NI Absynth

[redmond_herring]

wow.

I've had a copy for a while now and just want to openly express my feelings for the thing.

when I have a spare hour or 3, I somteimes just sit and play it with a controller keyboard - over and over and over...

Its tweakable to the absolute max and some of the atmospheres are simply incredible. Nothing cheesy, nothing banging, just fantastic scapes and washes. Easily the best atmospheric VST I've heard although Im sure theres many I've never seen.

I find it quite cpu intensive, and as yet havent used it in many tracks, lots and lots of experiments and soundscapes though.

Anyone else love it? hate it? general thoughts?

:) :P :p

[Phibbler]

Yup it's a good'un
Like the wave form hi-jinks you can get up to plus the multi stage envelopes

I prefer reaktor though..

Soo much more control...

[Sean]

i love it love it love it. its beautiful for creating those eerie atmospheres i love so much. i havent really sat down to fully explore its capabilities, but i've gotten into it a bit and its crazy :)

the sounds

oh my the sounds.

[polarbear]

well, I am a beta tester

probably the best synth NI have made so far is FM7. Christ I can dump msysex for my TX802 patches into it, and exactly mimic my TX802 without the noise or the d-a-d-a-d process.

but absynth does rock for those that don't want to delve to far into why a filter sounds warm (Reaktor). I'm a big Reaktor fan.

I've always ended up replacing parts made for Absynth with the Nord Modular. I suggest that it's a synth full of inspiration, but it doesn't sit so well in the mix.

Anyway - Macintosh Kontakt should be out soon - it won't be long. we're on the first RC now.

[phunkdust]

its probably my favourite piece of virtual gear...

resources dont seem to be a problem for me tho, I don't have much trouble running 5 or 6 instances of it...

[driload]

i prefer Reaktor because ive been sent some incredible Ensembles over the months since i bought it and i am some-what inclined towards the joys of synthesis

i use Reaktor a lot as an in-line fx processor also, which has let me sell off ALL the fx units i had bar the one Kaoss pad which is used as a midi controller (especially for the VJ program ArKaos, but thats another story)


anyway Absynth can wash out some beautiful sounds....mmm

i have to agree with Polarbear though that FM7 is one of the greatest things that NI has ever created

Pro-52 is still crap in my eyes, but FM7... mmmm

i recently went on a net spree for ALL the DX7 sysex i could find.... the majority were lame (this IS the DX7 of course) but there were a lot of really nice fx and pad sounds.

polarbear im assuming that the TX802 was that wierdly shaped FM sound module?


anyway back to the FM7.... ohh yeah. i was never big on FM synthesis (i preffered subtractive VA's) but the more i used FM7 the more i was in love. at first it was great evil dnb basslines then as i got used to the oddly chaotic method of FM synthesis i even made drum loops and eerily evolving basslines

it wont replace our supernova's but for the price and just how GENTLE it is on my processors.... cant be beat

easily the BEST purchase made since i decided to start actually buying the warez i was using!

[polarbear]

the 802 was the third rackmount FM synth Yamaha made - after the TX816 and the DX7 table top.

It was the FM version of the DX7II - 32 algorithm, 6 operator, 16 bit, 8 part multitimbral, 16 voice, 64 patches, 32 multis, 10 outputs (8+2)

Picked it up for a bargain ($600) in 1998 and it's done nothing but the best basses in the world ever since. Doesn't need compression, doesn't need EQ.

magic!

[polarbear]

> It was the FM version of the DX7II -

sorry - I mean't the rackmount version of the DX7II

[phunkdust]

polarbear - I have a DX7II I wouldnt mind reviving... got any nice patches in sysex I can use?

At the moment I'm playing around with the (massive) Jack Deckard collection, there are some really nice sounds in there, and the DX7II can sound quite spectacular with a little FX

[driload]

ah you mean this jack deckard
http://www.netwalk.com/~jdeckard


i think something i downloaded of his had 264 files in it, which took bloody ages to sort through


who would have thought that FM synthesis based on the yamaha explosion would actually come back into favour in a USEFUL way


what next.... roland grooveboxes becoming popular? :lol:

[Phibbler]

In ten years time , and 2nd groove boxes being really cheap(maybe like $300 max ), i could see them being really popular

[phunkdust]

i doubt grooveboxes will be as stupidly sought after as the 303 tho... who pays $2k for a shitty mono analogue synth anyway?

the DX7II is a lovely piece of machinery, much nicer and more usable than the original (for a start it's stereo, and it's got a better DAC, and the patch select buttons arent shitty)

I bought it for $3000, it's worth $2000 now, and worth every cent. It's a tribute to the build quality that it's still in full working order despite being more than 10 years old, being dropped and kicked and mistreated many times.

