EZDrummer/DFH
EZDrummer from Toontrack, now priced 145 euros in a pack including also the DFH module (240 euros before) provides interesting virtual drums (but too few sounds, only 3 kits per element type), with some mic editing made (back sound, overhead, reverb, that allow to enhance the fatness). Despite a dynamic (number of velocity layers) that seems less good than in Colossus kits (and with less powerfull and shorter toms, and also less cutting hit hat and cymbals, sound a bit mudded), the result sounds more realistic (less processed), and samples switch (through velocity layers) on snares are more usable than in Colossus kits. Bundled midifiles patterns bring useful slight orchestration variations for each phrase, that allow randomness, and can be a starting point (or a mean to test a mic postions setting). Some breaks are included. The DFH module brings rock/metal targeted sounds, but they are too thin, and less usable.
Artist Drums audio demos lead to think it is more dynamic, to be confirmed (their size is slightly higher, 250 to 350 Mo per kit). EZDrummer loads the whole samples in memory (no streaming) and provides through its proprietary interface (not Kontakt) a mean to modify each element sound. The installation process is long (only 1,4 Gb - thanks to a proprietay drums compression algorithm that reduces the size by a factor of 5 - but there are many files - not a sinle large file as with EastWest products). The 1.1.2 update has problems with PPC under Leopard (view error, plugin can't be loaded then, ok with version 1.0.4. The fix is to remove the AU component - 1.0.4 version - and all preferences before applying the 1.1.2 update) but is ok under Tiger. DFH2 and DFH Superior have been discontinued, and replaced by Superior 2, announced but not yet available (requires a G5).
EWQL SO Gold Pro XP
SO Gold Pro XP is a 21 Go expansion for SO Gold that brings new legato playing style for the instruments, complete solos instruments, more brass, new articulations, new percussions, a piano. We find the harpsichord and Steinway B from Colossus, but in more subtle, more dynamic. Solo violins are realistic and some new percussions are stunning (waterphone, gongs, etc.). The patchs are reorganised more logically, and it is possible to keep SO Gold samples files without having to duplicate them thanks to symbolic links (ln -s /Volumes/Samples/SO_Gold/EWQLSO_Gold_lib_part1.nks EWQLSO_Gold_lib_part1.nks)
EWQL Symphonic Choirs
Recent product from EastWest, Symphonic Choirs includes 38 Go (on 9 DVD !) of choirs samples at 24 bits, in 5.1 (close, full and surround mics). There is the common families (Alto, Soprano, Tenor, Basses), ensembles and soloists. The Wordbuilder software allows to enter phonemes and to edit their duration, to create complexe sung sentences. It splits each syllabe played to right partials samples.
EWQL Colossus
I'm globally satisfied with complementary sounds (32 Go) added by Colossus, notably the ethnic stuff derived from RA, the brass, the drums, metal guitars, some pads. For electric bass and solo distorsion guitar i still prefer the Roland JV (bass&drums card) and XV (its COSM effects for amp simulation and distorsion), but Colossus's acoustic bass and acoustic guitars are better to my ears. I also like more the Roland Complete Piano than the Fazioli and Steinway B (less homogenous ans less living) , but there is a huge piano/pad patch called Sundial in Colossus, outstanding. Hopefully orchestral stuff doesn't take too much disk space in Colossus (it is way behind SO Gold but sounds good).
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Gold
This huge library (15 Go) contains all orchestral instruments families (strings, brass, woodwinds, percussions) in various play modes (legato, pizzicato, trill, etc.), in solo and sections (for example 18 violins, 9 double basses). Samples have hall reverberation recorded (reverb trails), that can be heard regardless of the release point. Instruments are recorded as is (stereo panned) from the classic orchestra layout (a plan is provided). They also are recorded from different points of view (close mic, front/stage mic or ambiance/surround mic).
Dynamic is very high despite only 16 bits resolution in the Gold edition (24 bits in Platinum edition, with all mics positions for all instruments). Load times are long because there can be up to 300-400 Mo to manage. So 1,5 Ghz ram and external hard drive are required to achieve shorter load times and allow a good number of parts. There is also the possibility to "freeze" some parts to retrieve cpu and memory ressources.
