Propellerhead introduces Layers synth.

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aeox
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15 Sep 2017

When people call sound designers "tweakers"

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CaliforniaBurrito
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15 Sep 2017

aeox wrote:
15 Sep 2017
When people call sound designers "tweakers"
Can you hook me up with some of those partials?

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aeox
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15 Sep 2017

CaliforniaBurrito wrote:
15 Sep 2017
aeox wrote:
15 Sep 2017
When people call sound designers "tweakers"
Can you hook me up with some of those partials?
:lol:

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fotizimo
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15 Sep 2017

Marco Raaphorst wrote:
15 Sep 2017
fotizimo wrote:
14 Sep 2017


My point was why they didn't call out PN in the description of the device itself, and as of 8am this morning, I hadn't inspected the back looking for licensing and royalty agreements.
Yes, that's right. Sometimes the companies the Props work are somewhat more hidden indeed. In this case it's the back of device and mentioned in manual only. Not in the desciption.

Would love to see a large credit list. I did hundreds of patches and samples for Factory SoundBank, if that would be mentioned online it would be best for me. But ok, it is their decision.
oops, did i make the mistake of not knowing as much about Propellerheads business than you? I will stop posting in case someone knows something i do not, and feels it is their responsibility to show how important they are.
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PadShifta
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15 Sep 2017

EnochLight wrote:
14 Sep 2017
I think the promo video is worth being posted in the OP. I love retro-camp marketing!

I feel you there! The video was very fun to watch.

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Marco Raaphorst
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15 Sep 2017

fotizimo wrote:
15 Sep 2017
Marco Raaphorst wrote:
15 Sep 2017


Yes, that's right. Sometimes the companies the Props work are somewhat more hidden indeed. In this case it's the back of device and mentioned in manual only. Not in the desciption.

Would love to see a large credit list. I did hundreds of patches and samples for Factory SoundBank, if that would be mentioned online it would be best for me. But ok, it is their decision.
oops, did i make the mistake of not knowing as much about Propellerheads business than you? I will stop posting in case someone knows something i do not, and feels it is their responsibility to show how important they are.
Hey I am simply agreeing with you. Don't know why the Props put something in the description and when not.

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fotizimo
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15 Sep 2017

Marco Raaphorst wrote:
15 Sep 2017
fotizimo wrote:
15 Sep 2017


oops, did i make the mistake of not knowing as much about Propellerheads business than you? I will stop posting in case someone knows something i do not, and feels it is their responsibility to show how important they are.
Hey I am simply agreeing with you. Don't know why the Props put something in the description and when not.
Apologies, I read your comments as antagonistic. I keep forgetting to not read on-line forums before having my morning coffee.
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15 Sep 2017

seqoi wrote:
15 Sep 2017
EnochLight wrote:
15 Sep 2017


But I agree - it's a full blown synth in a nice package.
No it is not. Strangely this sentence coming from you because from what i understand by reading you posting you very well know what synth is. Antidote is a synth. Viking 2 is a synth. Even Subtractor is a synth.

This is simple sample player wrapped in nice graphical interface. Not a full blown synth at all.

Why wouldn't this classify as a synth? It has 4 oscillators (Layers). And per layer (or per oscillator) there's a filter, distorition, flanger, fx sends, pan, adsr, pitch, filter envelope and LFO...That's a synth. The way you design sounds on this is definitely subtractive synthesis, there's just no global filter. Subtractor is a synth (not sure why "even" was needed for this fact) and the functionality here is pretty similar minus the fm capabilities. Plenty of softsynths are sample based just like the IDT synths in the shop.

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15 Sep 2017

mreese80 wrote:
15 Sep 2017
Not worth having imo. If you want the real thing just buy the analogue monsters refill by Pinknoise. Save your money. You could also buy Bitley's refills for all of this and more. :refill:
I have to agree. I do love the GUI though. After going through the AM refill. There is a whole lot more in there compared to this RE. I always wondered why PinkNoise didn't make a AM RE themselves.

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15 Sep 2017

mreese80 wrote:
15 Sep 2017
Not worth having imo. If you want the real thing just buy the analogue monsters refill by Pinknoise. Save your money. You could also buy Bitley's refills for all of this and more. :refill:
The more I think about it, the more I'd like a dedicated RE featuring Bitley's work.

Patrick if you're reading this you should get on this - with Props. I know you had some issues with them in the past but this seems a new era and WBF is superb.
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EnochLight
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15 Sep 2017

tobypearce wrote:
15 Sep 2017
mreese80 wrote:
15 Sep 2017
Not worth having imo. If you want the real thing just buy the analogue monsters refill by Pinknoise. Save your money. You could also buy Bitley's refills for all of this and more. :refill:
The more I think about it, the more I'd like a dedicated RE featuring Bitley's work.

Patrick if you're reading this you should get on this - with Props. I know you had some issues with them in the past but this seems a new era and WBF is superb.
I've been pestering Patrick for years to do an RE (or rather, an IDT) based on all of his Bitley Fairlight stuff. My biggest problem with refills right now is that Combi just aren't inspiring to look at - full stop. A sweet, customized GUI/UX would be awesome based on his stuff.

