What, if any, analogs would you keep?

[zerocrossing]

I'm going with an XITE-1D soon and I've got some thinking to do. I'd be interested in hearing what owners think about my idea. I've decided that, although I love it, I'm selling my Prophet 12. Easier to let go is my KingKORG, but it seems clear that the XITE-1D can cover that one. The loss of the Prophet 12 will hurt a bit but it has displaced my main MIDI controller (I'm losing space in my studio) and I already hate the loss of my Remote SL's software integration.

Here's my list of other hardware instruments:

Studio Electronics ATC-X QFS
Spectral Neptune 2
Waldorf Pulse 2
Elektron Analog Four
Novation Bass Station 2

Now, I could keep all of those if I add some A/D to the XITE-1D... but is it worth it? One one hand I love the idea of a very tidy and nimble studio (I'm not a "it needs to have knobs guy." I can be just has happy with a virtual UI) On the other hand, something emotional in me wants to keep those kids around... like if I sell them I'll miss the specific character they bring to the table.

I will definitely be keeping two though. My Kemper Amp Profiler will take two inputs and I'll have two more for other synths. Even though the Analog Four has a stereo output, I can run a synth into it's input and cheat that way. (if I even keep that one) What two would you keep?

Or would you keep any? Or all? I can also add A/D to the XITE with the funds from the sale of my Presonus 16.0.2 which will give me plenty of analog ins.

[tlaskows]

Have you heard the demos of Scope synths? I know, they're probably hard to find. But after you have them, you'll probably not want to keep the analogs anymore. Honestly, I used to have a Jupiter-6 a very long time ago. I don't miss it at all. Still sticking with my digital stuff like the M3, EX5 and DX7s.

-Tom

[JoPo]

I have a Novation Supernova, sadly the 1° version : no digital output... But I'll never sell it ! I've got a Roland JV 2080 and it's so different from Scope synth that I'll keep it too !
Scope synth are mainly monophonic analog synth style... I mean there is no Scope synth that play true brass or things like this. That's why I find VST's very complementary with Scope synth. If you have Kontakt, you can play awesome brass (Sample modeling, for instance) with 3ms latency, or even less. And you mix - tweak VST's sound in Scopen thru Modular if you want and keep your 3ms latency.

So you can transform a poor vst sound into something very different ! That is irreplaceable !

[zerocrossing]

If you have Kontakt, you can play awesome brass (Sample modeling, for instance) with 3ms latency, or even less. And you mix - tweak VST's sound in Scopen thru Modular if you want and keep your 3ms latency.

So you can transform a poor vst sound into something very different ! That is irreplaceable !

I do have Kontakt. Actually I have Komplete 8... and some extra stuff that comes with Maschine 2. I probably should have mentioned that I actually have quite a collection of VSTs. Back in the mid 00s I had to go ITB and during that time I spent a lot on the best of what was available. I own Diva and the XILS labs synths that do a good job. (perhaps I should sell those...) I also upgraded to Reaktor 6 recently before the Sonic Core bug struck me. It's a pretty amazing tool in its own right.

I've heard that there's some bug in Sonic Core that doesn't let you use the sampler on a 64 bit system, eh? It's no problem because between Kontakt, Maschine and Polygon, I'm covered there.

[tlaskows]

You'll probably want to keep the Diva. It's a great synth but eats up most of my CPU

As for monophonic? How many DSPs do you have? I can run 7 Minimaxes at 6 voices each without maxing out 3 cards. You can get some amazing pads on the Pro-Wave or Profit 5. I can load two Profits at 16 poly each, but that maxes out my cards. So I never do that

-Tom

[zerocrossing]

You'll probably want to keep the Diva. It's a great synth but eats up most of my CPU

As for monophonic? How many DSPs do you have? I can run 7 Minimaxes at 6 voices each without maxing out 3 cards. You can get some amazing pads on the Pro-Wave or Profit 5. I can load two Profits at 16 poly each, but that maxes out my cards. So I never do that

-Tom

Well, I don't have any yet but once my Prophet 12 sells I shall order the XITE-1 D. I already had it in my cart ready to go when I found out that for some reason they don't take Paypal credit, so I have to wait a little while. So, I guess the answer is I'll have 10 DSPs.