The principle here is additive synthesis as, alone, instruments are not very fat or warm (not as much as Roland Complete Orchestra's strings for example, you will have to combine various strings sections). And with SO Gold, instruments's tessiture is respected... So there is a lot of work learning to compose for orchestra, using subtle variations in play and expression...
SRX-11 (Complete Piano)
When triggering the first note with the card installed, i must admit i was disapointed. The sound was not warm, not fat, with few presence, notably in bass. Comparatively the JV2080 Session piano did better at cutting through the mix... But after a certain learning curve it is true that the Complete Piano does not exagerate in bass, and its sustain is better. The sound is also less static thanks to 4 levels of velocity, however i reprogrammed it to only the first 3 levels (patch called "SuperbGrandJ4") and used the enhancer effect to make it less flat (but also noisier, although not as many as the XV's piano, wich then sounded horrible in comparison). When playing classical midifiles the sound is very stunning, and the velocity range exceptionnal. Perhaps the audio quality is better on the Fantom X line, as RDSX and demos on Roland site sound less flat.
SRJV80-10 (Bass&Drums)
This card has wonderful bass sounds, very punchy, although it lacks in some way a versatile soft sound. Drums are not excellent but are better than those on the XV in terms of presence (punchy kicks and snares, good toms). There is also loops that i must admit are very useful (i din't exploit them however), especially splits ones (bass and drums loop) or bass/drums break phrases. The selection lacks percussions and rides and cymbals are not sampled very high.
Lexicon MPX100
This multi-effects, very cheap if second hand, demonstrates the talent of the famous Lexicon manufacturer. No display here or deep editing, only the lexichip and very well designed algorithms that sound very different. The 1U rack is only a two inchs deep and tends to be very hot due to the lack of heatsink (so the chip inside is working hard, a good point for the sound quality).
The fact is that it beats all software reverbs and delays (except Altiverb, that sound very close in fact, although crisper). The pitch shifter is very good, the chorus is good, but the flanger lacks depth. There is some interstring "FX" effects, and the A/N converter can be used to record sound if bypass is on (through the digital out). There is however a huge problem, the input level range is too small, saturation is reached too easily, so it is only for single instrument or voice, not final mix.
Roland JV-2080
I remember hard critics about the audio quality of the XV5080 (lack of presence in bass), so i decided to buy a second hand JV2080, famous for its bass, to complement the XV5050. It was also a good replacement for the JV1010 i sold some years ago.
The JV2080 allows 8 SRJVs cards, then i could put in the SRJV-01 back to the JV880, and put the SRJV-09 (Session) to the JV2080 (plus the SRJV-10 Techno, that was in the bundle). It is true that the sound is deeper and crisper than it was with the JV1010, bass are full, but it does not beat the JV880 dynamic (no recent Roland instrument can since perhaps the older JD990).
There is few problems : a hiss in output when the sound stops (not audible in a mix) and some confusion when mixing parts (such kind of masking effect). The demos demonstrate very well the cripser and deep sound. I keep it for piano, bass and drum parts (and some ambiant pads). The XV5050 plays guitars and orchestral stuff, and the D20/D50 take care of the organs and other pads.
SRJV80-11 (Techno)
Sold with the JV2080, i probably wouldn't have buyed it alone, beacuse i'm not a DJ... However some loops are interesting and can bring some idea (not saying i will put a single loop in a song... in fact only Trologic song (2004) uses a loop). Separate samples (TB3030, etc.) sound synthetic and harsh, no cool analog stuff here, D series are far more better. With samples there is so much aliasing, it simply doesn't work well for synthesizer sounds (too cold). However there are some cool ambiant pads (like "Dance floor", that was used on Trologic).
Roland D-50
When it came out in 1987, the D-50 was a modern hybrid digital synthesizer compared with the acclaimed DX7 (also digital). The D-50 combined for the first time (except the Synclavier...) analog style sound generator (square, saw, but digital generated in fact) with short instruments attacks samples. It was called the Linear Arithmetic Synthesis (LA).
