One of the best things about SoftSynths is that they use midi.
Midi in the box is a lot more powerful than midi outside the box.
Every time you run a softsynth you're running a whole 'nother
port with another 16 midi channels .... and no midi cables.
And so on ad infinitum ( or until your cpu chokes).

Another plus that comes to mind is the huge ammount of memory
a PC has to offer .... many sample libraries today are way too big
for a standalone hardware based synth/sampler...

Sure the old analogs are hard to emulate exactly but most of the
analog emulations are so close it only really matters to real hard
core afficionados ... most of us haven't even heard the originals
to be able to compare ... so the emulations sound fine.

There are more advantages ... but that will do for now .....

Hi Fret-

One of the best things about SoftSynths is that they use midi.

So do/can hard synths. I always record my Motif into SONAR or FLS via "live" MIDI first, and only commit it to Audio later.

I don't use that many softsynths (although I've certainly tried out my share!), but I remember just a few years ago when some folks were declaring the death of hardware synths; I think that was premature. P5 1.0 didn't even provide a MIDI Out generator, since everything was supposed to be "in the box" -- 1.5 provided one, however. It seems to me that external synths are making a "comeback" of sorts.

Personally, I love my Motif -- just being able to play and record on it without turning on the PC is very, very nice sometimes. Maybe if I had a more powerful PC I'd use more softsynths, but I can't imagine not having a "real" keyboard to make sounds with, with or without a PC! Then again, I'm old school. My previous hardware synth was a DX7II, and I see lots of software emulations for that as well as the Motif including its Drum Kits, and I think, well, I'm not in such bad shape!

-Susan

ORIGINAL: Susan G

"So do/can hard synths. ......"

G'day Susan,
Sure they can but I was referring more to the ease with which
one can call up another bank of 16 midi channels in softsynth
land and no need to cable them.....

I understand having a hardware keyboard would be great for
those times when you just want to doodle around or whatever......

I'm a guitarist so I guess the hardware synth is not so important to me.
I just reach for the ol' K-Yairi whenever I need to just chill with an instrument
with no hi tech to think about.... understand the need for that completely...

ORIGINAL: jrfernan
".......This, sadly, is one strong short coming of SW synths.

This only effects SW synths that load large samples from disc
(Dimension Pro, Sophistry, Kontakt, Giga etc etc ....)
There are many other SW synths that do not use samples at all and they can
change programs as quick or quicker than hardware synths outside the box.

It negates the premise of SW doing away with HW.
It tells me that I need a LOT of RAM in order to exploit the
power of my SW synths. So, am I really doing away with HW?....."

No you aren't doing away with hardware......
Obviously you need more ram to acommodate the bigger samples,
which would tend to indicate that Dimension Pro will sound better than
most hardware romplers and Sampling Synths because of the higher
quality samples..... I put it to you that the same problem would occur
in any hardware synth if it was using really huge samples.

i think its a two part. when it comes to sound, maybe...but when it comes to creating sound, i would say that softsynth programming is still not an attractive way of creating sound

john

ORIGINAL: FretWizz

ORIGINAL: Susan G

"So do/can hard synths. ......"

I understand having a hardware keyboard would be great for
those times when you just want to doodle around or whatever......

i dont think so, putting on a pc loading up your sequencer insert the softsynth choose that sound..... no sometimes you want! to use a hardware piece just to be creative from the start......if i even think of a softpiano vs real....i sit and play

I just thought of something else. When you change patches on most modern hardware synths, any notes currently playing stay playing the old patch. Any new notes play the new patch. Normally the patch change time is also very very short. Try doing that with a softsynth.....

Actually my main ROMPler is a Korg X5D with a.... wait for it.... 8M sample ROM. Although its acoustic piano does suck, the other sounds are mostly killer, with definitely the most convincing clavinet I've ever heard, for instance, excellent organs and some rather nice brass. How they did that in a design which is now over a decade old (and which I think is still in production, because the whole unit weighs about the same as a guitar and for a five octave keyboard is smaller than almost any controller I've ever seen, so it is still a very good piece of kit for gigging, just tuck it under one arm, with a lightweight X stand in the other, and off you go....)

I have had several M1's, 01/w's, and currently still have a Wavestation EX. The Korg Digital Legacy Collection blows them outa the water for several reasons: sound quality, enormous amount of sounds at your fingertip, ease of integration into computer environment and lastly, the instant gratification that you get by NOT having to patch a real synth into a mixer/computer and fiddle with levels! The hardware synths I still use are for live performance, but I am leaning towards possibly going the route of laptop...not as visually exciting, but then again, who has to know?

I use Reason 3.0 these days as my main writing tool, because I can easily sketch out an idea quickly and have an tremendous amount of sounds at my fingertips. I then rewire the tracks into Sonar 6 and convert to audio to perform my slicing and dicing from that point on, and add various real world vocals/instruments.

I still have a Roland JX-8P connected through a mixer to my computer. I think the whole point of any argument about hardware vs. software is the decision we have as artists to qualify either for the creation of our songs, and that somehow we have the wisdom to even know the difference.

Use whatever it takes......

ORIGINAL: FretWizz

ORIGINAL: Susan G

"So do/can hard synths. ......"

G'day Susan,
Sure they can but I was referring more to the ease with which
one can call up another bank of 16 midi channels in softsynth
land and no need to cable them.....

I understand having a hardware keyboard would be great for
those times when you just want to doodle around or whatever......

I'm a guitarist so I guess the hardware synth is not so important to me.
I just reach for the ol' K-Yairi whenever I need to just chill with an instrument
with no hi tech to think about.... understand the need for that completely...

Don't those guitar things need cables and ports and amplifiers and mics etc to get them into Sonar (not to mention all those pesky strings)- wouldn't a guitar soft synth be better then

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Different things make different sounds - in any given situation some'll be more suitable than others - pick the one that suits it best.

ORIGINAL: rockdawg

Are there any soft synths that can compare in sound quality to a real synth? I tried the Edirol VSC that came with sonar three and wasn't very impressed. I'm trying to get more out of the computer with less outboard equipment.(Lack of room)
ARF!

Nowadays, most commercial soft synths equal and sometimes even outdo similar real synths. You also have to realize that most modern synths are actually very specialized computers.