I thought I'd add my 24 bits to this debate.
I own a few VAs myself: Roland JP-8000, Yamaha AN-200, a MOSS expansion on my Karma, an Ensoniq Fizmo, the EXB-Radias board for my M3, and recently an Access Virus KC. I would add to that a Kurzweil K2000R, as it also has modeled oscillators and filters like any other VA. Each one has distinct differences.
The
JP-8000 is an 8 voice, two oscillator, multimode filter synth that has a very Roland sound to it, which is great for me, though it has some of the character of Arps and Oberheims as well. The oscillators and filters are very nice, and this was one of the early synths to feature Supersaw waves, useful for strings and highly detuned techno patches. The synth engine does seem to be a little weak, as almost every patch is heavily EQed. It also aliases at high pitches badly. One disadvantage is having to go through weird hoops to assign a different velocity to an envelope generator. But other pluses are a good chorus/delay effect, a ribbon controller, and a wild sounding feedback oscillator. The four octave keyboard, while having a nice feel, lacks pressure response.
The AN-200 is a 5 voice, two oscillator, multimode filter with high pass synth module based on the AN1x, though the
AN1x has 10 voices and a sub-oscillator. The sound is reminiscent of the Minimoog and Prophet 5, which is a very nice thing. The filters are nice and juicy, and the synth engine features a feedback path for getting those wild Brian Eno patches. The multieffect is basic but very nice sounding, with a good reverb. The keyboard has a nice touch, with pich and mod wheels and a ribbon controller, along with ten control knobs and two "scene" buttons. I believe that aliasing at high pitches is mild.
The
Z1 and other MOSS based synthesizers are very nice, featuring three oscillators with a staggering number of parameters, dual multimode filters and a wealth of LFOs, envelope generators and control sources. My MOSS board is only 6 voice, but the Z1 is 12 or 18 voice with a proprietary Z1 expansion board installed. The sound is reminiscent of the Oberheim, Arp and Roland synths, but you can get some CS-80 textures, and some Minimoog sound out of it if you're careful with pulse width settings. The effects are decent, save for the distortion which is rather digital sounding, and the reverb which is very thin and grainy. The oscillators also alias at high pitches like mad. On the plus side of the Z1, you have a nice knob laden control panel along with several control buttons, pitch and mod wheels, and a great touch pad. The keyboard, while well made, has a very heavy semi-weighted action which tires my fingers.
The
Kurzweil, while it is a rompler, has some very nice VA capabilities, with software oscillators generating sawtooth, square and sine waves, and a very clever if slightly arcane method of achieving pulse width modulation. Amazingly, the oscillators will also hard sync in a few algorithms. The multimode filters are very nice and juicy, and even include a 24db Moogish filter, though the overall sound is rather generic and hard to place in any synth family, though in many cases, this is a good thing as it lets you fit the Kurz to many styles of music. Depending on the algorithm, the K2000 averages about 12 notes of polyphony, with a max of 24. Synth voices can have three layers, each one a full featured synth voice, eating up a voice.
The
Ensonic Fizmo is a wavetable synth like the Waldorfs. With up to four layers, it can deliver a rich sound thanks to its nice selection of wavetables, some taken from Waldorf synths themselves, run through nice multimode filters. The effects are also very nice with a good reverb. Unfortunately, Fizmos often need to be fixed at a shop thanks to much of them being given bad power rectifiers and power adaptors which are too weak for the synth. I have yet to use mine much because I still have to see about mine. In action, it can only be compared to a Waldorf, so a Blofeld or other poly Waldorf might be a better choice.
The
Virus is a big, beefy sounding synth, with filters that can run up to a heavy 36db slope! The German filters seem to be the most aggressive in the synth world, as even the lighter 12db slopes are darker than the same filter on my other synths. Because of this, getting a light sound is a lot more work on the Virus, or any sound I'm working on. Those filters cut like Ginus into oscillator harmonics. However, with up to three oscillators and a sub-osc, it's more of a Moog than a Moog is! The envelopes are snappy, the filters punchy, and getting thick, beefy bass sounds is almost what it's made for. My Virus KC boasts up to 32 note polyphony, but add that third oscillator, a smooth hall reverb and doubled oscillators, and polyphony can cut down a LOT. The panel is laden with a wealth of knobs and buttons, but many more features are buried in menus, as this is a very deep synth. The keyboard on such models feels very nice, and the effects unit has a nice range of features. Aliasing at high frequencies is almost non-existent. Unfortunately, there are only up/down buttons for selecting banks and patches.
Another pair of synths to keep in mind are the
Alesis Ion and
Fusion. Alesis managed to recreate some fantastic filters, modeled after famous types like the Minimoog, Arp 2600 and Oberheims. They sound great, and aliasing is essentially nothing. While the Ion - and smaller Micron - are 8 voice synths with only velocity sensitive keyboards, they have a nice range of knobs and buttons for editing or patch morfing on the fly. The Fusion is half rompler and only has four knobs and buttons, but its synth engine has more filter models and is up to 120 note polyphonic! It's also a hard disc based multitrack, but has been discontinued, so get 'em while you can.
One more mention needs to go to the
Nord Leads. These synths have a reputation for amazing build quality and a bright sound that cuts through a mix. While this is true, you can certainly make a wealth of darker, muted patches for it with their extensive knob and switch laden panels. The Lead 2s have two oscillators, while the Lead 3s have three oscillators for a much bigger sound, along with five octave velocity AND pressure sensitive keyboards. While they lack effects, you can pick up a reasonable multieffects unit to use with it. The Nord Modular G2s while being much more powerful, thanks to their modular setups, also feature physical modeling aspects.
The
Radias seems to fall squarely in the middle of the universe. It's 24 note polyphonic with two oscillator and dual multimode filters, depending on timbers and waveshaper sub-oscillators used, but one timber patches are often plenty big. The only drawbacks I've found so far are that the keyboard lacks pressure sensing and is only four octave, and the synth engine only offers one oscillator with pulse width. Well, that matters to me.
This is also an issue with the EXB board only, as the Radias synth offers up to four layers perpatch for ridiculous sound making power.
The dual filters are where the Radias stands out. In particular, the first one which is fully variable between 24db lowpass, through bandpass, highpass and notch. Even small changes can make a big difference in the sound. These filters give the Radias the chameleon potential to sound like most of the vintage synths on the market, as well as charting all new sonic territory. I've been able to craft CS-80 patches, then Moogs, then Oberheims, then Prophets... virtually anything. While it has a bright character, you can turn it into a dark, snarling beast with 24db slopes and distortion. The envelopes are fast and snappy, delivering a lot of punch, and if you need more, there's even a Punch parameter! The effects are very nice, with a good lush reverb, and as I understand it, the dual effects are per timber, so if you have a four layer timber, you can have a lot happening.
While a lot of demos show off the amazing techno capabilities, don't think for a moment that it's just a dance synth. It does it all, so the only limiting factor with it is you.
