Quote:

<...>lesser MIDI synth is likely to sound not so good, or even "cheezy" as we used to say about the early MIDI FM synths. <...>
--Mac


Exactly.

And yet, some of the old FM sounds are still great (IMHO mostly the melodic percussion sounds).

And each synth has it's own good sounds and it's own not-so-good sounds, no matter how much it costs. For example, my Edirol SD90 does not have a good acoustic bass sound, but my Korg i3 has an acoustic bass that sounds so good you can hear the wood vibrate. No synth module I have has a good fingered electric bass sound (they are all too harsh) so I strung up my Japanese Faux-Fender-Jazz-Bass with flat wound strings and sampled it. My Yamaha VL70-m uses physical modeling and can capture the nuances of a sax, trumpet or trombone player. So I pick and choose from an array of sound modules taking what I think are the best sounds of each for every instrument in the song I am playing.

Probably the best selling feature for RealTracks is all the computer sound cards I have ever heard have had a cheezy synth chip. They seem to do well in converting digital audio to analog audio, but they cut corners by saving money on the MIDI synth. I guess the figure the general public doesn't do MIDI so it is a good place to save money and make the price of the card competitive. I've heard the Kurzweil, Ketron and a few others sound great, but with my array of hardware synths, I have no need to spend the money on them. However, if I didn't have the synths I've collected through the years, I'd definitely get one.

And most low to mid priced General MIDI soft synths cut corners to save CPU cycles to cut the latency down on the average computer. For example, most of the sounds in the newest edition of the Roland Virtual Sound Canvas doesn't sound as good to my ears as the hardware SC55 Sound Canvas I purchased 20 or so years ago.

I don't mind practicing with the cheezy sounds in my computer sound card or the VSC, but I would never-ever bring those sounds on stage with me. Instead I'll use the best sounds for the song in my half-dozen synths (or synth modules) and my two hardware samplers.

In the end, I'll have instruments that sound for all practical purposes as good as the RealTracks, and the expressive nuances I can insert into the music will more than make up for any tonal shortcomings.

And while I'm at it, what is good tone anyway? Each instrument has it's own range of tones. Is good guitar tone Hendrix? Page? Beck? Montgomery? Smith? Ellis? Parkening? Clapton? Metheny? Van Halen? or any of the other variations?

To me capturing the nuances of the instrument being played does more than capturing perfect tone. But that's another post.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks