Weak Oscillators Part 2

    http://virus.info/forum/index.…ad&postID=18790#post18790



    I think the thread shouldn't have died there.. I had a recent experience about it i would like to share. It is found in that thread but since its buried at the moment it would be better to add it here too:



    I dont think people should leave this thread die, i have been in the studio for the past month working on a project. When i needed to bring my virus in, i couldn't help but notice the weak oscillators after living in this studio with a moog little phatty, oberheim and a prophet.. I mean, the virus could be THE SYNTH. It lacked more envelopes and you are getting us that on the new update but you need to understand that the oscillators are lacking compared to the analog counterpart.



    There is not much power and punchiness without effects, many people are hearing this, people that are knowledgable enough not some guys that had a synth or two. Wavetables can only do so much when we are talking about some sounds that you just want to use saws or squares..


    You might think, yeah so what, thats the classic Virus oscillators take it or leave, its the character of the synth. Fair enough, just add another set of more aggressive, punchy typical classic oscillators. I mean with no fx the difference is clearly audible. The virus is such a versatile and strong synth, how can you leave such an important fundamental aspect such as oscillators out of the question? I doubt that a bootcamp with solve that. I tried everything for the shake of argument in that studio to prove those people wrong but well, i just failed. The engineer had a snow for years he knew the synth inside out and he couldn't do it either.


    This could be the end of all synths with a better set of oscillators.. Its the king of modulation by having a modular approach to routing, the wavetables are VERY good, amazing collection, the formant synthesis is ground breaking, please consider A/Bing some voyager/oberheim what have you, even a roland and you will get the point of all those, people.


    People might say you will never get close with a VA to such raw meaty punchy oscillators, but if you get the virus to use 96k internal and model those oscillators you will have the whole industry's jaws drop. You have to understand, soft-synths do come closer day by day, they already work at 96k, they already start to sound more analogue cause they are coming out each year and the developers are trying to create something groundbreaking all the time with better technology (see uhe Diva)

    Now I don't know where to answer...


    I think this kind of discussion is doomed for several resons:


    • People are often really bad at describing sounds. They usually use their own idiosyncratic terms, or have their own interpretations of common terms. In the original thread someone referred to a sound as being both dark (usually means having no top end) and thin (usually means not having any bottom end). I always ask for an audio sample.
    • People are often not good at knowing what they are listening to. They think that the "fatness" of the bass comes from the lower frequency (actually it comes from the overtones in the mid range). They insist on trying to add clarity by adding more high frequencies (10 to 20kHz is sometimes referred to as the clarity octave) while shaving off the top end usually ads more clarity and punch.
    • Basic waveforms are not enough for emulating a synth's character, and I'm not talking about effects, I'm talking about flaws and limitations in the circuitry. The most famous example is the Minimoog which had overdriven filters from the get go.


    So what do I do when I want to get an analog-like sound from the Virus?


    • The character module has an option called analog boost which adds a nice sine/exponential curve to the waveforms much like analog waveforms, giving the raw sound more buttom end.
    • Mix triangle and square in one oscillator (in different ratios for different results).
    • Some of the richness of analog synths comes from the fact that the oscillator's rate was not constant, in fact it drifted and jittered. slight modulation of the oscillator rate by a S&G LFO can achieve the same effect.
    • As I said above, shaving off the top end using the filters or EQ can work miracles for clarity, so does boosting the mid range.
    • In any case, drowned deep in the mix, no one can tell the real character of the synth, people imagine and compensate for what they hear.


    Hope this helps.


    It would be interesting to know how other people tackle this issue and if they got satisfying results.

    Hello,


    Have you tried experimenting with the hypersaw oscillators? I usually turn the density all the way down and use the sub oscillator to add a square. If you turn the sub oscillator all the way up when using hypersaw you get a pure square as well.


    I also feel like the Virus is the sum of it's parts and find the eq to be quite musical. As the Virus character is naturally quite "dark," I tend to add some top end from the internal eq. Subtle saturation also goes a long way in boosting the power of the Virus' sound and I've definitely run it head to head with my Pulse and been pleased with the results.


    So I guess all I'm really saying is try the hypersaw oscillators instead of the classic and see if you prefer the sound (although I'm certainly not arguing against new oscillator types, the more the merrier)... :)