On Mon, 2013-05-13 at 22:38 +0100, James Stone wrote: are for sure much better than Linux samplers, but check, if those vintage synth include microchips, that aren't available anymore. If so, search for survival sets.

On Mon, 13 May 2013, James Stone wrote: Well, my studio is mostly embracing hardware too, but for totally different reasons. I've found that if you look, it's amazing what's out there as SoundFonts. I've found all the kinds of things I used to look for as libraries for rack samplers and been disappointed, either because it didn't exist or the quality was poor. (For example, I've bought a SoundFont of a Persian santur string instrument that's just amazing... I like sample libraries of exotic string instruments because they can't be faked by synthesizers and you'd likely never learn to play the real thing ever.) So SoundFonts have actually been exciting for me and not a disappointment at all. Here's where I do still embrace hardware though: * In the sampling arena, the thing that any hardware sampler still does better than LinuxSampler or FluidSynth is having good resonant filters that act like resonant filters. Originally, the notion behind inventing the sampler was that with traditional analog synthesizers, you might have an architecture that looks (simplified) like this: Oscillators -> Filters -> ADSR (envelopes) -> AUDIO OUT The filters provided most of the magic that made the synthesizer sound cool, but the oscillators at the start of the chain were basically just tone generators, that made simple waveforms like triangle waves, sawtooth waves, square waves, etc. Filters can do magic with that, but eventually you get to the point where it's just boring. What if the waveform going into the filters could be literally anything you wanted it to be? What if it could be acoustic sounds from the real world, and you could use those sounds as if they were a signal from an oscillator? And then feed *that* into your filters...wow! A super-synth! And the old hardware samplers gave us that, but it wasn't long before people forgot that was what we originally wanted them for. It soon became sufficient for a sampler to simply play back sounds without doing anything terribly interesting to the waves, filter-wise or otherwise. Linux sampler programs seem to be in this state, where the implementation of real resonant filters that behave like what you hear in hardware Midi equipment and can be made an integral part of a performance/patch just isn't there (the filters sound more like mere EQ cuts). They play back sounds, and they may even have ADSR/envelope control, but they're not quite what I'd call synthesizers that use samples for oscillator tones. If you have a real sampler around, you'll still have access to this world. If it's from the 80's, the filters will likely even be real analog. * In the plugin arena (effects, EQ's, compressors, etc.), let's face it: Though we obviously can't complain about software that's being written for us for free or with voluntary contributions, it still must be said, there aren't exactly a lot of LADSPA/LV2 plugins out there you could sell in a commercial retail bundle for over $500 USD like some of the stuff that's out there as VST's for Mac/Windows. Frankly, the quality just isn't there. Some of these EQ's actually make the audio sound worse than it did untreated nomatter what setting you use. The compressors are flaky, and that's without even getting into comparing with what you can get from a real one built with real tubes. Let's not even get into the situation with reverb. The reason they're able to charge so much for plugins in the Mac/Windows world is because those plugins are often just as good as your rack effects, but easier to use because they run inside your DAW. They have the same value as some hardware gear. Until Linux plugins can say the same, you really have two options: Run Windows VST's under Linux DAW's (which can be very tricky, and an additional technical odyssey to go distracting you from your actual music), or...just do what we used to do in the old days...get some rack gear! * Personality... I find that even when plugins and virtual instruments have been done well, they still seem like vampires without a soul. There's nothing like working on real instruments that you have to mic, record, and treat with respect. It sounds better, it feels better, and in the end, you feel a lot less like you tried to paint the Mona Lisa with a mouse. [end of rant...some things I feel strongly about I guess...] -- + Brent A. Busby + "We've all heard that a million monkeys + Sr. UNIX Systems Admin + banging on a million typewriters will + University of Chicago + eventually reproduce the entire works of + James Franck Institute + Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, + Materials Research Ctr + we know this is not true." -Robert Wilensky