Hey guys,

Well, recently I've been wondering about why developers focus so much energy on programming hardware emulations.
You know, nowadays we have technology to do things that people wouldn't even dream about 30, 40 or 50 years ago.
Does it even make sense to try to emulate vintage hardware? I mean,
wouldn't be much better to focus on developing new tools accordingly to our current capabilities?
That's what people did in the past. They did their best with what they had. Shouldn't we be doing the same?
How many developers out there are actually thinking outside the box? As an example,
how many plugin compressors offer a new approach to compression, taking full advantage of current technology,
without trying to imitate the general behavior of vintage equipment?
How about vintage-like GUIs? Does it make any sense to copy a hardware interface into a digital plugin?
I wont even mention those plugins which even add hum to the sound, or tape emulations which add fluttering...How stupid is it?
I mean, old school audio engineers did whatever they could to get rid of this stuff, and now people think it's cool to add it all back again? Come on...
Ah...Sorry for the rant...Just had too much coffee here...But I really think it's time to move on. Nostalgia is bad for evolution.

Cheers,

Raf.

 

I agree to some extent, its sort of a bit stagnating, but they consulte their accountants and its I guess where they see themselves making a living. But on the other hand old school had a vibe to it and it's the layers of minute imperfections all added together that gave music a character in the sound. Each approach has a plus and a minus, be good if they could combine them both and could give us the best of both worlds in a single plugin.

 

I heard that back in the day you could buy 2 pieces of gear and they would both sound a little different, also tubes and whatnot change over time too. This leaves a million versions and interpretations of what a plug in emulation can sound like and still remain "true" to the original design. That said i would like to see some new tools on the market. I think Blue Cat Audio are killing it right now

 

Chronophobia

 

I think most common tasks in audio editing, audio engineering and music production can be done with a basic set of tools. "Classic" tools, which are usually emulated, especially their underlying concepts, are well known and simply fitting for the main target: Music playback on a stereo system. Since this target hasn´t changed during the last decades, these classics have just proven to work.

In other fields, especially cinematic/surround production/postproduction/mastering, many unique concepts and tools have arrived in the last years, which are not emulating vintage gear.

And there are some really "new" concepts out there:
Just look at plugins from developers like zynaptiq (whole range), sound radix (pi, auto align), blue cat (mb-7, plug´n script), meldaproduction (spectral dynamics), pro audio dsp (dynamic spectrum mapper) or even many reaktor-ensembles.
All of these are only possible in the digital domain.

But obviously new ideas and concepts are not growing on trees...

 

Recreation is simpler than creation, plus you don't need to be a creative viosionaire to recreate something great that's already out there. I think it's that simple.

 

Another question:
Who said that THIS GEAR must sound as it does and not the another way!?

 

The only thing I'm wondering is > why are there so many emulations from the same product?

I mean, take the Pultec for example .. what do we have?
UAD Pultec Passive EQ Collection / Pultec Pro EQ
Softube Tube-Tech PE-1C
IK Multimedia T-RackS EQP-1A
Waves JJP PuigTec EQP-1A
Nomad Factory Pulse-Tec+BT Equalizer PEQ2B
OverTone DSP PTC-2A
Sonimus SonEQ
URS FullTec + BLT
Similar EQ curves in plugins like EQuilibrium or Nebula
etc.

Or maybe it's just society related, we have too much from each product. So choose wisely. :dancing:

 

I think one major aspect of it is price. The software equivalent will usually be cheaper than its hardware counterpart. A lot of people who wouldn't be able to afford the hardware can all of the sudden have a similar sound for an affordable price.

 

That's a general trend and it's not going to go away so soon... [grandpa mode] We're looking back into the past and emulate it in every conceivable way for years now. As a society, I mean, not just VSTs... Aside from science, progress seems to have kinda slowed down. People are also more dumbed down than they used to be. All this technology and gadgets seems to make them more stupid, not more smart. That's why they have to call them "smart", so they feel more smarter even though it's the other way around. You don't have to remember a thing any more because gadgets do it for you. People also wear glasses just to look smart. In my experience those who wear glasses even though they don't need them are generally not that smart and have problems with that. Anyway, YMMV. [/grandpa mode] What I just said is quite on topic, if you think about it a little deeper. *yes*

Regarding synths, both VST and hardware, there are quite a few really popular and good ones that don't try to emulate anything. Like Alchemy, Zebra, Blue, Circle... even Kontakt and Emulator IV, for instance [hardware]. Kontakt is a really good synth. [although I don't use it, just play with it sometime]. VST effects are even better in that regard, although there are many emulations, but some developers like VladG, ToneBoosters, Voxengo, Tokyo Dawn etc. don't try to emulate anything.

Cheers to the dumbed down society! [sarc]

 

I think it is because we are in a digital music era. Today ,thanks to advanced technology, we build software, hardware and equipment with less biases and we're pretty much near to perfection.
The interest for the vintage stuff is in an upward trend because people, composers, producers and singers want the same sound of the past (aka "the vibe") but don't want to deal with the bases that all that stuff had. That's why there is an emulation for pretty much anything you can think of, even farts.
Another aspect is also psychoacoustic but that's a chapter of his own.

 

Very good thread

Maybe one day we'll all want 21" tube TV's again... 5ft deep, weighing 15 tonne, wood panels and buttons on the front... because the picture was so much warmer and the movies had that 'special' wow factor LED's just don't have?

 

Some years ago, i was in a collector mood for synth emulations.
Arturia, XILS and more. I loved the fact i could approach synths i was loving. Like ARP2600 or OSCar.
I can't even think about buying one.
But now i just listen to them...i don't care anymore. I erased them all, without any regret.

Because now i want modern, new sounds. If i want to listen to vintage synths, i listen to my prog rock albums (Yes, Camel, King Crimson...)
I don't care anymore about sounding like them. I want to sound like me

May be i will buy an analog synth some day. But not an over priced vintage one. A modern one

 

Hahaha! Man, that's exactly my point!

Or maybe someone could invent and sell a premium vintage-valve-analog TV emulation box, so people could attach it to their TVs or Computer Monitors and enjoy all the glory of a genuine,low-fi, black and white video experience...You know, to give some extra life and sparkle to the super cold and sterile LED Ultra-HD aesthetics of contemporary digital imaging devices.

I mean, someone has already become very rich by inventing Instagram, which basically makes crystal clear digital pictures look like something shot from cheap analogue cameras from the 70s, right?