VST's vs hardware

DiscoPharmacy

New member
I've been wondering lately if there is any diffrence between VST plugins and hardware gear. I have considered buying some hardware gear like the minimoog, i just wanna know if it would be worth buying and if there is that big of a diffrence?
 
I asked myself the same question last year. Bought myself the Nord-Lead 4R and I'm very happy with it. Creating sounds on it is much more fun. All those knobs, I love it.

Does the Nord-Lead sound better then for example NI Massive VST? Yes! Good enough to be so more expensive then a VST? At the end, I guess so,... maybe... It's the complete experience for me. I get much faster results with the Nord-Lead then with working the mouse. It's also much more fun for me.

I guess in a way: You pay extra for a better sound and better hands-on experience. The sad part, you pay a lot extra. It's not only the hardware synth, but you also need an audio interface to bring the audio back into your DAW.

But it's not really needed, you can stick with VST's just as good. Going hardware is expensive, needs more space, but also more fun!

So when you do want to take the step. Think good about it! For example, do you want a mono or a polyphonic synth? Can you save the presets to a PC? How many audio outputs does it have? Does it have USB MIDI or do you also need a MIDI interface?
 
Vsts have made vast improvements over the years. I use Waves plugs and they are terrific for example but now lets condsider the Minimoog.

You can get an Arturia MiniV for 50 dollars on sale sometimes like it just was. but once again it's probably 99. For that 99 you can have it on multiple tracks all at one time and still change any of them later.

But rather if you have hardware, you must record each track one by one.

The MiniV sounds great and creamy. But perhaps you don't know how much some synths can be limited by only have a couple different types of crossover filters. I like my synths better than some Arturia stuff because I have a vast array of crossover filters not just for example a high pass and a band pass. That's very limiting. Also I have played on the MiniMoog by Artruia and I can't say it does a well rounded job at bass like it does for leads. Perhaps the hardware is the same as they suggest.

I recommend waiting for a sale and buy the Arturia big pack if you want Moog. That way you can have all the synths they offer for a cheap price. Some for bass, leads, and whatever else. They all differ pretty greatly. The MiniMoog is my least favorite personally and least all around capable unless ofcourse you want "that" sound.
 
If your music depends on the original sound of a synth then I would suggest that using authentic hardware will make a difference but for most of us a vst is a much better experience and workflow than you will have with any hardware. Hardware is quite expensive and limiting in many ways. A vst just needs a computer to run. You can carry and use it anywhere and follows any update you do to your studio. On top of that very little people will notice any difference between quality vst and hardware modules.
So I would argue not to buy hardware and stick with vst instruments. It's the digital age after all ;-)
 
if you want some dirt and warmth in your sound you can do alot with outboard gear this way
outboard gear makes imo more fun , like kibosh said. all those knobs.playing arround...
so if you have enough room, why not buying some hardware synths?
 
Last edited:
Many hardware synths have vst software editors/ plugins, which offer great automation capabilities and decent midi controller functionality, I have a novation ultranova, which offers it's own built in sound card, as do many. I suppose it boils down to budget, I like the look and sound of the ACCess virus synths Access Music | The Virus TI - Totally Integrated Synthesizers, my budget won't stretch. You may be looking at a one off purchase, do your homework it's a competetive market, but as ever and like others have said quality costs money.
Check out this other link for other Hardware options - Access Virus TI Polar | Vintage Synth Explorer
 
I recently was searching for a bass patch on the Arturia mini moog vst and found the bass patches to be very uninspiring. I ended up using a finger bass patch on a $99 yamaha beginner keyboard and it sounded 10 x better. So yes go hardware!
 
Back
Top