Melodiefabriek

The cleanest OSCs available in Reason

Written by

Marco Raaphorst

in

thor-wavetable

Today on Facebook somebody said:

Thors analog oscillators and chorus sounds terrible

Sound is relative. What sounds terrible for a certain person might sound fantastic for somebody else. I know one thing for sure: Thor has the cleanest oscillators of any Reason synth. It’s the Wavetable OSC in Thor which offers 4 different types/wavetable-positions: sine, triangle, square and saw. And if you activate the X-fade parameter you can crossfade from one type/wavetable-position into the next.

The sine wave of the Wavetable is so clean you can use it as test tone. I used it recently a lot for analysing the harmonics which can be generated from the Pulveriser, The Echo, Scream 4 and Amp (including aliasing artefacts…). You know, I’m working on a Guitar Amp ReFill…

And many years ago I would kill for a TC Electronics Stereo Chorus+, but not anymore because the Thor Chorus is a fantastic sounding chorus. I’m using it a lot in that upcoming Guitar Amp ReFill. But ok, like I said: sound is relative. Unless you know what sounds best 😀

Update: on the PUF Reason user dreampolice pointed to 2 interesting threads on Gearslutz about Thor: link 1 and link 2.

Comments

3 responses to “The cleanest OSCs available in Reason”

  1. orange Avatar
    orange

    when it comes oscillator and filters i think every one compared to analogues really sound boring and crappy.
    thor maelstrom subtractor but even virus nord or expensive kronos….all VAs nowadays sound like a photo of a porn actress compared to a real breathing hot woman.

    thor sounds quite good…best for me was SUBTRACTOR (less precise but more spiceful).

    so for me there is no game, 4/5 real analogues in studio are paramount when comes serious audio production, like moogs oberheims and dsi….expecially for bass, pads and fx (waaaay more detail).

    but with reason or every virtual synth like reaktor or logic pro x is possible to do great music absolutely!!!
    i think is difficult to get that beefy sound from thor or sub that really comes naturally from dsi prophet6 or oberheim matrix, it’s a matter of imperfections…and when you crank up resonance from a real analogue like ms20 or moog there is no doubt…analogue resonance sounds…..resonating! liquid….on va there is always something hurting my ears or nothing at all…analogue has something “in the middle” in which sound is pleasant and razor blade at the same time.

    Reply
    1. Marco Raaphorst Avatar
      Marco Raaphorst

      I think the only difference is: analoge has imperfections which are always sort of random. In digital you can produce any sound (we are all listening to analog sounds which were translated to digital – unless you listen to tape or vinyl) but if you want that randomness you need to program it.

      Beef and warmness are colorisation you can do perfectly in digital. Have you tried the Primal Audio filters?

      For me the interesting thing is: there are cool things about analog we still want in digital. BUT we also need the convenience of digital. Digital is a blank canvas. In a way it is super creative unless we end up trying to reproduce everything from the past. I try to find that balance between great “old” tones and new ones.

      Reply
  2. orange Avatar
    orange

    i think for sure we have to blend them.

    today a great setup is surely reason on a fast computer with tons of ram and fast drive…and a bunch of external analogue synthesizer to have ‘that sound’….ex reason, moog minimoog, prophet6, korg ms20 and an eurorack full of modules you choose….this is a great way to to music.

    but what really is essential are first fast computers, good audiocard DA converter and….speakers with treatment.

    i must say best are unity audio speakers or psi or neumann kh120/310…this is foundamental if you can hear what happens in your mix you can fix…i see too much ppl getting lot of stuff synths guitars stomps etc….and then using a poor DA and crappy speakers to listen and mixing….hearing what happens in your music is vital to have good mix.

    So…..reason, audiocard and good acoustic could be at the end better than a room full of expensive synthesizers and sampler but poor acoustic listening environment.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More posts