The D-50 revolutionated the World Music, and was popularised by Peter Gabriel, Eric Serra, JMJ, S. Gainsbourg and various rock bands (thanks to acclaimed rock and church organs). Converters were 16 bits, at a time where they commounly were 12 bits (D20, Yamaha 4OP). The D-50 sound is then very fat, crisper, deep, it cut better in the mix than any recent synth. There is a few samples (100) and tey cannot use the digital filter (very powerful on generated waveforms, with great resonance). However a ring modulator or the 3 bands equalizer could modify these in some ways. And some samples are really wonderful : hammond organ, heaven pad, acoustic bass, harp, jams (loops made from attack samples sequences).
Some D-50 sounds are legendary : cathedral organ, D50 strings, Digital Native Dance, Heaven, Shakuachi, Fantasia... Modulation possibilities are huge (3 LFOs) and effects are corrects (noisy and synthetic reberb/delay but great chorus/flanger). The keyboard has aftertouch and is clearly aimed at live (aftertouch sensibility fader, Chase mode to trigger partials delayed), wide LCD screen. With 16 partials polyphony, it can only play 4 notes when using DUAL tones (2*4 partials). The PA-Decoder extension card adds patchs memory banks, increases multimbrality to 8 parts (from 2), but does not change the polyphony, so the D-50 si not made for multitimbral compositions, it's a band instrument. There is a D50 emulation card for the recent Roland V-Synth.
SRX-06 (Complete Orchestra)
When Roland announed the release of the SRX06 Complete Orchestra, i switched to it in place of the SRX04 SRX Strings. It combines sounds from the SRJV02 (Orchestral I), SRJV 16 (Orchestral II), SRJV13 (Vocals) and some others from SRJV07 (Super Sound Set).
Strings ensembles are superb, deep and rich, very expressive (not static), great orchestral effects (opening, finale, hits, rolls, phrases), cool oboes, bells, woodwinds, church organ, piano from the U20, great gregorian choirs (not very usable however), ethnic and celtic sounds, great orchestral percussions, some great ambiant and pad sounds.
Roland XV-5050
First this expander impresses by its sounds far more less static than the older JV's ones (the "Crying solo" patch exposes a solo electric guitar sound with amp simulation, and the effect varies depending the velocity and the number of notes played). Other COSM effects like stereo compressor or stereo distorsion are also fantastics. I didn't find better with softwares (even Guitar Rig). The sound generator allows matrix modulation of parameters, that leads to great morphing and evolving sounds.
The probelm comes from the audio quality, lower than in the JV880 and even the JV2080. Converters are 24 bits but the sound is flat, cold. And using the digital output does not resolve it, so i suspect Roland over compressed the samples rom to accomodate with the growing number of them. An example is the Piano samples, derived from the Session card : the forte samples are horrible, shorts and mettalic.
Yamaha TQ5
Yamaha TQ5 is the expander version of the YS200. It also has the integrated sequencer. By chance i could retrieve my original songs and sounds from 1989 (sysex on Atari ST disks)... Only one song misssed ("Abyss", but i replayed it recently, listening to a old K7 record, see Library).
First hearing back to the demos was a pleasure, the sound is very deep, with wide stereo range. The "Softstrings" patch is wonderful, thanks to the integrated reverb that is great (same sound engine and effects as in the V50). There is also the cool "FloatChimes" sound, fantastic fx that i created, and the "IceAge" preset (Wind/industrial sound like the one in Marrs famous Song in late 80"s).
Roland JV-1010
Marketing power, i could not resist to the cheap JV1010, announed as the equivalent of the JV2080 plus the Session card (minus the screen and the twos extra EFX units).
Compared with the JV880 the sound has less dynamic, is colder, is less detailed. This is confirmed by a gain setting for samples in the sound engine, that was not necessary in the first JV. In particular strings samples are horrible (and have a disturbing sampled vibrato), as if Roland had thought they had given us too good sounding samples before, and that they won't be able to sold their expansion cards thereafter...
However the JV1010 (like JV1080 and JV2080) brings some very cool new patchs : distorded guitars, B3 organs, etheral and phasing pads, ambiant pads ("Dawn to dusk", used in Avalon's OST, "Shadow", "Unearthly"), pulsating pads (like "Flying Waltz", found in many gingles). As precised, the Session patchs sound worse than in the JV880, and the low output is a bit noisy. The limited frequency range is however useful for certain synth sounds and overdrive guitars, that render less harsh than in the cripser JV2080.
