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The VS does not use wavetables like the PPG. Vector synthesis is in a category of its own. It uses four single-cycle waveforms that can be selected individually
by teilo 4y ago
The VS does not use wavetables like the PPG. Vector synthesis is in a category of its own. It uses four single-cycle waveforms that can be selected individually, and one morphs among them in a 2D plane using a joystick or via envelopes and LFOs. It is not a crossfade, as it recalculates the resulting waveform on the fly. The result is similar to a wavetable, but in 2 dimensions.
- kilobaud 4y agoWell I'm pretty sure the oscillator bank in the VS does use wavetables, it would have no other way of supporting 127 different voices (including user-provided voices). (But you're correct that the approach to modulating sounds on a VS is fundamentally different to, say, a PPG wavetable synth.)
- teilo 4y agoThat's not what a wavetable is, by any definition relevant to synthesis. Of course the VS has waveforms stored consecutively in ROM, with 32 more stored in NVRAM. That's just data. In wavetable synthesis, an entire table of consecutive waveforms is loaded into an oscillator. In vector synthesis, 4 individual and arbitrary waveforms are loaded into an oscillator.
- dietrichepp 4y agoI think of a wavetable as a system with multiple short, periodic waveforms, where you can interpolate between them. On the PPG, you get something like 32 waveforms, and interpolte between consecutive ones. On the Prophet VS, you get 4, and you interpolate between all 4 at the same time. It sounds like you use a different definition, which is fine. I don't think we're going to learn anything by litigating this kind of disagreement.
- jdkee 4y agoChris Meyer, who worked at Sequential Circuits, designed the VS. Here is his take: https://learningmodular.com/the-story-of-the-prophet-vs/ https://learningmodular.com/the-story-of-the-prophet-vs/ RIP Dave Smith.