[ddots-l] Re: Dimension vs hypersonic

I'm very new to the game, and don't really know much, if anything, about editting patch parameters like attack etc. In general, it sounds like there's nothing that really set these softsynths apart from the TTS-1, aside from a wider range of sounds, and perhaps sound quality in some instances.
So, just how much worse is the TTS-1 than the Hypersonic? Its free after all, and if its not completely outclassed by hypersonic, or some other synth, what's the point of spending a few hundred on another softsynth? I guess I really need to hear these synths for myself, but I don't live near anyplace that has these things set up for demo.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bryan Smart" <BSmart@xxxxxxxxx> 
To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, December 31, 2006 10:58 AM
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Dimension vs hypersonic



When you buy a softsynth like this, you're going after a general purpose
tool to give you many types of sounds that you don't have specific
softsynths to cover. Dimension Pro has some good sounds. On the whole,
though, I don't like its library. The weak sounds are very weak. Guitars and 
basses are quite bad. Strings are good for orchestral styles, but I hate
them for pop. Keyboard sounds (rhodes, FM rhodes, clavs) are extremely
cheesy. Drums are poor, and they aren't even laid out in GM format across
the keyboard. I have a few sounds that I like in Dimension, but it isn't
worth the cost to me. You only get one instrument voice per instance, it
isn't that easy to change presets, and you can't edit them at all to any
real degree.

Hypersonic II is very different. Some of Dimensions sounds outclass HS2,
but, on the whole, HS2 has a huge library of useable sounds. It has a few
spectacular sounds, but lots of average sounds. There aren't too many awful 
patches. HS2 is more like a hardware MIDI module: it accepts patch change
commands and it responds to all of the general MIDI CC commands. You can
also edit patches through sending MIDI CC messages. Each patch has six edit controls that are specific to the patch, plus there are all of the standard 
MIDI CCs that can be used for editing (filter cut-off, filter res, amp
attack and release, portamento time, etc). If you have an external
controller with knobs/sliders, you can map these to the CCs that HS2
expects, so that editing a patch is as simple as moving controls until you
get the sound that you'd like. It isn't full editing of every parameter, but most of the main characteristics of a sound can be tweaked, and, anyway, its way beyond what can be accomplished with Dimension. Plus, HS2 isn't strictly sample playback. The engine supports analog and FM synthesis, so there is a wider variety of sound tambers than with Dimension. Its 1.5GB library isn't quite to the 7GB that is used by Dimension, but taken as a whole, Dimension 
doesn't sound as good as a Motif, which only has 175MB of sample ROM. So,
sample ROM size isn't everything.

Bryan

-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Phil Halton
Sent: Sunday, December 31, 2006 10:08 AM
To: ddots-l
Subject: [ddots-l] Dimension vs hypersonic

I've been considering upgrading from the cakewalk TTS-1 to a better soft
synth, and I've been watching this thread on Dimension Pro with interest. I hear alot of Pro's, but a few con's that put me off a bit. For example, its not multi-timbral (as if I knew why that mattered--just doesn't sound good). 

Question, is the hypersonic by Steinberg, or any other soft synth, in the
running with dimension pro?  What other softsynths are in this class, and
should be considered?  Of course, accessibility is a main consideration.


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