Real analog or VA?

nvbrkr · Post by **nvbrkr** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:16 pm

It's not worth the investment if you can't tell the difference.

It's worth the investment if you can.

balma · Post by **balma** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:08 pm

If I were a f**k rich I would have a buchla 200 in front of the toilet.

That's the difference.

And I would a 24k toilet too:

energetik · Post by **energetik** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:14 am

nvbrkr wrote:It's not worth the investment if you can't tell the difference.

It's worth the investment if you can.

We have abolished Right and Wrong.”

“And Right and Left,” said Syme with a simple eagerness, “I hope you will abolish them too. They are much more troublesome to me.”

druzz · Post by **druzz** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:21 am

analog or va ? just follow your heart .
why not both?

aredj · Post by **aredj** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:13 am

Analog or VA? For what?

Analog for making analog synth sounds.

VA for VA synth sounds.

A piano for piano sounds.

MC303 for guitar.

By the way... I like the flavor of apple juice way more than orange. I just think its better.

Post by **Dano** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:33 am

This is coming from a guy who has not played live much but it is probably fair to say that the majority of your audience would not know the difference in sound between analog and VA (or even ROMpler for that matter). If you are curious about analog then get one and if you like it then great, but, if not, then sell it. It looks like you already have a Tetra though so from my (MoPho) point of view you're already in good shape analog-wise!

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:37 am

Dano wrote:This is coming from a guy who has not played live much but it is probably fair to say that the majority of your audience would not know the difference in sound between analog and VA (or even ROMpler for that matter). If you are curious about analog then get one and if you like it then great, but, if not, then sell it.

This is coming from a guy who has played live a lot, the audience can't tell the difference between analogue and VA but they can totally tell the difference between in tune and not in tune, which is one thing VAs are really good at.

stikygum · Post by **stikygum** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:53 am

I would usually always go analog over VA, just because I typically like the harmonics I hear in analog. Still VAs can sound good, but it's still virtual. If it makes good fun noises then who cares though. More important is probably processing the synths, mixing and mastering the music. If you do that right then you'll make any sound source sound good.

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:27 am

tallowwaters wrote:Both sound like s**t, buy an oboe.

Post of the year.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:49 am

stikygum wrote:I would usually always go analog over VA, just because I typically like the harmonics I hear in analog. Still VAs can sound good, but it's still virtual. If it makes good fun noises then who cares though. More important is probably processing the synths, mixing and mastering the music. If you do that right then you'll make any sound source sound good.

Surely it's not that comfortable sitting up there on that fence?

Post by **madtheory** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:22 pm

I bet in a blind A/B test very few of us could hear a difference between a good VA and a real analogue.

projectwoofer · Post by **projectwoofer** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:24 pm

I guess for me it works like this: I prefer working on a real synth (be it analog or digital) than on a soft synth for the simple reason that it gives me more inspiration!..even when I edit the h/w synth from a software editor, I somehow feel it's not the same as just editing a s/w instrument...

I can certainly hear the difference between a real analog and a modeled filter and that's why I bought my h/w synths in the first place, but I don't think most people out there can tell the difference or even care! I'd never buy a h/w VA synth though..I believe it's a software in a box, I'd rather use VSTis!

Post by **meatballfulton** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 1:59 pm

projectwoofer wrote:I guess this topic has been discussed before

You got that right!!!!

MC303 for guitar

Automatic Gainsay · Post by **Automatic Gainsay** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:16 pm

madtheory wrote:I bet in a blind A/B test very few of us could hear a difference between a good VA and a real analogue.

I can make a demo which could demonstrate how to make any synth "sound analog." But that doesn't define the differences between the two sound sources, does it?
Most blind tests are an example of a skilled synthesist artfully programming a quality VA synth to sound like an analog synth. The difference between VA and analog doesn't exist in how similar you can make them make a certain sound. The difference lies in the breadth of possible sounds, using functionality, interacting with the interface, playing a variety of notes and noting the differences in the sounds and responses you get from that playing, and being able to discern (when present) subtle aspects of sound quality. The issue is far more complex than whether an audience member is able to discern the sound quality, or whether a person can be fooled by a limited audio test.

In General:
If you don't need analog, don't buy it. If you can't tell the difference, don't buy it. Find the synth that does what makes you musically happy and stop f**k around with what other people think or say about one thing or another. It is ultimately up to you what sound you want... and if you don't know what sound you want, don't listen to OTHER people telling you what you should do, or how you should sound. Get to work trying the synths out, and find what musical instrument inspires you to make the music you like from yourself.
As I have said and will always say: Analog is only best at sounding analog.

Ugh. Why do you people draw me into this? Before you say anything, Angus or Stabby... they MADE ME. See how they MADE ME???

nvbrkr · Post by **nvbrkr** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:26 pm

energetik wrote: We have abolished Right and Wrong.”

“And Right and Left,” said Syme with a simple eagerness, “I hope you will abolish them too. They are much more troublesome to me.”

I like this response, I seriously do. I just don't see the connection.

madtheory wrote:I bet in a blind A/B test very few of us could hear a difference between a good VA and a real analogue.

I bet many can.

I've hardly owned every analog synth in the world, but each time a "blindfold test" has been posted on the net, I've been able to tell which one is which. They could have been just very simple and short blasts of sound as was the case with the OB-X /OP-X -one that I stumbled across recently. On the other hand, it's sort of strange that there haven't been more tests like these made, even if there's been so much speculation for so long. One of their problems is also that the programmer can usually just seek out a specific sound that is as close to the original as possible, but the entire spectrum of sound is usually a different deal.

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