Improve the Sound of the Synth Engine or add other Synths
Delusions
Posts: 4
As someone who frequents the forums and Reddit posts, one weakness of the Deluge keeps coming up again and again. A lot of people don't feel that the synth engine sounds very good compared to a lot of other hardware. A lot of people feel that the Deluge synth is missing something and some people really entirely on other hardware or samping as a result.
I think the Deluge is the best piece of hardware out there, but I feel something is missing with the synth when compared to others. If the Deluge synth engine could be improved or if other synths could be added I feel like the Deluge would be the best at everything.
The sounds aren't as deep and full sounding as many others. I don't know anything about software to be honest and very little about synthesis, but I'm wondering if there is a way to improve or expand the synth engine to make for better sounds. Is there, or is a limitation of how it was built?
I have heard that synths like the Microfreak could be ported to the Deluge since they are open source and perhaps there are others? I'd greatly appreciate any perspective on this.
Comments
A Strymon DECO is permanently hooked to my Deluge. And outputs to my monitors. I believe a few of us have one. Is never redundant and always in the chain regardless of what else is connected. Is a highly regarded pedal too. See if you can visit a guitar pedal store and plug one in (they would love to see your Deluge) But I'm confident to say ..just buy one.
Is especially difficult when you and I are relatively new. We need good sound to immerse in so that we can find our own way. We need to make pleasing sounds as much as we need to learn to make them.
You will always use the DECO. The saturation boost alone is worth it ..and then you also have a really nice delay that you can craft some 'roomy' atmosphere or take it all the way into slap-back. I also have a Vermona Retroverb and I still run the DECO after it. The Retroverb has GAIN and DRIVE and BALLS ..and I still run the DECO.
Its not a weakness of the Deluge ..its up to the owner to become a musician.
DECO is great for percussion and pads, piano and acid ..for everything.
DECO DECO DECO
ant
The Deluge includes straightforward implementations of: subtractive, wavetable, FM, and sample-based sound sources. And you can mix and match. The modulation matrix is wide and super easy to program. Two oscillators, two LFOs, and superb parameter automation. The synth engine is a workhorse rather than a show pony, but you should absolutely be able to get the sounds out of the Deluge synth that you want -- it's just a little bit on you to figure out how to do it.
It's hard to tell what you're after, though, with "deep" and "full". Can you provide an example of a sound that you'd like to make? Maybe some folks will be able to point you in the right direction?
The Microfreak is certainly not "deep" or "full", but if you're liking the Microfreak sound, then wavefolding is for you! (In the community firmware.) You could also mimic that effect with properly chosen wavetables, going from clean to wacked-out. (Also, are you sure about the Microfreak being open-source? I couldn't find any source code. Links?)
Or maybe what you're looking for is FX, like @oneANT suggests?
Or maybe what's lacking is dynamics in your playing? Have you fully taken advantage of the gold knobs? Esp custom mappings? Are you recording parameter automations? Sometimes what people think of as "dull sounds" is really just "boring playing". (No offense! The Deluge doesn't have many live expression capabilities other than the gold knobs, and maybe your next job is to master them.)
There's a lot to the sound of a synth, so let us know what you're looking for. Be specific. If you're just starting out in synth sound design, there's no better way than to find a sound you like and try to copy it.
Hello, just another take on this:
I've noticed lots of 'lame' audio coming from Deluge YT videos, but some amazing audio too, just not to the same consistency as other devices. Perhaps the D/A converter isn't the quality it could be. It might be post-processing or external effects that make a difference, but it's such a complex beast it might be due to more factors, including multi/sampling or even the mood I was in at the time!
I've got the first Boards of Deluge soundpack, which is surprisingly full and textured for the Deluge imo, changed my view of the 'bad' audio output I thought was inherent in the Deluge. If you examine these and reverse engineer any sounds you like by looking at their patching etc on the Deluge itself, you can use that info on your own sounds. I've also multisampled some pad sounds and imported them to the Deluge, but that would be cheating wouldn't it... still very handy if you have multisampling software, such as SampleRobot or Logic/Mainstage, and if you need to go portable wthout external synths.
Overall I have been disappointed with the default sounds on my own Deluge, but weeks of messing about with sound design from scratch I'm getting to like it more, even without any external processing. I've also plugged in a keyboard wi aftertouch and discovered more instant textures via key pressure, but default maximum volume mapping to aftertouch on lots of presets is a tad clumsy, so watch out for that. I've not even touched the wavefolding or FM, or using external audio as a synth.
Lastly, the new community firmware filters are surprisingly good for bringing out a certain feel, and the master compressor has great potential for thickening up the mix, but it's still early days for me.
Maybe Synthstrom should occasionally run a preset competition and then update the Deluge default presets with the winners as the machine evolves. I'm sure it would help sales as well as existing users.
I don’t know if they have worked on the filters for the synths, but it sounds to me like there was some improvement in the filters from version 3 to version 4.
Deluge synth is pretty capable of getting good sounds IMO. Just need to tweak some of the presets and morph them into your own preset.
This has been hitting me too, so I dug into the code, and it's essentially a one-liner to fix that. So I did: https://github.com/SynthstromAudible/DelugeFirmware/pull/969
We'll see if it gets accepted and pulled in. But even if not, one can compile it oneself, which is the real beauty of open source.