You youngsters.
The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Now that’s an O.G. if ever.
Stopped right after that.

I do the same thing, though if I can’t find anything especially good and unique about the hardware, out the door it goes. Mostly I don’t do this professionally, and when I do (which oddly I just got hired to do music for some Meta projects) I always use software for the reasons you just stated.

So today, my a-b was between a Prophet 6 module and Prophet 5 V. I know, not the same, but it’s in the ballpark. Really interesting results. I’ll say right now that if it wasn’t for the sub osc, high pass and voice panning, that 6 would be up on the marketplace already. I really kicked the tires too. Oscillator sync and OSC 2 polymod on the filter is usually where software goes soft, but Arturia hit it out of the park in every way, except the distortion effect has a fair amount of aliasing up top. Totally usable down low, and you can always use something better after it.

That's good to hear. Except for the Prophet-VS and Pro-One, I was mostly an Oberheim + Roland + Korg + Moog guy, so I don't have any all-analog vintage Prophets to A-B against, but it's good to know the Arturia can hold its own against the P6.

I'll be interested to hear how the new OB-x8 hardware stacks up against the many OB-X / Xa clones out there... I have OB-Xd, Arturia, and the G-Force one which is pretty great.

MKS-80 vs software testing is still ongoing, but so far the Rev4 hardware's filters are proving to be tough to match. Stay tuned....

If you have the CPU for it, try oversampling the Jupiter-8 V. It can take up to 384kHz without bugging out.. at least on Mac M1 running Reaper. I've done it both through Reaper's own per plugin oversampling option and using DDMF Metaplugin.

It'll help get smoother "buzz" from unison patches and it helps the filter and high pitches if you need those.

really? you know you missed all the good stuff, right?

The G-Force synth is amazing. It's got me contemplating selling my TVS pro. I've been an Oberheim fan as long as I've been into synths. I picked up an OB-8 for $400 during the great analog gear sell off. I probably sold it for even less. Have regretted it ever since.

I've had OPX Pro II since it was released. To get a grip on my OB-X8 lust, I've been trying to reprogram patches from the extensive OPX library into DIVA and Zebra HZ. I've been pleased with the results but... still... need... Oberheim... paddles!

Oh dang, last time I checked OPX Pro needed Wine to run on Mac, but now it's on MacOS for real! Buying it. Seeing how long it took to get on MacOS I wonder how long until it goes M1 native though...

I know. Though it was around the time I switched to Bach’s cantatas

I am a proud card carrying member of the Sir John Eliot Gardiner fan club.

Personally more into Philippe Herreweghe and Masaaki Suzuki (for the cantatas) but Gardiner will do (very) nicely

Herreweghe is amazing too. I discovered Bach in University when I was studying music history. One of my fav and the greatest profs I ever had taught Bach and Handel. She was the best prof I ever had. She was able to instill a total passion for the subject in the students. Bach became a life long passion from me since then.

I'd also mention OPX-Pro 2, (as someone did above) which is always been one of my absolute favorite Oberheim clones, even though it's getting on in years now and has never been a particularly ferocious contender. I love it.

https://www.sonicprojects.ch/opxpro2/description.html

Yeah, I'd been sniffing around OPX Pro but last time I checked it needed Wine to run on MacOS and no AU format. Now that's changed Imma check it out.

love the idea of this V collection but it’s just too much money and synths for my liking. Disappointed that Prophets we’re separated, at least think they were. May just get the VS upgrade for now and hope Pigments goes on sale separately one day.

Anyways. got Oddity2 so time is better spent with that alone learning to develop presets. I prefer to buy one synth at a time.

10-15 years ago there was lot of good sounding VSTi's and no problems with CPUs. Arturia is very lazy to release updates. These versions could have been released in v6-v7.

How is the MPE support in version 9? I’ve got a linnstrument coming next week.

