Can you REALLY hear the difference between one synth or another?

Or are you just posturing? (I know some might be, but I'm very curious to hear from people who have been at it for say 20+ years, like since the 70s and 80s, people with honest to God YEARS of experience with synthesis)

There are some minute details of synths that I guess give them fingerprints.

But it's basically generating some sin/saw/square waves and then going from there?

I have been producing for years now (granted I suck) but I honestly don't see how some of you people can say stuff like:

"Oh that's pretty obvious it's a so-and-so synth"

I can honestly say I can barely tell. I mean if you use Vanguard's default settings for the "trance gate" then YES you can PROBABLY assume it was made with Vanguard.

Explain yourselves.

I'm going to bed.

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Last edited by wrzonance on Jan-30-2006 at 15:22

Well, every synth is more or less different. Different operation / algorithms that give them their own sonic print. Obviously the more you have played around with a certain synth, the easier it is for you to recognize it's own sound. So of course those who have been playing and listening to synths for over 10+ years, are more likely to recognize different synths than us. Also, the definition of your speakers affects alot on how well you'll be able to spot those differences.

Vanguard is the only synth that I can usally tell. It's hard to describe but it's defintly got it's own sound to it.

Vanguard got a pretty distinct sound, so it's possible to spot in a mix, also v-station is possible to hear..
There is something with the sound that can be recognized, but the better the producer is with the synth the less you can hear what it is..

Softsynths, some id guess yes, like zeta, absynth have a pretty distinct sound.

Hardsynths i think definitaly yeah they have kinda different sounds. Virus, nord, jp's have theyre personnal sound

quote:

Originally posted by Lokhèn Vanguard got a pretty distinct sound, so it's possible to spot in a mix, also v-station is possible to hear.. There is something with the sound that can be recognized, but the better the producer is with the synth the less you can hear what it is..

Yea by not using the defualt trance gate settings.

But honestly. I really think the only reason people can pick up on Vanguard, is because it's so popular and by that right, so many noobs ONLY USE it.

That's the feeling I get sometimes.

"ZOMG THAT'S SO VANGUARD"

BTW I <3 Vanguard

quote:

Originally posted by gr8ape Softsynths, some id guess yes, like zeta, absynth have a pretty distinct sound. Hardsynths i think definitaly yeah they have kinda different sounds. Virus, nord, jp's have theyre personnal sound

How long have you been intently listening for those disctint instrument's tonal qualities?

Have you ever played with a JP, Nord, or Virus?

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I think a lot of it comes down to kind of 'training' your ears towards how a synth sounds like specifically, no? I mean, using it a lot kind make it a lot easier for you to sort of identify it from another.

At least, this is how I see it. If you never heard a synth before (or say, a million times before), you couldn't really tell it's that one

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quote:

Originally posted by DJFreaq Yea by not using the defualt trance gate settings.

No, vanguard can sound very vanguard without teh trance gate settings.... It's got a distinct overall sound..

quote:

Originally posted by Icone I think a lot of it comes down to kind of 'training' your ears towards how a synth sounds like specifically, no? I mean, using it a lot kind make it a lot easier for you to sort of identify it from another. At least, this is how I see it. If you never heard a synth before (or say, a million times before), you couldn't really tell it's that one

Yea agreed. But I have heard plenty of synths, and messed with plenty of HW synths now, and I guess I'll just have to sit in front of one for 5 months before I can really say "that is what Access Virus sine wave really sounds like when it's gone through some detuning, and a filter envolope and has been phattened with a high octave saw wave".

na mean?

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In this age of everything trying to pretend to be something else it's hard to tell exactly, and certainly in a mix it can be near impossible..

That's why soft synths do pretty well.

As for me personally I can spot an awful lot of synth families and even specific synths (or emulations of them), but what's actually making them half the time could be anyone's guess.

For example here are some easy ones to spot (Certainly in Pre '92 tracks they're cake, ie no soft sysnths or VAs).

Fairlight
FM Synth (DX7 etc)
Roland (Analogs, and D50)
Korg (M1 Piano FTW)
Moog
Oberheim

It basically boils down to familiarity with a piece of gear / plugin. If someone uses a preset it's pretty easy, but once you get into sound design who knows..

Of course most of it goes out of the window with emulation software, so these days it gets even harder. That's withough factoring in sampling which makes it still tougher..

Certain drumsounds are instantly recognizable, and since I mentioned sampling, I can't name how many times I've spotted the awesome distorted reality sounds all over the place. That Catwoman loop refuses to die..

quote:

Originally posted by Diginerd Certain drumsounds are instantly recognizable, and since I mentioned sampling, I can't name how many times I've spotted the awesome distorted reality sounds all over the place. That Catwoman loop refuses to die..

Well I'm not familiar with that. Do you have any samples to enlighten me with?

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I can certainly tell a Nord or a MicroQ since they sound so bright and harsh and ofcourse the mighty supersaw waveform on a JP8000. Soft synths are harder I think, especially in a mix. You can tell a vanguard usually by the way the filter thins out as it opens. Also a VB-1 bassline can be fairly easy to spot as it doesnt have many paramaters and tends to have that bass 'twang'... Other than that, I cant really tell which are which

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