CS-80v

[Thirteen]

Just tried the Arturia CS-80v, having heard that it is "incredibly close" to the sound of a real CS-80. I suppose it is, until you actually put it beside a real CS-80 and play them both, then the VSTi sounds like stale corn chips heated in a microwave.

[Hybrid88]

mmm, I have to admit I'm not too keen on the sound of Arturia's plug's. I mean as plug-ins they're passable but as emulators they fail spectacularly IMO, not that that's a bad thing necessarily just nowhere near the same character - particularly the JP8v I've found.

Another thing, while you can get an interesting range of sounds out of them I find they don't sound the best in a mix, same kinda thing with Absynth good sounds just don't really work when you start to get into using it in a track. MinimoogV sounds quite good for bass though I reckon, and being able to have pads is quite nifty. Just some thoughts

[Futureman]

Who would have thought that a software version doesn't sound as good as the bit of hardware it's trying to emulate? lol.

I'm not a fan of soft synths, but when it came out, I took the korg legacy pack for a spin and a-b'd that with my korg polysix, and it was pretty close... then again, I only tried it for 5 mins.

But when you have the original, why are you even going there Steve? You been drinking again? I bet you feel dirty.

Cheers

[Thirteen]

Having seen "Once this came out, it was so perfect that I got rid of my heavy old synth because the plug-in was identical" endorsement adverts, I decided to download the demo to see if it was true. I was particularly interested in the Elephant In The Room - Poly aftertouch, which is a prime part of the CS-80 sound, in a world with no controller keyboards that send it. Lame. Pitch ribbon response - nothing like the real thing. Thin sound. Lacking in sonic character and flat and lifeless. The sound of the real synth fills the room, while at the same level the plug-in sounds like it is coming out of the speakers. Completely un-engaging to play.

The reason I am being so hard on them is because of their advertising. If you are going to call something indestinguishable from the real thing, then it had better be.

[ChrisW]

Having played with a few emulation soft synths, I haven't found a single one that was as good sounding as the hardware.
I do like softsynths that just do their synthesis without trying to be something they are not.
For example, Omnisphere is a great product IMO.

[NYMo]

Hi there,

I had the JP8v ...that was not even close to a JP8 !

I have the Korg Wavestation as a softsynth..and that sounds pretty indentical to the real thing.

My plug in comparisons ended pretty quickly when I tried the SST 282 Space Station plug against
my real Space Station. The plug was 2d and the realthing 3d !
(although the guy who sold me the API 2500 said the emulation was so good he couldn't tell the difference!)

So , it must vary...but the Arturias suk !
Cheers
JN
Y
M
O

[seanolyte]

After hours upon doing a complete softsynth mix (I know... I shouldn't), I take a break and turn on one of my old hardware's. I play it, and I'm instantly blown away, then keep reminding myself to use hardware... ; )

I've tried a few emulations but they all seem to be lacking to me. I'd like to trial a few more but I just end up buying the real thing.

[walding]

I tried it years ago and uninstalled almost straight away.... enough said, really.

One of the best soft synths I've used is motu's MX4 but they all seems lacking in someway.

After much live mixing this year and mixing many nords, a young guy turned up in a band with a rhode MK1 and when he started playing, a big smile appeared on my face, much easier to mix and yet thicker and lusher and as good as the nords are, they PALE next to the real thing (but so much much lighter).