Signal by Output and Wide Blue Sound's Orbit

http://outputsounds.com/

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlLY8tFzxs0

Signal is new and has character and sizzle. I'm not posting a sale or special, just info that it exists.

I have Rev from Output Sounds and since that is solid I took a chance on Signal which was just recently released.

I've only just started figuring it out.

First impressions:

- if I had to choose between budgeting for Omnisphere 2 or Signal I wouldn't even consider Signal.

- they advertise 40GB of source sounds on their promos. It ends up being only 19GB on your disk. I learned they crammed 40GB into some fancy lossless compression. So that's great, I got 21GB back that I was concerned about losing. Definitely a win there.

- it's a racehorse. Not quite sure yet how to control it.

- looks very cool. Seems like about everything I touch sets off a good sound. Just don't know how to control it yet.

- presets are slick

- Omnisphere is 500 times more intuitive and controllable and more powerful

- Signal is raring to go, with lots of stuff Pre-automated to get you the sounds fast.

Over time I think I'll be glad I have it. Right now just adjusting to its unusual interface and approach to everything.

vladasyn
Thanks for the review. I am considering it and Omnesphere 2 and was wondering what would be better...

I've been getting into Signal. Hands down I would pick Omnisphere 2 if I had to pick only one.

However, if somehow you could rationalize stretching your budget a little bit extra then Signal clearly has some terrific aspects.

It's a lot more controllable than my first impressions. What I discovered is that in Kontakt I always keep the little keyboard at the bottom of the screen active on the screen. So much so that I had almost forgotten there is a button to turn off that little keyboard display.

It just happens that Signal uses the whole Kontakt instrument space for its snazzy UI. It's a full UI.

Some of the most important controls are not visible if you have the little keyboard showing in your Kontakt instance.

Once I watched a few more demos and explanations and saw that some important controls (like sound selection and on/off per sound) were hidden behind that keyboard display, and then turned off the keyboard display, I could much more easily control Signal and pull up all kinds of sounds and rhythms.

It's a different kind of synth and worth it if you have the budget. Super contemporary. But if you can only afford one around this time I wouldn't miss out on the new Omnisphere release.

I discovered Signal and Orbit last night and now all excited, but I have car payments... :( Is there reliable and easy to implement MIDI learn? I see in demos that they use mouse to change parameters and knobs on the screen. That can not be recorded, therefor- it would not change real time. I noted that Orbit has 4 sequencers and I think- it lets you records, let's say Cutoff movement right in to the sound preset. I like to record Cutoff, Reso and all others on a midi track by using MIDI Learn. The question is- in the Signal- those big slider controllers- do they have a MIDI learn?
 
I skipped Omnesphere and I am ok without it, but I was considering to get it this time. The thing is- it is soooooooo big- I have no space on hard drives. I can find some space but that would be one of a last things I can add as I am not only out of hard drive space- I am also out of SATA ports, so I can not add any more hard drives. I have extensive collection of hardware synth, such as Roland Fantom G, Yamaha Motif, Korg M3, even Triton. I have East West orchestral collections and Kontact 10 Ultimate and IK Multimedia Sample Takn 3- what Omnesphere can add to this other than take last space on my drive? I produce strange electronic music. I do use orchestral sounds such as strings in it but I dont really need any more of this. I am considering Omnesphere only because everybody says it is so great, but great compared to what is the question... So it is still hard to decide. I like strange tools, so Signal and Orbit can be good if they really innovative as they claim...

Any luck with Midi Learn? Thank you.

dcumpian
I was this close to getting Signal when I heard about Orbit. I watched demos of both and I think Signal is certainly deep and powerful, but Orbit was simply fun to use. I have REV, and I haven't really used it as much as I thought I would, so that also swayed me a little towards Orbit, though that is purely an emotional thing on my part, lol.
 
Regards,
Dan

 

vladasyn
Any luck with Midi Learn? Thank you.

Kind of awkward to say, but I now have both.  I don't know what got into me.  Kind of in an exploratory mode, the promise of each drew me in.  I actually only want Omnisphere 2.0. After playing with both I'm glad to have them yet still really keenly interested in Omnisphere 2.0. After that, no more synth buys for a good long while I hope.
 
Regarding which is more to fun to play with, so far it's both. I'm having quick results.  The macro sliders on Signal are a wonderful thing.  The presets are fanciful, and tweakable.
 
Regarding whether the Signal macros are midi learn ready they certainly are.  Super easy to get them going.
 
I like Orbit because it has potential to do subtle stuff.  The included presets are dynamo, but can be made subtle.. I'm rewatching the demos to get the hang of it.  Orbit is certainly capable of great stuff, from background subtle pulse rhythms to cooler more impressive pulse rhythms.  A non-user-friendly aspect I've encountered so far with Orbit is that although it's easy to pull up presets, in terms of saving your alterations with your own preset name it can be done, but at this point I need to go outside of the program and into the directory where the presets get saved to move them into my own folder.  It does not seem that you can do that within the program at this point as far as I can tell.  Kind of a nuisance, but as long as I can save the things I'm working on or have happened on by chance that's the important thing.
 
So far I've created a piece using Signal as an additive element in a song and it sounds pretty slick.  I don't have enough experience with it yet to venture into using Signal as a primary instrument which it is raring to be, but as far as an added element to a song it is easy to get it to work without much effort and add some sizzle.
 
Nevertheless, with all that said, overall I know I'll get more of what I want faster, easier and better with Omnisphere 2.0.  But these two are fun side instruments to experiment with and find some unusual pluses and pulses.