(Not) another virus vs. VST thread

[HUROLURA]

I meant which one you like best and you do not have to pay any money for upgrading from one version release to the other...

[MBTC]

Right now, Dune is my favorite due to CPU usage, Virus-like (VA style) programming, and I don't think its more for the Mac version? They certainly did not charge me more for version update from 1.1 to 1.2.

Also, Zebra2 has undergone many transformations but never charged me beyond what I originally paid them.

Sylenth I think has only undergone 1 or 2 upgrades in the 2-3 years I've owned it, but I've never paid more than once.

Having the three of those in your arsenal would be under $600 US, give you an astounding library of free sounds, and I don't think there would be any cost beyond that.

Dune is new, but I think it will be around a while. Zebra2 and Sylenth1 have been around a long time, have never fallen out of style, and the developer has never hit me up for more money.

[oscillator]

I like hardware because there's nothing like tweaking for an hour to find the sound in your head. I don't tweak software synths beause of the mouse point and click sadness.... So i find myself using some presets in this case.

With the Virus i tweak everything because i don't like too much prest patches since i am new-sounds-experience oriented, so not euro-trance-hypersaw musician.

The question is not to fall into a search-for-a-sound-nerver-heard-before madness but have the mind focused on the final work, which could have, in some cases, a sound we don't like if listened by itself, but with the best results, expressing what we want, inside a mix.

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by oscillator

I like hardware because there's nothing like tweaking for an hour to find the sound in your head. I don't tweak software synths beause of the mouse point and click sadness.... So i find myself using some presets in this case.

I find I have so much more control with a mouse. Not for something like performing live, and for on-stage visual appeal it is no doubt a lot sexier to be seen tweaking knobs on a hardware synth. And there is a visceral element to it that is nice.

I do a certain amount of tweaking with the knobs on a Novation controller. Software like Novation Automap or just proper use of the DAW can make the need for mouse very minimal.

But, because I like the mouse, the whole physical layout of my setup is designed to make it easy to get to. I see some studios where the mouse is such an after thought that it looks painful to use... So I think if you dont want the mouse, get set up to use the controller knobs, its quite easy. But, for really fine control and things like drawing complex envelope segments or things like additive harmonics, it is way easier with a mouse than trying to use a tiny screen on the hardware.

But I understand how folks have different styles. I just hate to hear someone sticking with presets on softsynths when they are the type that are into sound design, as am I.

[sacredgeometry]

Originally Posted by MBTC

I find I have so much more control with a mouse. Not for something like performing live, and for on-stage visual appeal it is no doubt a lot sexier to be seen tweaking knobs on a hardware synth. And there is a visceral element to it that is nice.

I do a certain amount of tweaking with the knobs on a Novation controller. Software like Novation Automap or just proper use of the DAW can make the need for mouse very minimal.

But, because I like the mouse, the whole physical layout of my setup is designed to make it easy to get to. I see some studios where the mouse is such an after thought that it looks painful to use... So I think if you dont want the mouse, get set up to use the controller knobs, its quite easy. But, for really fine control and things like drawing complex envelope segments or things like additive harmonics, it is way easier with a mouse than trying to use a tiny screen on the hardware.

But I understand how folks have different styles. I just hate to hear someone sticking with presets on softsynths when they are the type that are into sound design, as am I.

Only problem with a mouse for tweaking is that you cant tweak two things at once. This is a very important thing my opinion. The amounts of sounds that would have otherwise have gone unnoticed if I wasn't randomly tweaking two
knobs and found a sweet spot between the two that some rare magic arose.

That said Using any midi controller gives you identical levels of control. They are relatively cheap and reusable with other synths. Synths do tend to come alive when you have knobs to tweak, i'm not sure if its psychosomatic but having something tangible seems to give you a physical link to the sound you are producing.

To OP I love VSTs/soft synths...they sound easily as good as hardware these days, are portable and you can wadge as many as you want on a song at relatively low cost (computers being considerably cheaper than synths).

I bought a virus because I liked the character of it, my reason for buying synths generally is so I dont have to load up a computer to play music. Computers, wonderful as they are, drain creativity I feel. They distract and even the hum of one in the background is a constant ositnato which can influence and distract me. Being a musician/intrumentatlist its nice to just be able to grab a guitar, or sit down at a piano etc. A singular-purpose non diluted tool.

Ramblings over.

[MBTC]

Many good points made in the above post, and I do often feel the process is more musical/physical, and overall more fun with hardware knobs.

Although I've found as much as I enjoy interacting directly with hardware, if I played out my ideas first without immediacy with regard to software integration, my ideas will probably get lost (or important components of originally inspired idea dropped) as I try to port that idea over to the software environment for proper recording/producing.

With regard to tweaking 2 at once, as you mentioned I think it is best done in conjunction with a midi controller. I tend to map the modwheel temporarily to one parameter, work it with left hand, and work another parameter with the mouse. There are also a number of X/Y axis solutions (Zebra and some others have this pad built into the software), or it can be done in any VST with a DAW X/Y controller, giving you the ability to control 3 things at once assuming you don't want one hand free to play notes (which I often do).