My question is what sofsynths have you played with? I have about 20 staples and I have yet to encounter any of the problems you allege plague softsynths. Don't get me going about copy protection, but except for portability hassles (computer to computer), I have had no problem with any softsynth I have ever tried.

Hypersonic2 won't run at all in Sonar 5 as a VST - it crashes Sonar - and as a DXi it runs 'sticky', i.e. slow and sluggish as if it's struggling for memory (I have 2GB). Despite repeated calls and forum requests I've had no help from the UK distributor (Arbiter) or Steinberg who seem to be letting the product die, even though it was only recently launched. Disgraceful lack of customer service. Stark contract with the support provided by Roland. NI's Bandstand runs ok if it's loaded in stand-alone mode and connected to Sonar with a virtual cable, e.g. Midi Yoke. But again, as a plugin it's far from smooth.

I haven't had trouble with the lightweight soft synths with small sample libraries, but their sounds aren't at all convincing for that reason.

There is a lot to be said for both hardware and software synths, IMHO. The ability to change sounds quickly, the keyboard to be used as a controller, low computer resource demands, make hardware synths, king of the hill for live performance. lf you're on a budget, or want to have a big variety of sounds, the VFM of softsynths is amazing! I picked up a used XP 60 recently, and I've fallen in love with it. Seems I wear my heart on my sleave when it comes to keyboard stuff.

Hi-

There are many times when I appreciate being able to play and/or compose on my Motif without having to turn on my PC. Personally, I'd hate to have to use softsynths exclusively.

-Susan

ORIGINAL: bunkaroo

I would personally buy a Triton or Kurzweil soft synths in a heart beat.

I have a K2500, and have had it for about 7 years.

There are still stock pads and some user created sample based patches I have that are very distinctive that i will always want to use. If I could use these if a soft synth with no loss of synthesis, that would be great.

V.A.S.T is starting to show its age. 16 years is a long time for any single music technology. I can't believe that Kurzweil will actually try to extend it to a 2700-series. I'm not sure what they are going to do, for replacing their current hardware lines, but to incorporate V.A.S.T into a softsynth might be a good move for them to retain some kind of marketshare.

ORIGINAL: mosspa

I was just wondering why the Triton might sound better than the M1 softsynth. I've obviously never played with a Triton.

I've got a Triton rack and the new virtual M1, John and you pose an interesting question. The Triton's got more horsepower and a ton of great patches...I love it...it's my main workhorse. But that being said many of the multis on the new M1 are richer, fatter and more involving. Understand, this is very subjective...not objective at all. But IMHO it simply depends on what sort of sound you need...sometimes it's a toss-up.

Speak of the devil...

If they would make the Triton as a dedicated controller for the plugin, that would be an amazing system.

Thanks, I was kind of figuring that after reading about the progression of the Korg lineage from the M to the T to the O to the Triton. One thing you can't do with a hardware Triton, however (well at leastr not a great expense), is to clone it and run multiple instances of it in a host like Chainer. The other night I wanted a REALLY big symphonic pad. I got it perfectly with 2 instances of the M1 and one FM7. I'm pretty confident you couldn't come close to this with any hardware synth, Triton or othewise.

Right. It's like I've mentioned in other threads, I would never let go of my Wavestation SR. But to be able to instantiate 6 of them in a project via the virtual WS and have them all sound...well...better than the original is a dream come true.

The other night I wanted a REALLY big symphonic pad. I got it perfectly with 2 instances of the M1 and one FM7. I'm pretty confident you couldn't come close to this with any hardware synth, Triton or othewise.

mosspa--I don't know if you are into mixing, but having a sound that is layered so deeply isn't going to allow room for much else in the mix. Ever hear of the saying, "less is more". The Triton Combis are capable of layering 8 presets. How big of a sound are you trying to create that you can't just sequence multiple MIDI channels to get the same thing?

No matter how "big" your sounds are, we are all squeezing them into the same "16bit/44.1KHz box".

I know this is a tangential observation; but in my case, it's less about gobs of SIMULTANEOUS sounds and more about being able to set up as many types, groups, combinations, etc. as I want all at once. That way I can immediately access them all any time I need them -- though not all together. I think this is why some of the big-time pro's have 300+ track templates feeding 6+ external synth/sampler PC boxes. It's not that they plan to use them all at once all the time; but it's a heck of a lot easier to use a wide variety of sounds if they are all loaded and ready to roll. Multiple instances of soft-synths/soft-samplers (with instant full-configuration preset recall) answer this call quite effectively.