My takeaway from the video is that the fundamental ingredients are good but not stellar. Rather it’s in the ability to combine and layer things, and especially the manifold abilities for modulations left and right, the expressiveness and control. I’d imagine it sounds mediocre in the hands of a mediocre player, but in the hands of an expert player it will sound stellar. I think it’s Omri, or someone else, that regularly says “the M in modular stands for modulation”, I think the 80 (although not being modular) is probably a big testiment to that. I know at least for myself that the more I fiddle with patching the more my emphasis shifts towards the modulation and treatment, that’s where the magic is.
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Yeah. Even the ribbon controller is an important modulation tool in Vangelis’ Blade Runner songs. I have had a lot of trouble reproducing that sound with a pitch wheel like on my Arturia Microbrute or the short ribbon controllers on my medium size MIDI keyboard that always sits just under my wrists in front of my computer keyboard. Surprisingly, I have never owned a larger ribbon controller
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I saw this in a video and think it looks quite interesting and versatile:
quite pricy at over 200 euros o_O and quoted shipping date everywhere is 2-5 days, which I seriously doubt, as things are so messed up right now, supply-chain-wise
nice video, but I don’t think it really answers "why did this things sound so good?
What version of Arturia’s CS-80 V? They recently tore it down to the ground and rebuilt it. The former version is really not even close. The new one is a clear winner, even compared to ME80.
I was once the biggest critic of Arturia, but they got their act together, hired some good developers, and now they’re killing it. Even their effect plugins.
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I’ve got a theory. The filters in the CS-80 are definitely great, but after listening to the CS-80 filter clone in the Studio Electronics Boomstar SE80, it was clear something wasn’t the same. My guess is, it has equal amounts to do with the way the VCA overdrives. You get this beautiful warm “bloom” when you push it. The Jupiter 4 is similar in this regard.
I recommend the Arturia PolyBrute. The keyboard feel is just OK, but the ribbon is great, and it has this thing called the “Morphee” that’s an x-y-z axis pad. No polyphonic aftertouch, but a cool duophonic aftertouch mode that’s pretty cool. The sound of the PolyBrute is a bit stiff compared to vintage analog, but it’s ability to morph between presets is great.
I run a demo of the Arturia CS40 V4.
Then I I can do is completely disagree with you. ME80 sounds OK, but to my ears, it misses the mark by quite a bit.
Yes, it’s a matter of taste. I didn’t compare the same preset on both VSTs. Maybe I will do so.
What’s your suggestion for VCV Rack filter modules to emulate the CS 80?
Thanks. But…, even though I have a physical studio with about 25 synths and about 25 Eurorack modules, I’m currently in my softsynth phase of my 50 year bipolar oscillation between hardware and software.
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I’m too new to it, but I’d look at some of the Vult VCOs, VCF and a VCA that has the ability to distort pleasantly. Maybe some sort of tube saturation after the VCA? Not a lot, just enough to give a bit of harmonics as the filter opens.
I’m running V Collection 6 which has CS-80 V3. I should have upgraded to V Collection 9 a couple of months ago as it would cost me $600 to upgrade now without the introductory discount. It is best I not compare the CS-80 V3 to the newest iterations as at the moment ignorance is bliss and I like the CS-80 V3.
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When we were voicing the Voyetra-8 (in 1982?) I boosted the levels going into the VCA’s in an attempt to drown out some background noise we were picking up. My boss said it sounded too soft then, we we compromised in the middle. Just one of many, many small tweaks…
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I wish someone would do a Voyetra 8 emulation!
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Someone has, myself and Worker 13 worked on many variations before getting somewhere near!
Voyetra 8 Squinky’s soft development - Plugins & Modules - VCV Community (vcvrack.com)
His version was the final one.
Voyetra test 5-Worker 13.vcv (174.1 KB)
I have also been adapting Chrtlghmstr’s Blues2 for a CS-80 style synth. Also been playing with Krakli’s Arminator CS-80 VST in FL loops and getting some wonderful results. Some great presets and using Valhalla Vintage Reverb for the ambience.
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There’s also this
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haha - yeah. The guy who did most of the design of the Voyetra-8 told me the UVI is “just samples”, not a real emulation. I haven’t heard it.