I don't know where do you get your measurements from, but almost all of the digital audio processors I've tested so far do generate quite audible distortion.

 

come on when it comes to a long amp env synth bass from d50 ,dx7 and all that machines you can hear its digital just from the asthetic seen not talkin from warmth eh eh and if someone hits very low note on cs80 with long amp env you hear its analog in your face .
but i agree a raw just 1-2 osc whatever wave i could not differentiate but you confused me with raw and usual soundesign....

EDIT but whateever ,the boundaries are streaming with all that possiblities in DAW and plugins,its all in the circuits , signal paths and adda and whatnot but when it come to for me the most extreme analog asthetic gear like cs80 and mirage sampler , it leaves no questions .
but on the other hand when its rec in to the DAW and run through its paths and masterchain you could probably to similar with a digi vst synth .

 

Last edited: Oct 21, 2024 at 8:41 PM

Raw means no additonal processing, EQ-ing, compression, multi band distortion and etc, so just usual saw plucky bass from the synth.

Yeah, this was more test about same bass on hardware and software, maybe not applicable to your whole post, but I remebered that and taught to share it.

 

Have you been aware of the fact, that your comment is implying that you do not hear the pleasing effect of analog-like distortion?

You are able to hear digital distortion but you cannot hear magnitudes stronger and pleasing effect of analog-like distortion?
Reminds me very much about consumers demanding HiRes audio while sitting in an echo chamber...

 

indeed
so this confused me ...
Remember taking blind test many moons ago, raw saw synth bass sound (no post processing, just usual sound design),

?

EDIT... just forget it i kno where you comin from mate...

 

Last edited: Oct 21, 2024 at 9:15 PM

Sorry brother for quoting you, your post only inspired me to write, but it’s just one of those unrelated things really, sorry to drag you into it.

 

Are you able to describe, after the technical definition of sound, what the difference between this so called "analog and digital saturation" shall be?
What's the technical difference?

I am open to all forms of metaphysics!

 

ihr redet doch eh wieder aneinander vorbei....

 

Last edited: Oct 21, 2024 at 10:51 PM

watch with english subtitles:

 

Transients.

 

digital distortion/nonlinearities introduce aliasing if no preventative measures are taken. There is no such thing as aliasing in the analog realm. Aliasing often can cause sound(s) to become harsh, or brittle. Hence, cold.

 

Exactly.
But the important technical effect why analog distortion is so important to sound like a record is the fact, that analog like distortion is smoothening transients, while aliasing is not. Most VSTis and cheap home recordings without coloring gear, usually contain too hard, ugly transients. Even without aliasing it sounds "cold". "Sterile". Digital.

ps: I have read comments that critcize great sounding Soundtoys plugins, for not having anti-aliasing mechanisms, like oversampling. What these people do not understand (or hear), is the fact, that Soundtoys plugins have an analog like sound and are absolutely capable to smoothen transients, which is the really important part to create the necessary feeling. The allowed aliasing is miniscule in comparison and plays no significant role.

 

Last edited: Oct 22, 2024 at 3:33 AM

Digital usually is clean and precise. You need some microprocessing to match a digital signal to an analog one, but in some cases it would still sound like a boring copy because it's trying to emulate the accumulative chaos we tend to appreciate in nature.

 

That's enough for me. Thank you!

 

You think serious answers are funny?
You think trolling is funny?

 

My favourite ”digital” album that couldn’t sound more punchy and good and even ”warm” is Michael Jackson’s BAD (1987). Listen to something like ”Speed Demon”. I believe the vocals were recorded to analog tape - and you do hear it - but the rest is digital, including all those metallic synths of the day like the D-50.

Of course those guys had like a gazillion bucks at their disposal, and, more importantly Bruce Swedien & gang - but still.

 

No outboard processing?

 

Yeah, that's what I meant. Some of the things he makes are just known about, like his consoles, buy other things are like you said.

It's like Alchemy and he's making Chimerae, he finds things, combines them strangely just to see the outcome, then sometimes refines them.

Any time I've seen him say things where the words are strange, I just read the post, then figure out how to visualize it. If you do that, they pretty much make sense, you always have to remember sound is actually 3-Dimensional, not 2-D, and not words at all.

It's tends to make sense in that context, but that's also why some do very unusual things, sometimes the much better for things completely different than what he describes, the verbal descriptions are, sometimes, semi-arbitrary.

 

Facts, also all Soundtoys plugins have 4x OS built-in. HOWEVER, if you then oversample further, it stacks/compounds, meaning running Decapitator at 192 kHz will actually yield 16x oversampling, which is more than enough for most cases.