I'm starting to think that I am the only person here in the world who hates the sound Vanguard (VST) squeals.

It sounds horrible! Its user interface is great and all, easy to use and so on, but the sound is horrific! I think it sounds metallic and.. very software ish. Why does everyone use it? Am I using it the wrong way? There are so many VST's out there that I think sounds better than Vanguard!

Also, What the **** were Vengeance on when they made presets for Vanguard. Give me whatever they were on, now. Seriously, they've made such good presets for other synthesizers and VST's. They've said that certain VST's sounded metallic. But what the hell, Vanguard is the worst piece of crap I've ever heard. (Fine, I've heard worse user made vst's)

So please, tell me. Am I using it the wrong way? Am I the only one who hates it?

Also, I'd like to say that I don't care if you use Vanguard, use it all you want. If you enjoy it, that's great. So I'm not saying you should stop using it. And I'm happy that reFx made a VST who became this popular. But I'm confused. [/rant]

I dont think it sounds horrible. It does have its own unique sound i.e bit hollow / metallic but it works well layered with other vstis and can do some good hard dance / freeform mid basses juno style!

That's what I hate the most about it. Its bass. It sounds like there's no bass at all. All I can hear is a clear saw at a very low octave unless you use rounder waveforms.

Are you kidding? I've used the Vanguard time and time again for bass patches (even with the saw waveform -- it's called a cutoff)... even layering such patches with the V-Station to make a nice phat bass. Even the pads and stuff in Vanguard have a noticeable shake in both my headphones and my monitors (which I don't have at the moment).

However, Vanguard does have a digital bite to it. However, that's desireable for certain patches, and even EDM friendly for specific types of sound. If it's too digital sounding for certain timbres that you are constructing then you simply don't use it. The Vanguard wasn't designed to be the cure-all to dance music. If you're looking for a very warm sounding analog pad -- chances are you are not going to find the Vangaurd as satisfying as, say, Linplug's Octopus. BUT, if you're looking for a sizzling, cool pad that's dim enough to fill in the 400-800hrtz stuff, then the Vanguard could have the sound you need.

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u can get some good sounds out of vanguard.

Grab yourself some more sound banks and learn more about synthesis then you will get it sounding better but tbh I rarely use it. z3ta, FM7 and minimoog are my weapons of choice

Mark Sherry swears by Vanguard so it must do something right

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Maybe I've been thinking it sounds worse ever since I got that Virus Classic synth. And yes, its filter is horrible. That's what I meant about the saw thing. And I'm not talking about layering and if you use vanguard with the "ultimate hardware sounding effect plugin 3000" blah blah blah. I'm talking about vanguard itself.

vanguard shure has it's own distinct sound, reminds me very much of ferry corsten stuff, his kind of sound.

I was fond of it in the beginning but I realized quite quickly that most of the times it ends up with one kind of sound from it so I've more or less stopped using it.

I prefer Albino 2 over vanguard any day of the week.
V-station and pro-53 also rocks vanguards world totally.

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quote:

Originally posted by davedresden i suggest getting the gabriel & dresden prog-a-minute. in 3 easy steps you too could change the face of dance music. batteries not included. - dave

quote:

Originally posted by Vizay vanguard shure has it's own distinct sound, reminds me very much of ferry corsten stuff, his kind of sound. I was fond of it in the beginning but I realized quite quickly that most of the times it ends up with one kind of sound from it so I've more or less stopped using it. I prefer Albino 2 over vanguard any day of the week. V-station and pro-53 also rocks vanguards world totally.

I totally agree. I used to use Vanguard a lot when I was using Fruity Loops. But I stopped and I realized it was horrible.

with the right effetcs (eq, compression, reverb/delay etc) it can sound pretty damn good. but in general, it does sound horrible.

I actually used Vanguard as my lead in my latest track...here's a short sample: [[ LINK REMOVED ]]

I think it sounds good

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It's not horrible. Not at all. But it definately has that very characteristic metallic and artificial sound that lets it kind of stand out among other synths.

The first reason everyone uses is because it is so easy to set up a nice sound. The second reason is because its a little cheaper than the most professional synths. ReFX intended to make an easy-to-use, low cost synth that has everything the average amateur trance producer needs, and that is just what Vanguard does.

Even with a little more professional ambition, you can get great sounds out of it.
You just have to know what it's good at and what it can't do.
Like we all agree on, the character is quite artificial. It might even be that you are going for an artificial digital sound (like I do, I usually prefer "anorganic" music).
Examples?
I've created some nice digital short stabs with it. I've also created some warping bubbling low acid lines using the glide function and the bandpass filter. I've created low background percussion by tweaking the "FX Percussion 64" preset. I've created sonic mayhem with the r2d2 waves and some sick effects afterwards.

The possibilities are huge. A lot of the typical vanguard sound comes from the "drive" controller, the high timbre frequencies, and sometimes the ugly rough basses. Using the bandpass filter, filtering out the more ugly sounding frequencies, and avoiding the vanguard overdrive (remember, you can use other better sounding overdrive modules as Post FX) makes Vanguard usually sound better to my ears. Also make sure to use Post FX to distinguish the sound and an equalizer to shape it even more.

I've seen a few professional releases where the producer used vanguard in a more subtle way, and it sounds very good. Four Carry Nuts - Mechanical Age is made a lot with Vanguard. Check it out yourself: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/...ase.asp?id=4065

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here some vanguard samples from me (every synth sound is vanguard)

http://www.solarproject.ch/linked/guessthis.mp3

http://www.solarproject.ch/linked/S...uard%20Demo.mp3

its a good synth but i wouldnt dare use it for lead.

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