Old 06-27-2020, 03:28 PM   #1
Dork Lard
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Default Digital sounding Keys - Library or VST

I've been looking extensively for either a Kontakt library (preferred) or a VST that plays digital sounding keys.

The best Ktkt libraries I found so far were:
The Morpheus and Wrath, because they're super low CPU, you just load em up in a second and scan through the presets and pick one.

Most of the other stuff, like Massive, tends to have pretty weak sounds. And then, it's stuff like Omnisphere with its 65GB library.

So I'd like a CPU-friendly library with simple, DIGITAL sounding keys.
Anybody run into one of those ?
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Old 06-30-2020, 05:49 AM   #2
Dork Lard
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Nobody ? I've been looking like crazy but it's just hard to find good Key VSTs that aren't either classic keyboards or just, grande pianos.
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Old 06-30-2020, 06:24 AM   #3
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Nobody ? I've been looking like crazy but it's just hard to find good Key VSTs that aren't either classic keyboards or just, grande pianos.
Well I for one wasn't even sure of the question. Do you want sample libraries of digital era 80s/90s synths?
These are inherently space gobbling, and you only get a limited number of sounds with limited scope for adjustment.

Or perhaps you want a list of software synths that aren't of the classic subtractive variety?

IL Harmor sounds unashamedly digital.
https://www.image-line.com/plugins/Synths/Harmor/
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Old 06-30-2020, 06:27 AM   #4
paul_c
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I don't know what digital sounding keys are either.

How about Diachi Synth1? Its pretty good at sounding like a synth, and has 128 patches already (their attempt at sounding like instruments), so its not too hard to start from one of their patches and tweak it a bit, to sound unique.
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Old 07-01-2020, 01:59 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
Well I for one wasn't even sure of the question. Do you want sample libraries of digital era 80s/90s synths?
These are inherently space gobbling, and you only get a limited number of sounds with limited scope for adjustment.

Or perhaps you want a list of software synths that aren't of the classic subtractive variety?

IL Harmor sounds unashamedly digital.
https://www.image-line.com/plugins/Synths/Harmor/
my bad for poor description, I'm just not too sure how to describe it.
I don't know what it is but I find a vast majority of synth VSTs pretty bad. There's only a few that ever sounded good enough for an actual song, I mean some just sound like plastic toy music, even with processing.

By "digital sounding keys", I mean basically an electric piano but that doesn't sound like a piano. I guess "80s electronic keys" might be a good description.

Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_c View Post
I don't know what digital sounding keys are either.

How about Diachi Synth1? Its pretty good at sounding like a synth, and has 128 patches already (their attempt at sounding like instruments), so its not too hard to start from one of their patches and tweak it a bit, to sound unique.
That one ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2AFeG4xII

Sounds pretty damn good actually. Thx for that.
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Old 07-01-2020, 02:25 AM   #6
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I spent many hours making hundreds of sounds with synth 1 (I like it), however it's not as smooth, clean or powerful as a good commercial synth. If you are going to be picky about sound quality synth 1 would be a poor example to judge software synthesis with.

IL Harmor and NI FM8 would be two examples to play with, if you want a crispy clean sound with high polyphony.

The Dx7 was the classic piano sound of the mid to late eighties and beyond.
If you wanted a classic crisp piano sound different to FM digital Dx7 then an emulation of the Yamaha cp80 would get you the classic 80s piano sound, and that's actually an electric piano derived from traditional acoustic piano technology. Examples such as Peter Gabriel and more recently the band Keane used the CP80. They were all over the 80s tracks before the ubiquitous Dx7 sound.
Pianoteq gives you an excellent emulation for free once you buy one of their piano packages.
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Old 07-02-2020, 02:41 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
I spent many hours making hundreds of sounds with synth 1 (I like it), however it's not as smooth, clean or powerful as a good commercial synth. If you are going to be picky about sound quality synth 1 would be a poor example to judge software synthesis with.

IL Harmor and NI FM8 would be two examples to play with, if you want a crispy clean sound with high polyphony.

The Dx7 was the classic piano sound of the mid to late eighties and beyond.
If you wanted a classic crisp piano sound different to FM digital Dx7 then an emulation of the Yamaha cp80 would get you the classic 80s piano sound, and that's actually an electric piano derived from traditional acoustic piano technology. Examples such as Peter Gabriel and more recently the band Keane used the CP80. They were all over the 80s tracks before the ubiquitous Dx7 sound.
Pianoteq gives you an excellent emulation for free once you buy one of their piano packages.
Ah so it's not just me. Lots of those VSTs do sound like crap, do they not ?
NI's FM8 yes, I'm thinking of going back to that, I remember having fun with the NI suite with Reaktor and Monark etc a while ago. Absynth was very good also for me like years ago.

