Why most ANALOG EMULATIONS are SNAKE OIL!

Discussion in 'Software News' started by Smoove Grooves, Jun 6, 2019.

  1. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    Very interesting vid.

     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2019
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  3. Seems like a nice boy, but he can't explain sampling theory I'd bet. He's looking at aliasing. He says you can't remove it in a plug (because it's in a plug) but you actually can and it's called band limiting. He's using Sound Toys Decapitator, which like a lot of the Sound Toys plugs isn't nearly as good as its reputation suggests, and it aliases like a drunk. Softube Saturation (free) doesn't. UAD Thermionic Culture Vulture doesn't. But Decapitator does. And there are SO many rich and famous people who swear black and blue it's the best. Some people like aliasing.

    The moral of the story: get a copy of mda Test Tone and Voxengo SPAN and learn how to test your own plugs.
     
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  4. The Pirate

    The Pirate Audiosexual

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    He needs to be decapitated.
     
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  5. Kingvrage

    Kingvrage Kapellmeister

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    I would really like to here some of your thought on hardware units like the analogue heat mkii. From what I've seen you can run a digital synth through it and get extremely high quality analogue sounds. But none of the reviews I've seen of it get very in depth when explaining uses and routing.
     
  6. Cav Emp

    Cav Emp Audiosexual

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    He's certainly an "acquired taste"

    The first couple times i saw his videos I absolutely could not stand him. He's kind of annoying and self indulgent, plus he looks like a wannabe badboy from a 90s sitcom.

    But I've learned to tolerate him. Occasionally he has a good video, if you skip past his 5 minutes of rambling to get to the part where he actually talks about plugins and engineering
     
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  7. KungPaoFist

    KungPaoFist Audiosexual

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    I'm impressed with how much I'm seeing his videos popping up. Love him or not he's found a way to make waves, and as a knowledgeable teenager even. JK I know he's like 20

    I don't get the big stink about aliasing and analog emus. Even if it does it wrong and adds terrible frequencies that appear to be non musical, if it's adding character somehow then it's useful. You don't use it on everything's as it's context dependant.
     
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  8. The Pirate

    The Pirate Audiosexual

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    Routing depends on how you intend to use Analog Heat. You can run it as a sound card, as a VST plugin, and as a external effect.
     
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  9. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    Which is why he uses it for the example? We know other plugs use internal over-sampling.
     
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  10. A square wave is the summation of an infinite series of odd order sine waves. In order to get really sharp 'corners' on a theoretically pure square, getting right into the corners where the right-angle is, requires summing-in some insanely high frequency sine waves. Well beyond anything that a usable nyquist system could possibly represent. So in order to synthesise square waves, in a software synth, one has to band limit the frequencies resulting in a square wave that has a kind of wobbly whip-lash in the corners...

    [​IMG]

    That's the nearest it's possible to get without inducing alias causing high frequencies.

    So, if a synth just uses a pure, theoretical square wave, the additional high frequencies get 'folded' back into lower frequencies causing a painfully unpleasant aliasing noise. Internally upping the sampling rate doesn't cure this problem, it just shifts it up a cloud. Plugs have to mathematically band limit all their internal calculations that can produce high frequency partials or risk some kind of aliasing.
     
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  11. noise.maker

    noise.maker Platinum Record

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    Waves the most aliasing plugins...any can count how many records out there mixed with Waves? This discussion is revived almost every year. BTW from my research a long time ago, i found the Waves Renaissance Compressor to be the most clean from the bundle:wink:.:bow:
     
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  12. No Avenger

    No Avenger Moderator Staff Member

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    Mh, I've read better explanations, irrc.

    Yep, since the first measurement with an analyzer, but it will be the first time for everybody eventually.

    But I wonder what the dislike from @Nightmix is for.
     
  13. Friggy

    Friggy Guest

    Just don't check for aliasing on new plugs over at gearslutz, a lot of people hate it there for some reason.
     
  14. farao

    farao Rock Star

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    Well explained? ROFL :hahaha:
     
  15. MaXe

    MaXe Kapellmeister

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    Honestly, this guy is a joke.
    P.S. He is making good points. Actually talking about aliasing. However, he does not explain it very well. But the point is, with oversampling and doing steep filter you can get rid aliasing caused in digital systems. This fact, indeed, has mathematical proof.
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2019
  16. KungPaoFist

    KungPaoFist Audiosexual

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    I just started playing with this Airwindows approach to dealing with aliasing. Was just exploring this issue but realized how cool this UnBox plugin is after some experimentation -
     
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  17. Moogerfooger

    Moogerfooger Audiosexual

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    I hate that kid.
     
  18. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    Chris of Airwindows is definitely a clever chap that knows his stuff. Started using Pyewacket the other day. It's great.
     
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  19. Satai

    Satai Rock Star

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    I like (in my own music) the disharmonious sound of aliasing, it's the sound of our messed up digital lives. It's the upside-down echo of divine frequencies beyond mortal hearing, reflected back into the filthy domain of mere mortals to annoy them with the presence of the inexplicable sublime.

    Everyone gonna be buying SlateDigital super Acoustica aliasing simulators in about 20 years, judging by how we buy everything to do with tape these days.
     
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  20. MrLyannMusic

    MrLyannMusic Audiosexual

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    Simple and to the point, :rofl::rofl:
     
  21. Riccarlo

    Riccarlo Noisemaker

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    This guy is snake oil!
     
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