Best Ambient Synth Shootout #130: ASM Hydrasynth - Song 1

video upload by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the Hydrasynth. It is an 8 voice digital wave morphing synthesizer. It has an advanced wavetable synthesis engine, 3 Oscillators, dual Wave Mutants, and 2 filters that can be configured in series or parallel.

I used for the recording the following FX pedals: Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe, Tasty Chips Electronics Integral, Meris Polymoon and Beetronics Seabee. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated. On the bass track is also a Fairfield Circuitry Roger That, to give it some slight extra brittle.

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)

Check out my Best Ambient Synth Shootout Playlist:"



Use the player controls to skip around.

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #32: E-MU Morpheus - Song 3

Christian's Sonic Spaces
Published on Aug 10, 2017

"Another E-MU Morpheus song ;-) It's a Z-Plane Synthesizer which has an unique filter morphing technology that can create organic spacy sounds. So it's good for ambient too ;-)"

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #94: Peavey DPM V2 - Song 3

Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the DPM V2. It's a 32 voice 16-part multitimbral ROM-based synthesizer with resonant digital filter from the early 90s.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
DPM V2 - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Evening Synths Challenge #2 - Modal Skulpt, VXXY DCM8, Teenage Engineering PO-16 factory

video upload by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This session was quite challenging. A VA synth, a rare digital chiptune drum machine and a small bare bone synth. Overall, I'm very happy with the result. The most fun part was playing the melody line live with the PO-16. Although you really have to concentrate to play everything correctly with the very small buttons.

The Setup was:
Synths: Modal Skulpt, VXXY DCM8, Teenage Engineering PO-16 factory
Effects: Oto Machines BOUM, Beetronics FX Seabee, Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe, Beetronics FX Swarm
Freely selectable effects: GFI Systems Specular Reverb 2

Recordings:
Drums: VXXY DCM8 - Beetronics FX Seabee - Oto Machines BOUM
Pads: Modal Skulpt - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI Systems Specular Reverb 2
Melody: Engineering PO-16 factory - Beetronics FX Swarm - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe, GFI Systems Specular Reverb 2

The Reason:
How do you deal with having too much gear (like me)? It can hamper creativity, but for me there is also a way to use it to boost creativity. Challenge yourself with it!

Here is my challenge:
1. Random selection of three sound generators to use (plus drums can be added with the EZdrummer and a rhythm sample)
2. Random selection of four effect devices to use (plus another two freely selectable effects can be used)
3. Everything has to be finished in one evening (after work until bedtime).

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. On some tracks Compressor and EQ where added in Cubase. The final song was then mastered using iZotope Ozone."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #100: Arturia MicroFreak - Song 1

Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the MicroFreak. It's a monophonic/paraphonic synthesizer with a digital oscillator section containing 12 different algorithms and an analog filter.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
MicroFreak - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #110​: Casio HT-3000 - Song 1

video by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the HT-3000. It's a 8-voice synthesizer based on 'Spectrum Dynamic' SD Synthesis and has a single real analog 4-pole voltage-controlled filter. My HT-3000 has the legoluft filter mod (http://legoluft.de/tech/bending/e-cas...​), so that the frequency and resonance can be control in real-time via two separate knobs (on the left side above the pitch bend wheel).

I used for the recording the following FX chain: HT-3000 - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #83: Ensoniq SQ-R Plus - Song 2

Published on Mar 26, 2020 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the second song with the SQ-R Plus/32. It's a 32 voice 8-part multitimbral synthesizer. It features 9 Transwaves, Ensoniq's kind of wave tables.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
SQ-R Plus/32 - Digitech Obscura - Alesis Ampliton - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #74: Access Virus A - Song 3

Published on Jul 11, 2019 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the Access Virus A. It's a 12 voice polyphonic virtual analog synth with two OSC per voice and two independent resonant filters.

I used for the recording the following FX:
Alesis Ampliton, Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe, GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #79: Kasser DAFM Synth - Song 1

Published on Feb 10, 2020 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the DAFM Synth [see here for details]. It's an FM synthesizer based on either the YM2612 yamaha chip (used in SEGA Genesis / Megadrive home consoles and various SEGA arcade game systems, including the Mega-Play, System 18, and System 32) or the cleaner sounding YM3438 chip without the crossover distortion in the output. Both sound chips has six channels with four operators per channel.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
K1r - Alesis Ampliton - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PCfor recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #111​: Bastl Instruments XOR - Song 3

video by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the Bastl Instruments XOR. It's a monotimbral, 6 voice polyphonic, wavetable-based synthesizer using bit operations to add harmonics to the sound. The resulting dirty digital modulation artefacts makes it unique sounding.

