BBds, was Re: [sdiy] digital delay

[john mahoney]

> This is basically the same goal that digital synth designers had in mind,
> to replicate the "desirable" nuances and imperfections of analog synths
and
> acoustic instruments, while also offering increased precision and
> flexibility. Look how long they've been working on it, how much money has
> been spent, and how much/little progress has been made.

Good point. The counterpoint is that not enough work has been done to truly
produce an, um, analog of the analog sound. More work has gone into other
forms of synthesis, such as sample playback, virtual modeling, FM, etc.

In fact, digital recreations of analog are still improving. Witness
Arturia's Moog Modular V software, which is good enough to get ol' Bob's
seal of approval. (I hope that Mr Moog did not endorse it simply for the
money, and I'm not that cynical.) Does it really sound *exactly* like a real
Moog Modular? I don't know, which particular Moog Modular do you mean, with
which version of VCOs/VCAs/etc, and by the way what is the temperature and
ambient humidity?! :-) In any case, many have praised its analog-like sound.
But I digress.


> I would imagine that it's probably just as hard to faithfully replicate
> that "special something" a BBD has with digital techniques, as it is to
> make BBD circuits sound "perfect".

Actually, I suggested adding "distortions" using analog circuits. Let the
DDL perform the delay work without adding its own sound. I don't even think
we need perfect replication in this case, just something along the same
lines (limited bandwidth plus added distortion and noise).
--
john