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Almost all new synthesizers fall into 2 categories. One is VA and the other is sample-rom. Of course there are a few real "analog synthesizers and drum modules, such as the analogue solutions vostox, and the jomox x-se 09. A nord lead 3 is a VA synth. This means Virtual Analog; A virtual duplication of the analog sound process. So instead of being analog inside, everything is digital. The difference with real analog gear is that is has analog components and a digital interface. This is the case with the jomox-xbase 09. The you have the sample based systemed. What they do is simply use the sample, which many cases can be just a sine wave or a square wave. They do not have unlimited sample space of course! So what they do on these sample based systems is use a digital interface to access the sounds and then use digital filters and effects to process the sounds. This is why you can modify the samples. You can extend the sample, ie increase the sustain and release, you can filter the sample. Examples of these are emu units, yamaha ex5, cs series, motif and rs7000, roland jv and xv units, korg trinton units, almost everything is a sample based system.
Some sample units such as my ex5 from yamaha also have va synthesis capabilities. Some do not, such as my Emu Xlead or the rs7000.
The really old analog synths don't even have a digital interface. The modular systems, for instance the analogue solutions vostox is one such unit. The arp 2600 is a rather famous unit. The roland tb-303 is a analog unit with digital interface. Other units like this include new items from studio electronics or the paia fatman.
When you talk about the Xv having waveforms, yes it does. Those are sampled waveforms though. It is not a VA synth, such as the korg ms2000 which actually has emulated analog oscillators produced digitally. That is technically what a VA synth is. Since it has no analog hardware it must digitally emulate the oscillators.
The thing is lots of Digital Sample based systems have similar features to the VA synths and some features cross bleed into eat other. They're both LFO's in VA and Sample Based systems. Same with filters and effects. The only real difference is VA synths have the emulated oscillators, while the sample based systems use samples. Period end of story.
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I'll go through the manual thoroughly as soon as I have time. Last time I did it was when my synth was delivered to me, but I apparently didn't read it well enough that time (and with no earlier experience of hardware it's not too hard to understand). I have for sure gone though and tested every single effect sometime, as they all are clearly found from within the menu system. So basically it's not about finding them, it's about learning how to take use of them in the best way.
