Namm 2013

[TweakHead]

Originally Posted by MBTC

For me, the music-production related forums are one of the last bastions of Internet discussions that stand a reasonable chance of being free of pissing matches and insults, so not only am I not trying to piss on anyone else's good time, I do go out of my way to present my opinions in a way that avoids turning music and synth discussions into a competition. I'm one of the most competitive people I've ever met, but I see music and synths as a collaborative branch of my existence and I don't want to turn discussing it into a sport.

If that was meant to include me, I was only joking here.

[namnibor]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

If that was meant to include me, I was only joking here.

I certainly second that because my sense of humor often is taken perhaps the wrong way because I enjoy sardonic and dark humor and in no way want any "pissing matches" as I have expressed, am hear to learn and to contribute when I can. I just personally believe in communication and with that being said, rather than bemoaning Access, et al; contacting Access or any synth manufaturer with one's concerns and O.S. issues still unaddressed is still the ideal way to handle that rather than potentially turning someone newer to Access in particular, but not synths, with a negative impression bemoaning and trashing a company on a forum like this is probably very counterintuitive to our quests of being Cultural Creatives in this crazy world! Peace to all and like it or not, I remain an optimistic person!

[TweakHead]

Second that. And there's a clear distinction between one's expectations about the development of some company being frustrated over time and the actual potential of it to make music. At the end of the day that's what matters the most. And as far as digital hardware synths are concerned, the virus is one of the most complete and deep synths on the market today. Also bear in mind that as far as the Batman movie OST is concerned, the actual synth used was a specially made version of Zebra combined with Diva's (another u-he synth) filters and some specially designed, for the occasion, modules. Let me remind you that even though that special package sounds great, no doubt about that, it comes with the cost of eating so much of one's cpu that it hardly stands a chance of becoming a go to synth for practical music making. It's actually one of the very few filters out there, on the software market, that holds it against the quality you can find on the virus - and it eats cpu for breakfast. Therefore, the virus having it's own couple of dsp to handle it's own sound is still a BIG advantage, even with todays cpus. The Diva alone can make intel i7 salad if you push it to its limits, and I mean just one instance of it - tested, so no speculation here.

And while we're at it. How come adding two extra assignable envelopes reads to some as nothing special? Do you even realize that's the kind of specification most synths display on a catalogue? And adding some extra filter options? Is that something a sound designer does not appreciate? I mean... If you don't like filters and envelopes, that's only two of the main modules on any given synth there is in the world. Just my 2 cents on that matter.

There's more sucessfull tunes made with a virus, these days, then any number of people speaking badly about it. Would you rather have something like a Nord Lead? Two Oscilators, doesn't even have a mod matrix - to this day - and it still sells. It's got some very good qualities, not denying it, but my virus C would eat it for breakfast when it comes to depth, let alone the TI line. That does count for me. Quality and having options.

The only thing I do agree with here is the price being to high. It really is. And by the way, what hardware synths do you guys like? And what companies do you think are pushing the limits here? Because U-he and Native Instruments are mostly software companies, there's not a single hardware synth by them. Point made I guess.

And no one's pushing this towards Ego battles, it's just playfull joking, opinion sharing, and healthy talking the way I see it. Cheers to all.

[namnibor]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

Second that. And there's a clear distinction between one's expectations about the development of some company being frustrated over time and the actual potential of it to make music. At the end of the day that's what matters the most. And as far as digital hardware synths are concerned, the virus is one of the most complete and deep synths on the market today. Also bear in mind that as far as the Batman movie OST is concerned, the actual synth used was a specially made version of Zebra combined with Diva's (another u-he synth) filters and some specially designed, for the occasion, modules. Let me remind you that even though that special package sounds great, no doubt about that, it comes with the cost of eating so much of one's cpu that it hardly stands a chance of becoming a go to synth for practical music making. It's actually one of the very few filters out there, on the software market, that holds it against the quality you can find on the virus - and it eats cpu for breakfast. Therefore, the virus having it's own couple of dsp to handle it's own sound is still a BIG advantage, even with todays cpus. The Diva alone can make intel i7 salad if you push it to its limits, and I mean just one instance of it - tested, so no speculation here.

And while we're at it. How come adding two extra assignable envelopes reads to some as nothing special? Do you even realize that's the kind of specification most synths display on a catalogue? And adding some extra filter options? Is that something a sound designer does not appreciate? I mean... If you don't like filters and envelopes, that's only two of the main modules on any given synth there is in the world. Just my 2 cents on that matter.

There's more sucessfull tunes made with a virus, these days, then any number of people speaking badly about it. Would you rather have something like a Nord Lead? Two Oscilators, doesn't even have a mod matrix - to this day - and it still sells. It's got some very good qualities, not denying it, but my virus C would eat it for breakfast when it comes to depth, let alone the TI line. That does count for me. Quality and having options.

The only thing I do agree with here is the price being to high. It really is. And by the way, what hardware synths do you guys like? And what companies do you think are pushing the limits here? Because U-he and Native Instruments are mostly software companies, there's not a single hardware synth by them. Point made I guess.

And no one's pushing this towards Ego battles, it's just playfull joking, opinion sharing, and healthy talking the way I see it. Cheers to all.

I agree completely! There's only ONE softsynth that has my attention but do not know if it too would eat even my pretty powerful DAW PC for breakfast by Izotope, the IRIS....pretty interesting device. As far as hardware synths other than my Virus KB and KC, for diversity in sound I have found ways to make the Korg Radias sound incredibly nasty in a good way, Waldorf Blofeld Black Keyboard I consider in same league of the Virus as it too is pretty incredible when you start programming your own sounds, then there's DSI MonoEvolver Keyboard--another innovative monster, then in hardware rack: Waldorf MicroQ OMEGA, Korg Wavestation SR, Novation Supernova, and Waldorf Microwave XT, and lastly for it's versatile ARP and all the TR808 drums in a small package my only Roland, the SH32. All these synths have something unique to add to a mix with only limitation the occasional creative brain farts. HA! The Ti series is not an interest to me at this time because am also learning DAW Reaper and that may change if I get the Presonus Firewire Mobile Audio Interface, which comes with full version of Studio One. So once the DAW is mastered, then *may* look into a desktop Ti2 because studio real estate is about maxed if you count a few midi controllers that come out of closet
Does Camel Audio's Alchemy eat CPU for breakfast too?

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

Also bear in mind that as far as the Batman movie OST is concerned, the actual synth used was a specially made version of Zebra combined with Diva's (another u-he synth) filters and some specially designed, for the occasion, modules. Let me remind you that even though that special package sounds great, no doubt about that, it comes with the cost of eating so much of one's cpu that it hardly stands a chance of becoming a go to synth for practical music making.

Yes, the synth was tweaked to accomodate Hans Zimmer's project according to his own liking (it doesn't mean it made it a better synth), but you can grab the tweaked version and all patches for a reasonable cost. It seems odd to say it can't be used for practical music making after it was used in such a prominent soundtrack. It might be a better choice for atmospheric film score type tracks than other musical genres, but regardless, if CPU usage is an issue simply bounce down the audio. This was the solution everyone suggested to me back when I owned a Ti2 and found that the polyphony barely kept up with a single instance of a VST, which my particular CPU can usually easily handle dozens of at a time, to simply bounce down to overcome inadequate processing power. I also own Diva (which has the more CPU intensive filters) and I find that my CPU handles it well enough for music making. I can never forget the Ti2 desktop choking on a factory Roland D10 bells patch, robbing notes after a few simple chords, because it was considered a complex patch.

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by TweakHead

If that was meant to include me, I was only joking here.

It wasn't directed at any one person in particular.