Synths: Analog VS Digital: Round One.
January 23rd, 2008 by Hexfix93
http://www.velvetacidchrist.com/synth/planbfreqVSjp8080.mp3
Roland JP8080 VS Modular Plan B Osc and Livewire Frequensteiner. Analog VS Digital! Round one. Yup I did a shoot out on a super basic sounds with a multimode filter. A basic SAW wav, Into the filter with the same env settings on each. Simple octave bass patch. Then I play with the filters while I record. Only Good ears will tell the difference. How it works, The first sound is High Pass Filter, Synth A then a pause then Synth B. The second sound is Lowpass Filter, Synth A then a pause then Synth B. The third sound is Bandpass Filter, Synth A then a pause then Synth B.
Go ahead and guess which is which… on each sound.
http://www.velvetacidchrist.com/synth/8080vssh2.mp3
This time its the Jp8080 VS The SH2. Two tests, The first is played up high with the filter open in lowpass mode, simple saw. First Synth A will play then pause then Synth B will play. Second test is a bass octave saw with the filter open. First Synth A will play then pause then Synth B Will Play.
Guess which one is which.
Results: On Modular VS Jp8080 multimode filter, Synth A on every instance was the Plan B with Frequenstiener. Synth B was the Jp8080.
On SH2 VS Jp8080 lp clip, Synth A was the SH2, and Synth B was the 8080 on each instance.
What should of given it away, the clicky envs on the 8080 mimic the jupiter 6. Not to mention that the plan b and sh2 glow, they have this high frequency sound that sounds 3D and pops out, A better presence. As to where the digital sounded more dull and sunk back. It subtle, but this is a big deal in musical terms. On the sh2 8080 lead comparison, if you listen with head phones, if you focuse in on the background, you can hear the synth b aliasing, like broken machine with odd harmonics, you can really hear it with head phones.. This causes ear fatigue. And one of the biggest reasons I hate digital oscillators.. Only two people got it all right, Elegia here, and javier from matrixsynth got it right. I made the test very simple, just to show you the differences on a basic level, it gets even worse for digital the more complex the sounds get. The lead i made super annoying, just a raw high pitched saw with the filter open. This shows how bad digital aliases, and how the analog does not.
Share ThisCategory: 08-Synth Reviews!, 16-Hexfix93 Blog | 
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:10 pm
for the first mp3
i liked A on the first one ( a little crunchier when open than B), B on the second one (a little rounder sounding than A), and A on the third one( i didn’t like the clicks on the attack on B) … actually i didn’t like the way the 3rd one sounded at all, but that’s a just personal preference thing
the second mp3 was really annoying U_U
i don’t know if it was the fact that it was compressed into a mp3 container, but both A and B sounded like they had tons of digital artifacts, but B sounded a little better. on the second part, i can;t really say which one i liked better, but A sounded more even in tone where as B had some mid low coming through with the saw
over all, i am not as impressed with the frequensteiner as I first was.. for an analog filter it has this dryness to it that reminds me of waldorf’s analog filters. as for the sh2 vs. the 8080… I really didn’t like either of them high up as they caused me instant ear fatigue. and for the open osc with no filter, both of them sounded very similar, with only that mid-low bass coming through on synth B’s patch
maybe in person these might sound a little better…
January 24th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Hint. Don’t listen to the second one full blast.
In fact. Try listening to these on your mac notebook speakers too.
When you blast music on big speakers, it becomes a lot harder to tell differences. At lower volumes, only one of the lead sounds cause ear fatigue..
January 24th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Oh, and don’t judge the filter, i used conservative settings on the filter. When i drive it hard, it is vicious sounding. The frequensteiner is a great high pass filter. That is its specialty, i hate the LP, the BP is ok and can sound mean too. But the plan b evil twin BP is the king of BP right now.
I am also getting this filter soon:
http://www.rewiremusic.com/Audio/Demos/REwire_-_Harvestman_Polivoks_VCF_Demo.mp3
holy shit dude, that filter rips and smokes the moog and roland filters to no end..
January 24th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
On the filter samples, I like version A the best on all 3 examples. I listened on my little crappy pc speakers though…
on the SH2 vs the JP8080, I like example A the best in these examples too.
So which one is which? maybe I’ll have a listen a bit later on my better speakers…
January 24th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
WOW! - I just listened to that other filter - harvestman? - whatever it is, it is wicked! Awesome. How is it set up? Is it for a modular? Is it free-standing?