Softsynths are getting better arent they.......
 

To my ears the new ARP 2600 and Minimoog emulations are sounding very pretty. Non-aliasing oscilators do make all the difference.

Although im a strict hardware user....the following are genuinely starting to catch my eye:

ImpOscar
CS80v
Minimonsta
Fm7

Personally i wont bother considering softsynths until Intel release a 5ghz processor......

DS

64 bit operating system and sequencer 64 support will accualy make colculating much more accurate.

How do you justify that?

Apple G5, OSX and Logic ?

In fact this has nothing to do with the algorithm quality. There are already many plugins which work @ 64bit resolution altough they run on 32bit processor. 64 bit os and processors won't give a noticable performance boost in calculation either. The biggest change will be the amount of memory which the programs can use. Don't wait wonders from 64 bits. :)

Intel 3.4 64 bit Prossesor,Windows Longhorn and SX 3 :wink:

It may take ages untill this combination will operate without bugs,
Apple will already release a 128bit CPU+OS+Logic...

didnt know that..

I don?t see why 64 bit processing would make the sound calculations more accurate. It will only make them faster (and more softsynth and VST plug-ins can be run at the same time). Of course the softsynth manufactures could with 64 bit technology make new softsynths that take advantage of the higher calculations speed and therefore make more advanced softsynths that require more calculation power. That would of course take the VST market to a higher level.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but one aspect of a 64 bit machine that I have read is that it will support a significantly larger amount of RAM than a 32 bit machine can.

I can't find the article I read but I seem to remember that in theory a 64 bit machine can utilize up to a terabyte of RAM.

Besides the ridiculous cost (that will not come doen to managebale level until we are all in diapers again) wouldn't having access to that much memory improve the performance of any sequencer/VST combo?

Isn't the combined power of CPU/RAM a huge factor in DAW stability regardless of what is hogging resources?

Again, I'm not arguing, only stating bits of what I have read and trying to better my understanding of this issue.

Peace!

-Alex

well i dont think it realy matters as long as our studio work becomes better,easyer and faster. wouldnt you agree?

If more powerful computers allow for more complicated (and hopefully better sounding algorithms)...then that can be only a good thing!

DS

Well DUHHHH Tomer! :P

I guess I was waiting for some PC guru to dish out a real specific answer.

If it makes our DAWs better, faster, stronger, and more reliable it's good by me, of course.

-Alex

I have never owned a hardware synth (VA or Analog), and at the rate Access is going I never will. I am however very used to using softsynths and at the moment my favorite softsynths are the:

Arturia ARP2600 (pretty damn beefy for a vst)
Arturia MiniMoog (kind of raw sounding)
Arturia CS-80 (IMO I can get some nice Si-Fi sounds out of this)
rcgaudio z3ta (beefy as well)

I always looking for good softsynths and would love to hear about some different ones available that are kind of unknown.

Gmedia products are excelent aswell-
imposcar,oddity,m-tron and minimonsta.

Not a fan of arturia's stuff here. Gmedia on the other hand offers some nice stuff.

I wouldn't limit your search for soft-synths to those which attempt to emulate a vintage synth...some of those are good, but some of the softies are excellent in their own right. Absynth, Zebra, Albino, not to even mention the drum offerings. If you haven't checked out Drumkit from Hell Superior, fxPansion's BFD, Linplug's NNIV, Stylus RMX, or Battery, you're seriously missing out. Also, check out Crystal, everyone should have it (it's free, after all, and can be made to sound great). Additionally, a soft-sampler like Mach5, Sampletank, or Kontakt will tear your old ROMpler a new asshole....

Any particular reason why you don't like their stuff?