But that's not quite my issue. I know between software synths and an XITE-1 D I'll be fine polyphony wise. I've heard some pretty convincing analog modeled plug-ins for Scope, though I feel like they're like Diva in a sense that they sound great, but not quite analog. There's a demo of someone switching between an actual Prophet 5 and a Scope emulation and there are times it's very close, and times it's very off. When it's off, it's pretty off. Don't get me wrong, it's still very usable and sounds very good when it is off, but it misses the mark a bit. Call me crazy, but I'm still a guy who feels that a good analog synth has yet to be perfectly emulated.

So, I'm keeping at least two of the above synths. That'll fill my analog inputs without having to buy additional a/d. If I go that route I'll have money left over to buy some Scope plug ins.

Or... I could keep everything listed. This, in my mind would basically make the XITE-1D a replacement for the Prophet 12 and KingKORG and my life wouldn't change that much but the extra keyboard stand would finally be gone, which is a good thing. I'd have to wait a while to buy some extra plug ins, but probably by Christmas I could pick up a few. I'm sure I could do a lot of damage with what I already have native plug in wise and with what comes with the XITE-1D.

I guess what I was hoping for was a response like, "I had a room full of old and new analogs and I got rid of them and now I do/don't miss them." Maybe once the XITE-1 is in my grubby little paws the answer to my question will become clear. It's like the end of the Matrix trilogy. Neo doesn't destroy the machines and thus the Matrix, because he ultimately realizes it is the relationships that matter, not the format of the entities or the reality.

[dawman]

Softsynths cover the midrange frequencies and dont reveal any differences.
Its the precision of analog circuitry in the lowest ranges where all of the differences are.
0s and 1s cannot replicate voltages. In the lowest ranges.
Even my hardware Solaris @96k using 6 SHARCs gets only so close.
Sure sounds better than Microsoft and Apple synths but The whole reason I still use analog and plan on building a new Eurorack for Scope Modular I am not sure the DCOs will work as planned.
If not the Modscan Triple VCO and some other Oscillators in euro style will be used.

[tlaskows]

I've built a Minimoog ladder clones in the past (long time ago). I know what filter is supposed to sound like. It is extremely close.

Here's a simple synth with a Moog ladder. There's a demo mp3. Yeah, it's a bit off pitch, I couldn't tune the damn thing (it was analog).

I am not sure what the VCO was based on...

I think the whole thing cost me around 150 CAD to make.

http://www.thomaslaskowski.com/?page_id=207

Cheers,

-Tom

[zerocrossing]

I think I have it figured out. I spent a lot of time with my babies. I was surprised. I'm going to keep the Analog Four. I just love it and it's odd little sequencer. It goes in via Overbridge, so there's no inputs needed. I'm going to sell everything else and replace it with a Studio Electronics Boomstar of some sort. not sure which filter I'll go with... This way, I have a real knobby dyed-in-the-wool VCO based monophonic analog that will be fun for tweaking (maybe a Studio Electronics SE-X1 instead, not sure), a flexible polyphonic DCO based analog with a cool modulation sequencer and effects. That will actually leave me with one empty input on the XITE-1D. I might just keep the Bass Station 2 as well. I wouldn't get much for it. It's cheap to begin with, and it just sounds great.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[tlaskows]

You won't miss your gear. Scope is that good. Once you try it out, you'll understand. There are no good demos out there. Sure, 1 or 2 real analogs with full MIDI control is nice to have. But, I sold my Minimax ASB to someone and they said that it sounded more like a real Mini than the Voyageur or whatever. Well, I'm sure that's true, because the Voyager doesn't use a Moog ladder filter.

-Tom

[frokka]

I have a Novation Supernova, sadly the 1° version : no digital output...

I don't think any of the Supernovas has a digital output, but the Ultranova has an SP-DIF (and USB).

