Hardware Synth vs. Software Synth?

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DylanRicci

New member
I currently use Reason & Logic and am using a basic USB MIDI Keyboard Having said that, I produce music within a jazz-indie genre. Artists most similar would be Toro y Moi, Washed Out, and King Krule. I know my way around software but I'm starting to question if it's time to start getting hardware and if it's worth it. If it is, I don't know where to begin. I don't know what's better about getting a Moog over a Korg or what not. If anyone can help me, I'd really appreciate it - if you have any questions, let me know!!
 
Both hardware synths and software synths do the same thing.

Depends on what you want though. Soft-synths are cheaper ( way cheaper ), and you can map the controls to a midi controller. Plus its already connected to your DAW so no need to midi out, etc. Everything is on your computer/laptop so you don't need to tote a lot of gear around. Just your laptop and keyboard.

I've never used a hardware synth so i can't speak too much about that.

I use Reason too and the synths within it are more than enough to get any sound you want. The thing with software synths is you really have to stick to one device or two and learn your device inside and out. Its easy to jump from synth to synth in the software world without knowing whats under the hood and how everything works.
 
I owned a lot of hardware synths. Got rid of them all. They had great sounds, but couldn't take them everywhere. Also recording into daw was a pain because I wanted every track on a separate channel and most synths were limited to 4 mono outs. It added more time to workflow. To replace them, it cost me more $$ for software because I bought the best money could buy. But I gained more than I lost: more presets, easier to tweak and save(at least for me), full portability (despite iLok and elicenser), no wear and tear.

I bought the complete catalogs of:
East West (Play Edition)
Komplete Ultimate
Spectrasonics
Tone 2
Applied Acoustics
Arturia V3
Nexus 2.5
fxpansion
motu Mach five

Thats about $10k in sounds right there...and I didn't even mention some fx
like Audio Ease bundle, melda mtotal, waves gold.

Also I bought AutoSampler before apple bought them. Used it to sample my favorite patches from motifs, fantom, nords, and Korgs before I sold them.
 
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In 2013 hardware vs software synths doesn't matter. They are the same. Computers have come a loooong way and the only difference in analog over digital would be the nice clipping/distortion you get when they got hot or pushed to their limits. That can also be emulated with plugins.

Now I will admit that it comes down to personal preference because the one advantage hardware has over software is the hands-on experience. You can get down and dirty with a hardware synth if you're the kind of person that can't stand sitting at your computer with nothing but a mouse or midi keyboard and having to map and/or automate each parameter of the soft synth.

Plus on the software side? Way cheaper and it doesn't take up room in your studio. No need to buy expensive cables and no need to purchase an external mixer of interface with lots of inputs.

so it's up to you to weigh the pros and cons of each.
 
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macbeat said:
In 2013 hardware vs software synths doesn't matter. They are the same. Computers have come a loooong way and the only difference in analog over digital would be the nice clipping/distortion you get when they got hot or pushed to their limits. That can also be emulated with plugins.
Click to expand...

emulation is not the same as the real thing

- the beauty of analogue is that it is unpredictable, unlike digital: an analogue machine made with real discrete parts or early analogue dsp chips and hybridised with digital storage for some parameters has a degree of randomness in the final sound created due to component value tolerances and operating temperature drift

- achieving this with a pseudo-random number generator in software is not possible, no matter what different pundits may assert

- a pseudo-random number generator will repeat the same sequence (even if it is algorithmically large) into infinity; i.e. values will begin to reappear and we begin to hear sequence effects in the alteration of the parameters that we might try to randomise

- specific ideas like voltage lag/sag, the key components in how a tube works at saturation, can be modeled but again it is the random nature of the effects of the specific tube over time as it burns in and then begins to burn out that are not able to be emulated - each tube will age and mature at a different rate depending on the manufacturing tolerances
 
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