Lordy said:

bonatoc said:

The OBX seems to have no MIDI, so forget about a sequencer...
You'll have to play by hand.

No finger-sync in this house tonight!

http://www.wikiwand.com/e...rheim_OB-X

.

Thanks for your help. I thought you'd be able to buy Reason or sequencing software that would have an Oberheim OBX emulator.

Wow. I thought the Yamaha DX7 reigned supreme over the eighties, but this beast proves otherwise.

I immediately bought the OP-X Pro-II as soon s I had learnt about it. Great soft synth for eighties sounds!!!

Lordy said:

V10LETBLUES said:

Early synths were warmer. Maybe it had to do with them being analog, but along the way they started sounding colder and colder. Even new ones that supposedly faithfully sample older synths still sound cold and you can definitely hear the difference. Shrill is the best way I can describe them. It's been said that scientifically there is no difference, but I swear I can hear the difference. For me cd's have that same problem vs vinyl.

Would be fun to find out if you would guess correctly with a blind test

Mindflux said:

Lordy said:

.

Thanks for your help. I thought you'd be able to buy Reason or sequencing software that would have an Oberheim OBX emulator.

Yes, but if you've got the hardware, ALWAYS use that over an emulator/soft-synth/VST! As good as some of them are, NONE of them sound as good as the real instrument. Just plug it in via a mixer and record the audio - it just means your playing has to be up to scratch, as you won't be able to edit the midi notes to change a mistake or add embellishment. In terms of this whole argument about nostalgia for analogue and "digital synth sounding awful", I just don't buy it or get it - it's a bit of a nonsense really and just misplaced snobbery. Analogue synth have their own sound and do what they do very well (depending on the quality of the hardware - there are analogue synth that don't sound great too!). You just use whatever instrument gives you the sound you are after. There are some things analogue synth will do better than digital synths (particularly when it comes to sound modelling and transformation via knobs or sliders - you will hear digital "stepping" on less-capable digital synths that just won't happen on an analogue). But there are also things a digital synth can do that an analogue can't. Again, just use the tool that gets the texture you want. It's bit like saying an electric guitar sounds awful in comparison to the natural resonance of an acoustic! They're just different instruments that produce different sounds. The method used to produce sound is almost irrelevant. And, at the end of the day, synths are "synthetic" - they were always designed to produce other-worldy,very different, almost unnatural sounds, so saying one sounds "awful" or "fake"(!!) is really a bit silly. Where synths tend to fall down is when they are trying to sound like another instrument - so, trying to be a piano, or a trumpet. Some can do it well, but the real thing always sounds better - so, just use the real instrument, if that's the sound you want and let a synth do the synthetic, interesting stuff, instead of pretending to be a harp!

well i agree that the man and idea are much more important compared to a gear but you sound contrived .you said use synth for what they are not because you want trumpet sound from it but at the same time isnt that describing digital synths? digital synths use samples of real instruments and it sounds fake.analog synths have their vision of acoustic instruments but they are not there to imitate.

V10LETBLUES said:

Early synths were warmer. Maybe it had to do with them being analog, but along the way they started sounding colder and colder. Even new ones that supposedly faithfully sample older synths still sound cold and you can definitely hear the difference. Shrill is the best way I can describe them. It's been said that scientifically there is no difference, but I swear I can hear the difference. For me cd's have that same problem vs vinyl.

of course there is a big difference and i agre with your post

thebanishedone said:

Prince's synth sounds these days sound like plastic.

He lost the 'funk' in how he plays the synths now.

There's a lack of originality in his synth sounds now. IMHO.

Mindflux said:

thebanishedone said:

well i agree that the man and idea are much more important compared to a gear but you sound contrived .you said use synth for what they are not because you want trumpet sound from it but at the same time isnt that describing digital synths? digital synths use samples of real instruments and it sounds fake.analog synths have their vision of acoustic instruments but they are not there to imitate.

There is nothing contrived about what I said and seems to be far more open - minded than you are being. Your bias against "digital" is blaring through like a poorly sampled sax! I'm not sure you know as much as you think - "digital" synths don't always use a sample to sound like a real instrument at all - there are many ways a synth can go about achieving a certain sound - sampling is one, but then there's PCM, FM, Wave table etc etc Yes, analog synths sound "warmer", which is fine if that's what you want. But it's not the be all and end all. And analog synths come with their own problems (tuning, error - prone etc). The whole analog is real/ digital is fake is snobbery and a misnomer.

True! Good digital synths also sounds alot fuller, warmer and alive than what Prince has been using for quite some while. If you're good at mixing, I'm pretty sure you'll get this synth to sounds damn nice!

[Edited 2/8/16 13:30pm]

Mindflux said:

thebanishedone said:

well i agree that the man and idea are much more important compared to a gear but you sound contrived .you said use synth for what they are not because you want trumpet sound from it but at the same time isnt that describing digital synths? digital synths use samples of real instruments and it sounds fake.analog synths have their vision of acoustic instruments but they are not there to imitate.