Yeah, the Dx7, that's close to the sounds I want. I'm not actually considering buying one yet, but do you reckon getting the real thing would be a big improvement on just VST emulations ?
Thx for that post.
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Old 07-02-2020, 03:08 AM   #8
fred garvin
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I'd suggest a wavetable synth. The one you demoed is virtual analog. Wavetable/hybrid seems to be the hot sound at the moment. Serum is hot now. Union seems similar but cheaper. Surge is free!
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Old 07-02-2020, 04:38 AM   #9
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Ah so it's not just me. Lots of those VSTs do sound like crap, do they not ?
NI's FM8 yes, I'm thinking of going back to that, I remember having fun with the NI suite with Reaktor and Monark etc a while ago. Absynth was very good also for me like years ago.

Yeah, the Dx7, that's close to the sounds I want. I'm not actually considering buying one yet, but do you reckon getting the real thing would be a big improvement on just VST emulations ?
Thx for that post.
No, not a big improvement no, but they look cool in a retro way.

You can apply equalization to FM8 to make it sound nigh on identical to a real DX of any vintage. FM8 is softer or smoother "out of the box" for want of a better term, despite being known as a bright synth you have to EQ it to have that bright brash zing of the real deal.
Dexxed which is free has the bright balance closer to what people think of when they think of the DX7 sound. So pick up Dexxed VST.

As for crap sound I didn't say that or imply it.
A super clean smooth clear sound isn't what you get from most analogue. People prize a certain analogue sound for the perceived character missing from digital - this was even recognised in the 80s by Casio who produced the cheaper CZ rival to the Yamaha DX range. CZ never had that super crisp clean cut through sound of the DX range.

The overtly digital sound can be seen as a bit cheesy too pure. That's not true either necessarily. The DX7 with that "piano" sound is what a lot of people think of when they think of digital synths. It was all over Miami Vice.
You want crispy clean punchy pop sound look to the FM synths, wavetable and additive options.
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Old 07-03-2020, 02:28 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Softsynth View Post
No, not a big improvement no, but they look cool in a retro way.

You can apply equalization to FM8 to make it sound nigh on identical to a real DX of any vintage. FM8 is softer or smoother "out of the box" for want of a better term, despite being known as a bright synth you have to EQ it to have that bright brash zing of the real deal.
Dexxed which is free has the bright balance closer to what people think of when they think of the DX7 sound. So pick up Dexxed VST.

As for crap sound I didn't say that or imply it.
A super clean smooth clear sound isn't what you get from most analogue. People prize a certain analogue sound for the perceived character missing from digital - this was even recognised in the 80s by Casio who produced the cheaper CZ rival to the Yamaha DX range. CZ never had that super crisp clean cut through sound of the DX range.

The overtly digital sound can be seen as a bit cheesy too pure. That's not true either necessarily. The DX7 with that "piano" sound is what a lot of people think of when they think of digital synths. It was all over Miami Vice.
You want crispy clean punchy pop sound look to the FM synths, wavetable and additive options.

I found out about this the other day. The Boss Sy-1 pedal. This guy's video on it is great at showcasing its diverse qualities and range:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syVfJjuM-84&t

I'm kind of blown away by this thing and will prob get one soon. Never felt so convinced by a pedal in my life.

I'm slowly rediscovering FM8. Thanks for that. And yes you're right to emphasize the highs on synths. I haven't mixed synth pads in some time but I'd imagine you'd want not so much to boost the 1-2k area which might have too much body to it but rather just really boost that higher area to just give it that extra crisp on the edge, maybe around 4-5k, and 6-8k ? Maybe not even on the main dry track, but as a parallel bus with dedicated crispness EQing ?
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Old 07-04-2020, 12:03 AM   #11
Softsynth
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To me Fm8 sounds better balanced than a real Dx7, but if you wanted to fool people or have a more authentic balance then certainly boost the highs. I haven't quantified or measured the gain increase or specific curves I've used. It's quite easy to get really close by ear. You could analyze multiple raw Dx7 recordings with several of today's EQs with signal analysis features.
Newfangled, IK multimedia, Tokyo Dawn (Nova GE) to name three brands which offer that facility in their plugins.

External pedals are a good idea for the external sources of course, especially if playing live.
I watched some of the SY-1 link. The main advantage I see in that pedal would be super low latency to make synth like sounds with your guitar - great for live performance. Maybe get that with something like an Eventide H9 for additional FX, if that's your bag.

Last edited by Softsynth; 07-04-2020 at 12:53 AM.
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