Anyway, it would make pirating his stuff very difficult. But, I also understand making an IDT is no easy feat - although it's a lot easier than making an RE from the ground up. So I can respect his apprehension (not to mention the loss of money from the PropShop store cut). Still, it would reinvigorate interest in his material, me thinks.
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joeyluck
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15 Sep 2017

EnochLight wrote:
15 Sep 2017
tobypearce wrote:
15 Sep 2017


The more I think about it, the more I'd like a dedicated RE featuring Bitley's work.

Patrick if you're reading this you should get on this - with Props. I know you had some issues with them in the past but this seems a new era and WBF is superb.
I've been pestering Patrick for years to do an RE (or rather, an IDT) based on all of his Bitley Fairlight stuff. My biggest problem with refills right now is that Combi just aren't inspiring to look at - full stop. A sweet, customized GUI/UX would be awesome based on his stuff.

Anyway, it would make pirating his stuff very difficult. But, I also understand making an IDT is no easy feat - although it's a lot easier than making an RE from the ground up. So I can respect his apprehension (not to mention the loss of money from the PropShop store cut). Still, it would reinvigorate interest in his material, me thinks.
You had it right the first time ;) The only developer who made an IDT (instrument development toolkit) was UJAM :P

Those other developers have used the IDT. You could say, "make a RE using the IDT." Otherwise, it's along the same lines as saying, "I'd like to see Korg make another SDK for Reason." It's just one of those things that bugs me every time I read someone mentioning, "Is this another IDT?" "No, this is actually a RE and I'm not sure what version of the SDK they used and whether or not they used the IDT to make it." Haha.

Anyways, I agree with everything else you have said. Would be really cool to see a Bitley RE :puf_smile:

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6502
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15 Sep 2017

Tough crowd :)

Love the retro ad for this. Looking forward to demoing. :cool:

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fieldframe
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15 Sep 2017

joeyluck wrote:
15 Sep 2017
You had it right the first time ;) The only developer who made an IDT (instrument development toolkit) was UJAM :P

Those other developers have used the IDT. You could say, "make a RE using the IDT." Otherwise, it's along the same lines as saying, "I'd like to see Korg make another SDK for Reason." It's just one of those things that bugs me every time I read someone mentioning, "Is this another IDT?" "No, this is actually a RE and I'm not sure what version of the SDK they used and whether or not they used the IDT to make it." Haha.
While you are quite correct about the proper usage of the terms, I don't think there's anything particularly wrong about referring to an "IDT RE" as an "IDT" in shorthand. It's important to get these things right when there's potential for confusion, but in this case I don't think anyone is going to think developers are creating their own duplicates of the IDT SDK. :)

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selig
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15 Sep 2017

bitley™ wrote:
15 Sep 2017
seqoi wrote:
14 Sep 2017
Indeed for some reason i expected more from them. This looks like poor's man sample rompler. And that's a closed one. Many RE devices in current shop appear to be more advanced then this one.

From what i can see you can do pretty much everything with 4X NN19 and some clever routing in Combinator. + ton of samples already available.

And yes i expected more on the backside. At least FX routing. I guess in future update they will add it and custom sample loading option.

To each their own i guess.
Well you just need one NNXT if you want to create layers and the NNXT is almost unlimited in its possibilities. Check out "some" refills to get an idea. ;)
I already know where you stand on the idea of bringing sampled instruments into the RE domain, so I won't re-hash past conversations. ;)

I would, however, take issue with the suggestion you can create Layers with one (or even multiple) NNXTs.
But I WOULD agree you can create something similar with Reason if you don't mind spreading it across multiple Combinators/FX.

But just for grins…
It's not just the UI that's going to be limited with only an NNXT compared to Layers, but you'd also need to add a few FX and CV devices to complete the picture.

Some observations:
With Layers you see all four filter settings, envelope settings, octave tuning, volume, and panning at once and don't need to scroll/select a group of samples before editing the filter.
For all other settings they are a button click away, making it much quicker to move around.
Additional features include a separate low cut filter, a second LFO with waveform and tempo sync, three velocity curves, trigger delay,
With Layers you can mute a layer, add distortion or a flanger to a layer with a single button click.
You also have delay, reverb, and compression, as well as four step sequencers (with gate outs).
Additionally, you can automate or control ALL parameters with Layers, and quickly switch out groups of samples on any layer to create alternative patches.

I'm probably leaving something out with regards to Layers (or the NNXT for that matter, which I DO love).
I'll just leave it by repeating what you said: "to each their own": some prefer ReFills, others prefer a dedicated device.
Better to have options for everyone rather than a one-size-fits-all approach IMO.
:)
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TritoneAddiction
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15 Sep 2017

Just tried it out, played around with a bunch of patches. Not a big fan to be honest. I compared it to one of my favorites "Legend" and man does Legend sound a lot better in my opinion. Perhaps that's an unfair or bad comparison, but I figured, they are both sort of emulations of old sounds and they also have the same price (at full price). Layers sounds dull in comparison and well, basically it sounds like a bunch of samples are being played. Just lifeless.
Not a big fan of the GUI either.
Sorry, not trying to be a PH hater, I love my Parsec, I'm just giving my honest first impression here. This one obviously wasn't for me. But please don't take my word for it as I often dislike REs or synths that other people absolutely love.

