning. Those are very good.

There's something about the sound quality in Pigments that puts me off. I haven't used it in years. There was something in the latest version that made me download and install it again but I never got around to trying it, probably never will.

they’re still just virtual emulations on a screen.

If that's how you think, you are completely missing the point. Music is about sound, you love a softsynth for the exact same reason you might love a HW synth - because of the sounds you can get out of it. Not just the sounds themselves but also how easy it is to get the instrument to make the sounds you want. And the simple reality is that it is almost always a more pleasant experience in software and, for me, it means I can get way better sounds out of software than I ever could from hardware.

Nothing wrong with that, but there’s also nothing wrong with not “loving” them. I still find them incredibly useful, even though I much prefer my beloved hardware.

May I ask why? All my hardware is languishing on a shelf in my storage unit or in a second-hand shop on consignment. It is the very definition of unloved. Why? Because as much as I love what they can do, I don't like trying to get them to do what I want/need them to do. It is always - always - a PITA with hardware. OTOH, software is so easy to work with and the results can easily eclipse even the best hardware 99% of the time. Think of a synth like DUNE, where you can stack 2 osc x 16 voice unison x 8 layers, for 256 oscillators per note, x 16 or 32 voices when you want to play chords. Hardware synths can't come close to that kind of hugeness.

For me, I’d say that to get the most out of soft synths the two important factors (in order) are:

- Low latency. Set your audio buffer as low as possible in your DAW. A low latency will make the synth feel “punchy” when playing it, and is why a hardware synth connects with you when playing it.

You do understand that hardware synths also have latency, right? Some are as high as 20ms, most are about half that, which is still more than my $100 USB audio interface.

Statistics: Posted by BONES — Sat Oct 12, 2024 1:48 am

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