[tlaskows]

Wasn't impressed with the old VA synths (Nords and Viruses) so I sold them

-Tom

[petal]

I have both a PCI-scope system and an XITE, but recently I've started buying hardware in order to get my hands on the knobs and sliders and get all tactile and "forbidden" with the sound.

I tried to integrate Scope with Live and Push. In theory it is doable (and it felt great, even to the point where it seemed that SCOPE also sounded better) but unfortunately SCOPE's cc-preset system (saving projects with cc's assigned) is bugged, so I gave up on that endeaver.

I now own a Korg Electribe 2, an Elektron RYTM (yes I know I owe some feedback on that one Nester ) and I feel a strong lust for the new Prophet 6. If only it had a 5 octaves keyboard - Maybe NAMM in january will deliver... I'd also like a date with the MFB Dominion 1, but space is becomming an issue. Also the midi-implementation is minimal on the Dominion and I want to be able to automate stuff, which is why I chose the Elektron and lust for the DSI-stuff now

[tlaskows]

What is the bug exactly? The mappings never get saved or what?

-Tom

[petal]

It's a bit hard to explain exactly what goes wrong, and in some cases you wont experience the bug.
But yes, in some cases the mappings are not saved and in other cases the mapping messes up the controllers behavior, which in effect changes the devices behavior and sound.
At first everything works, but once the preset or the project has been saved and reloaded the trouble begins. It's a very unfortunate bug, because it moves around and it seems to have something to do with which controller you assigned as the second last controller if I remember correctly. So it is very difficult to "work around" the bug.

You can read more about it here:

http://forums.planetz.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33529

If you don't need to assign CC's, Scope is great.

[tlaskows]

Thanks,

I will have a try. I only assign a few parameters at a time only. Never even tried saving them. My Korg M3 has a few sliders.

-Tom

[zerocrossing]

I have both a PCI-scope system and an XITE, but recently I've started buying hardware in order to get my hands on the knobs and sliders and get all tactile and "forbidden" with the sound.

I tried to integrate Scope with Live and Push. In theory it is doable (and it felt great, even to the point where it seemed that SCOPE also sounded better) but unfortunately SCOPE's cc-preset system (saving projects with cc's assigned) is bugged, so I gave up on that endeaver.

I now own a Korg Electribe 2, an Elektron RYTM (yes I know I owe some feedback on that one Nester ) and I feel a strong lust for the new Prophet 6. If only it had a 5 octaves keyboard - Maybe NAMM in january will deliver... I'd also like a date with the MFB Dominion 1, but space is becomming an issue. Also the midi-implementation is minimal on the Dominion and I want to be able to automate stuff, which is why I chose the Elektron and lust for the DSI-stuff now

Yeah, that Prophet 6 does sound glorious. Good looking too. I hear they're releasing a module version so that could be your space issue answered.

While the Scope system may really be a one-box solution for every sound I can imagine, after some soul searching yesterday and a night to sleep on it, I think keeping a few hardware analogs will be good for me, if for nothing else to provide a different paradigm and way of interacting with instruments. I'm going to sell everything but the Analog Four (for now, I may think differently when the XITE-1D is in my possession) and replace the ATC-X with a Studio Electronics SE-1x. This will give me a knobby interface and the Studio Electronics sound, which I really love. I'll also have a single empty input on the XITE to fun a mic in for vocoder stuff and those rare occasions where I torture enemy combatants with my singing.

[JoPo]

I don't think any of the Supernovas has a digital output, but the Ultranova has an SP-DIF (and USB).

In fact, you can expand the Supernova II with digital output AND input (!!) and it has a 42-band vocoder !
You can find info here :
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec00/a ... vation.asp

A big beast ! The Supernova I is already awesome ! I'll never sell it... Or maybe exchange it with a Supernova II !

[zerocrossing]

This problem just became a lot harder. Scope sales told me it would be a long time before they could get me a 1d. Getting the big one would really tap me out and not leave extra cash for plug ins... And really make me sell the analogs, though I could keep a couple. Or I could wait.

[dante]

Has this one gone ? http://forums.planetz.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33516

Did SC give you for approx. date for next factory run ?