Andromeda owners and Solaris , please share your thoughts !

[Soul circuits]

How do they compare sonically ? Does solaris sounds as good as this ?
http://youtu.be/-fl0F1Awbb4
Thank you !

[galaxiesmerge]

Since I own an Andromeda I could do a compare.

Of course, I also own a CS80, a Jomox SUNSYN, Rhodes Chrome, Prophet-T8 ... and, the thing is, they *all* sound great so I think that you might consider the "character" of the SOLARIS : I do not think it is a question of "good" or "bad" between great-sounding synths but more of a question of what works for you personally.

I have a whole stockade of digital synths as well so I cannot say one is good and another is bad - every sound, including the sound from the "toy Fisher Price synth" is great, for a certain purpose

I would not compare the Andromeda to the SOLARIS in terms of of "good" or "bad" but I would compare them in terms of what the SOLARIS can get you that the Andromeda cannot and what the Andromeda can get you that the SOLARIS cannot and also, what they both do great (like, sawtooth waves through low-pass filters). They are both different in character.

Cheers!

[Soul circuits]

Hello, I've realized I haven't replied to you very useful feedback (notification lost somewhere certainly ) apologies for that


You have a huge collections of synths indeed (no excuse to not make great sounding music )

Have you tried to emulate the cs8o with the Solaris ? Just curious
Best regards,
Isham

[galaxiesmerge]

Hi,

I have had good opportunities to make music and sound (mostly TV and Film) but I am taking the time now to to just work on a couple of musical projects. I looked at the interview with Jean-Michel Jarre and the reasons he cites for why he mixes and uses old synths (vintage synths) with the new VST's and why he would never go with a VST only solution - it is very eye opening! In fact, it is more about the control-surface and instrument design that defines compositional approaches to sound according to him - so the SOLARIS I would expect would be something he would like a lot if he ever got the chance to play one!

Having done a lot of TV and stuff I am nowadays more interested in collaborations, experiments and figuring out the right melodic, rhythmic, sound-design and compositional approachs (so I use SYNFIRE, and other tools with what I have ... in fact, I got rid of a lot of gear: got rid of Fairlight CMI III, but kept Emu-III and Emu-II+, got rid of Arp-Odyssey, MS20 but got Modcan with those Filters, etc.... so it's been quite a journey of synths). I think that as a musician that is no longer interested in "studio" work or the daily grind of film or TV, I am in a space where I am much more interested in breaking ground that is also still attainable, listenable, and likable by a wide audience - hopefully, I will continue to interact with interesting people and tools and I think the SOLARIS is one such tool. For example, I gave up the Jupiter-8 for a JOMOX SUNSYN because there is nothing I found in the Jupiter that I could not do with more interesting flavor with the SUNSYN but this synthesizer is so under-rated as an analog polysynth yet it can compete easily also with the PPG's (since it has two powerful wavetable oscillators per voice and it in many ways, its modulation matrix harkens to me of SOLARIS). But SOLARIS is all digital and a different instrument

I am on the waiting list for the SOLARIS and my CS80 is in a total (soup to nuts) refurbishment of all chips, caps, power supply etc... etc... by a real expert in the field (he's done a dozen of 'em). It takes a bit of time so I don't expect he will finish until next year --- shipping alone was really, really expensive but it was done by a superb company (let me know if you need details).

I think that the SOLARIS, if John Bowen gets the CS80 filter model into it, would do well, but, for now, without a CS80 filter model, I would not really try to emulate the CS80 --- Arturia did not succeed, that much I can tell you but they did make a nice VST by leveraging the inspiration though it is not a CS80 in the sense of a real emulation (I do have one that is and it is the http://www.memorymoon.com/me80.htm --- I highly recommend this --- I found the tones extremely close as to be astonishing and so I purchased it).

My sense is that the SOLARIS offers a new palette of sounds within a familiar framework and so I expect it will become a great contributor to the work I enjoy doing

Thanks!

-A

[Soul circuits]

Really interesting to read your journey, we learn everyday from other musicians , we have each of us different wishes and goals and some are common. I'm a synfire pro user also but still need to learn to use it efficiently to structure my music.

I've completely fell in love with e-mu Eii sounds lately and had the chance to get 2 of them (one being a +) they are currently serviced to ensure full operation even I bought them in a perfect working condition but I prefer to do a check up (Bruce Forat ). There is a huge sounds collection available as well which is a good starting point before doing my own . John, if I'm not wrong, was about to work with emu before Sequential circuits.