I gave it 3 stars btw, so it's not like I hate it. It's alright, I just wasn't very impressed by it.
Last edited by TritoneAddiction on 15 Sep 2017, edited 1 time in total.

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Oquasec
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15 Sep 2017

Most synths generate waveforms in realtime though that will always be the case versus sampled material.
I still need to get my hands on pianoteq one day... thaat plug seems to be a gem.
Last edited by Oquasec on 15 Sep 2017, edited 1 time in total.
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15 Sep 2017

fotizimo wrote:
14 Sep 2017
first thing this reminded me of was the Pink Noise Analog Monster refill:

http://www.reasonbanks.com/refill_AM3.html

covers these synths:

• Alesis Andromeda A6
• Korg MonoPoly
• Korg MS-20
• Korg Poly800 MKII
• Moog Prodigy
• Oberheim Matrix-1000
• Roland Juno-60
• Roland Jupiter 4
• Studio Electronics SE-1X
• Waldorf Microwave XT

Goes for 30 euros on the reasonbanks.com site. Seems like a low-effort release from Propellerheads IMHO. somehow i wonder if we are going to look back at version 9.5 as the "jump the shark" time for Propellerheads.
I think Layers is a good looking / sounding Re. A good enticement for people to upgrade that aren't on 9.5 yet. It's probably why they've made it.

But that aside, is everything in Layers available then in that Pink Noise Analog Monster Refill?
Sounds like it's worth buying if it is.
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O1B
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15 Sep 2017

Thanks to Selig for breaking down it's workflow shortcuts - compared to NNXT'ing..
- filter settings, envelope settings, octave tuning, volume, and panning
- a separate low cut filter, a second LFO with waveform and tempo sync,
three velocity curves, trigger delay,
- mute a layer, add distortion or a flanger to a layer with a single button click
- delay, reverb, and compression, as well as four step sequencers (with gate outs).
- quickly switch out groups of samples on any layer to create alternative patches.

It does look easy to read.

But, Good Lord that's butt fugly. I think i just found the inspiration:
Image

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15 Sep 2017

Oquasec wrote:
15 Sep 2017
Most synths generate waveforms in realtime though that will always be the case versus sampled material.
I still need to get my hands on pianoteq one day... thaat plug seems to be a gem.
pianoteq 6 just came out and it is without a doubt my "if i only had one vst instrument" vst.
worth so much more than the asking price... its officially good enough now where i cant tell the difference between the real thing and pianoteq.

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EnochLight
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15 Sep 2017

O1B wrote:
15 Sep 2017
But, Good Lord that's butt fugly. I think i just found the inspiration:
Yeah, Combi sure look better... :lol: :roll: :puf_bigsmile:


combi_skin.jpg
combi_skin.jpg (119.38 KiB) Viewed 3044 times

Yeah, I think Layers looks quite a bit better than your typical Combi:


layers.jpg
layers.jpg (111.26 KiB) Viewed 3044 times
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15 Sep 2017

QVprod wrote:
15 Sep 2017
seqoi wrote:
15 Sep 2017


No it is not. Strangely this sentence coming from you because from what i understand by reading you posting you very well know what synth is. Antidote is a synth. Viking 2 is a synth. Even Subtractor is a synth.

This is simple sample player wrapped in nice graphical interface. Not a full blown synth at all.

Why wouldn't this classify as a synth? It has 4 oscillators (Layers). And per layer (or per oscillator) there's a filter, distorition, flanger, fx sends, pan, adsr, pitch, filter envelope and LFO...That's a synth. The way you design sounds on this is definitely subtractive synthesis, there's just no global filter. Subtractor is a synth (not sure why "even" was needed for this fact) and the functionality here is pretty similar minus the fm capabilities. Plenty of softsynths are sample based just like the IDT synths in the shop.
thats a really good point. theoretically the only real difference is that instead of an oscillator generating a waveform its a sample of a <i>particular</i> oscillator generating a waveform, right?

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CaliforniaBurrito
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15 Sep 2017

EnochLight wrote:
15 Sep 2017
Yeah, Combi sure look better...
Something about those eyes just says yeah I got what you need so come and get me. :think:

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selig
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15 Sep 2017

EnochLight wrote:
15 Sep 2017
O1B wrote:
15 Sep 2017
But, Good Lord that's butt fugly. I think i just found the inspiration:
Yeah, Combi sure look better... :lol: :roll: :puf_bigsmile:



combi_skin.jpg


Yeah, I think Layers looks quite a bit better than your typical Combi:



layers.jpg
Nice work on the Combinator - yea that UI is not my cup of tea either. Battleship grey has never looked good on a UI unless you're going all 50s retro (or a battleship).
Image
For an instrument from the 80s I'd expect either more black or more day-glo (depending on which audience you're shooting for)!
Image
Image
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Oquasec
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15 Sep 2017

I'll just pass on those.
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