Basslines: digital is not analog

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532nm
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Post by 532nm »

analog synth, digital synth, stepping on a duck, i dont care as long as it makes a cool sound.
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jgb
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Post by jgb »

Analogue - slightly overdriven at many times
Digital - pristine

The overdrive adds a bit of harmonic distortion, which many times feels "better". The simple solution for the digital synths that might not sound as nice is to run them through a good sounding overdrive (analog or digital, whatever you like). For me, if I feel that a sound is too clean and sterile, I run it through the mutator/re-201/ms-20/et.c.

My view on this, take it or leave it. :)
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Ruso
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Post by Ruso »

I don't believe anyone has really answered your question. True analogue gear(not using a chip to generate sound) sounds so much better because it's built on alague circuts which creates dynamic sounds. Slight voltage changes and other influences especially if the module uses real analogue tubes creates a LOT of slight variations making the sound more organic and I guess alive. The overdrive statement above is also true and analogue saturators and tubes make the sound a lot better then any digital program can.

No matter how much programming you put into emulating analogue gear the variations can be acomplished by using random generations which in analogue gear are not just random... for example, say you have a lightbulb in your room, when someone turns on something in another room it will dim for a split second, the pattern is not random, it will have a peak darker moment, and a fast build up to its normal brightness or maybe a little less bright then normal..... Little changes like that causes electronic components to do that too in analogue gear.

anyways I hope that answers the question.
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Brian Ffar
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Post by Brian Ffar »

532nm wrote:analog synth, digital synth, stepping on a duck, i dont care as long as it makes a cool sound.
Amen
clairo
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Post by clairo »

Ruso wrote:I don't believe anyone has really answered your question. True analogue gear(not using a chip to generate sound) sounds so much better because it's built on alague circuts which creates dynamic sounds. Slight voltage changes and other influences especially if the module uses real analogue tubes creates a LOT of slight variations making the sound more organic and I guess alive. The overdrive statement above is also true and analogue saturators and tubes make the sound a lot better then any digital program can.

No matter how much programming you put into emulating analogue gear the variations can be acomplished by using random generations which in analogue gear are not just random... for example, say you have a lightbulb in your room, when someone turns on something in another room it will dim for a split second, the pattern is not random, it will have a peak darker moment, and a fast build up to its normal brightness or maybe a little less bright then normal..... Little changes like that causes electronic components to do that too in analogue gear.

anyways I hope that answers the question.
Probably you do. (-)
Thanks.
Cla.
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Ruso
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Post by Ruso »

Brian Ffar wrote:
532nm wrote:analog synth, digital synth, stepping on a duck, i dont care as long as it makes a cool sound.
Amen
yea amen aswell but it has nothing to do with the original question nor does it help this topic in any way :roll:

he was asking a technical question about why even analogue-emulating software does not sound like true analogue hardware.
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Post by gmschroeder »

I thought I answered it quite well.
Digital stuff is usually designed to sound analog.
It isn't analog.
So, it often sounds like sh!t.
Some people like analog, some like digital. Most rational people think that each sounds better in certain contexts.

As far as a technical answer:
Digital waveforms are made of a large volume of very short analog waves that are then arranged by you/software into shapes sort of like analog waves.

I may be talking out of my butt. Someone correct me if I am.

Here's something that came up by simply typing "analog digital" into google.
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question7.htm
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Farabee
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Post by Farabee »

Half the stuff people gab about having "amazing basslines" is rather simple sinewaves through some smart-minded EQ.

We're to the point where you don't need analogue to make a sine wave. I'm pretty sure we've been to that point and passed it years ago.
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