Hey bub, I guess you are playing catch up. I already stated that I have never owned the original Prophet VS. I could have purchased the rack version at a great price years ago but I never actually wanted a VS. Without any knobs, even the keyboard version is not very inviting (e.g., programming those multistage envelopes is pure torture using that little display on the hardware). Plus, all the glassy bell-like sounds get really boring really fast.

I have also stated that the Arturia Prophet VS V sounds weak and lifeless. I have heard countless demos of the hardware VS over the years that present the original in a much better light. But who knows? If "reputable members" claim the Arturia and the hardware VS sound the same then the original is weak and lifeless as well. I'm now especially glad I never wasted my money on one. I'm much happier with my MicroWave I and MicroWave II XT (that so far have not been recreated in software and I doubt ever will be). The MW1 and MW2 are far more interesting and expressive synths (that do the glassy, evolving bell thing just as well if not better).

EDIT: Even my Dave Smith Poly Evolver is more interesting and expressive than the Prophet VS. At least the Evolver has some bite to it.

I have been fortunate to have spent a fair amount of time playing and programming a real CS-80 over the years at a private studio filled with classic gear. I'm not sure I would call myself a CS-80 "master," but I definitely know my way around the synth.

My point, (and I can't believe I'm having to connect the dots for you,) is that if you are going to spend the time to learn the synth, it would be better to use the version (i.e., the hardware) that actually sounds good. Otherwise you might as well spend your time mastering Diva because you'll get better sounds than the CS-80 V with far less effort.

Again, just because a VST looks like the original hardware (Arturia's true core competency,) doesn't mean that it sounds like the hardware.

Between 6 and 7, they released seven new instruments and two major updates to existing ones. Of all the VST developers, I'd say Arturia is one of the least lazy. I suppose if everything was so good in 2007, you'll never need to upgrade anything anyway.

The OP-X Pro-II still sounds great. (I was using it on a slave Vienna Ensemble PC years before the Mac version came out.)

However, the interface is honestly one of the worst of any virtual instrument. Sonic Projects have tacked on all of these weird little "trimmers" on top of the original OB-X UI to add functionality. They would have been better off adding features that are not included in the original hardware via an "Advanced" panel like on Arturia's OB-Xa V. Or even better, just design a new interface like Synapse Audio did with their Obsession plugin. Obsession takes design cues from the original hardware but isn't limited by its layout of parameters.

Oh wow. Paragraph after paragraph of straw man arguments, namedropping of unrelated synths, and endless high-horse condescension, but your point was that somebody interested in a CS-80 should buy the hardware instead of using the plugin. Oh, jeez, thank you. Why didn't we all think of that? Just buy a CS-80.

Oh you've got a point alright; pity it's on top of your head. Arturia's CS-80V sure sounds good to me. I can't believe I'm having to connect the dots for you, but your opinion neither replaces nor influences my ears.

You don't like it? Fantastic. Don't buy it.

So do they finally now have zero delay feedback filters in their synths or is Arturia not quite ready yet to join the now circa 2011 cutting edge?

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And I'm getting off the V Collection train. Arturia has gotten enough of my money over the years and has delivered squat. The plugins sound weak and uninspiring especially compared to my hardware (or u-he's plugins for that matter). So yes, I will not be buying the "new and improved" (what a laugh) CS-80 V.

Arturia sells a pretty large number of modern emulations. To be honest, ZDF filters is one of those buzzword catch-all terms that most people using on forums don't even know the meaning of.

I'm skeptical one could reliably pick out which is which in blind tests.

Well with CPUs what they are these days, especially the M1 stuff, there is really no excuse for not implementing ZDF. It's the most realistic sounding approach and the behaviour is closest to a filter in hardware. Especially resonance behaviour. To do anything else and call it modern is a little misleading (the "modern" part I mean).

awesome thanks, we got it, so since you have made up your mind, you must be leaving this thread, as it's no longer relevant for you so have a great day

This is such an old topic, so I'm confused why you're fretting about a technology that was known over a decade ago. Yes, Arturia has ZDF filters--they even link a technical paper about it on their Mini V page.

ffs, man. seriously?