is it just me or does the really old stuff just sound better?
I've had a few synths from old 70's CS stuff to jupiters to new analogue DSI stuff and am swapping stuff around like mad at the minute. Seems the older, the juicier!
Nothing seems to match my older synths (eg CS, early SH) for basic fatness and presence. I love my DSI MEK but it does sound a lot drier/tighter than the oldies - probably just the old circuits 'maturing' as the components get worn in/out. When i'm using an old synth you can really feel that you're in the circuit whereas with new stuff, even with knobby interfaces, I can really feel all the microprocessors inbetween you and the current.
Anybody heard a new analogue sound really fat and warm? maybe an Andromeda has it? Studio Electronics gear should i suppose...
What do you reckon?
d
does old stuff just sound better?!
Forum rules
READ: VSE Board-Wide Rules and Guidelines
READ: VSE Board-Wide Rules and Guidelines
-
pricklyrobot
- Synth Explorer
- Posts: 1742
- Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:37 am
- Location: Austin, TX
Re: does old stuff just sound better?!
Never heard this argument before, so I'd have to say it's just you.
Arturia MiniBrute -- bits o' Euro -- Sammich SID -- E-mu MP-7 -- Korg ER-1 -- Thingamagoop
Re: does old stuff just sound better?!
I can't help but agree. Analog electronics are often explained in terms of plumbing analogies. You apply pressure to the system when you turn on the power. All the knobs and switches are like valves that divert and otherwise affect the flow of electrons. Caps fill up and discharge, oscillators spit out signals not unlike sprinkler heads, resistors pinch the flow.....etc. With all that going on there is just an inherent level of natural variation and impreciseness that just happens to sound very very appealing to many, myself included.
To get similar warmth and fatness out of modern DCO and digital gear you have to fake it with programming techniques like routing dirt and randomness to the Oscs and filters and such. The Evolvers can do it very well, but you HAVE TO actually do it to get the sound and knowing that it comes from additional effort is required to get those crusty old sounds makes it all the more artificial.
None of this is anything that hasn't been said before, but I just felt like trying to articulate it for myself after reading the post.
Old analog IS beautiful.
To get similar warmth and fatness out of modern DCO and digital gear you have to fake it with programming techniques like routing dirt and randomness to the Oscs and filters and such. The Evolvers can do it very well, but you HAVE TO actually do it to get the sound and knowing that it comes from additional effort is required to get those crusty old sounds makes it all the more artificial.
None of this is anything that hasn't been said before, but I just felt like trying to articulate it for myself after reading the post.
Old analog IS beautiful.
synths
-
clubbedtodeath
- No Longer Registered
Re: does old stuff just sound better?!
DJ Axon,
This topic has been discussed many times before - just look through the archives.
Indeed, it is a horse that has been flogged, shot, dragged backwards through a hedge, and then forced to sit through all thirty two Barry Manilow albums.
As such, I feel compelled to lock this thread and let it sink to the bottom of the pile.
This topic has been discussed many times before - just look through the archives.
Indeed, it is a horse that has been flogged, shot, dragged backwards through a hedge, and then forced to sit through all thirty two Barry Manilow albums.
As such, I feel compelled to lock this thread and let it sink to the bottom of the pile.