As you Ive decided to concentrate on few great items in the synth area (1 analogue mono with the Grp a4 , one poly analogue with a Vermona and if it arrives one day 1 great digital synth with the Solaris -;). I have few other stuffs in support + of course the vst area. I think it improves creativity not having more than few great pieces as one can extract more from them ...and Solaris has such potential ...as the emu with its own character and sampling capabilities...
Enjoy your day !
Cheers
Isham

[John Bowen]

John, if I'm not wrong, was about to work with emu before Sequential Circuits.

Isham,

I was working for Moog before Sequential. I approached Dave Smith about getting one of his Model 800 sequencers to enhance my Moog presentations. I was also interested in seeing if there was anything in the Emu gear that might work for me.

I had seen ads in Keyboard magazine for both companies, and since they were both in San Jose (about a 45 minute drive for me), I decided I'd go see what they were doing. When I made that drive to San Jose, I first called on Emu, and then Dave.

The best part of the story - both of these 'companies' were based out of their 2 bedroom apartments!

[Soul circuits]

Indeed and it made me laugh when I've listened to your interview here where you mention it as well :
http://soundcloud.com/sonictalk/sonic-t ... john-bowen

Many useful data in this interview -;)

[Soul circuits]

Hi,

I have had good opportunities to make music and sound (mostly TV and Film) but I am taking the time now to to just work on a couple of musical projects. I looked at the interview with Jean-Michel Jarre and the reasons he cites for why he mixes and uses old synths (vintage synths) with the new VST's and why he would never go with a VST only solution - it is very eye opening! In fact, it is more about the control-surface and instrument design that defines compositional approaches to sound according to him - so the SOLARIS I would expect would be something he would like a lot if he ever got the chance to play one!

Having done a lot of TV and stuff I am nowadays more interested in collaborations, experiments and figuring out the right melodic, rhythmic, sound-design and compositional approachs (so I use SYNFIRE, and other tools with what I have ... in fact, I got rid of a lot of gear: got rid of Fairlight CMI III, but kept Emu-III and Emu-II+, got rid of Arp-Odyssey, MS20 but got Modcan with those Filters, etc.... so it's been quite a journey of synths). I think that as a musician that is no longer interested in "studio" work or the daily grind of film or TV, I am in a space where I am much more interested in breaking ground that is also still attainable, listenable, and likable by a wide audience - hopefully, I will continue to interact with interesting people and tools and I think the SOLARIS is one such tool. For example, I gave up the Jupiter-8 for a JOMOX SUNSYN because there is nothing I found in the Jupiter that I could not do with more interesting flavor with the SUNSYN but this synthesizer is so under-rated as an analog polysynth yet it can compete easily also with the PPG's (since it has two powerful wavetable oscillators per voice and it in many ways, its modulation matrix harkens to me of SOLARIS). But SOLARIS is all digital and a different instrument

I am on the waiting list for the SOLARIS and my CS80 is in a total (soup to nuts) refurbishment of all chips, caps, power supply etc... etc... by a real expert in the field (he's done a dozen of 'em). It takes a bit of time so I don't expect he will finish until next year --- shipping alone was really, really expensive but it was done by a superb company (let me know if you need details).

I think that the SOLARIS, if John Bowen gets the CS80 filter model into it, would do well, but, for now, without a CS80 filter model, I would not really try to emulate the CS80 --- Arturia did not succeed, that much I can tell you but they did make a nice VST by leveraging the inspiration though it is not a CS80 in the sense of a real emulation (I do have one that is and it is the http://www.memorymoon.com/me80.htm --- I highly recommend this --- I found the tones extremely close as to be astonishing and so I purchased it).

My sense is that the SOLARIS offers a new palette of sounds within a familiar framework and so I expect it will become a great contributor to the work I enjoy doing

Thanks!

-A

So this is what I call experience with some key sampler/synthesizers Galaxiesmerge ! The sunsyn looks tempting and what a great sounding cs-80 you have , really heavy sounding (pun intended) I thought about it all day long at my day job, this one sampled in an emu e2 or emulated accurately in a Solaris (even not a replacement ) would be a major project. AlexG synth emulations done with Solaris are terrific to my ears (almost 99,5% there) so for long winter evenings when you get it back you know what to do .

