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I do not agree. I find modern digital softsynths just as "rich and interesting" as analog, not to mention 1,000,000 times more convenient to work with. Somethi

I do not agree. I find modern digital softsynths just as "rich and interesting" as analog, not to mention 1,000,000 times more convenient to work with. Something like U-He Diva for example can sound as analog as anything analog that I've heard. Then if you get into wavetable or granular, you can get sounds that are impossible to achieve with analog, which are in my opinion very "rich and interesting". I suspect that the people who don't agree may have heard a digital synth many years ago and are unaware that the technology has improved markedly since then, which isn't surprising because there's a lot of money in it. Just my opinion, but modern analog emulation sounds just as good as real analog. Nothing wrong with enjoying the workflow of analog though, although personally I dislike that workflow.

louthy 6y ago
There are plenty of good digital and soft-synths for sure. But the Diva isn't close to a real analogue synth. I have several analogue synths (OB-6, Alpha Juno 2, Juno 106, JX-8P, SH-101, Syncussion SY-1) in my studio (and modular too), and also own the Diva plugin. There really is no comparison. I never use the Diva plugin. If it was as good, I'd use it all the time, because it's much more convenient for recall to have a plugin. Perhaps, for relatively simple sounds, or sounds that have little movement. But, the moment there's any filter movement then it's obvious. The filter really is the key, I think, when a digital synth outs itself. Often there's a 'digital edge' to filters on digital synths that don't come close to the 'smooth destruction' that happens in the analogue realm (really, really hard to describe with words!). But, in A/B tests between digital repros of classic synths and the classic synth, that's nearly always where I can hear the difference. But, it's also a major difference, because often the 'sound' of an analogue synth comes from its filter. If you're looking for that stand out sound for a track, the one everyone goes "I love the track with that noise in", then analogue is where it will come from, the quickest and easiest. This obsession with replicating the analogue sounds in software is really tedious though. I prefer digital synths that do stuff that the analogue synths can't do, like Omnisphere - nothing touches that, and it's a perfect compliment to the real analogue sounds. Let's keep the analogue realm, doing what it does best, and then let's advance the possibilities within the digital realm, looking forward rather than back.
- Supernaut 6y ago
  > But the Diva isn't close to a real analogue synth Statements like this need to be prefaced with qualifying disclaimers, like "IMHO". You have to accept that your opinion is completely subjective. I've seen a variety of blind tests over the years in which listeners were unable to differentiate between analogue hardware and digital simulations. I've become increasingly impressed with the quality of virtual synthesisers over the years. At this stage, while I do still often prefer to use my analogue synths over the VSTs I own, that's mostly because the hardware is simply more fun to experiment with.
- brokenmachine 6y ago
  I carefully considered whether or not to include Diva by name because I knew someone would shoot it down no matter which VST I named. I'm also a big Omnisphere and Phaseplant fan. The point I was trying to make is that I feel that digital is definitely good enough to do professional-sounding "analog" performances without people going, "definitely sounds digital" - unless digital is the sound you're trying to achieve. >If you're looking for that stand out sound for a track, the one everyone goes "I love the track with that noise in", then analogue is where it will come from, the quickest and easiest. I disagree, but I also recognize that nobody will "win" this discussion, because it's a matter of taste - like asking for a consensus on which tastes better, chicken or fish. You enjoy your analog synths, and I'll enjoy badly playing my digital synths. I'm more of a modern wavetable fan than analog sound anyway. We're both music lovers - nobody's forcing anyone to use anything.

louthy 6y ago

There are plenty of good digital and soft-synths for sure. But the Diva isn't close to a real analogue synth. I have several analogue synths (OB-6, Alpha Juno 2, Juno 106, JX-8P, SH-101, Syncussion SY-1) in my studio (and modular too), and also own the Diva plugin. There really is no comparison. I never use the Diva plugin. If it was as good, I'd use it all the time, because it's much more convenient for recall to have a plugin. Perhaps, for relatively simple sounds, or sounds that have little movement. But, the moment there's any filter movement then it's obvious. The filter really is the key, I think, when a digital synth outs itself. Often there's a 'digital edge' to filters on digital synths that don't come close to the 'smooth destruction' that happens in the analogue realm (really, really hard to describe with words!). But, in A/B tests between digital repros of classic synths and the classic synth, that's nearly always where I can hear the difference. But, it's also a major difference, because often the 'sound' of an analogue synth comes from its filter. If you're looking for that stand out sound for a track, the one everyone goes "I love the track with that noise in", then analogue is where it will come from, the quickest and easiest. This obsession with replicating the analogue sounds in software is really tedious though. I prefer digital synths that do stuff that the analogue synths can't do, like Omnisphere - nothing touches that, and it's a perfect compliment to the real analogue sounds. Let's keep the analogue realm, doing what it does best, and then let's advance the possibilities within the digital realm, looking forward rather than back.

Supernaut 6y ago
> But the Diva isn't close to a real analogue synth Statements like this need to be prefaced with qualifying disclaimers, like "IMHO". You have to accept that your opinion is completely subjective. I've seen a variety of blind tests over the years in which listeners were unable to differentiate between analogue hardware and digital simulations. I've become increasingly impressed with the quality of virtual synthesisers over the years. At this stage, while I do still often prefer to use my analogue synths over the VSTs I own, that's mostly because the hardware is simply more fun to experiment with.
brokenmachine 6y ago
I carefully considered whether or not to include Diva by name because I knew someone would shoot it down no matter which VST I named. I'm also a big Omnisphere and Phaseplant fan. The point I was trying to make is that I feel that digital is definitely good enough to do professional-sounding "analog" performances without people going, "definitely sounds digital" - unless digital is the sound you're trying to achieve. >If you're looking for that stand out sound for a track, the one everyone goes "I love the track with that noise in", then analogue is where it will come from, the quickest and easiest. I disagree, but I also recognize that nobody will "win" this discussion, because it's a matter of taste - like asking for a consensus on which tastes better, chicken or fish. You enjoy your analog synths, and I'll enjoy badly playing my digital synths. I'm more of a modern wavetable fan than analog sound anyway. We're both music lovers - nobody's forcing anyone to use anything.