Anyone Else into Softsynths?

[DJDM]

I have been using Reason for the last year or so and all I can say is WOW!!! Anyone else having this epiphany?

[progfusion74]

I think there are a few softsynth users here. I am 100% soft at the moment. Ideally I would like a hybrid studio.

 

My kicks come from using Sonic Synth!!!

 

Prog

[Gus Lozada]

I'm currently using SONAR XL 2.0 and Reaktor, FM7 and B4 for synth & organ muscle and built-in softsyths of Sonar for "generic" SoundFonts and Drum sounds.

 

I don't know how did I pretend to be a techno head before without this.

[DJDM]

Originally posted by GusTraX:

I'm currently using SONAR XL 2.0 and Reaktor, FM7 and B4 for synth & organ muscle and built-in softsyths of Sonar for "generic" SoundFonts and Drum sounds.

 

I don't know how did I pretend to be a techno head before without this.

How do you like the FM7 and the B4? Do you use them in conjunction with hardware?

- DJDM

[DJDM]

Originally posted by progfusion74:

I think there are a few softsynth users here. I am 100% soft at the moment. Ideally I would like a hybrid studio.

 

My kicks come from using Sonic Synth!!!

 

Prog

Yeah I went the other way about this. I started out as 100% hardware and moved into software. Now I never touch the hardware at all!

- DJDM

[progfusion74]

Well,

 

I have always wanted to build a home studio. Just was not economical before this (married grad student). So I bang away on an old computer, a yamaha psr (ugh!!!) and a phalanx of good soft synths, namely

 

Sonic Synth - Virtual Sound Module

RM III - Drum Sampler

Phatmatik Pro - Slicer/Mangler

da Organ (nice drawbar orgam that is fillin gin till I can get the B4)

VSampler - Virtual Sampler

 

All running inside cubase 5.1. I would love a good VA at some point and am saving up for a better controller keyboard, but at least I can sit down and write now. Would not be possible without softsynths.

 

prog

[DJDM]

Originally posted by progfusion74:

Well,

 

I have always wanted to build a home studio. Just was not economical before this (married grad student). So I bang away on an old computer, a yamaha psr (ugh!!!) and a phalanx of good soft synths, namely

 

Sonic Synth - Virtual Sound Module

RM III - Drum Sampler

Phatmatik Pro - Slicer/Mangler

da Organ (nice drawbar orgam that is fillin gin till I can get the B4)

VSampler - Virtual Sampler

 

All running inside cubase 5.1. I would love a good VA at some point and am saving up for a better controller keyboard, but at least I can sit down and write now. Would not be possible without softsynths.

 

prog

I hear ya! I have been writing music since I was twelve on synths, (a juno 106 was my first), but I had not had the monetary resources to update my keyboards in several years so my sounds were getting a little dated and I was unable to do any random audio editing. That and I did not have competitive samplers at all! I was on the verge of getting out of pro content creation...

 

Enter softsynths! I purchased Reason and Cubase VST 5. Everything changed, (with peripheral connectors the total cost was $1k for my new studio setup!). I was so damn excited that I started composing again and before I know I had an amazing body of work!

 

When I bought Reason it was for it's sampler capabilities and to start dabbling in the softsynth revolution. I had know idea that it would so completely change my work environment. I can now save entire rack setups with the push of a button instead of making notes in notepad or on paper about settings!

 

The gear sounds as good or better than my arsenal of hardware which includes a lot of vintage stuff. I have been doing this my whole life and I think I am able to say that this is the next step. Hardware will not go away but it will be getting a BIG run for it's money!

- DJDM

[F7sound -]

I got bit by the "soft synth" bug back in '94 with Digi's Turbosynth (remember that?). I've also been using some of the newer offerings. Awesome stuff. They don't replace hardware synths in my view, but it's great having soft synths as part of my recording arsenal. And the future looks great for them too. Can't wait.

 

Michael Oster

F7 Sound and Vision

[DJDM]

Originally posted by F7sound:

I got bit by the "soft synth" bug back in '94 with Digi's Turbosynth (remember that?). I've also been using some of the newer offerings. Awesome stuff. They don't replace hardware synths in my view, but it's great having soft synths as part of my recording arsenal. And the future looks great for them too. Can't wait.

