Cherry Audio Teaser - November 21, 2023

[Dave Bryce]

2 hours ago, Mike Martin said:

The only elements that would be the “same” across multiple Cherry Audio plugins are the effects. They’re all quite different and unique. 

 

Completely agreed.

 

dB

[Jim Alfredson]

This one sounds pretty close to a Pro Soloist. I thought the Octave Cat plugin didn't really sound like an Octave Cat. I have an original Cat sitting less than a foot away from me right now.

 

That said, there is still an element of digital 'sameness' to this plugin. It's like it has autotune on it or something. Having gotten deeper and deeper into analog synthesis from the tech end the last five years or so (ie, repairing and maintaining them), I've developed a sensitive awareness of the qualities and quirks of real analog that I never had before. It's all about the imperfections and the rawness. Slight tuning issues (no matter what you do), sync issues, envelopes not exactly the same, glitches, gentle saturation, extended high-end, etc. 

 

I'm not saying it's a bad plug-in. The demo sounds great. But once I get my vintage ProSoloist up and running, I'm pretty sure the plug won't be able to compete with the raw tone.

[David Emm]

>> That said, there is still an element of digital 'sameness' to this plugin.

 

The same can be said across most of the companies we embrace, or not. I loosely attribute that to a mix of the skill of the coders and a company's business goals. For example, I've veered towards Cherry Audio and away from Arturia due to a purely subjective preference in overall tone. I can't throw shade at Arturia, because they do quality work. I simply don't relate to the company tone.

 

Someone recently said that CA synths all sound as if they're built on the same engine & tweaked. I wouldn't be surprised if that was somewhat true of many shops, out of practicality. I'm satisfied with my mix of instruments, because they were chosen to fill different slots in my compositional approach. I can't pinpoint every aspect of why, because its an abstract process, but I'd bet semi-good money that there's an artistic 'variable-state filter' in our heads that decides things, case by case.

 

That's why I've never gone for a giant like Omnisphere or a self-contained universe like Kontakt. IMO, 20 good instruments from several places easily outpace 100 from just one. Less really is more, especially when its still a proverbial rack 15 feet high.