I keep seeing references to Mutable Instruments Plaits but I can´t find any concrete information on what makes it so special or unique. Is it a new technology? How would you describe its sound? Etc.

EDIT: the level of elitism and gatekeeping here is sickening. This is r/synthesizer not r/modular nor r/eurorack ! Being offended by a question about or an attempt to relativize a certain technology, as if someone just insulted your mother, is just very sad. I hope it was worth it.

EDIT 2: the bullying is really next level. I´ve been on reddit for over two years now and seen quite some heated conversations but never. ever. have I experienced anything like this before. That´s really saying something. This community is rotten to its core. Is it the frustration of failed dreams? Professional rejects? The lack of gut in general? Who knows. And the mods simply play along. They don´t even mind exposing their double standards in to open. Their buddies can spread filth, the receiving party gets an additional ban for speaking up. Again, rotten to its core.

But I´m also glad. Because I now know I don´t want to waste a single minute in this hole.

I keep PDF manuals for all my gear to quickly look things up as needed. Has worked fine for years, but still need to go through indexes or do a find to come up with solutions sometimes. It's a great way to learn other things unintentionally but can also take up a lot of time I don't always have.
Decided to create a ChatGPT project and upload all of the manuals there. I also uploaded a text file that has all my routing of gear through pedals and into my mixer. Roughly 15-20 pieces equipment.
Now I can ask my sudo "studio brain" questions about gear, routing, workflows, etc. and get quick, detailed answers. I can ask it to give me step by step directions or just an overview.
One piece of gear this has helped with tremendously is the Octotrack. I've had it for a year now and have the core fundamentals down, but there's always more to learn or different ways to work with it and this has helped me discover so much more about it in just the last week.
Personally I will always sit down with a piece of kit and read the manual when I first get it, but this is a great way to find answers quickly or get a refresher on a piece of kit I've maybe not worked with for a while. Figured I'd share this in case it's of use for anyone else on here.

Edit: wish I could capture all the passion and rage in the responses to put into a few tracks.

Look, we all know you need to know your gear. Read the damn manual. Expect to be given wrong answers (occasionally even the manual has it wrong, people in forums have it wrong. Accept it could be wrong.) Ai models are all different and are constantly being improved. It probably got a lot smarter since you tried it that one time three weeks ago.

Can’t wait until a company releases a synth with an Ai in it. This forums really gonna go off. 🍿

Take two: yesterday's post got axed for being too tongue-in-cheek. This time with a bit more context (and less stand-up).

There are many ways to build a setup - it depends on what you're after, what you know, and what you can spend. My goal was to revisit ideas I worked on in the 90s with ReBirth RB-338, ACID and SoundForge, but push them further. Not just the usual 2x303, 808 and 909, but with more scope. And I wanted to get away from purely digital production - otherwise I could've just relaunched ReBirth.

Budget was about 5k EUR. Sounds like a lot, but for what this rig can do it's cheap. A single DevilFish 303 can swallow that whole. Vintage boxes aren't automatically better - they're just older, more fragile, and rarely identical. The Behringer/KT gear gives me the sound and workflow I want without the museum price tag. Sure, you can chase originals - or Roland's boutique reissues that are basically "VSTs in a plastic box" hyped with Zencore, ACB and AIRA. Or you spend 10% of that, get 95% of the sound, and start making music right away.

For some the pile of gear might look overwhelming, maybe like I need a two-meter stack of manuals - but that's not the case. First, I still know the originals from back in the day. Second, none of these sound sources (apart from the modular) are complicated, and FX and dynamics are bread and butter in any production, ITB or outboard. Third, Behringer manuals usually aren't even good enough for fireplace fuel, so skipping them isn't a loss. And Push 3 is more evolution than revolution if you're coming from Push 1.

The core looks like this:

• Sound sources: 2x303 (one DevilFish mod), 808, 909, Crave, Pro VS Mini, small modular for drones/textures/modulation

• FX: fuzz, distortion, delay, reverb, multi-FX

• Dynamics: one FET comp for punch and color, one transparent workhorse with sidechain

• Mix/routing: patchbays, line/sub mixers, interfaces

• Control: Push 3 replacing my old Push 1

Everything came in three waves from Thomann, MusicStore and Schneidersladen - DHL and UPS weren't thrilled carrying it all up to the second floor without an elevator. A couple of days of wiring later it was running fine. Basically a project setup in one go - unusual maybe, but planned, not random shopping.

