Well seems that we have a fair few threads every so often regarding what is the best hardware/ software synth so I thought it was time we had one for the often overlooked rompler.

Guaranteed that we have all used one or at least come across one a one time or another but whats your best and why? Not like there is not a lot to choose from eg specrtrasonics, Roland, korg, east west play instruments, yamaha, emu,

Spectrasonics Atmosphere - Well for me the best rompler I ever brought was Spectrasonics Atmosphere. It’s 3gb library may seem a bit small compared to today’s massive multi gigabyte sample libraries but at the time it really was quite ground breaking. The content was of high quality and was quite diverse suiting many different genres of music. I’ve uninstalled it now as I upgraded to Ominsphere but I always go back to the original atmosphere patches.


Refx Nexus - I would really love to find out what all the fuss is about. Some people seem to hate it with a passion just as much as others love it. Demos sound good but somewhat polished and the expansions seem to cover every thing dance wise though they are pretty expensive.


Roland JV1010 / 2080 & XV5080 ECT - I haven’t used these myself but they have absolutely great reviews else where and the amount of tracks they have been used on must be countless. Wonder how they hold up to the software of today?

Also worth a mention – Emu Orbit, proteus, xk1 ect / Korg Triton Extreme / Yamaha Es Range / Kurzweli , ect

this is interesting. im sick of subtractive VAs, and id like to try some romplers some day. get it on. my experience is limited with Reason only but i guess u could call Malstroem a rompler? or a wavetable? what is a granular synth btw?

Anybody care to define exactly what a ROMpler is and how it works vs. subtractive, etc

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The Malstroem is a combination of both graintable and wavetable synthesis. Actually grains are very small pieces of an audiofile, as malstroem uses this to "stretch" the graintables coming with it.

A rompler in general is a name for instruments playing back samples out of a ROM chip. The main difference would be, that a va-synth actually is generating a waveform (saw, square, triangle etc.) in realtime, where a rompler like the nexus just plays back a further sampled waveform.

Nexus / Atmospehre / Omnisphere are really powerful tools to start with. I dont use them, but I dont hate them. I think the reason why people are against romplers would be, sometimes, that these are more seen like a kind of "preset-whore" then anything else. Though I think used wise and placed carefully, maybe layered with other sounds, there can be more then just a out-of-the-box-tool.

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quote:

Originally posted by Amaranth ...Omnisphere are really powerful tools to start with

Oh dear god, here we go again. Why can't people get it through their skulls that


OMNISPHERE IS NOT A ROMPLER!!!

Didn't I just write this same thing yesterday?!

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Can you explain exactly what a ROMpler is and how it works as opposed to other synthesis methods. *No I'm not lazy I just trust the opinions here more than elsewhere*

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Here's a tentative to explain what a ROMpler is and why it's called like that.

A ROMpler is a sample (also called PCM) player with advanced synthesis functions such as modulation, lfo's, at times fx and arpeggiators. Basically much like a sampler, except that you can't import you own samples. It's mostly based on extremely short waveforms that are perfectly looped. Now the waveforms are longer than they used to be, and they are 24bit/96khz samples. The Roland JD-800 used to have a bank of waves sampled at 16 bit/32 Khz, some of them in mono. Now you have a 40Gb upright piano, sampled at 5 different velocities @24/96 for each of the 88 notes using 6 different microphones... Same goes for drums, woodwinds, brass instruments... it's getting bigger and bigger.

A few examples of ROMplers: a Korg M1, a Wavestation, a Roland jv, jd synth or module, a groovebox 303 or 505, and as for Virtual Instruments, a General Midi bank such as Quicktime's (mac-users will know what I'm talking about), Nexus, Halion Player Edition, and many, many others.

The other types of synthesis in short:

Subtractive synthesis where basic waveforms (sinus, square, sawtooth, noise, pulse, triangle) get mixed together, and passed through filter, envelope and LFO. (E.g. Vanguard, Analog, Z3ta, subtractor.

