Analog adventures - part V

[marino]

Part V, as in Modular V...

 

Yes my friends, this is going to be the first (only?) part of my personal search for the Analog Nirvana, which is devoted to a soft synth.

Well, not any soft synth: Arturia Modular V claims to be an exact replica of the king of analog synths, the Moog Modular! I've played with such a beast (the real, hardware kind) several times, so I was curious to test the soft version. I had no chance to make a direct comparison, mind you... but the sound of the real thing is embedded in my head enough to attempt a judgement.

 

So I paid a visit to my friend Luca Spagnoletti, composer, programmer and teacher, and asked to play with the thing for an hour or so. We used a Tascam sound card/control surface, and big Tannoy monitors. I played most of the hundreds of presets which come with the instrument, and programmed just a little bit.

First of all, I'd say that the AMV is just a lot of fun to use. Every thing is just where is supposed to. I found the ergonomics excellent for a soft synth. Maybe a bit confusing for those musicians who never used a modular, but hey, this is a Virtual Modular, so we should be grateful for such a faithful reproduction of the original interface. It should be noted that not all connections are made with 'patch cords'; some are in menus. This is perfectly OK with me, because it makes for a less cluttered panel.

 

Second, let me just explode in a big "Thank you" to whoever decided to include NINE oscillators on this beast. Finally!! My longtime desire has always been to propose a law to force manufacturers of analog synths to include *at least* three oscillators per voice channel... It must be said that in a number of patches in the V, just two or three oscs are used.

 

Sound:

I found that they nailed the 'character' of the big Moog sound quite nicely. The waveforms are warm and full - among the best I've heard from a softsynth or VA. The filters sound good, but not aggressive like the original; in particular, cranking up the resonance weakens the sound quite a bit. The envelopes are fast, 'almost' like the real ones...

Unfortunately, oscillator FM is not yet implemented. This is a shame! Give it to me now.

 

I'm not going to describe all the features because they're too many, and I didn't have the time to try them one by one (I never touched the sequencer, for example). I'll just jump to the big question:

 

Does it sound like a Moog Modular?

 

My answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT.

 

Really. Set a real Moog modular and the V to identical settings, same volume, thru the same amp system and speakers; make me listen to 100 or so patches blindfold, and if I don't get the difference on at least 90 of those, I'll pay you dinner in some expensive restaurant.

 

That said, the V sounds very good - probably the best, smoothest soft synth I've ever heard. But since they've called it Moog Modular, I'll say it again - a Moog Modular it is not. I played a real one just a couple of month ago last time, and the difference is striking.

The reason? Well, it could be the fact that in the V, the oscillators always start their waves from the same point in the cycle. Or the fact they don't drift. Or the combined characteristics of the filter and resonance.

But there's also something else, or so I believe. Not so easy to describe. Maybe, the mere fact that the V is digital and it needs converters to be heard. It does sound digital to me. Warm and smooth digital, but still digital.

 

Would I use it? Without a doubt! The sound is very high-quality, and the programming options are simply fantastic. It's only that, given a choice, I would pick the original in a second, even though it's mono and not programmable.

When compared with something like an Andromeda, the choice would be a bit harder... Both have that 'moogy' sound (they both are openly designed this way), and both come close, but not quite - and in very different ways. The Andy sounds wilder and more alive, but also harscher, while the V nails the basic sound better, but is also more static and a bit lifeless.

 

Now for something completely similar: I'm still waiting to put my hands on a Voyager. But since the Italian magazine "Strumenti Musicali" published a direct comparison with the original Mini, complete with oscilloscope images and road impressions, I hope they don't mind if I summarize some of their conclusions for my fellow Cornerers.

 

In short, the article finds little differences between the Mini and the Voyager, in osc waveforms, filter behaviour, and envelope speed. The oscillators seem to sound a bit 'rounder' in the Voyager, and they drift much less. The filter turns out to be a bit less open on the newer instrument, and also the resonance is thinner-sounding. The envelopes are good and fast, but the ones on the original Mini are even faster.

I wonder if maybe the inclusion of MIDI and digital memory did force the designers to sacrifice some envelope speed... In fact, the second Mini which I've played for my round of comparisons with the SE-1 had MIDI, and I've noticed that its envelopes didn't quite measure up with the ones on the old Mini I had tried earlier.

BTW - more than once, the reviewer compared the Voyager to the SE-1 in several fields, especially envelope and filter behaviour. Folks, this makes me even more proud of my SE-1, which I love more and more every day. (You know... "Voyager? Who needs one?")

 

Carlo

[analogman1]

Hey Marino!

Always enjoy your interesting posts.

I've been considering a SE-1 for some time now. I had a beautifull minimoog, which I sold to my brother in law about 14 years ago...he ahs never used it, but REFUSES to sell it back to me. (nice guy, eh??) So I'm really missing the analog sound....and the SE-1, at $1450, seems to be at the right price point )Voyager is just too darn expensive, and I refuse to search for an old mini through e-bay with what they're asking for them!)Thanks for your informative post(s)!

Big T from NY

[Max Ventura]

Carlo, chiamami che ci dobbiamo mettere d'accordo.

[marino]

Originally posted by Max Ventura:

Carlo, chiamami che ci dobbiamo mettere d'accordo.

Max - ti scriverò una email nel weekend. Così magari ci scambiamo anche i telefoni.

[Bobro]

Tried the demo- between the painful bursts of use-limitation noise I managed to record some riffs. Sounded elegant, smooth, and full by itself, I was getting enthused, but the sound paled away- lost its color and punch- in the company of acoustic drums and voice. Don't bother giving me any crap about programming and arranging; the same riff from even a Waldorf Pulse with a similar but duller sound, and 4 dB down from the V sound retained its character and presence in the mix.

 

However, I'm reserving judgement on softsynths in general until I test them in a way more appropriate to the trip I'm on- on a dedicated rig, out through DA to mic'd combos.

 

Lots of very nice colors to had with the Modular V, it would be great, and economical, to find a way of enbeefing them so they need not be so shy with acoustic sounds.

 

-Bobro

[marino]

Originally posted by Bobro:

Sounded elegant, smooth, and full by itself, I was getting enthused, but the sound paled away- lost its color and punch- in the company of acoustic drums and voice. Don't bother giving me any crap about programming and arranging; the same riff from even a Waldorf Pulse with a similar but duller sound, and 4 dB down from the V sound retained its character and presence in the mix.

Cameron - thanks for your insightful analyisis. That's exactly one of the major points in judging an electronic instrument - it has always been for me, at least. With Romplers, for example, I tend to build layers of different sounds and instruments, until I feel that the patch won't lose its character when played live or in a track in the company of acoustic instruments. A lot of softsynths and VAs still doesn't have that richness, but often, the best real analogs do.

[Peake]

Originally posted by marino:

 

Well, it could be the fact that in the V, the oscillators always start their waves from the same point in the cycle. Or the fact they don't drift. Or the combined characteristics of the filter and resonance.

I find that I agree with you