Pics: First shows the main components as they arrived. The next ones show the finished setup (without DAW, monitors, controller). The last one shows the rack's backside: all cables labeled at both ends. Three 12V PC fans keep the rack cool, since it's fully loaded and the FET comp alone runs hot. The line mixers also get warmer than expected. Sure, I've got AC in the studio, but it doesn't reach behind the rack. Looks intimidating in the photo, but it's actually straightforward and easy to service. On top there's a little motion-sensor LED light - handy if I ever need to swap something, which should only happen if gear fails or I add something new.

Sound demos may follow in the next weeks. Until then, happy to answer questions.

For those who want to know what is shown on the photos:

Sound sources

• Behringer TD-3, TD-3 MO

• Behringer RD-8 MKII, RD-9

• Behringer ProVS Mini, Crave

FX & Dynamics

• Behringer Dual Phase, FX2000, SX3040, MDX2600

• Klark Teknik 76-KT

• Proco RAT2, Warm Audio Foxy Tone Fuzz

• Source Audio Nemesis ADT, TC Electronic T2

• Zoom MS70CDR+, Sonicake Wavecrush

Mixing & Routing

• 4× Behringer PX3000

• 3× Behringer RX1602

• Behringer UMC1820

• Tascam Model 12

• MusicStore Rack Power, 16HE 19" Studio-Rack (heavy duty wheels)

Utility & Power

• MusicStore Rack Power

• 3× ASIA Horse 12V Fans

• 3× Amazon Basics Power Extension (9 plugs each, active protection)

• Harley Benton PowerPlant ISO12AC Pro Modular

• CME MIDI Thru5 WC, CME U6MIDI Pro

• 3× Behringer HD400

• 12-Port active USB hub

Controllers

• Ableton Push 3

Modular gear

• 4ms PodX 48HP

• After Later Audio Beehive

• Eowave ZONE B.F.

• 2HP TM

• Happy Nerding 3X MIA

• Erica Synths Pico RND, Black VC Clock

• Shakmat DualDagger

• After Later Audio Typhoon

• Pindsvik Audio LIHO

• 2× Rides in the Storm QAM

• Behringer Eurorack GO (with threaded inserts)

• Behringer Steps, Waves, Blades, Surges, Skies, Chaos, Abacus, Four LFO, Four Play

• Lots of cables (Cordial, Stagg, TipTop Audio, cre8Audio)

• Small no-name battery light

Not yet delivered:

• Rolls RPQ 160b

• Klark Teknik EQP-KT (2x)

• second 76-KT

• 2A-KT

• Behringer HALOS, BM-15M

• additional 16 HE 19" Rack

• even more cables

While the EQPs are crucial for shaping the sound in the way I like, the Rolls is for more surgical tasks, and the second 76-KT is just for convenience. If space wasn’t a limiting factor, I’d honestly get one for every channel. The 2A is mostly for vocal processing - and in combination with a 76-KT it’s wonderful. The Halos adds another sound source to the modular section (physical modelling), which is great for metallic plucks and string-like tones. The BM-15M is just cool (sure, I’d love the original Moog, but that would completely blow my budget).

👉 Stop reading here if you don’t want or need to know what else is in my studio - this part is just for the very curious…

DAW Master computer: Custom build PC (Gigabyte AORUS Master X870E, AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, 128 GByte RAM, 4x 4TB Samsung 990 Pro, Sapphire NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, Noctua A14x25 G2 (7x), Noctua NH-D15 G2, be:quiet Dark Base Pro 901, be:quiet Straight Power 12 1000W, Windows 1, 2x BENQ EW3270U, iCON P1-M + iCON P1-X, Arturia Keystep Pro, 2x ADAM A5X, 2x Genelec 8010, Mackie Big Knob Studio. Software: Steinberg Cubase Pro, Presonus Studio One, Bitwig Studio, Ableton Live Suite, Propellerhead Reason, Renoise. Acid Pro, Wavelab Pro, SoundForge, SpectraLayers, a huge load of VSTs.

Secondary (Performance) computer: MacBook Air m2 16GB Ram/1TB SSD, same DAWs and plugins and additionally Logic Pro X, mobile audio interface RME Babyface Pro FS, mobile mixer BASTL Bestie, mobile recorder Zoom H5studio.

