The debate about how you get your synth sounds will go on forever. We’ve got four different levels of sounds: inexpensive software synths, expensive software synths, inexpensive hardware synths, expensive hardware synths.
Put another way, it’s Cherry Audio vs. Arturia vs. Behringer vs. Roland.
Let’s do this. If you were to play the Cherry Audio Mercury 6 plugin through some speakers and then immediately play a Roland Jupiter 6 through the same setup, the Jupiter 6 will sound better to most. How much better is open for debate. So the real hardware wins the sound battle, but the Mercury 6 wins the “cost” battle. OK.
The Jupiter 6 is more fun to play because it has all the knobs and sliders and such. That’s true. But in a recording project, it’s nice to be able to store all the patches along with the plugin in whatever DAW you’re using, so there’s that.
But here’s the part that’s missing in most discussions. If I make music in my DAW, the second I record that real Jupiter 6, I’m leveling the playing field a bit. The plugin is going to sound identical in my DAW, because it already lives there. The Jupiter 6 is going to be send through my audio interface and converted to 0s and 1s. It’s basically a sample of a Jupiter 6 at that point. I’ve got a world class audio interface (Apollo Solo), so the recorded Jupiter 6 will sound very close. But it WILL lose a little something.
We can argue that some people couldn’t tell the difference, but there is a difference. And now we’re comparing the Mercury 6 with a sampled Jupiter 6, essentially.
So that’s the secret no one talks about. The only time you hear the actual output of the Jupiter 6 is when you’re in the room with it.
And here’s when you won’t hear the output – when it breaks down because it’s a billion years old and uses parts that aren’t made any more. Vintage synth hardware is for those who can afford them. I can’t.
So because of this, I have a great idea. If you have a working Jupiter 6, you should just give it to me. One day it’ll fail, and then you’ll have the last laugh. What do you think? No? It was worth a shot.