[phunkdust]

oh, and on the subject of loading sysex into FM7

I've found from loading patches from syx both into my DX7II and FM7, is that FM7 can't properly do a lot of the functions of the DX7II...

[driload]

really?

what have you noticed?



anything serious?

oen thing im glad about FM7 is the number of extra operators and how quickly you can edit with the mouse... makes lazy twiddling a little quicker i guess

[phunkdust]

most of the time its not quite the full sound, if that makes sense...

one biggy i've found is FM7 doesnt do the DX7's LFO properly - for example a patch with a square LFO with full range set to amp mod - so you get an on/off/on/off sound... FM7 can't do it properly and you just get loud/soft/loud/soft

I'm thinking of doing a feature on the DX7, while I'm at it I'll record a few patch samples from it, and do the same with FM7 to compare the two...

[driload]

do so!

what you say makes sense about the "not the full sound" thing because the nature of of FM is based on each operator working on each other and FM7 has more so i guess SOMETHING gets lost in the process

the LFO thing is interesting! i was just toolin around with the spastic variations fm7 has, like 5th formants and crazy jagged-y things... not to mention all the bizarre envelope presets.... although i guess they arent really envelopes.... ah well they look like envelopes so until i know better... their fuken envelopes :P


oh and why im using FM7 so much these past few days is because my processor isnt up to the strain of Reaktor sync'd in Sonar.... i have found some AMAZING reaktor ensembles but have to record a loop to the sampler to be able to run reaktor to record the midi... if you follow me....

damn it i need more power captain!

if anyone wants some kick-ass ensembles let me know. im very impressed with the EMU Z-Plane module and the JP-8000 one too. ooo hoooh and while im at it, all you hard house fans/producers... i came across this AWESOME hoover patch in Reason!

it uses 12 channels of synth, all clones with subtle detuhning etc etc... sounds more like a hoover as we know it the an alpha juno (where it comes from!)


likewise, i would very much appreciate anyone offering/recommending any good patches or ensembles also. i usually dedicate about one day a week to JUST making new sounds or looking through patches. thats the "silly buggers" day when people are actually allowed anywhere near me >:P


and apologies for straying WAY off the topic here....

absynth eh guys? :)

[phunkdust]

dri i'd love some reaktor patches, i've never used reaktor just because I couldnt get my head around programming it...

(this, ironically, coming from a guy who can program a DX7II using the cryptic 2x14 lcd display)

[driload]

hahah that IS irony... fm synthesis does my head in with a monitor, god help you lcd screeners!


i will post a new thread once ive uploaded the good ones


the only downside of Reaktor is it draws me in and i lose track of time. yeah it can do your head in if you want to say, emulate an Access Virus (and no im not kidding, someone has), but its a real treat if you suddenly want to vocode something or even if you want to experiment

i had real fun a few months ago just making these crazy fx ensembles and going out and buying stupid amounts of second hand records from Lifeline and op shops. i got the crew around, we all had our respective mind altering substances (vodka for me) and spent the night with the minidisc recording in the background while we randomly threw a record on, scratched, whatever, and someone else manned Reaktor, adding modules and fx and filters etc etc

got some great samples out of doing that, which is how the Clouds, Rocks, Stars Superfluid song came into existence.



BAD BAD BAD Reaktor side effect is it makes you keep wanting to upgrade your system, no matter what you have :(


im in AWE at some of these reaktor-savvy programmers. they make shit house music (thats if they ever finish anything) but boy do they make some amazing ensembles!

[polarbear]

I have a fantastic ALPHA JUNO-1 reaktor emulation. complete with samples of the original waves. with THE original HOOVER sound.

(btw driload - does brentan (thief) still have jen-e's old alpha juno???!??)

I think it came from the User Library.

re FM7 - I'll look into that LFO thing. I don't tend to use FM7 (or the TX) for those sorts of patches - If you're going to have an LFO do rhythmic things it best be able to sync to MIDI clocks, and that stuffs too easy on the JP and the NORD.

(or in KONTAKT, EXS or ATTACK).

[polarbear]

oh - and btw - re FM synth programming

It's always easier if you're doing it in a modular synth - much easier to understand the relationships between operators.

that said, I generally program my TX through sound diver using the motor mix as an interface.

Then it gets interesting.

[phunkdust]

i lack any sort of dx-programmer software, so im stuck with manual programming and offloading sounds to a librarian prog.

[driload]

s, i was over a friends place just to use his Absynth

mmm

the overall feel reminds me of the XP-30 for some reason.

nice