Solaris looks and sounds amazing!

[Arstein]

Hi,

I'm just a lurker here, but I have been following the development of the Solaris synth for quite some time. It looks just amazing, pretty much the most complete synth ever, and looks to become the best-sounding digital synth on the market.
I've still yet to hear some really beefy and "clangorous" analog sounds, ala old Keith Emerson stuff. Is this something the Solaris will be able to do? Anyway, I'm probably gonna have to get a loan or something, because I need this synth...bad..

I've done business with John in the past, buying many of his plugins for the Scope platform, and there is not a nicer and more qualified man in the business for this kind of project than John Bowen.
I really hope this project will be a great success for him, as I'm sure the amount of work he has put into this thing is enormous. It's going to exciting for sure to see what the final product will be like!

[scope4live]

Well thank God someone other than me likes FAT BASTARDS.
Emerson and later Wakemen are the guys that made me ditch my Guitar and concentrate of Keys.
Those old analog sounds are because of Oscillators being slightly out of tune, and also having seperate Oscillator Glide amounts.
Emerson and Wakemen usually were playing so fast that the slight glide settings were only heard by a trained ear. Many were calling this Oscillator drift, etc.
JBowen has this on all of his latest big Scope plugs and the hardware model thankfully has it as well.
What makes mulitple Oscillators sound FAT is say you have 3 Oscillators on each voice. You have Portamento set at a low level, then each Oscillator is set to a slightly different time. When you are playing a melody the tuning is stretched giving the sound a FAT tone.
When doing 2 octave jumps, and then sustaining the target note, each Oscillator arrives at a different time and then all come to a perfect tuning, somewhat like a String section. No 2 violinists can glide up to pitches with the exact intonation, and amount of glide time. Sure they might reach their target at the same time if they have impeccable timing, but the beauty of these glides is the seperationg.

Just think of the old old song called " Riding The Storm Out " by R.E.O Speedwagon ( before they turned into a pussy ass love song ballad band ), the synth intro has the exact sound I am describing.

Anyway Solaris will do it all, and if the plugs have such analog character, you can imagine how powerful the hardware will be.

[Arstein]

Hi Jimmy,

I only recently became aware of the polyphonic glide thing, and it does make a huge difference.
We obviously agree on Keith Emerson. Although I was born in the late 70s, I have a softspot for music from ca. 69-75. Especially what Emerson did. The songwriting, playing and musical sophistication and mastery is still unmatched IMO.
Anyway.., Solaris is gonna be awesome!

I'm also curious to know if there is done any kind of changes from earlier Creamware synth software, like found in the ASB boxes. I think as great as they sound, there is still room for improvement. I think going for 32/96khz internal processing was a very good deciscion by Bowen.

[scope4live]

Thankfully I don't work for Soniccore or you guys would be broke.
I have the old Frank Hund marketing approach.
High prices bring higher end clients.
But I wouldn't hold my breath for re makes of ASB.
Their future is the racked XITE-1 IMHO.
The fact they made everything back compatable was the most considerate move I have ever seen from an audio developer, period.
I can remember the Apple / Emagic debacle, and many others.

Those cards worked for 12 years and will last as long as the PCI 32bit Bus is used. Pretty commendable IMHO.

The future is a hardware Solaris w/ an XITE-1 and a fast DAW to host some streamers.
I only bought these cards for the B2003 originally, and then began my ball busting and whining about how these synths while sounding analog, did not perform like an analog.
JBowen listened while others slept....................
He is why I continue to invest.
I no longer have a crew or big analog synths, Leslies and a B3.
But I do have the XITE-1 and Solaris.
If I had these back in the '90's I could have been a contender.

[Arstein]

I think I expressed myself a bit poorly. I was actually wondering whether Bowen is using the same creamware osc and filter atoms in his Solaris synth, or new updated/improved DSP models. But it's gonna sound awesome either way!
Though, I definately agree with you. The ASB boxes are not gonna change, considering the lack of support for them, I doubt they were very successful.

[stardust]

Solaris has been coded from scratch. The code has therefore nothing to do with creamware DSP atoms.
Well, only John knows how much his creamware experience is part of the soniccore journey.

[Arstein]

Wow, nice! The only real issue I had with the Creamware synths I used, was that they had a certain digital "sheen" and "un-analog" brightness to the sound, though they are clearly the best sounding VAs on the market and far better than the alternatives (well except for the Zarg synths obviously, which are the best).
Hopefully the Solaris will present another step even closer to those heavenly analog sounds..

[John Bowen]

I think I expressed myself a bit poorly. I was actually wondering whether Bowen is using the same creamware osc and filter atoms in his Solaris synth, or new updated/improved DSP models.

Arstein,
While some of the code was taken from the Minimax and Pro-12 ASBs as a starting point, all of it had to be re-written to be optimised for the new dsp chips we are using in the Solaris. Since we have the same engineer who coded the ASB emulations now coding for Solaris, he was able to improve upon his original designs as well during the optimisation process, based on his additional years of coding experience since the first ASB projects.
-john b.

[SepticStudio]

Thats really good news, because the ASB series are by far the best VAs on the market (and quite a few years now already) Maybe the Virus TI can get close, it has more specs, but the sound of the ASBs is amazing.

I had the Minimax, Prodyssey and still have the PRO12

The minimax sounds really good next to a Moog Voyager, ofc it lacks the real analogue feel and sound, but it comes close really realy good. I liked it more than the MAcbeth M3X for moogish bass, it works so fast for quick bass patching the minimax, uncomaprable with other VAs.