SRJV80-09 (Session)
The Session card brings a selection of top quality samples, for immediate use in productions : we find here a concert piano, warm but with a too short attack (two velocity levels), an average acoustic guitar, a softer strings sound (more like a pad, but it layers good with original JVStrings sample, see the "GiantStrings" session patch, or my "MIX JStrings" patch), not so good strato and overdirve guitar, a well done brass section, good tenor sax, a wonderful solo flute sound (very warm and expressive), cool synth bright pads (with resonance), a few punchy drum sounds. It is mostly for the grand piano.
Roland A-30
The A30 is a 76 piano style keys master controller, that has the advantage not to be too heavy. It allows playing all styles, but it feels lacking precision (very limitated velocity range, it is hard to play soft parts). No aftertouch, but it can be sent via the modulation bender or a slider. There is only one plug, for a sustain pedal (further models such as the A-33 and A-37 allow for volume/expression pedal also). The A-30 has GM control switch (bank control, etc.) and can operate via a sector adapter or battery.
SRJV80-01 (Pop)
Buyed shortly after its release (and some months after the JV880), this card was an event. It brought fantastic guitars (that can ever catch up with today' standards and were better than the derived ones included later in the JV1080). There is also great pads, like "Huge Midi" (arpegio style bright synth sound alla D50), cool SFXs, good brass section, and the so popular Roland Shakuachi. Some great drum sounds (punchy hard kick and snare, better toms, great ride cymbals) close the picture.
Roland JV-880
The JV880 paved the way for a long generation of rom samples expanders in the 90s (in fact they were derived from the U20 that brought long samples memory over the LA synthesis). The JV880 rom contains only 4 Mo samples, and there is few of them (an hundred, plus drum samples), but some of them are multisamples. In particular there is that fantastic and rich JVStrings sample, an honest acoustic piano, a great slap bass (sounds very dynamic thanks to the 18bits D/A converters), an acclaimed Harp sample in Hip Hop bands, and some cool pads or SFXs. Drum samples are just good, and analog style waveforms are horrible.
There is 28 voices of polyphony, the instrument has 7 multitimbral parts, and patchs are made of up to 4 tones (partials). However a sole tone can sound as fat as 4 partials from the D series. Editing is great thanks to useful parameters : random variations (pitch), random pan. The filter is very active but the resonance is harsh and unusable (the D20 and D50's resonance are unbeatable). There is few effects (a reberb and a chorus, with few algorithms) : the reverb sounds mettalic but the the chorus is very effective and can act as a fantastic flanger (far more better than the later chorus used in the JV1080's series).
The JV880 is really for acoustic sounds, and its street price was the best ratio ever (5000 F), it is also a great integration job (1 unit rack), and the ergonomy is well thought. Roland did not really improve its sound quality in further models, in fact they sounded flatter.
Roland D-20
The Roland D-20 was presented a year after the D-50. As usual it was a low cost and market wise version, with 8 multitimbral parts and additionnal functionnalities : more samples, drum samples and drum patterns, sequencer, floppy disk drive, more polyphony (32 partials). The counterpart was a less powerful sound engine (thinner sounding partials, only one LFO, no chorus, no aftertouch, less punchy converters).
The D20 was aimed at a M1's killer workstation, but it didn't success beating it (the M1 provided multisamples, and acclaimed piano and strings at that time).
The generated waveforms allow PWM like the D50, the filter also has a great resonance, and the sound is very precise. With many partials and well done detuning it can achieve fantastic bright pads, unreachable from a D50. In fact they are complementary, the later having the fat sound and thicker grain (sometimes too). The D20 also excels in "Jam" sounds, sequences such as "OneNoteJam" or "IronWorks", and in some "flying" sounds like "SpaceHorn". The presets do not deserve its possibilities, as many custom patchs sound incredibly better, notably strings and organs.
Without so much effects (a sole limited reverb, but very natural sounding) the D20 makes it with honors. It was well known by its very cool and punchy rythm section (in particular with de D110 expander), had a great metronome sound, and was very good looking. Its patchs organisation was used for the General Midi definition.