FM synthesis where an oscillator with a basic waveform gets fed by another oscillator. (FM8, Operator, and the latest Synplant is also some kind of fm synth)

Additive synthesis where you add harmonics, and literally can DRAW the waveform. (E.g. Cameleon 5000)

Wavetable synthesis, when you can morph between waveforms as if they were attached to each other (E.G Thor features wavetable, so does Malstrom)

Graintable synthesis, where waveforms are sampled, but you just select a tiny portion of them to generate the oscillator (e.g. Reaktor Ensembles such as Travellizer, Malstrom when you select those oscillators, Alchemy when using the samples with timestretch to maximum, Omnisphere features that too on the 40gb samples)

And there's also Physical Modelling, that's a virtual representation of the physical laws involved in basic instruments. You select your primary element such as wood, string, glass, and you choose the object it will be treated with, a pickup, a bow, a hammer, or by blowing on it. The biggest one actually is Logic's Structure.

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Oh dear god, here we go again. Why can't people get it through their skulls that OMNISPHERE IS NOT A ROMPLER!!! Didn't I just write this same thing yesterday?!

yes it is. I would of thought the 32 gigs part would give it away.

Last edited by RichieV on May-11-2009 at 17:37

quote:

Originally posted by RichieV yes it is. I would of thought the 32 gigs part would give it away.

No, it's not. It's a VA synth that generates digital representations of classic analog waveforms (just like every other VA) and/or uses samples from the 42 GB library as its sound source. I know, because I own it and use it almost every day. Also, try reading the Omnisphere FAQs.

quote:

Is Omnisphere a "real" synthesizer or just a "rompler"? Omnisphere is no rompler! It is a powerhouse synthesizer that competes with the finest hardware and software synths at any level. Omnisphere indeed has "real" DSP oscillators that allow Hard Sync, FM PWM, Waveshaping and much more. Its STEAM Engine™ also excels at high definition sample streaming - the realtime manipulation features like Granular Synthesis, Harmonia, Timbre Shifting and Polyphonic Ring Modulation can also be applied to the sample oscillators.

I would have thought that the ability to read would have given it away.

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik No, it's not. It's a VA synth that generates digital representations of classic analog waveforms (just like every other VA) and/or uses samples from the 42 GB library as its sound source. I know, because I own it and use it almost every day. Also, try reading the Omnisphere FAQs. I would have thought that the ability to read would have given it away.

so it is a rompler + synth

My ability to read has lead me to an understanding that the people at omnisphere say it isn't a rompler when it clearly is so that dumb retards that make EDM who are scared by those words will not be dissuaded from purchasing it. It is clearly a marketing ploy for the dumb at heart. It has virtually the same engine as their other products. Every rompler made in the last 10 years offers features that i suppose you would call "synthesis" . That doesn't make it a synthesizer. And if it does, then Nexus is a synthesizer because it offers similar features.

And if you want to get technical, it doesn't generate waves. It plays a wavetable of it. So technically, every digital synth is a rompler. But i won't go that far. I will draw the line at this product being a rompler. Perhaps you should be wondering why other synths manage to have an EXE of 5 megs while this synth somehow takes 32 gigs.

In summation , if you think this is a rompler, then you also think

Triton
Karma
Nexus
Atmosphere
Trilogy

are romplers as well.

quote:

Originally posted by RichieV so it is a rompler + synth

It's more like a synth with rompler capabilities.

Look, I don't mean to sound condescending here or start a flame war, but you obviously haven't used Omnisphere and based on this comment:

quote:

Originally posted by RichieV And if it does, then Nexus is a synthesizer because it offers similar features.

You obviously don’t know the difference between a rompler and a synth. Nexus is a rompler by pretty much any definition (nothing wrong with that IMO – I own that as well), whereas Omnisphere operates on digital representations of waveforms (a form of wavetable synthesis actually, like most hardware and software VAs) and/or can utilize samples from its 42 (NOT 32) GB library.

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik It's more like a synth with rompler capabilities.

You mean a rompler with synth capabilities ?

How is this any different from the romplers mentioned ? It is a sample play back librarie. Regardless of how it is manipulated, it is playing back samples which is the essence of what a rompler is .

And you are condescending.