Unison (2 voices) vs 2 oscillators single voice each

[samsome]

Unison (2 voices) vs 2 oscillators single voice each

can you please explain me the difference

thanks!

[Loque]

Depends on how the synth creates the doubled voice (unisone).

[samsome]

can we take sylenth1 as an example just to get an idea??

[Loque]

can we take sylenth1 as an example just to get an idea??

I do not have it. But its as simple as that: Unison means, change pitch of a oscillator and play it.

Depending on how the synth chanes the pitch, panning, gain, ... it becomes a unison voice. Every synth has its own strategy for it.

Thats why you laways can create your own unison spread voices as ppl did since decades by just playing the same sound in a slightly different pitch (slowing down the tape ), ... Read about "phasers", "flangers" and so on to get a clue, what ppl did to double their voices (unison)...

[scratchnsnifff]

can we take sylenth1 as an example just to get an idea??

I do not have it. But its as simple as that: Unison means, change pitch of a oscillator and play it.

Depending on how the synth chanes the pitch, panning, gain, ... it becomes a unison voice. Every synth has its own strategy for it.

Thats why you laways can create your own unison spread voices as ppl did since decades by just playing the same sound in a slightly different pitch (slowing down the tape ), ... Read about "phasers", "flangers" and so on to get a clue, what ppl did to double their voices (unison)...

I like your example about tapes, I remember my mind melting when I found out about how some of the most popular effects are all about the manipulation of time

[DonnieAlan]

Unison (2 voices) vs 2 oscillators single voice each

can you please explain me the difference

thanks!

There is no one answer to what you're asking. The terms used in synthesis can be somewhat fluid, depending on the synth. However, it appears what you may be asking is, is there a difference between generating a sound, doubled off of one oscillator, versus generating the same sound once on two different oscillators. From a sound output point of view, that is what you actually hear, there may not be, assuming you have the same signal path in both cases. However, there could be a difference in how the synth allocates the sound generating resources using the unison versus two oscillators. I'll use Dune 3 by Synapse Audio as an example. The name "DUNE" is shorthand for "Differential Unison Engine". In English all that means is that you can call up a waveform 1 time on 1 oscillator, or duplicate it up to 16 (I think) times off the same oscillator. So, say you select a basic saw tooth waveform on the Osc. You have but 1 instance of it. No extra processing, and you hear a basic saw tooth. Now, double it on the Osc. You can separate the two instances as much or as little as you wish...a sort of detuning one from the other. The further apart, the more detuned. The closer together, the more in complete unison they will sound.

Now, you can replicate that by choosing Osc 1, with 1 saw tooth and doing the same on Osc 2. You can fiddle with the panning and the tuning to replicate the same effect as unison engine on the single oscillator. Sonically they'll sound about the same. But, you will be using slightly more resources in the synth to do it. It really depends on what type of patch you want to build. There's no right or wrong way, and essentially you're only limited by your imagination, the parameters of the synth and your CPU. With DUNE 3...you could, with enough CPU, create a patch with up to 8 separate elements or parts, each comprised of up to 3 Osc, each generating their own wave forms, with each controlled separately for panning, tuning, gain, etc. That will use up a lot of CPU though, and you could run into issues because of that, unless you have a really fast CPU.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but I hope it helps a little.