Why buy a synthesizer when the app is just as good?

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

I’m writing an article about VSTs vs hardware synths. The news hook is that Moog’s iOS apps are on sale, but the article is about the advantages of hardware over software–if there is any. I’m looking for comments.

My points are that hardware has buttons and knobs, but then again computers have MIDI controllers.

Does hardware really sound better?

And what about those Korg synths, like the OpSix, that use the same software in the plugin as the hardware box?

I don’t want to start another hardware vs software debate. It’s more that I’m looking for the pros and cons of both sides.

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NINA, motorized analog synth from Melbourne Instruments
#2

I honestly don’t think it’s about buttons and such m… it’s about having a dedicated machine that only does this one thing and does it well… something you can’t check your mail or watch Netflix on…

Don’t get me wrong the interface is critical for the product as well!

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#3

For me, by far, the pro of hardware is the creation of a physical environment in which you make your art. I have old pics of studio setups which are very important to me. So, yes, memories are stronger IMO. Even if they are Tyrells nieces I’m not fussed.

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#4

Hardware does sound better. But that’s because we hear with our eyes as well. My Virus B sounds better than the VST which is a 1:1 replica. It just does, okay!?! :joy:

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#5

imo hardware lets you use both your muscle memory and ears to get feedback from the sounds you are making. when there is a physical movement involved in the music making, you have more ability for expression and precision in performance.
the pros of iphone apps are size and portability. that’s why moog’s filtatron app is one of my favorites, it puts the microphone to use too.

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#6

Pros of hardware:

Minimal setup time
Hands-on control
Easier to add FX pedals
Dedicated interface just for that device
The tactile feel of playing a keyboard with lovely Moog knobs and instant feedback from LEDs or whatever

Pros of software:

Price
Multiple instances of the same instrument
Easy to add plugin FX
Ability to use DAW’s superior midi control for entering notes, scales, midi FX, etc
Easier to integrate into a DAW project

Final thought, I see hardware instruments as akin to buying a vinyl, putting it on the deck, appreciating the artwork etc, whereas software feels kinda throwaway like an MP3.

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#7

For me, the buttons (and knobs, and sliders) ARE pretty important. I like:

  • to play them
  • to reach for them by touch whilst I’m looking at something else
  • to learn their layout so that I don’t have to menu dive (as much)
  • to mostly avoid screens
  • to definitely avoid a mouse
  • to have them all feel different - the filters on my MS-20 feels totally different from the encoders on my Elektrons, and that gives me feedback and interaction
  • to have them (usually) work the way they’re shaped… sometimes in software you get widgets that look like knobs but which don’t change value when you rotate
  • to look at them without having to turn them on (it’s silly, I know, but I love a good set-up)
  • (as others have said) the focus they bring to the task(s) they enable
  • they’re an identity-building/affirming thing… the space the take up, the cost forcing me to save or wrangle credit, again the look of them… their weight in my bag when I travel
  • I quite like their limitations, too
  • I really enjoy patching; it’s just satisfying
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#8

Good luck finding a VST that’ll sound like my Polivoks feeding back on itself through two different analogue distortions and a quadraverb.

Also, computers are for nerds.

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#9

…it’s only music instruments vs simulations of music instruments…
end of the day, it’s all about waves…
a whole hi class studio within one laptop ?..that’s sexy progress…
while a music instruemnt remains a music instrument…
there is no better…if ur into music for real in all it’s ways, u’ll always gonna need AND use both…
21st century has no mono minded answers left…
while yesterday always fights against tomorrow…
meanwhile we all know, tomorrow always comes…no matter what.

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#10

I am a fan of both VST instruments and hardware.

For software I like the price, amount of features for the money, and interesting takes on synthesis that cannot easily be replicated via hardware. Examples of some really wonky VST synths that I like are Obsurium and Loom, but there are a lot of VST that have some really interesting dynamics. Portability is also a big deal.

For hardware I like the tactile feel and interactivity. It sparks creativity and helps me avoid getting into slumps. For certain types of sounds, I do feel that analog hardware is superior. In bass lines for example analog paths feel “heavier”, “fuller” and “more present”. I find this especially true if I utilize additional analog signal processing.

For me its kind of like two sides of the same coin, you can use either very creatively and at the end of the day if it sounds good it sounds good. I have come to accept that both are valid and have a place in a workflow!

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#11

“just as good” is, charitably, a subjective opinion

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#12

How about equally useful?

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#13

so i can wear the shirt

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#14

VST vs hardware, completely different.

VST’s are studio oriented, hardware is performance oriented.

MIDI controllers have to be configured per plugin. Have to remember knob assignments

Program change is a more complicated affair with plugins. What bank is loaded, what channel is it on, is the plugin even loaded. Can’t treat the computer as a sound module that “just works” as easily as with hardware.

Doing stuff in the box tends to encourage you to do more stuff in the box, locking everything behind configurations, drivers, and other moving parts.

Hardware does not sound better than plugins. Unless it’s analog, both are just running code so it depends entirely on the developer.

Plugins have more latency.

Plugins tend to be cheaper, but not always.

What else…

Oh, DRM. Installation. Having to reinstall everything if you move to a new system. Dealing with 32-bit vs 64-bit.

Option overload might be more of an issue in the plugin world, because there are no limits on the parameters and knobs in the virtual space.

Hardware doesn’t mesh as well into computer ecosystems. This isn’t an inherent problem with hardware … blame the manufacturers, who aren’t all making use of standard filesystems, standard file formats, USB, cough cough SD cards… Overbridge is an interesting exception but it’s still dependent on what Elektron decides to provide.

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#15

You need to buy a computer before VST, which may become a huge “hidden cost”.

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#16

Aha, I have the answer to your “why”:

Animoog Z can’t be installed because macOS 11.2 or newer is required.

Well, I’ll turn my groovebox on, then.

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#17

Hardware: works or doesn’t.
Software: relies heavy on hardware, stability of thehardware configuration and the operating system. Due too the fact that OS get updated very often there’s little chance the software or attached controllers will work in >5 to 10 years from now.
Example: bought a lot of apps in the past for ipad. I am now the owner of 5 dated ipads that don’t support the today’s versions of the apps. The ipad’s are fine but not useable in any way.
The audio/midi dockingstation has 30 pin connector. Useless by now. Even the browser is slowed down by update’s. Like a build in timebomb to make devices useless. For the costs of 5 ipad’s i could have bought a quite nice hardware synth (or 2) that most likely was still working and kept a decent 2nd hand resale price.

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#18

I like this! Pretty much sums up how I feel on the debate as well.

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#19

Same here, I bought iPad apps a long time ago that are not supported anymore, and my iPad is too old to support some of the regularly updated.

I feel like I basically bought cheap wind.

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#20

This discussion often focuses on the wrong things IMO
if the goal is to produce music then both are fine and any differences are purely subjective (analog and digital are pretty much the same once drenched in reverb :slight_smile: )

but if the discussion is about the process of making music then things are very different.
I work in software development so I’m at a computer (3 of them) all day every day and when I want to do something else, my hobby - music, I don’t want to still be sitting in the same chair.
So for me, hardware pushes me out of the grove I feel stuck in and into something else.
For those that produce music professionally, either as a recording artist or a live performer then they have different needs - we’re all familiar with the lameness of seeing someone on stage head down goofing with a laptop.

and then there is cost - apps are cheaper, period - but for the above reasons the cost of hardware/software has to be balanced with these other needs. I could make music for nearly zero money - but I’d be sitting at a computer.

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