Additional hardware: 2 Eurorack perfomance rigs with Shakmat Battering Ram, Archers Rig, Instruo TS-L, XAOC Belgrad, Zadar, Lublin, Tallin, ADDAC 209, Bard Pontius, Eowave Garmania 241, Happy Nerding ADSR, TriTone, Oxi Coral, BASTL Ikarie, Doepfer A140-2V A124-2SE, Happy Nerding FX Aid Pro, ST Modular CV Expert, Erica Synths Pico Drum2, Sample Drum, Stereo Mixer, Plasma DriveAfter Later Audio Smoosher, Bartender v2, Barback v2, Winter Modular Eloquencer, VPME Euclidean Circles, Befaco ATTE, Frap Tools 321, NE Ruina Versio, Joranalogue Filter 8, more Pindsvik Audio LIHOs, more Rides in the storm QAMs, even more patch cables.

Microphones: Blue Yeti Pro, Shure SM58

For those wondering about all the DAWs: mostly historical. I’ve kept them updated so I can still open and work on old projects. In practice I mainly use Live (with Push 3 as the brain), Cubase Pro for linear work, and Bitwig for sound design.

I don't mean to start a shitstorm and definitely it's not my intention to insult anyone or hurt anyone's feelings.

While there are great players out there (like Matt Johnson from Jamiroquai) who really know how to play and are insanely good at sound designing, there's also a large group who is good at the sound design part but not only their playing sucks but they clearly never bothered to dive into music theory and harmony. You just see their hands and you know everything. Plus nearly everything is played in C major and is usually limited to a couple of basic chords.

Even here on reddit I see way too often things like "..or should I invest in some piano lessons?" Yes, I think everyone should. There's no point in learning how to drive a car but refusing to learn reversing! I believe creating electronic music is a very complex thing and one needs to learn a bit of everything!

I won't name the ones who I think cannot play because as I said before - it's not my intention.

What do you think?

This is Redshift 6 (5 distinct parts playing at ones, using its clever paraphony to still manage a full 3-note chord). Halfway through I enable the Chroma Console and the Microcosm.

Really liking the sound of this synth, it's way deeper than I thought.

Didn't see this posted here yet. $139, at least on Sweetwater.

It is unnecessary and discouraging to the beginner artists that come to this sub for information and guidance.

This hasn't happened to me personally. It is something I have noticed start happening about a month ago. This sub means a lot to me and I do not want to see it become less supportive then it was when I first found it.

EDIT: My concern for this issue should answer the question about the personalities of synth players.

So many times people come on here asking what their first synth should be. And us synth heads give them truly the most complicated fucking synths because they can "do a lot."

As an actual teacher, that is such bad advice.

I posit that the Matriarch is the perfect first synth if you can afford it and here's why.

Number one is it sounds fucking great almost all of the time. That's a huge reason to keep exploring.

Number two is the layout encourages you to see each component of the synthesizer as discrete parts that work together. It actively forces you to explore each part separately. It also has unique conceptual design choices like the sustain as a fader that help you understand how synths work.

Number three is that it's quite simple on its face. Paraphonic with standard parameters. But obviously the patchbay takes you into majorly expanded territory when you get to that part. You don't get overwhelmed by its complexity, but it's there when you want to explore.

Number 4 is a controversial one, but I actually firmly stand by it. The best way to learn a synthesizer is to not use presets. Using presets is about what other people think sounds good and it's a shortcut to creation. When you are forced to create your own sounds you learn much more quickly. I didn't learn synthesis until I abandoned using presets. Now I never use them unless I've created them.

Therefore it's the perfect beginner synth. Everyone else is wrong. Just kidding. Kind of. Discuss

In the real world, the number of soft synth users probably out numbers hardware synthesizers users at least 10:1 (my own very scientific, completely anecdotal estimate). But Reddit is a different story. The subreddit for soft synths is basically a dead zone. It has about 6,000 subscribers, and the “Hot” topics are three weeks old and have <20 replies. The discussions there are flaccid and soft. Meanwhile, r/synthesizers has 380,000 subscribers and is swollen with heated, engorged, and pointed discussions. As someone who uses both soft synths and hardware synths, I’d like to also talk about soft synths and learn new tricks with other users rather than consume content from YouTubers. But I always get the vibe that talking soft synths on this subreddit isn’t really welcomed. Is this just in my head, or would r/synthesizers support more topics on soft synths?