What issue does it have to need such a huge service ?
Cheers

[marzzz]

I once owned a CS-80, but the maintenance issues were a nightmare. When I purchased it, it had just come back from refurbishment from a "famous tech shop in San Francisco known for working with the Grateful Dead," including installation of the Kenton MIDI mod. Overall, it continue to have issues including problems with the Kenton mod, and it proved to be very difficult to tune. Shipping the synth was so expensive, that I actually considered flying Old Crow out to Phoenix to work on my CS-80 because it would have been cheaper! Even though I loved the CS-80, the maintenance issues became too much of a hassle and I sold it (for way too little, considering the current prices!). The experience cured me of any and all desire for a vintage analog synth. The biggest problem with the CS-80 is that many of the proprietary chips are becoming unobtanium...

I also owned an Andromeda, and really enjoyed the synth; if it had responded properly to polyphonic aftertouch (as originally specified in the MIDI spec), it would probably have been the last synth I ever purchased! For a period of time I owned both the Andromeda and the CS-80, and was able to do amazing recreations of the CS-80 sounds on the Andromeda (I had a string/brass patch that I called Van Jealous that was total Blade Runner!). When the Andromeda was discontinued, I received ridiculous offers for my original-production run unit, and basically used the proceeds to finance the Solaris. Not being able to compare them directly (still waiting…), my impression is that the Solaris is somewhat "smoother" than the Andromeda. The Solaris will definitely have its own character, but I have always like the "sonic weight" that it has, even though it is digital. One of my other favorite synths was the Korg Wavestation, which had a really nice warmth to it, and of course JB was heavily involved in its development.

I would really love to check out a Jomox Sunsyn, but they are rarer than hen's teeth and quite expensive. I also took a run at the Studio Electronics Omega 8, but the St. Regis brothers seem to be taking a great deal of time in updating the operating system, as well as they reneged on a promise to me to implement poly aftertouch response in the MIDI spec. I cannot really fault them for that though.

[ME109]

Indeed and it made me laugh when I've listened to your interview here where you mention it as well :

sorry nothing to add to topic but thanks for the link to the interview - love listening to these.

[Soul circuits]

My pleasure to share -;) , I love also these interview of instruments creators pioneers, I was listening to Roger Linn (I'm a big fan I have to say, as usually these visioners are really humble and have a great sense of humor)
I recommend listening to this one , it is eye (ear) opening and their heritage is still alive !
It is an audio podcast ;for free, number 116 in the list of this radio.

http://www.residentadvisor.net/xml/podcast-exchange.xml

Sorry for this out of topic element , what would be fantastic would be to have all major instruments creators in the same studio to speak past and future perspectives (John, Roger, Dave, Waldorf original team ...)

[John Bowen]

Indeed and it made me laugh when I've listened to your interview here where you mention it as well :

sorry nothing to add to topic but thanks for the link to the interview - love listening to these.

Well, I just finished listening to the whole interview - I had completely forgotten about this with Nick at Sonic State! Definitely was wrong about the release date (I should have specified that I didn't necessarily mean October 2007 ).

So many things happened after this - not the least being that the DSP coder from Helsinki completely dropped out of communication with us - that Messe was the last time we ever talked! I've never heard from him again....

[galaxiesmerge]

Now that I finally got the SOLARIS and I compared it to the ANDROMEDA - if you need to make a choice about which to purchase, get the SOLARIS - it can do everything the Andromeda does and more as well as give you the PPG sounds ... I posted elsewhere on this but since I have both I figured I should state it here. Now, one thing that is nice to do is to layer the Solaris with the Andromeda via midi - just did it today to see how they blend - very nice indeed - you can get some pretty beautiful textural sounds, so for that reason, if you own both, keep them for the layering opportunities.

[Soul circuits]

Wow thank you sir for having taken time to report after all this time ! Much appreciated, I've read also your other post and it is making hope I will get mine soon ! When you have time to record some sounds all waiting (and desperate) customers happy !
Enjoy !
Isham

[galaxiesmerge]

Wow thank you sir for having taken time to report after all this time ! Much appreciated, I've read also your other post and it is making hope I will get mine soon ! When you have time to record some sounds all waiting (and desperate) customers happy !
Enjoy !
Isham

Hi Isham,

It is my pleasure! And yes, I will be playing the SOLARIS on video for all of you very soon!!! You will really, really enjoy the SOLARIS when you receive it

Cheers,

Arun