Snakebite?

[polardozer]

Does anyone use the SnakeBite Synth? I'm thinking about getting it once I learn SubTractor...

Questions.

1. What kind of Synth is it? Additive, Subtractive, FM?

2. Ease of use?


Thanks!

-Polar

[tibah]

Subtractive with some *interesting* stuff inside the signal path, as it seems.

Not sure about the use, I still got my trial left. Never attracted me. 

Subtractor gives you A LOT of playground. After that it get down to sonic preferences, meaning character / sound of a synth. Then again, I don't know Snakebite enough to name it a one-trick-pony for bass or what makes it that much different from e.g. Subtractor.

[polardozer]

Ok, Thanks=D I'll try and find an additive one, or maybe pick it up during a sale or something.

[JNeffLind]

I've heard a few people refer to it as "dirty" sounding and as having a pretty analog sound for a digital synth. Of course it is all a matter of taste and I don't qualified to make any judgements since I haven't trialed it myself.

If you prefer additivie, it's Parsec or Noxious.

[zeebot]

I found it a little flat and difficult to program. Seemed I'd always end up with a similar sound no matter what I did.
It is great if you are looking for messed up dirty sounds but I found it too limiting.
Noxious is a bit more user friendly and a wider sound palette, the best I would say is Parsec, just a beautiful synth, easy to use and great sounds but it comes with a pricetag.
good luck.

[Benedict]

Hi Mr Dozer

Snakebite is definite Subtractive, with a bit of addition via distortions but that doesn't count. I didn't buy but only so as not to clutter my rack. It is an interesting synth with an interesting character but I'm not sure it is best for a learner as some of the architecture is rather odd. If you like the sound then buy as it is cheap.

Reason doesn't have a fully fledged Additive synth, Parsec is a cool synth but you don't really get to make the waveform (same with Noxious). WizAudio Additive Oscillator RE is the closest but requires a lot of wiring to get a full complex additive sound (hence the fudges in Parsec).

Subtractor and Thor are far better for for learning and very versatile and good sounding synths and you really can make a career with only these two.

[frog974new]

get it since more 4 month now .
like the way we can trig, modulate , tweak the sound with it . often i use it to add more grain on my lead , stab , bass : very helpfull

the fsb is pretty cool also , we can understand with all the patchs and preset to setup some kind of sounds ( !! not a largess fsb )

for tuning sounds , intermediate knowledge about synth is required in my mind

[CephaloPod]

As others have said, this is a subtractor synth, but not your everyday, bread-and-butter kind of synth.  I use it only in certain circumstances, when I'm looking for a raw, mean sound.

[dvdrtldg]

I love the sounds I can get out of Snakebite but as others have said, it's best for in-your-face dirt. To my ears it's got a meaner, more aggressive sort of character than something like Ivoks (which I also like for dirty sounds).

The GUI is pretty unfriendly. Even after a year or so of use, I find myself squinting and leaning forward into the screen when trying to program it. Not sure what the problem is, like whether it's truly counterintuitive or just something to do with the way my brain is wired, but I've never quite gotten 100% comfortable with it.

Still, great synth and excellent value.

[eusti]

I love the Snakebite synth... Don't use it that much though... It seems to lend itself to one particular kind of sound: Pissed off and angry...
I wouldn't call it very analogy sounding... But that is a matter of taste and opinion I think... I've heard harsh analog synth and full, round and fat ones...
This one is not so much full, round and fat for me... Maybe I haven't learned how to program it properly though... As I said, I love it though!

D.

[electrochoc (PRX-A)]

I'll say more or less the same thing, but I'll try to be more specific.

1. It's definitly a subtractive synth, overall with less features than Subtractor, but with features that Subtractor don't have. Its oscillators are very different when compared to Subtractor's ones: Subtractor has 32 fixed waveforms available, while Snakebite has an oscillator that will progressively go from sine to saw to square, with an additionnal morph option. Snakebite's sound, while it could not exactly described as "analog-sounding", is less strictly digital than Subtractor, a synth that was developed before the current "virtual analog trend" we see today.

But the main difference between them comes from the set of effects that come with Snakebite (vs none for Subtractor): a very agressive sounding filter, three distortion knobs (bitcrush, "venom" and distortion), an analog-modeled delay and the "binaural"... All those coupled with the specific character of the Snakebite's oscillators are aimed at making Snakebite sound harsh and agressive (that's where its reputation of being "nasty" is coming!).

Overall, it's a very nice little synth, a little more limited than the average though (and cheaper must I add), but I tend to recommand it to people who are into more agressive kinds of music (hardcore, industrial, etc.). If you can't make Subtractor or Thor to be as agressive as you wish, Snakebite might be your solution! But, if you're not into that kind of stuff, you might see Snakebite as redundant when compared to other synths.

2. Easy to use? The knobs are a little oddly disposed on the interface... One might feel a little lost at first, and it might take some time to get used to it and to its non-traditionnal "modulation matrix"...