Introduction

There are several types of virtual synthesizers on the PC. Some, such as Yamaha's Soft Synth XG Emulator or the Roland Virtual Sound Canvas, let you emulate a standard sound module on the PC. Some, such as Wavecraft, let you create sounds which you can then render and listen to. This page is not about these programs. It is about the third and most exciting type of software synth, the real-time analog synth emulator (though it doesn't really have to emulate an analog synth). These allow you to create your own sounds and alter the parameters while listening to the sound. Apart from not having real knobs and switches, and that running one takes up a whole computer, they are just as good as a genuine analog synth, both in terms of quality and flexibility. Just as with real synths each one has its own sound with its own characteristics, so it is impossible to say that one is absolutely better than another.

Once sound has been created with one of these synths it can then be put into a sampler. The cheapest option is to use a wavetable soundcard with RAM that you can upload samples into. In my opinion the best option, which is more than good enough quality to make demo tapes from is the SoundBlaster AWE32 (£100). To produce professional quality then you can use the Digidesign SampleCell II which has 8 outputs. They both have features like filters and LFO built in to give real-time control over the samples.

I also had a look at what the OPL3 FM synthesizer chip, which is present on most soundcards from Adlib onwards, can do. In theory it should be roughly equivalent to a Yamaha DX-27, but unfortunately it isn't. It doesn't seem to be capable of anything better than the type of sounds you get in old computer games. If you are interested in experimenting with it try FMED, Folk or SBTimbre but don't hold your hopes up high.

For arpeggiation, MIDI delay, etc. I recommend AWEToy, even if you don't have an AWE32. Also available is MIDILang, a programming language for processing MIDI messages, but I didn't find it very useful.

Reviews

• AudioSim
• Synthia V
• Rubber Duck h30+
• VAZ/VAZ+
• Rebirth RB-338
• XGedit
• Generator

Feature Comparison

Feature	AudioSim	Synthia V	Rubber Duck	VAZ	Rebirth RB-338	XGedit
Oscillators	2	8	2	2	2	32
Waves	saw, pulse1, triangle, noise	sine, square, triangle, noise	saw, sine, square, triangle, noise	saw, pulse1, noise	square, triangle	4Mb wavetable ROM
Oscillator Sync.	Yes	No	N/A	Yes	No	No
FM	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No
Filter Type	low/high/band pass	N/A	low-pass	low-pass	low-pass	low-pass
Filter Info	18db/Oct resonant	N/A	resonant	12db/Oct resonant	18db/Oct resonant	4-pole resonant
LFOs	2	82	0	1	0	3
Overdrive	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ring Modulator	No	No	No	VAZ+	No	No
Delay	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Arpeggiator	Yes	No	No	No	No	No3
Sequencer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No3
Accent	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Slide	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Sinusoiders	0	4	0	0	0	0
Panoramikers	0	4	0	0	0	04
Polyphony	1	1	1	1/25	2	32
Envelope Generators	4 ADSR	0	1 Attack/Decay	2 ADSR	2 Attack/Decay	2 ADSR
Load/Save	Yes6	No	Yes	Yes6	Yes6	Yes6
Ouput to wave file	Yes6	No	Yes6	Yes	Yes6	Yes6

Notes:

1. A pulse wave with the width set to 50% is the same as a square wave
2. As any of the oscillators can be used as LFOs
3. But another program can be used as an arpeggiator or sequencer
4. But there is an auto-pan effect built-in that can give a similar result
5. VAZ+ has as much polyphony as your processor can support.. In ordinary VAZ, due to one oscillator having lowest note priority and the other having highest note priority, two notes can be produced at once, but this is at the expense of being able to use the oscillators individually and when just one note is pressed both oscillators will produce the same sound.
6. Only in the registered version

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