@Lanfranco, I would not underestimate the pull of processing power required by most of the recent VST instruments, some of them even in the open source or freeware domains. Anything whose kernel code is programmed with the kind of computing resources management usual these days, on desktop computing hardware platforms, does not take into account the level of code optimisation required by embedded systems and their lighter hardware provisions. Albeit the MiniMoog emulations aren’t particularly complex and demanding, in terms of signal chain and emulated components behaviour, other instruments like the Korg portings of their hardware synth engines or NI Absynth 6, to name but a few casual examples, are quite hungry CPU hogs. Moreover, even the most powerful x86 SBCs aren’t generally designed with real-time audio computing in mind.
Honestly, I don’t think that any digital synthesiser can really attain, by intrinsic nature, the uncompromising nasty naughtiness of three powerful and slightly unpredictable analog oscillators. This said, I concur that Arturia’s MM seems to come quite close. Maybe, an inexpensive Behringer clone could be the next step ahead.
Obviously I meant the Moog VSTs… Of course, a REAL instrument is light years away from a VST. But since I can barely afford a VST, I meant that the best Moog VST is the one from Arturia. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried it. If so, try it and compare it to all the others… then tell me.
P.S.
I also tried Universal Audio Moog Minimoog Native…outrageous compared to Arturia
Speaking of VSTs, I’ve tried a lot, but none (to my taste) have the sonic power of the Mini V. For me, it’s fantastic. Many others aren’t even comparable. Google translated the word OUTRAGEOUS like that, but that’s not what I meant.
Thanks for the heads-up @Lanfranco. Nevertheless, I never really digged much monosynths in general, thus, when the moment will come, I will prefer not to give up the tactile hands-on experience a-la-Voyager. For the time being, I am more than content with the Arturia’s, as far as software emulations go.
Now I’m 99% happy… I also fixed the overload on my controller, which wasn’t working before. Now with the “Internal Input Volume” knob set to OUT, I get the overload.
Unfortunately I can’t put a LED in the controller that lights up when the sound overloads…
Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been writing to Arturia to make their instruments compatible with Raspberry Pi? It’s been since I discovered Zynthian… Those guys are deaf.
I am afraid that most major software instruments companies still don’t see a short-term benefit, in opening themselves to Arm-based Linux.
I suspect that it’s not a matter of compiling reliably their synth engines code for less mainstream platforms, since they have the staff and resources to achieve this quite easily. They are probably reluctant to distribute and maintain a different tier of their sw, which in turn would be forked in two separate branches (x86 and ARM-64), for what they still consider a niche user base.
Moreover, as I pointed out, it’s possible that building an efficient synth binary for Arm-64 Raspberry computers, from source code designed for the computational and hw largesse of desktop x86 and Apple-Silicon systems, is not a walk in the park, and - alas - music software firms must reason in terms of financial sustainability, allocating programming staff and time carefully, if they want to stay afloat in a highly competitive market.
They might be short-sighted, in refusing to acknowledge the relevant (and by now widely proven) potential of embedded SBC audio systems, but I honestly cannot blame them for their caution, since their business model is built on a different mass IT paradigm, than the open-source and experimental DIY ethos of the Raspberry ecosystem.
I knew that this sound, which still moves me today, wouldn’t have escaped @Aethermind’s ears. As a lover of good science fiction (Asimov docet) since I was a child, Blade Runner (the First) has always been a legend. Great Vangelis!