The prodyssey is also great, lots of controls on it.

but my allround fav would be the PRO12 this things sounds so retro, its unbelievable, and not even like a Prophet but more like some 70s itialian movie score stuff and so, absolutly instant timetraveling...(and even more when you hook up a (tape)echo after it, wow.

I sold the most of em, because i got the voyager instead of the minimax, a PolyEvolver keyboard instead of a Prodyssey. I hope my PRO12 will be sold before the Solaris arives, because like John said, there will be much overlapping in sound, although not the same, thats understandable.

But 2nd hand these things are worth twice their money without doubt....
Forget 80 voices and 20 multifx, this sounds just phat

Cant wait to lay my hands on the Solaris btw....

[marzzz]

I was originally skeptical about the Solaris, but made it a point to check it out at NAMM this past January and came away impressed (and placed an order). I think it will do polyanalog emulations quite well, but I think it wouldn't be unreasonable to keep a favorite mono analog around if you absolutely have to have that sound. I don't see selling my Voyager in this lifetime, but I will have a chance to directly compare the Solaris to an Alesis Andromeda and a Studio Electronics Omega 8.

[John Bowen]

Marzzz,
I completely agree about your point to keep favorite analogs around!
Even if you have the emulated components of something (for example, the Minimax filter, oscillator, and VCA), the way you arrange the audio path, the other variations, all tend to affect the final result (in my opinion), and I would be the first to say that one should not expect to be able to exactly replace a Minimoog, Prophet, or whatever, with the Solaris. Rather, as I've said elsewhere, these are elements that give some idea as to the character of sound one will get - a way to help imagine what kind of sound you might be going for - but I don't think the purist will ever be satisfied with anything but the original. Hopefully what one will find (and from what I've heard back from others who have worked on sounds with the prototype) is that the emulations give a very satisfying result, and allow one to create sounds that echo the character of the original, but allow for new expression.
-john b.

[seamonkey]

I for one don't want the Solaris to be an emulative synth, although I do appreciate and desire to have vintage analog properties at my disposal.
I want Solaris to be new and fresh, something you don't find in the VA pages of online magazines or catalogs.

I believe John has created something here which will stand far out in front of the pack in terms of technology, design and that undefinable thing when listening to a new synth..the "WOW" factor.

My Voyager is going nowhere and when I first made the decision to purchase an Andromeda I was concerned having 2 beasts(the A6 and the Solaris)would be too much to have in the studio, like one would cancel out the other.
marazz I can tell you after working with the A6 for quite a few months, they are 2 completely differently sounding synths and I believe will compliment one another.
I love my A6, it is what it is and I love it's distinct sound, but I think that is achieved when creating your own style.

[matocaster]

I agree with the idea of using vintage analog right alongside modern digital synths. I decided to sell my A6. Although it has far more modulation and routing capabilities, I love the sound of my Jupiter 8 and Minimoog. The Solaris will cover most of the sonic spectrum that's not already in my setup. At the end of the day it's really all about the sound and the ease of use.

[marzzz]

For me, the important thing is the sense of "depth" and the quality of the sound- one of my favorite synths, purely in terms of the sound, is the (digital) NED Synclavier. It is not that I am looking for the Solaris to emulate analog synths per se, the important thing is for it to have that sense of depth and sound quality, and what I heard at NAMM confirmed it to a significant degree. Another one of my favorite synths was the DSI PolyEvolver, but I ended up selling one for a Prophet '08 and realized I missed a lot of what made the PolyEvolver unique; I am expecting the Solaris to cover all of those sounds as well as provide a satisfying "polyanalog-ish" experience without the artifacts and aliasing.

Rather than expecting it to perfectly emulate a MiniMoog, it just so happens I have a MiniMoog Voyager, so it doesn't make sense for me to "replace it." However, an extremely important part of the polyanalog experience for me is polyphonic aftertouch- the Solaris will respond to it (as JB demonstrated to me at NAMM), and the Omega and Andromeda don't. It is important enough for me that I am willing to replace those polyanalogs with the Solaris, and I am sure I will be quite happy with it, as well as thrilled with everything else it can do....

(Note: Anyone looking for an Omega and/or Andromeda in excellent condition, please contact me by PM).

[seamonkey]

. It is not that I am looking for the Solaris to emulate analog synths per se, the important thing is for it to have that sense of depth and sound quality, and what I heard at NAMM confirmed it to a significant degree. Another one of my favorite synths was the DSI PolyEvolver, but I ended up selling one for a Prophet '08 and realized I missed a lot of what made the PolyEvolver unique; I am expecting the Solaris to cover all of those sounds as well as provide a satisfying "polyanalog-ish" experience without the artifacts and aliasing.

(Note: Anyone looking for an Omega and/or Andromeda in excellent condition, please contact me by PM).

First, my apologies for spelling your username incorrectly.
I fully understand what you're saying and agree completely. I am looking forward to the beefy analogish sounds(the FAT BASTARDS, as jimmy is fond of calling them), the Solaris will allow us to make and use, I just don't want to think of it as some type of VA synth, when it is so much more, and, I'm sure many if not all of the pre-purchase customers feel the same way and totally "get it" as to what the Solaris is about.

It's funny how people hear different things from different synths, the digital side of the PolyEvolver use to drive me crazy with it's artifacts and aliasing. I use my headphones a lot and it got so bad I sold it but it's still in my view a great synth with tons of potential for creating unique one of a kind patches.
What's funny, is one of the patches I created on the PEK, I have not been able to recreate with any other synth but one day while editing a sound on the Andromeda it reappeared, made me a happy camper.