Are there any antique synths left to emulate?

[David Emm]

With all of the existing solid emulations we have, there doesn't seem to be much left uncovered. Cherry Audio's QUADRA is one rarity that finally surfaced. I daydream about Crumar's Digital Keyboards Synergy or the Con Brio ADS being translated. If Arturia can assemble a Fairlight, who knows?

 

Of course, the DKS was not user-programmable. Its highly responsive keyboard was a big selling point, even with its impressive- though modest- sound set. The Con Brio released exactly two premature $30K units whose specs read like those of a junior modern instrument. I'd love to see how many of Arturia's Fairlights have sold separately. Talk about an OS sure to make you cuss! How daring/OCD are you if you choose to tackle that Page R sequencer?

 

So what's left in purely synthesizer terms?

[AnotherScott]

Personally, I'd be interested in RMI Keyboard Computer.

 

There are also a ton of interesting potential emulations I haven't seen elsewhere at https://kbrownsynthplugins.weebly.com/ -- but they are primarily "operational" emulations, and don't necessarily really emulate the characteristics of the specific oscillators, filters, etc. (They are also Windows only, and often 32 bit.) So there are a world of possibilities there.

[Tom Williams]

+1 for the RMI. I think one version of that could take Allen organ punch cards. Seriously.

 

I'd also nominate the Ensoniq transwave architecture. I ain't seen that one yet.

[mate stubb]

Rhodes Chroma had a great sound.

[eric]

Nord Lead and Cylon Vocoder.

[ksoper]

Personally, I'd be interested in RMI Keyboard Computer.

 

 

I worked at a Lowrey organ store in the mid-80s. One of the owners bought an RMI KC when it was new and brought it in to try to sell. Whoever demoed it to him was apparently a master, as he wasn't able to reproduce anything near what he was shown. So he had me sit down to it saying, "Maybe you can get something out of it." Nope. I couldn't make it sound like anything other than what it was at heart--a digital organ. The magic, the owner said, was in the pedalboard that had 5 swell pedals and 2 switches. That would be hard to emulate. I'd love another crack at it.

[Anderton]

RMI Rock-Si-Chord (both the harpsichord and piano presets) and Electra-Piano.

[wd8dky]

Kawai K1.

 

(kidding)

[mauriziodececco]

These two; ok, even if they did not spunded so well

[Delaware Dave]

If there is Guido will probably build it......

[ABECK]

Next up, hardware that emulates VI emulations of antique synths.

Sounds crazy, but: Scrabble Board Game->Words with Friends online game->Words With Friends Board Game->Scrabble online game. Boom!

[Bill W]

I'd love to see an ARP Pro Soloist plugin!

 

A mediocre one existed briefly before that company went belly-up.

[KuruPrionz]

Hammond Novachord, arguably the first commercially available synthesizer.

[Rod S]

Kawai K1.

 

(kidding)

 

There's a free VST.

 

I was hoping they would have gone all the way and done the K4, with the filters.

[Delaware Dave]

I'd love to see an ARP Pro Soloist plugin!

 

The real one was used here:

[Al Coda]

RMI Rock-Si-Chord (both the harpsichord and piano presets) and Electra-Piano.

 

Soniccouture free:

 

RMI Rocksichord

 

 

A.C.

[Al Coda]

I'd love to see an ARP Pro Soloist plugin!

 

A mediocre one existed briefly before that company went belly-up.

 

you mean THIS ?

 

 

A.C.

[Al Coda]

Kawai K1.

 

(kidding)

 

There's a free VST.

 

 

YES

 

 

A.C.

[Al Coda]

Nord Lead...

 

Isn´t DiscoDSP Discovery Pro a Nord Lead ?

 

 

A.C.

[piano39]

My First Synth: PAIA 2720 Modular

 

Or PAIA Gnome

[ProfD]

I do not begrudge those whose bread is buttered rehashing old synths. Got to give the people what they want or at least think...

 

However, the basic level of synthesis one gets out of an antique synth is child's play in modern technology.

 

Any poly synth on the market can get at least 90% there. Outboard gear can do the rest.

 

Therefore, I do not see the point in reinventing an old wheel(s) if the objective is a nostalgia trip down the same old roads.

[Stokely]

I kind of feel the same, my main beef with some emulations is that they went out of their way to put in limitations that the original unit had...why not improve things, especially limitations that may have been due to cost-cutting measures made at the time.

 

End of the day though, if it works well and sounds great I'm all for it Take Repro and Diva...one is an emulation of two synths (I can't really say how faithful), the other is what I'd call a fictional synth that resembles bits of several real ones. They both sound great and (IMO) are easy to work with so I don't care if they are faithful to a real keyboard...well, sorta, I always did want a Prophet 5

[Tusker]

End of the day though, if it works well and sounds great I'm all for it Take Repro and Diva...one is an emulation of two synths (I can't really say how faithful), the other is what I'd call a fictional synth that resembles bits of several real ones. They both sound great and (IMO) are easy to work with so I don't care if they are faithful to a real keyboard...well, sorta, I always did want a Prophet 5

 

I feel that this is right path forward also. Emulate particular circuits for their character, but allow us to go further than the originals in the feature set. I hope for a modular version of diva/repro, to allow the user a large choice of the components as the user builds a hybrid synth. Not to be a fanboy, but it seems that these two synths are more faithful in their sonic reproduction than some other synths which emulate the interfaces faithfully, but don't quite nail the sonics.

[The Real MC]

I'd love to see an ARP Pro Soloist plugin!

 

I love my ProSoloist. Most would dismiss a single VCO preset synth as a toy (I did), but the PS is very usable and has a unique organic sonic quality to it. The aftertouch is really nice.

 

A mediocre one existed briefly before that company went belly-up.

 

The PS is rather deceiving as there is a complex signal path under the hood. It goes beyond the usual VCO->VCF->VCA architecture, it expands the processing with banks of various fixed bandpass and highpass filters ("resonators" in ARP speak). These resonators can be routed in parallel or series with the VCF, and the AR/ADSR can be routed to VCF and/or VCA. In addition, a PS preset can route ramp and pulse VCO wave shapes separately to VCF and resonators. This unorthodox processing plays a big part in the unique sound of the PS, and won't be easy to emulate in a plugin.

[artdob]

Not a synth, but would like to see an emulation of the Gibson G-101 combo organ (if one is out there, point me to it). Also the EML 101 please.

[Chris Link]

I"m more than a little amused at the term 'antique synths'!

[Dr Mike Metlay]

I"m more than a little amused at the term 'antique synths'!

Well, as I see it, a guitarist is someone who plays guitar and a bassist is someone who plays bass, so if there's a forum packed to the rafters with antique synthesists, it stands to reason that there are antique synths for them to play. Logic.

[Radagast]

EML-101, RMI Keyboard Computer 1 & 2, Hammond Novachord, Kurzweil K250 with all the sound blocks including the 'Endless Glissando' sound, and Ensoniq KT-88 with the patch 'Big Money Pad'.

[16251]

Matrix 12

[Al Coda]

EML-101, RMI Keyboard Computer 1 & 2, Hammond Novachord, Kurzweil K250 with all the sound blocks including the 'Endless Glissando' sound, and Ensoniq KT-88 with the patch 'Big Money Pad'.

 

Novachord

 

 

A.C.