Fairlight-CMI

Hello Harald,

I am not afraid at all about this issue. I really love software
emulators of synths, because people and studio who used real
machines in the past, sold them to use emulators instead. Giving
us the chance to buy one. But by the time they realized the sound
is not the same it's too late and difficult to rebuy it...

There has been emulators for many mythical synths like the CS-80
ARP 2600, PPG Wave... None of them have reduced the value of the
originals. None of these emulators have any value on the second hand
market. A PPG Wave emulator can be found for 30 Euro on eBay. How
much is sold the real one on the same web site ?

The emulator is a chance for people who don't have the money,
knowledge, room, or equipment to run the real one.

To build a realistic emulator you also need to have access to the real one.
Apart a software who would have any interest to copy its own instrument ?
And as Peter Vogel pointed out, you also need to understand the 
technical reasons behind the special sound characteristics. Often,
to simulate a device, they use a conbination of possible input, process
them thrue the device and store the result. Then the simulator analyse
the input signal, compute a "approximation" using combinaison of reference
signal. then compute, using the same formula the same combinaison but
using the result signals sampled from the real device. Today's computer
allow to do complex simulations, but I've never been impressed by them.
Often, they introduce minor sounds artefacts which at the end when you
use them a lot are listenable... Often, while listening recent music albums
which have all been done with ProTools and VST instruments, I do listen
armonics which remind me a mobile phone tone... And these are good
productions one... On low budget CDs, mixed on Cubase VST, I can listen
armonics artefacts which sounds like an old modem noise...

As a computer science engineer, I know that digital can be terrible when
it comes to rounding errors. And if these errors are cumulated and multiplied,
the result can quickly differ from the theoretical expected result...

Another point, in order to use a Fairlight Series III you need to dedicate 16
analog input of your mixing desk. In the music world of virtual instruments,
it's becoming rare and expensive to buy equipment with lots of
analog inputs... I looked for a new mixing desk for many months, I finally
bought an analog one which is 15 years old. The only correct one on the
market are professional ones, and really expensive !!!

By the way, I don't have any synths emulators in my home studio, only
the real ones. And I'll try to keep it that way as long as possible.

So, I do understand people who use VST instruments and like them, even if I don't do it...

Regards.

    Laurent.

----- Mail Original -----
De: "Harald Feldmann" <feldmann@xs4all.nl>
À: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com
Envoyé: Lundi 23 Juin 2008 15:03:40 GMT +01:00 Amsterdam / Berlin / Berne / Rome / Stockholm / Vienne
Objet: RE: [Fairlight-CMI] Re: Recreating the Fairlight






Recreating a Fairlight sound completely in software ruins the market for a 
unit. Keep that in mind. 

Regards, 
Harald.