 

Michael Oster

F7 Sound and Vision

Cool! I went to your MP3.com site and checked out some of your stuff last week. Insane sampling!!!! Very good work.

Why do you think that software will not replace the hard ware? I think that people like to have the tactile experience that only hardware can offer. What do you think?

- DJDM

[F7sound -]

Cool! I went to your MP3.com site and checked out some of your stuff last week. Insane sampling!!!! Very good work. Why do you think that software will not replace the hard ware? I think that people like to have the tactile experience that only hardware can offer. What do you think?

- DJDM

DJDM,

 

Thanks for your compliments. I've gotta say I feel kind of the same way about the "tactile experience" thing. Even though you can have a small controller like an Oxygen 8 handle that for all software synths in a single laptop. Still, it's nice to walk into a room and see loads of synths with KNOBS and SLIDERS and LEDs, and black and white KEYS. Oh, how beautiful! Or maybe that's just the early '80s creeping up on me.

 

Michael Oster

F7 Sound and Vision

[DJDM]

Originally posted by F7sound:

Still, it's nice to walk into a room and see loads of synths with KNOBS and SLIDERS and LEDs, and black and white KEYS. Oh, how beautiful!

I totally agree. I guess that is why I like Reason so dang much. It looks exactly like a little mini-version of the rack portion of my basement studio. So much so that if I sit real close to the monitor I can approximately emulate the sensation of not quite knowing what to do next with a song and instead defaulting to staring at all of the little lights and levels going in playback as I lay my head on the controller keyboard, (a D-50).

Just waiting for that next bit of inspiration!

- DJDM

[Gus Lozada]

Originally posted by DJDM:

How do you like the FM7 and the B4? Do you use them in conjunction with hardware?

- DJDM

I bought them both because a lot of pro guys around were telling me they are the best emulations of a real DX7 and B3; even while I'm not a "purist" of real DX7 and Hammond's, the sound both things are capable to do is just amazing.

 

To create sounds in them, I run both separately as a stand alone app. Then I import them as virtual instruments in SONAR.

 

To control the B4, having something like an EZBus makes the experience something really, really cool. You can control its drawbars in real time.

 

I have not tried to control anything for the FM7 with the EZbus, but with REAKTOR works like a champ.

[Magpel]

On a dedicated softsynth computer, I use:

 

RGC Pentagon 1 (great!)

B4 (ditto!)

NI Dynamo

Linplug RM III

 

And a slew of freebies, my favorite of which, at the moment is Green Oak Crystal.

 

Want list:

 

Not much. Done with softsynth acquisiton for a while. I'd like FM7. I like the way the demo sounds an awful lot. I've heard there might be an updated version of Reality coming out. If so, put me down for that.

 

Oh, and I'm a big fan of Gigasampler. Use it on everything.

[progfusion74]

The Pentagon is probably the only softsynth I want at this moment, and some day the B4 to replace daOrgan, but otherwise for now I am set. These are good times

 

prog

[DJDM]

Originally posted by progfusion74:

These are good times

 

prog

I think so. After struggling to build a system for years that only managed to just keep ahead of the technological requirements of my music production jobs I think I finally have the tools to compete with much more powerful music production houses. This would not be possible were it not for the latest software being so inexpensive and sonically powerful!

 

- DJDM

[Dr Teeth]

For those of you that can play sofsynths like "real" ones, I mean with a completly despreciable latency, What is your setup?

[Magpel]

Originally posted by LatinMusic:

For those of you that can play sofsynths like "real" ones, I mean with a completly despreciable latency, What is your setup?

ASIO is the answer! In my dedicated softsynth machine, I've got a cheapo Audigy in there (looking to upgrade--not thrilled with its sound, though it's cleaner than some of my hardware synth outputs!).

 

With the Audigy's ASIO drivers, I get solid 2ms latency when using a single synth in standalone mode (B4, Pentagon I, Dynamo). When I start stacking VSTis in my host program, I often have to bump latency up to 5 or 7ms, dependent on how many synths I'm using and which ones.

 

Important to note that it's it dedicated synth player computer--I'm doing my sequencing and audio recording on a separate machine with a Delta 1010 in it (also using Gigasampler on that machine, but that's another issues).