There is nothing contrived about what I said and seems to be far more open - minded than you are being. Your bias against "digital" is blaring through like a poorly sampled sax! I'm not sure you know as much as you think - "digital" synths don't always use a sample to sound like a real instrument at all - there are many ways a synth can go about achieving a certain sound - sampling is one, but then there's PCM, FM, Wave table etc etc Yes, analog synths sound "warmer", which is fine if that's what you want. But it's not the be all and end all. And analog synths come with their own problems (tuning, error - prone etc). The whole analog is real/ digital is fake is snobbery and a misnomer.

of course i know about fm synthesis .besides owning two analog synths i have one fm synth.analog vs digital is not snobbery at all. do you think The Beautiful Ones would sound as great without those beautiful portamento slides Prince did on his Oberheim? Or do you think Stevie Wonders 70s album would be as cool if he used digital synths instead.

Sound of the digital synths is produced by a computer,and there is a whole

bunch of hz that are cutoff in the process. analog synths never produce the

same sound and the possibilities are countless.manufactors of digital synths still didnt find a way to replicate analog synths close to a real thing.

Maybe its a coincidence but quality of Princes output went downhill when he stop using analog synths.

And analog synths can also have fm synthesis ,my oberheim matrix 6 have it.

And you are on the verge of insulting me.

if you have actually have read my post you would know

i agree with the most of what you wrote.

[Edited 2/9/16 0:15am]

thebanishedone said:

Mindflux said:

thebanishedone said: There is nothing contrived about what I said and seems to be far more open - minded than you are being. Your bias against "digital" is blaring through like a poorly sampled sax! I'm not sure you know as much as you think - "digital" synths don't always use a sample to sound like a real instrument at all - there are many ways a synth can go about achieving a certain sound - sampling is one, but then there's PCM, FM, Wave table etc etc Yes, analog synths sound "warmer", which is fine if that's what you want. But it's not the be all and end all. And analog synths come with their own problems (tuning, error - prone etc). The whole analog is real/ digital is fake is snobbery and a misnomer.

of course i know about fm synthesis .besides owning two analog synths i have one fm synth.analog vs digital is not snobbery at all. do you think The Beautiful Ones would sound as great without those beautiful portamento slides Prince did on his Oberheim? Or do you think Stevie Wonders 70s album would be as cool if he used digital synths instead.

Sound of the digital synths is produced by a computer,and there is a whole

bunch of hz that are cutoff in the process. analog synths never produce the

same sound and the possibilities are countless.manufactors of digital synths still didnt find a way to replicate analog synths close to a real thing.

Maybe its a coincidence but quality of Princes output went downhill when he stop using analog synths.

And analog synths can also have fm synthesis ,my oberheim matrix 6 have it.

And you are on the verge of insulting me.

if you have actually have read my post you would know

i agree with the most of what you wrote.

[Edited 2/9/16 0:15am]

We can agree to disgaree. Regarding insults, had you not insulted me in the first place (calling me "contrived"), perhaps I would have been more polite in my response - horses for courses, and all that).

I think there are a lot of synths that would do a pretty good job of sounding like anything from the 70s. But there's alot more to it than just the synths used - how stuff was recorded has a massive influence on the resulting sound - anything before the late-ish 80s was recorded on tape, so that will have a big influence on the sound.

We also need to clear something up here - when you are referring to "digital" synths, are you exclusively talking about VSTs? Or do you mean any synth which isn't analogue? If you do mean VSTs, I would agree, most of them don't sound that good. I own 12 synths, from analogue, to virtual analogue, to digital and I mostly only use the hardward synths - they just sound so much better. It's very rare that you'll find a VST being used in my music, but not unheard of if I particularly like the sound.

And, just to be clear about your Oberheim Matrix 6 (which is a great synth, by the way) - you do know that is a digitally controlled synth, don't you? It's not "full analogue". The oscillators are controlled by a microprocessor (or a computer - shock horror!) - it was one of the "transitional" synths of the 80s making the move from analogue to digital and was done to iron out all the problems resultant from analogue technology. Please don't throw it out though because of its digital blasphemy! LOL

Got anywhere I can listen to your music? You can hear mine at www.zubzub.bandcamp.com

[Edited 2/14/16 8:05am]

Hey Mindflux Oberheim matrix 6 is DCO digitally controled oscilators but it is still analog synth.

Dco is better than VCO there are no tuning problems.

But the way sound is produced is still analog.

i dont use vst ,i dont like romplers but i know why people use them.

I love the character analog synths bring to the table.

for example take a listen to Do You Want It Right Now original by Siedah Garret and listen to Taylor Danes cover

original is all analog ,maybe Jupiter 8 it sounds fat,juicy and overall

better thn cold sounding version by Taylor.

thebanishedone said:

Mindflux said:

thebanishedone said:

Hey Mindflux Oberheim matrix 6 is DCO digitally controled oscilators but it is still analog synth.

Dco is better than VCO there are no tuning problems.

But the way sound is produced is still analog.

i dont use vst ,i dont like romplers but i know why people use them.

I love the character analog synths bring to the table.

for example take a listen to Do You Want It Right Now original by Siedah Garret and listen to Taylor Danes cover

original is all analog ,maybe Jupiter 8 it sounds fat,juicy and overall

better thn cold sounding version by Taylor.

Yes, I know, just yanking yer chain, keeping it light You didn't say if there was anywhere to listen to your stuff.....?

this thread is not about me but if you want to hear my music check around 30seconds into documentary

https://www.youtube.com/w...e=youtu.be

[Edited 2/15/16 22:18pm]