I wasn't doubting the word of others in the thread that have both instruments, and I know that online demos MAY not reflect the reality of the instrument

in the case of of the Korg virtual instruments, the online demos where decidedly horrible and turned me off. I'm not sure why I eventually took a chance on buying it (may have been a boredom-induced purchase) but the package turned out to be excellent...and it comes with a whole set (lots!!) of world class VST effects -directly- from Triton.

Finally the product support is excellent (on: KorgForums.com)

HOWEVER - the digital edition has moved to Dongle based copy protection

ORIGINAL: D.Triny
Hopefully Spectrasonics will do some Rolandesque guitars in the future.

Okay, that is why we didn't agree in the first place, why I said that a virtual Triton was as un-exciting as Roland's VSC...

Virtual synths are one thing - after all, emulating electric circuitry is somethng a pc can do quite well... Wheter it resides on a dedicated underpowered chip or on a pc, synthesis is one thing... But if you're after conventionnal instruments like guitars and pianos, I see no interest in Triton-like instruments because: a) synths suck at recreating those b) if I were to develop a virtual instrument, I wouldn't want to waste my time reproducing the lame-ass guitar sound of a triton when there are tons of free soundfonts on the net that will most likely sound even better. All avilable for free when using RGC's SFZ.... And then, there are quality libraries... Which won't even match a real guitar. Still...

Sure, a classic FM electric piano patch might be something one might look after... T'was the best in it's time. I mean, Depeche Mode used it, so it's got that classic sound. .. But a Triton Piano? In these days? When there are free alternatives that sound better? A Triton sound is supposed to go unnoticed, at best... I can hardly see how that would become something sought after.

But if you're after conventionnal instruments like guitars and pianos, I see no interest in Triton-like instruments because: a) synths suck at recreating those....

nope...I am precisely -not- after conventional sounding guitars. I am after "urban guitar sounds". Like say the Spanish Guitar in Triton sounds exactly like the guitar used in B2K's "Bump, Bump, Bump"

If I'm looking for a "real" sounding guitar...it's easier to simply have a real friend play it. :)

But a Triton Piano? In these days? When there are free alternatives that sound better?

There are many excellent, real sounding pianos out there, if you are doing classical or jazz...but for example the piano used by Rodney Jerkins for Mary J. Bliges 'Enough Cryin' or Michael B. Cox in her song "Be Without You" do not sound like great pianos...but the "fake" piano sound is what is working right now.

I just did not know that such sounds had already beacome classic - don't get me wrong - I don't think they're any worst than, say, the Hypercanva's Piano - but to me, to look after the Triton Piano sound in these days is just like having a classical orchestra in front of you and telling them that, finally, you'll be using that sweet free 2mb orchestral soundfont you just found cos it's easier to mix... Which makes me think, while we're at it, when will we finally see a VST plug-in that will allow 192khz/24bit to recreate that good old Soundblaster Live sound?

Edit - Sorry David... Bad day... I've already erased most of my posts tonight. This one will live on and I'll be waiting to read you guys opinions and trying to keep an open mind. -End of Edit.

I recommend half and half

but to me, to look after the Triton Piano sound in these days is just like having a classical orchestra in front of you

that might be where the disconnect is...I wouldn't use the Triton piano for a classical piece or present it to a classical orchestra. As a matter of fact I wouldn't present any virtual piano, sampled piano or even an upright piano to a classical orchestra out of respect for the genre and players.

But a classical orchestra's needs are taste can be dramatically different from that of an urban/pop teeny bopper (and they are people too )

IMO Soft Synth vendors have rarely had the will, energy and ability to effectively address urban sounds and workflow. But Spectrasonics and KLC are really getting there.

D. Triny, I am with you all the way.

Earlier in the thread, I refered to the musicality of synths. Perhaps this is a foreign concept to many. It's refreshing for someone else to understand that some people are looking for GREAT patches. The Triton's, Motifs, and Fantoms, excel at making those great sounding, inspirational patches that drive urban/hip hop music. Unfortunately many softsynths fail at these type of inspiring sounds. Are softsynths technically capable of these types of sounds?...perhaps. I just haven't heard many.

The realism of a softsynth instrument emulation does not mean it is a great patch. Like stated earlier, Perhaps Korg, Yamaha, Roland and others have the best patch programmers available to them whereas most softsynth manufacturers seem content a dolling out realistic, yet, mediocre patches with their products.

I think the urban/hiphop market will fully dive into the softsynth "thing" when the softsynth manufacturers start putting great, inspirational patches in these things instead of the bland stuff.

ORIGINAL: WhyBe
The Triton's, Motifs, and Fantoms, excel at making those great sounding, inspirational patches that drive urban/hip hop music. Unfortunately many softsynths fail at these type of inspiring sounds. Are softsynths technically capable of these types of sounds?...perhaps. I just haven't heard many.

The realism of a softsynth instrument emulation does not mean it is a great patch. Like stated earlier, Perhaps Korg, Yamaha, Roland and others have the best patch programmers available to them whereas most softsynth manufacturers seem content a dolling out realistic, yet, mediocre patches with their products.

I agree, with one exception: I don't think this observation is limited to only the urban/hip-hop music genres. I've heard a lot of soft-synths that sound good...but not immediately GREAT. I know the audio/synthesis/generation quality is better; but I can't just sit down and work with the included presets, like I can with a MOTIF ES, for example. The few that I've actually purchased (GPO, Wusikstation with TSW+T3 presets, & some Giga libraries [PMI Bosendofer 290 being the best]) each have at least some patches/samples that suggest real programming effort/skill. Making the product sound good out of the box is important. I like to tweak and customize...but I also like to start from something/somewhere. It's a pain to have to rebuild the wheel from scratch with every new product one tries/buys.

Yamaha has taken a good approach to this whole concept in their hard disk recorders: All of the FX have good basic presets that make a distinct impression right away and bucket-loads of configuration options. You start with one of the presets, tweak a few things to make it your own and then save it as a user preset. It makes learning new features/FX/systems so much more efficient.

Without getting into what Korg calls its latest ROMpler technology, what are the differences between a Triton and an M1? Also, I'm not talking about user interfaces, LCD screens or slider counts.

I should add that many Dimension Pro demos sound pretty impressive. If the presets are as good as the demos make them sound, then Cakewalk has succeed here where many soft-synth designers fall short.