 

The 2 softsynth/samplers that have the best latency performance WITHOUT ASIO are Gigasamler and Reality.

[DJDM]

Originally posted by LatinMusic:

For those of you that can play sofsynths like "real" ones, I mean with a completly despreciable latency, What is your setup?

I agree with Magpel. I get great latency, (between 4 and 8 ms), using an M-Audio 2496 card on my PC with the ASIO drivers that came with it. I am running a fairly powerful computer so my ability to run with a low sample buffer count is good, (around 384 on average), which makes a big difference. If you are using a PC there are other things that can help you improve your performance, (thereby helping you get low latency!), on this site: Musicxp.net

Good luck,

- DJDM

[DJDM]

Originally posted by GusTraX:

 

...To control the B4, having something like an EZBus makes the experience something really, really cool. You can control its drawbars in real time.

 

I have not tried to control anything for the FM7 with the EZbus, but with REAKTOR works like a champ.[/QB]

Hey GusTraX,

The EZBUS looks really cool! What kind of latency do you find that you get with it? What is the exact configuaration that your use it in? Sorry abou the third degree but I have been looking to buy some sort of control unit and I want to make an informed decision!

- DJDM

[DJDM]

I am looking into controllers and I was clued into this sweetheart of a deal on the Propellerheads board. Check it out! It's a 16 channel midi fading and editing bay from Niche for $149.00! Niche is out of business and stores are unloading their stuff quick. I have never used it but it looks very cool and one user I talked to thought it was entirely wonderful.

 

This is a great deal!

[progfusion74]

I am being very lazy and just getting the UC-16 from evolution. Its a 100 bucks with 16 knobs. Not what I want for sure (I prefer faders), but I decided I needed continued driver support

[Gus Lozada]

Originally posted by DJDM:

Hey GusTraX,

 

The EZBUS looks really cool! What kind of latency do you find that you get with it? What is the exact configuaration that your use it in? Sorry abou the third degree but I have been looking to buy some sort of control unit and I want to make an informed decision!

- DJDM

I have a latency of 12.7 ms while using SONAR on WDM drivers (only possible with Sonar XL 2.0 running under Windows XP). MME drivers "apparently" allow 10 ms of latency but it simply does not work fine.

 

WDM is the way to go on SONAR XL 2.0

 

I notice no perceptible latency while using CUBASE SX and the newest ASIOEZbus drivers; use the same drivers with any other soft synth which accepts EZbus ASIO drivers.

 

The worst thing is not having access EZbus ASIO drivers, which forces you to use standard Direct Sound ASIO ... with about 35 ms of latency.

[DJDM]

Originally posted by GusTraX:

The worst thing is not having access EZbus ASIO drivers, which forces you to use standard Direct Sound ASIO ... with about 35 ms of latency.[/QB]

I would guess that sucks! Otherwise it sounds like a cool piece of gear.

Thanks for the info.

- DJDM

[Gus Lozada]

Originally posted by DJDM:

I would guess that sucks! Otherwise it sounds like a cool piece of gear.

Thanks for the info.

- DJDM

I guess it doesn't.

 

I was actually being sarcastic about "the worst thing" since 35 ms of latency is still quite playable. Not for DRUMS or percusive playing but the rest, it's pretty fine yet.

 

Of course, 12.7 ms or even lower is much better

[DJDM]

Originally posted by GusTraX:

Originally posted by DJDM:

I would guess that sucks! Otherwise it sounds like a cool piece of gear.

Thanks for the info.

- DJDM

I guess it doesn't.

 

I was actually being sarcastic about "the worst thing" since 35 ms of latency is still quite playable. Not for DRUMS or percusive playing but the rest, it's pretty fine yet.

 

Of course, 12.7 ms or even lower is much better

Really? I have trouble if the latency gets over about 15 ms! Seriously. I get really distracted and I find it cuts into my ability to connect with my music on any intimate level.

I get about 4-8ms now and I love it. Of course I am not running anything more than my M-Audio 8x8 and my trusty D-50 as controller keyboard.

If it works for ya I can't argue but I will have to pass on the the EZBus. Can't live with that much latency. Perhaps if I was doing more audio editing than playing it would make sense...

- DJDM