Desktop vs Snow

[Dirty Job]

I read the specs of the synths but I'd like to know from Snow users what are the limitations in terms of complexity of the patches.
Do you actually feel limited with the Snow or do you reckon it's still plenty ?
Obviously, it depends on the user (and I'm far from being an expert) and the purpose but I have heard it's "almost the same as the desktop" and also "not worth it".
Your experience please ? :)

[Roby31]

It's the very same. The only things changing are the polyphony (both maximum and expected) and multitimbrality.

[Dirty Job]

I read that but I have never used hardware synths so I'm not sure what it means in praxis.
What I wanna know is : can you play for instance a bass + a pad + an arp at the same time with the Snow ?

[Timo]

Hi Dirty :)

I haven't a Snow to test but on paper specifications TI|1 and TI|2 have >80 and >100 voices respectively whereas Snow has >50 voices.

As it is "upto" 50 voices I'm guessing this is only when simple patches are being used. As with the TI's, the Snow's polyphony may be reduced substantially when either Unison, the Moog analogue filter, or DSP hungry oscillators are being used (such as Wavetable PWM, Complex Graintable, Complex Formant).

So it's kinda "how long is a piece of string" depending on how DSP hungry the actual individual patches are. You mention Bass + Pad + Arp... Bass patches are usually quite simple, Pads usually are played in chords and may use unison or more complex oscillators and will stand to eat most of the polyphony (also bear in mind when you change chords extra polyphony headroom is needed if you don't want the release of the last chord to be cut off [also known as 'note stealing']), the arp may use unison too.

Would be nice to hear from Snow users how they find things work out in reality.

[AndrewM]

I use a Ti Snow in everyone of my songs. I've only had one song that put me over the limit and started stealing notes off of my bassline. This happened cause I was using 3 heavily unison'd parts. Note: they still all played, but occasionally a bass note would be stolen. I typically run 3 parts, sometimes 4 without any issues. Just don't expect to be playing back 4 different Richard Devine patches at the same time.

I'd like to put this in perspective for you... The Virus TI has 3 USB outputs, 4 if you want to rig up your analog outs along side, but lets be honest, you probably won't. The TI Snow has 4 parts... Sounds perfect right? Well, yes... Everyone part has it's own output. External EQ/external FX/sends/whatever on each part. Where as if you invested in the desktop you'd have 16 parts, which is nice, but they all need to be routed back to those 3 or 4 outputs. I don't like that idea, and you probably won't either since you are used to the way software works.

The Snow has plenty of juice to do MOST things... If you find yourself stuck then mix it down to audio and all is good again. Plus you can find one for like half the price of desktop. Hope this helps.

[Dirty Job]

Alright, thanks for the info guys.
Temptation for a Snow is growing fast.
I found a guy selling one (in perfect condition he claims) in my city.
I'll probably report about it soon :D

[Dirty Job]

Just got it :D

This synth is wonderful, the only thing it's missing is a proper manual.
I have a question about the screen, in sequencer mode sometimes there's an "E" showing on the left, just before "RAM X". It seems to appear randomly so I wonder what it means.

[Roby31]

E means "Edited" so you know you have to save your patch or you'll lose it (changing the patch "erases" the edit buffer)

And welcome to the family

[Dirty Job]

Thanks bro :)