Machine Learning!

 

motion sensors

 

Regarding the poll, if it's hardware its gtta be analog stuff for me, otherwise better off using soft synths for me...

 

Last edited: Dec 18, 2019

Does hardware really need to be that expensive or is it just brand name? Look at a CPU, it is so complex yet cheaper than these synths. A CPU can generate any sound not a synth. And it is all just ICs and resistors and capacitors, right, those are real cheap.

 

Computer parts are mass produced -> cheap, because they will sell (unlike music instruments that are bought only by musicians and hobbyists)

Analog parts have no latency and aliasing, so will be always better for music (that's why digital guitar amps and pedals will be always inferior for real performance)... If you check what I posted on the previous page, you will see that when we take in our equation the inflation, the music instruments now are super cheap (even these that are considered as super expensive ).
(But good luck building let's say "Harmor" or "Razor" with analog modules - you will need 1024: sine oscillators, envelopes, amps etc. And good luck programming your synthesizer then. Some stuff is practical only in digital realm)

About top digital workstation or arranger keyboards - they are the most expensive digital synths and are still cheaper than getting a good: computer, midi keyboard, audio interface, software suite - all this in one package...

Considering you may create music with a second hand laptop and free synths + Pure Data (reprogramming your computer keyboard to serve as a midi controller with whatever functions you like), you don't need to spend too much money... Touch screens are also good, but there are still no mass produced pressure sensitive screens for computers.

Still, you are right that some stuff is overpriced (example the Moog brand), but there are alternatives (that are usually considered lower quality). And this generalization is not about music gear, it's about any product that you can buy on the market.

 

No it's not. Look at chinese mobile companies like redmi, vivo, oppo, realme... you might not know, but BIG companies like samsung, apple, lg are not able to sell their phones as much as they used to sell before chinese companies came and sold the same phone for half price (even less then that). Hence even samsung is launching cheap models which are good. i wonder why there are no chinese competitors in music hardware. but yet again it sells more and it does sell even when nothing is able to make money.

 

Behringer have a whole city in China... Aside from their synth clones, they are not famous for any of their gear (they produce clones of effects units and other stuff under other company names). This can tell you enough about what quality you can expect.
Many other big brands produce their stuff in China.

Hm, tried Baidu and google translate, couldn't find mass produced chinese synthesizers aside from toys for kids. 100 % there exist boutique synthesizer manufacturers in China, but their stuff cannot be cheap, because they won't use slave labour and mass production.

 

There are no new groundbreaking innovations in audio hardware as far as I know (except MIDI 2.0, but that's still software side mostly) since last 20 years. Everybody is still using LA-2A and 1176 since decades. Look at the video production side - new cameras, low price, close to DSLR quality pics in high end phones. Mixing engineers always say they like analog more than digital, really there is nothing new in music for the prices to stay this high tho. And low prices means low quality, that's not how it is elsewhere.
Literally each and every company is busy emulating the "famous" sound of 80s and 90s. There are tons of new plugins for making our mixes sound vintage. Even when it comes to EDM, what is it rather than analog sounds. All these VA synths like Sylenth1 and Spire used in every song are similar to Virus Ti.

 

Last edited: Dec 18, 2019

Ironicaly it's through major innovations in audio that it became possible to create products that emulates hw. Splice (dmg audio and others), Diva, AA, . They're close or like hw, nothing would be possible without massive innovation.
Digital can copy Virus TI, but as established by @23322332 rightfully, you can't have synths like Avengers, Falcon or many others in the hw, unless you make a product so expensive, no one would buy it, since it's reasonably priced in the digital world with nice performances.

 

I said it regarding to HARDWARE, software has improved a lot I agree, but close emulations are possible due to better CPUs. In the last 4-5 years lot of new great synths have come. If we produce music digitally why do we need analog equipment in mastering etc. in studios
Ok diva is great but it is a copy of some analog synth. Agree it is cheap and free for me but its sound is not new either. Doesn't any company make completely new synths or just clones only?

 

You're right. Sorry.
Hardware will probably be replaced, at least for EQs, Comps, etc. Most people replace it if they feel they can, when they find emulations that convince them. The cost to maintain, the limitations of old units (not just no recall, digital gives way more options in the way to do things) make it so.
LA2A and 1176 are the ones used by people who don't know the diversity of options in the HW world, and its counterparts in the emulation world. Also for a while cracked products that emulate were like Waves, Soft Tube, etc. They greatly plaid a role in making the hypes around those specific units (well that and API and SSL, Pultec).
A lot more options now, and the level of knowledge is slowly rising, people look for others options.
I think regarding the fact that we all reinvent the wheel and revisit oldies through new analogue reedit (like with behringer), that the video the OP posted is very right. The sounds of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s are deeply rooted inside us now, it's cultural, we all are expose to those sounds since childbirth. They stand proudly with acustic classical instruments that we will also always use, cause to us it's natural for them to be here, as we are so use to them. No one question the pertinence of a Piano, a guitar or a battery set. They're old alright, but well, we won't do better. We did different. Synth, etc. At first there was the aim at recreating in the synthesis realm, the acustic world.
It didn't work. But those synth sounds found their place rightfully along the old acustic world. We'll always come back to them now.
But there will be new stuffs in the future. Those things change slowly.

 

Plenty of your question will be resolved when you actually learn more about analog and digital signals... There are many resources online, including scanned pdfs of technical literature.
About why noone makes new stuff - well, there are many such instruments and effects. Not knowing them is another problem. Use the kvraudio search engine/database for finding plugins. There is plenty of innovative hardware, too, but it is for people with deep pockets and actually knowing what to do with it.
If you really need something novel for your personal needs, just learn audio dsp and make prototypes in Reaktor, Max or PD, then create a C++ version that will be less resource intensive.

 

The aray of sounds available for music production these days is amazing (I can now write the style of music I wasn't able to back in the 90's). The part we seem to going around in circles is the integration between us and how we operate these tools. Having endless rows of knobs on hardware is fun but a little regressive.
I look foward to the days where I can slip on an electro brain-cap to control my Kontakt Library!

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2019