![]() There is something I like about pure synths (no samples) It is such a beautiful sounding synth and can make all sorts of sounds that Alchemy couldn't. I have Alchemy, Absynth, Massive and Zebra. It is fairly easy to work with considering its complexity. Longtime users here who can confirm or deny it?Īlchemy is excellent in that you can resynthesize sounds and use your own samples and audio to create sounds. Damn I really don't want to buy gear - I have enough, but this sound like the uber synth to me at the moment. Or is this only my first vivid impression? It's even moderate to the cpu. OK it's no FM synth, but besides this? I have the feeling that its very easy to design sounds from scratch with this. Mr.ergonomics wrote:I just used this synth the and my first thought was, ok I can chuck all my other softsynth away now (absynth, massive, zebra). Just my opinion, and again I use audio editing/effects/M4L to do a lot of what you could do with Alchemy so maybe you'd prefer it all in one package. A huge drawback I know, but it's still prefer it to Alchemy but that's me. ![]() Again very similar to Alchemy, except you can't load your own samples. It does have zillions of samples that you can use to program (48gb), everything from analog synth waveforms to ebowed banjo to light bulb filaments, as well as VA softsynth capabilities. They are both way faster than other synths because of this type of modulation system. They call it the "Steam Engine", very similar to Alchemy's modulation system but the interface has multiple pages so it's laid out a bit more clearly for me. Actually it's greatest strength is the way it's setup to create sounds from scratch. It's not a preset synth, although a lot of people probably use both Omnisphere and Alchemy that way. Especially Reaktor.Tarekith wrote:Have you tried Omnisphere? They're all extremely useful and dynamic tools. All I can say is don't dismiss NI's synths without spending some time with them. I do agree with Kays 100% though that Omnisphere tends to be a fatass in the mix, whereas the other two are *generally* not as pushy. Much of that is in the hands of the synthesist. I wouldn't give up either one, and honestly I don't know that it's fair to call one "warmer" or "darker" than another. Absynth is far less immediately intuitive, but it's monstrously powerful and all it takes is a brief romp through some of the better presets (under the hood) to get a sense for the incredibly complicated structures and routings you can create. Omni and Alchemy are both truly inspiring and are joyous to just pop open and program in. Of the three, I find Alchemy strikes the best balance for me between ease of use, interface clarity/depth, and versatility. I've been using Absynth for a long time and more recently added the other two (Omni, Alchemy) to my arsenal, and I'm not sure I agree with the dismissive attitude toward NI's synths. I see plenty of complexity, but little simplicity. Maybe I'm lazy / ignorant of what else is out there, but it's the Omni paradigm of having very simple basic controls at the top level, and the Orb for quick and dirty changes, yet each area can be mined at great depth if you want to get into it. ![]() In the end, I always end up in the same place, of being more interested in Omni expansions than anything else. Zebra might be worth investigating, but again from the demos there's not been a "must have" vibe for me. in that regard Omni seems to be almost inexhaustible with some programming and starting with the soundsource browser, whereas Absynth sounds "cheaper" and less organic to me. Dunno how to get that sound in Omni / Trilian, but there again 10-1 that reflects my own shortcomings) The synth bass as it drops down has an amazing quality where you hear the individual clicks that make up the sound, but they sound cool rather than horrible. ![]() (tangential for example of my need for something else - listen to this track at 1'02. Occasionally I'd like somewhere else to turn as an alternative, but I think it's gotta be as easy to use - I just don't have the patience! I hear Zebra gets a lot of love (and, hey, Zimmer uses it almost exclusively apparently) and Alchemy too - with the latter, again I couldn't get too excited about it next to Omni, though it seemed a good product for what it is. Everything else feels like a chore now, and usually doesn't sound so good. In the end it was Omni's ease of use and diversity that won the day. FM8 seemed pretty good - nevertheless I'd sold my Komplete upgrade 2 weeks after I bought it! Reaktor was pretty much an engineering platform, and an incomprehensible one at that. Very similar to my experience, similar response to Massive too.
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