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Forums - Synths & synthesis
Subject: SN Saw
Viewing all 8 messages - View by pages of 10: 1
Original Message 1/8 23-Aug-00 @ 03:07 PM - SN Saw
I have a quick question for anyone who can inform me about this. The other day I noticed that the saw wave from my SN sounded different than the saw wave generated by my A4000. After pondering this for a while I downloaded a simple oscilliscope program and looked at the two right next to each other, and sure enough they were different. The A4000 saw looked exactly like a saw wave, whereas the SN saw was more "smooth" looking. I then tested the square wave and found that they two were different. The A4000 square looked just like a square wave and the SN square looked simmilar but like it was sort of lagging. So my question is, was this done because it sounded better this way?(the SN waves sounded better to my ears) or is it simply emulating some aspect of analog oscillators? (resistance, capacitance, impedance?) Anyway, If anyone can enlighten me I would appreciate it.
Message 3/8 24-Aug-00 @ 01:35 PM - RE: SN Saw
people who are serious about high-quality VA.
I don't know the details of Novation's coding (this is usually kept proprietary by synth developers), but it's not surprising to see the above observation.
If you do the same thing with any high-quality VA you'll probably find the same thing (i.e. variations from "classic" waveshapes). The developers work well beyond the goal of just having a straight waveshape, towards something which is more musically useful, and which has just that little bit of color to it that will give the instrument the _sound_ that matters.
And, ultimately, that's the point. It's the sound that matters.
rt
I don't know the details of Novation's coding (this is usually kept proprietary by synth developers), but it's not surprising to see the above observation.
If you do the same thing with any high-quality VA you'll probably find the same thing (i.e. variations from "classic" waveshapes). The developers work well beyond the goal of just having a straight waveshape, towards something which is more musically useful, and which has just that little bit of color to it that will give the instrument the _sound_ that matters.
And, ultimately, that's the point. It's the sound that matters.
rt
Message 4/8 25-Aug-00 @ 10:41 AM - RE: SN Saw
In actual fact you'll find that no true analogue synth produces an exact Saw or Sq wave...this is part of the reason as to why analogue instruments sound different.
Phill
Phill
Message 5/8 25-Aug-00 @ 06:20 PM - RE: SN Saw
Interesting Phill,
Is it impossible to model a square or saw wave or just really DSP intensive? I would think that if you could capture one with a D/A convertor, you could model one from digital scratch. What about sine waves? (and tri waves for that matter?)
I want to know because I'm a big fucking geek. Thanks
Psylichon
Is it impossible to model a square or saw wave or just really DSP intensive? I would think that if you could capture one with a D/A convertor, you could model one from digital scratch. What about sine waves? (and tri waves for that matter?)
I want to know because I'm a big fucking geek. Thanks
Psylichon
Message 6/8 25-Aug-00 @ 09:02 PM - RE: SN Saw
If you're just looking for straight lines, it's a hell of a lot easier, and sounds like crap. It's all the curvy ones that start making things difficult. Disclaimer: I'm not, and never have been a DSP programmer, but I've done my fair share of mathematical modelling. A real analog synth is for the most part incapable of making a straight line in a waveform, due to the logarithmic nature of the capacitors within them. So the trick is to find an efficient algorithm to produce the curvy lines you need, keeping in mind that this all has to happen real time. So compromises have to be made. Where you'll see differences in VAs is where the tradeoffs of "close enough" occur, in order to gain some cycles for other features, and the cleverness of using algorithms that approximate the result you seek using the fewest number of cycles.
Message 7/8 27-Aug-00 @ 06:52 PM - RE: SN Saw
I may be wrong, but a square wave has many odd harmonics stretching high into the frequency spectrum, way beyond that at which are ears can hear. I suspect the nova/ supernova doesn't have the bandwidth to cope with a perfect square wave thus losing some of the harmonics in the higher end of the spectrum. This results in rounding of the edges of the square. This is the case in broadcast of tv signals where restricted bandwidth causes transitions from black to white (square wave) to be viewed as a rounded square on a scope
Sorry to be a bore - Jamie
Sorry to be a bore - Jamie
Message 8/8 28-Aug-00 @ 12:25 AM - RE: SN Saw
Thanks to everyone who gave me some feedback on this.
And to everybody who thinks its stupid to be interested; synthesis would have never devoloped were it not for curiosity.
And to everybody who thinks its stupid to be interested; synthesis would have never devoloped were it not for curiosity.
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