Quote:
Originally Posted by MBTC
One thing I haven't actually heard is an A/B of the Supernova patch sets played on the Ultra versus the original. I've seen one guy (subjectively) state that his Supernova sounds warmer, but he said that based on the original patch banks of the Ultranova (which are horrible) and unscientific tests (the Supernova banks had not been released yet). I'd love to hear a valid (and properly conducted) test of same patches on both. So far I'm inclined to believe it's another case of "placebo effect" induced by all the lovely knobs on the Supernova 
I see (or I should say hear) that a lot in the battle of hardware vs. software synths. A perception of warmth that perhaps exists when listening to the raw signal but gets lost by the time it's placed in a digital audio file and listened to on an MP3 player, over soundcloud etc. Seems a little like getting caught up on a requirement of "pure analog", then ultimately putting the music into a digital format Ironic to say the least.
I can believe the SN is capable of sounding better overall because it was 8-part multi-timbral I believe? (Thus could get some layered patch sounds that the UN could not) But what I'd be interested in is how it sounds in a direct comparison on same single patch. Supposedly these SN patch banks for the UN are direct ports, so it should be easy enough to do for those that have both synths -- hopefully a youtube video or similar will surface soon. |
I agree with you. But using external instruments you always add a stage into the mix, the pre amps on the soundcards are responsible - I think - for the extra warmth people claim to exist on hardware, even when we're talking VA tech. If you pay attention to what happens on the hip hop side of music, there's a similar controversy concerning the Akai MPC. No wonder you also have MPC analogue modeling on some famous samplers like Kontakt and Battery and stuff like that. If you look at the tech specs on those old machines, you usually had 10 bits (in depth) or something similar, and a lot of people claim the old sounds warmer and punchier. Same with the Nord Lead 1 vs 2, or the Virus C vs Ti. It's probably as simple as the later having better converters, more clean sound and definition while people have grown used to a more lo fi sound that they feel is edgier and more warm sounding, all a matter of habit.