i’ve messed around a bit with a few software synths and i don’t find them
either.
with one exception i haven’t found the sound quality to be that great. the exception comes from moog, go figure, which has an ios app that emulates the minimoog model d. the sound quality from that is remarkable and you can do some real sound design with that app and for $15.99 it’s a real bargain. moog also makes an app that emulates the sytem 55 modular which costs around $35-40. the downside to the model d app is exactly what you would expect-- difficulties with getting the settings placed right with the touchscreen interface as well as trying to make subtle changes on the fly.
have you had a chance to play any of the instruments i listed in the original post? i’ve watched several reviews and “deep dives” about all three of the moogs on youtube and compared reviews among them by the same reviewers. i’d like to be able to talk directly with someone who’s played on them, or even one or two of them.
at this point the patch-cord modularity of the grandmother and the matriarch make them very appealing with the extra oscillator and filters of the matriarch giving it an edge on the one hand while the physical spring reverb and the price of the grandmother giving it an edge of its own. meanwhile the sub 37 has some very sophisticated capabilities but it looks like it will take rather a lot of practice and exploration to make good on them but at $500-600 less than the matriarch it might be worth taking the time and effort. and all of them have the ladder filter and that unmistakable moog sound.
as you might imagine, i’ve watched a number of reviews of other analog, subtractive synths–prophet, behringer, arturia to name a few-- and none of them really caught my interest until i ran across a couple of reviews for the asm hydrasynth, which really has some unique sonic capabilities and its price is pretty good for the feature set, definitely comparing very well with the sub 37.
have you had an opportunity to play any of the 4 above and if so what were your impressions?