I used it for the recording in the following FX pedal chain:
XOR - Elektron Analog Heat - Pladask Elektrisk Fabrikat - Pladask Elektrisk Draume - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #109​: Casio CZ-1 - Song 3

video by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the CZ-1. It's a 16 voice Phase Distortion synthesizer from the mid 80s. The only Casio Synth from the CZ series that featured velocity and aftertouch sensitivity.

I used for the recording the following FX chain: CZ-1 - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout posts

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #89: Wersi DX 1000 - Song 2

Published on May 12, 2020 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the second song with the Wersi DX 1000. It's a 54-note polyphonic, 16-part multitimbral ROM-based sound module using the so called ASIC-Technology. It features 256 ROM sounds, 256 RAM sounds and 6 drum sets with overall 120 drum sounds. Somehow there is almost nothing known about this unit, expect the above features that I found here and there. There is neither an operation manual available nor any deeper description. Well, it has RAM sounds, which implies that one should be able to change sounds, but so far I couldn't discover yet how because the setup knob guides just to some cryptic performance related settings. I guess the unit is from the early 90s and for that age it sounds to me surprisingly good.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
DX 1000 - DigiTech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PCfor recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Song 1 here

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #116: Arturia MicroFreak - Song 2

video upload by Christian's Sonic Spaces

Song 1 here.

"This is the second (quite minimalistic) song with the MicroFreak. It's a monophonic/paraphonic synthesizer with a digital oscillator section containing 12 different algorithms and an analog filter.

I used for the recording the following FX chain: MicroFreak - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #33: Akai Miniak - Song 1

Christian's Sonic Spaces
Published on Aug 12, 2017

"This is my first song with the Akai Miniak. It's a virtual analog synth identical to the Alesis Micron, a cut-down version of the Alesis Ion synth. So let's see how good it is for ambient;-)

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Miniak - Elektron Analog Heat - Boss Tera Echo - TC Electronic Mimiq - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - DigiTech Polara. The used fx varied depending on the recorded track.

The signal goes via a small Behringer mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with just a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #44: Red Sound Darkstar XP2 - Song 3

Published on Nov 11, 2017 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the Red Sound Darkstar XP2. It's a table-top 8-voice polyphonic, 5-part multitimbral virtual analog synthesizer.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Darkstar XP2 - TC Electronic Mimiq - DigitTech Ventura Vibe - DigiTech Obscura - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. The used fx varied depending on the recorded track.

The signal goes via a small Behringer mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with just a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"

All parts here.

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #31: E-MU Morpheus - Song 2

Christian's Sonic Spaces
Published on Aug 2, 2017

"Another E-MU Morpheus song ;-) It's a Z-Plane Synthesizer which has an unique filter morphing technology that can create organic spacy sounds. So it's good for ambient too ;-)

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Morpheus - Elektron Analog Heat - EarthQuaker Devices Afterneath - TC Electronic Mimiq - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - DigiTech Polara. The used fx varied depending on the recorded track.

The signal goes via a small Behringer mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with just a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"

After work Korg Volcas song #1 (volca: sample, drum, bass, keys)

video upload by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is an after work song using the Korg Volca sample, drum, bass, and keys.

I used for the recording the following FX chain: Red Panda Particle - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #65: Modal Craft Synth - Song 3

Published on Mar 17, 2019 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the Modal Electronics Craft Synth. This time I did a minimal drony/noisy/soundscapish one with this little beast.

I used it for the recording together with the following FX pedals:
4ms Dual Looping Delay, Alesis Ampliton, GFI System Specular Reverb 2, Roland TR-8 (for sidechaining).

The signal went then via a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded several stereo audio tracks, each played live. The final song was then mastered with just a bit EQ and compression on some tracks."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #122: Yamaha TX81Z - Song 1

video upload by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the Yamaha TX81Z. It's an 8-notes, 8-part multitimbral FM synthesizer from 1987. In contrast to the DX-7 it use 4-Operators instead of 6 but supports additional waveforms other than just a sine wave.

This song is based on 'My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home' by John Dowland who lived 1563–1626.

I used for the recording the following FX chain: TX81Z - DigiTech Ventura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #54: Quasimidi TechnoX - Song 1

Published on Aug 27, 2018 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the Quasimidi TechnoX. It's a 21 voice 16-part multitimbral ROMpler from the mid-90s with a focus on techno, rave, electronic.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Quasimidi TechnoX - Alesis Ampliton - Alesis Philtre - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a small Behringer mixer into the pc for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"