Alesis HR16
When i was looking for that drum machine i thought i could use it together with the YS200. I then ended up with a mixing board... Well, i was only 14 and nowdays some people ever have some difficulties understanding the diffrence between audio and midi paths. I then jumped in the 8 voices mixing world, and in the midi via Pro-24 (before that with Music Studio on the PSS680), the Steinberg's Cubase ancestor, and with the wonderful Synthwork D20 editor (on high resolution B&W Atari screen).
The HR16 was the first 16bits 44,1Khz drum machine at this time. The samples were short, but there wasn't comparison with the Roland' TR series (analog). The frequency range was wide, so the ride cymbals and hit hat sounded great (better in fact than in the SRJV10 card !). Kicks were realistic but not so punchy, snares were basic, too soft, toms were well sounding but a bit short. The percussions (congas, triangle, etc.) were great.
Finally the preset patterns, recorded by a famous drummer, were very original, not static, the resolution of the play was very fine. It just lacked a reberb, so with some editing it can even now sound wonderful.
Yamaha YS200
Coming from the flat and thin only 2 operators PSS270, i remember being demoed the YS200 in the Yamaha shop "Clavithèque", from a passionated guy. It was a revelation. I didn't forget the feelings produced by the Softstrings patch, and by the pan flute patch extracted from the V50 (same sound engine).
This was the last 4 operators generation, and it was very cheap (3500 F for a good master keyboard with aftertouch, sequencer, cool integrated effects, extended library to up to the best 100 sounds, wide LCD screen).
The possibilities of control were great (aftertouch, breath controller), it confirmed that the FM is very expressive, not static sounding like samples players. With only 4 operators i could manage to reproduce an etheral pad very close to the one created by Brian Eno for Dune's "Prophecy theme" (made on a 6 OP DX7). I'm also proud of an effect sound i called "Vibration".
And editing was not so easy as there was only an "Easy mode", so we could only sligthly modify the presets, no deep editing there (but it was compatible with all parameters if programmed on a computer). Hopefully the presets are good at deserving the engine possibilities, there is notably a great church organ (not as fat as the D50's ones).
The sequencer was powerful (step editing, with the large display) but allowed only a few notes (and no floppy disk). Integrated effects were great : incredibly deep reverb, fantastic delays and echoes (on basses !), interesting distorsion. In some ways we can say it was the perfect instrument for Film composer. It was not as good as the D20 as a workstation however, as it lacked drum sounds, extra polyphony (only 8 voices), and the parts's pan settings disabled the effect unit.
Atari Quartet
Quartet (from Microdeal) was the first popular soundtracker on the Atari ST. It could manage up to 4 voices polyphony, and allowed to seize notes directly on the partition. Moreover it could import samples (AVR format) and do some work on it. It was 8 bits samples, up to 16 Khz...
Yamaha PSS680
The PSS680, thanks to its midi interface, was a better choice than the PSS480 (identical on other points, minus drum pads, and it was only mono). Then i could start midi with Music Studio on the Atari. The PSS680 had a limited sequencer (5 tracks of one voice or a track of 5 voices). Sounds were editable (few parameters, and only 2 operators). There was also a reverberation effect.
More interesting were the accompaniment styles, whose quality was stunning (entry, break, endings). Drum pads were a good addition but drum sounds were too short. The keyboard had only mini keys (5 octaves) and there was a bender lever. It was a huge gap to switch to the YS200 : no styles, all parts had to be played.
Yamaha PSS270
Yes, it was the first "keyboard" i owned. But it was far more better than Bontempis ! I remember preparing sheets of paper with same dimensions as the unit, and thinking that it was huge finally (4 mini keys octaves in fact...). First i should have the PSS170 (the same but mono, and a few keys less). But another friend was on the point to buy the PSS270, and it incitated me to do the same... At this time they could be found on Fnac shops, besides Casio CZ synths or DX7.
The sounds list was printed on the panel, and i tried to make correspondences between these unknown names (in english) and what i was hearing at (no realistic sounds). This mystery was part of the "magical" feel. The unit had a hunderd of accompaniment styles (basic).
Recently i found a Reason samples library containing the PSS270 factory presets (100 patchs), but no styles. I used one of them (electric FM piano) as a start for my first Reason made song.