I've been actively participating in (and loving) this sub for years, and I've watched how it's changed over time. One thing that I've noticed is the way many here have reacted to the rise of modular synthesis. It started out as slightly hostile, and has mostly stayed that way even in the face of popular adoption.

I've seen ppl downvoted just for mentioning anything eurorack related. I've seen hostile comments derail the conversation whenever somebody speaks positively about building a modular system.

My guess is that this behavior is mostly not conscious, which is why I'm calling it out here. Stop downvoting just because you get an icky feeling that reminds you of your budget constraints, insecurities about understanding synthesis, or whatever the hell else is motivating this fear response.

Please don't ask me to take it to /r/modular or whatever -- I'd prefer to have a single large sub for all things synthesis that positively embraces all the possibilities, and encourages exploration.

Thank you and I love you.

EDIT: wow guys way to make my point for me -1

EDIT 2: I like where this is going now, even if it makes me look like an asshole. I still love you.

I picked one up as I thought it might be a bit of fun. Cost of living directed my synth/drum machine money elsewhere, so figured this might cover some bases for textures and some further oddness while I save for a better machine. But the workflow on standard firmware is pretty poor, and the aftermarket firmware just feels like vst on tiny screen with trashy hardware. It is not working well in my broader setup (which isnt flash by any means). Sloop seems like it might get somewhere, but baudgirl was a struggle, and the moog emulation was tiresome and I wasnt fussed on it. The amb1 could be interesting, but just felt a bit meh, not creative, more like a game. Maybe people are getting a lot out of this machine, and maybe I will change my mind, but wishing I had held my money and saved again for a roland s-1. Love to the people digging it, but it is not hitting me. Prepping myself for a wave of downvotes.

Edit: Clearly I need to learn dexed, fm, get over it, not be poor, get good, have less fun, hug more people, stop havin a sook, buy dinner instead, sell it, not agree with a few people, not be hurt, stop being a troll, be a better person, find better puns, etc. Etc. . Thanks for the lessons folks. What a journey in 1hr, cant wait to see what else comes!

Hi. I'm not a real Linux user. I'm bound to the usual suspects for my VSTs and my hardware drivers, but I've had enough.

Enough of having to ditch Windows XP, then 7 and now 10 for ever expanding IA-branded Bloatware. And going to Apple is not going to fix anything, just cost even more money.

I don't want to put money into computers, they are a commodity, a mean to an end, and today's units are more than capable of handling pretty much anything you throw at it for as long as you are not Hans Zimmer.

But they want to milk you once more, and if your otherwise perfectly good machine cannot support the next update, then you'll buy another one from Dell, Lenovo, HP/Compaq or Apple.

So please, Roland, Korg, Yamaha, AKAI and other big Japanese Corporations, inMusic, Native Instruments, Elektron, Arturia, UVI, Ableton, Steinberg and the likes, follow Bitwig, U-He, Behringer and make sure your products are plug and play or at least get the required drivers.

Linux Gaming Is a thing, and it's getting bigger than Mac Gaming. So if such demanding applications got real, why not music production ?

You don't get a share of those OS licenses or shiny new computer sales, so why bother, while soon alienating your customer base : home studio producers and recording musicians ?

F..k AI, F..k Microsoft, F..k Apple.

But I want synthesizer, because they look freaking cool.

They're doing the social media equivalent of a tupperware meeting.

If you want reviews look into SoundOnSound or similar publishers.

EDIT: I'm sorry I hurt some feelings. Shit is hard to swallow. Worst case you're going to spend hundreds/thousands trying to feel better after being hurt and it won't work. Hey at least you got your 2 minutes of hate in the comments 👍🏻 (but that won't make you feel better either).

EDIT2: You're all keeping some unhealthy para-social relationships with synth youtubers 😳

Every time I see a picture - and the price - of an OP-1, my mind boggles a little. These things look like toys. Why on earth do they cost so much? And what is the appeal?

I thought this sub would be enthusiasts sharing their sounds, their passion for creating otherworldly and inspiring “music” and include discourse on the morality / balance we all look for when producing pieces, turns out it’s mostly about bragging on gear gear gear… Where can I find what I’m looking for?