Commodore Remix

Has the softsynth had it's moment of glory? With Korg reissuing old synths like the MS20 and a TB303 clone it asks the question? Perhaps musicians want live physical synths that they can tweek on stage instead of a lap top with a couple of emulated soft synths that don't sound identical to their big brothers.

2013 could be the start of a hardware revolution...

You kidding? Magazine reviews, covermounts and websites are AWASH with softsynths. All emulating this, that and the other with increasing accuracy and stability.

Indeed, in one of my latest Ebay rambles I discovered a lovely array of Mellotron software, much of it free.

Though I'd say the retro cred in being able to tweak real knobs on stage (oo-er missus) comes down to practicality and taste.

I'll probably buy an affordable synth of some kind at some time, but I can't see myself using primarily hardware synths for music creation. It's too costly and much less practical for me than going the software route. It's just not worth it in my case.

the gap between hard- and softsynth is only getting smaller everyday - imho which synths like diva,zebra2 there's no gap anymore.. ..of course you need a decent midikeyboard and controller but basically it grows together somehow.

it's great that they build hardware but i dont think it had something to do with softsynth's at all.

Interesting and valid points.
Soft synths will obviously have their uses in the studio and they are getting better all the time. I think for Korg to re issue old synths kinda shows that there is a market for them so expect more. Soft synths that try to emulate classic synths of old fail in many departments that made the originals so sort after to command those high 2nd hand prices. If I had to choose between a classic 70's 80's hardware synth and it's software counterpart I know which one I'd choose!
Hardware all the time.

Well I know what you mean now. Why have Brand X when you can have the real deal?

Though it can also be said that there are softsynths out there with their own character too.

Commie_User wrote:Well I know what you mean now. Why have Brand X when you can have the real deal?

Though it can also be said that there are softsynths out there with their own character too.

Agree.
think the problem has been that softsynths have tended to try and emulate their hardware counterparts with mixed results. This has resulted in them being compared to closely by musicians that want the real deal and all of them in many musicians views don't EXACTLY match the sound of those classics in one way or another. However, if you take soft synths for what they are - decent affordable, space saving synths to make music with then you can't go far wrong with them. In a way soft synth programmers need to get away from trying to emulate retro synths and look to the future which many are now. Maybe using touch screens to interact with them like garageband.

The only real deal you get with hardware are that they look better on stage and are more organic in your approach with them.