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Im curious to know if the al-1 engine is good enough to replace my nord lead 3?

Does it get as aggressive?
Can you detune and stack the way you can on the nl3, and just basic overall sound?

Thanks!

dtray187 wrote:Im curious to know if the al-1 engine is good enough to replace my nord lead 3?

Does it get as aggressive?
Can you detune and stack the way you can on the nl3, and just basic overall sound?

Thanks!

Having owned a Nord G2 Modular, which shares the same sound engine as the Lead 3, the short answer is yes.

T7 wrote:Nord G2 Modularshares the same sound engine as the Lead 3

ozy wrote:

T7 wrote:Nord G2 Modularshares the same sound engine as the Lead 3

You read that right. The VA portion of the G2 is based on the Lead 3, so they sound exactly the same used in the same context.

Of course, if you want 'aggressive', you really should be looking at the MS-20EX

Turn off the reverb (and other FXs) and suddenly VAs sound more raw and aggressive. I'm sure the Korg synths sound great but the presets are probably more FX laden than the Nord.

Busch.

Nords traditionally have a bright, rather coolish "cut through the mix" kind of sound. While I never had one per se, I did use the Nord Modular demo software quite a bit. It sounded just as bright and "chilly" as the other Nords. I much prefer my Radias and Virus as far as VAs go. The Radias is almost as bright but a little warmer sounding, while the Virus can deliver some very beefy Moogy sounds along with the usual bright tweezy techno stuff.

While I've never had access to an OASYS, from the mp3 and YouTube demos, it sounds as if it's in the ballpark of the Alesis Andromeda. Those who own a Big O as well as a Radias or other VA say that the AL-1 is nice, warm and juicy but very flexible, as if KORG had built a modular analog like Roland did with the System 700. I'm guessing, but to make it as aggressive and cutting sounding as a Nord Lead 3, you'd use effects such as exciters, distortion and EQs, much as people have done with real analogs to juice up their sound a bit.

If you're considering selling the NL3 to help fund the KRONOS, I'd recommend that you keep it and save up. You seem to like it, and those things are very hard to come by these days, and I'd think it would make a good partner with the KRONOS.

NL2x > NL3.

Sorry couldnt figure out the quote thing yet...

X-TRADE SAID......Of course, if you want 'aggressive', you really should be looking at the MS-20EX

But there is no unison option for that engine is there?

SYNTHGUY SAID....While I've never had access to an OASYS, from the mp3 and YouTube demos, it sounds as if it's in the ballpark of the Alesis Andromeda.


Wow, thats a big comparison , I used to own an a6, its hard to imagine any va sounding that deep?

dtray187 wrote:

Wow, thats a big comparison , I used to own an a6, its hard to imagine any va sounding that deep?

The AL1 doesn't have a patch on the Andromeda,it may have plenty of routing options in terms of modulation options but I'd never compare the AL to the A6,and certainly if you like the A6 sound using the AL1 as some kind of alternative may not cut it for you.

I've used and owned both Oasys and The A6 the Andromeda goes far deeper than the AL,The AL engine can work in a kind of unison mode if you stack 2 AL-1 engines within a Program and even more if you stack those inside a combi.

Don't have any hands on experience with the NL3 but its perfectly feasible to replicate Nord 1/2 type sounds in the AL1 I've been able to clone a couple of patches I made on the Nord Lead 1 inside the AL Engine

just remember in combi mode you can have up to 16 al-1' going at the same time,just imagine 16 layers,ever so slightly detuned from one another,

man, thats pretty powerful stuff.

I think that can replace any analog modeling keyboard.

jemkeys25 wrote:just remember in combi mode you can have up to 16 al-1' going at the same time,just imagine 16 layers,ever so slightly detuned from one another,man, thats pretty powerful stuff.I think that can replace any analog modeling keyboard.

yes perfectly feasible...have to take the polyphony resources into account as well.
You could have 16 Instances in a combi,polyphony is 96 notes max with the AL1(Oasys),but this is also restricted by the type of Program structure your using inside that single program and any efx you may be using in the Combi slot too

Kontrol49 wrote:have to take the polyphony resources into account as well.You could have 16 Instances in a combi,polyphony is 96 notes max

meaning a "super-layer" "supersaw" with no effects would have a 8 voice polyphony.

That makes no sense, at 3000 or 4000 bucks.

A real analogue would match that sonic power with 1/10 the layers and at 1/3rd the price.

This is why I still don't get why the Kronos (and similar keyboards) waste power in vintage analogue modeling (digital generation and digital sound with analogue-style knobs, Virus style, is a totally different matter)

witholding power and money from brass, winds, vocal processing (still no harmonizer available on a Korg performance synth), eventually additive synthesis.

I am still waiting for the Kronos reference guide (or the real thing) in order to evaluate the sample+VA integration,

but layering 16 fake digital saw waves, "detuning" them until you get seasick, hoping to get "analogue fatness" out of that, is just a waste of processor power

to detriment of what ONLY a Kronos could do.

ozy wrote:

Kontrol49 wrote:have to take the polyphony resources into account as well.You could have 16 Instances in a combi,polyphony is 96 notes max

meaning a "super-layer" "supersaw" with no effects would have a 8 voice polyphony.

That makes no sense, at 3000 or 4000 bucks.

A real analogue would match that sonic power with 1/10 the layers and at 1/3rd the price.

This is why I still don't get why the Kronos (and similar keyboards) waste power in vintage analogue modeling (digital generation and digital sound with analogue-style knobs, Virus style, is a totally different matter)

witholding power and money from brass, winds, vocal processing (still no harmonizer available on a Korg performance synth), eventually additive synthesis.

I am still waiting for the Kronos reference guide (or the real thing) in order to evaluate the sample+VA integration,

but layering 16 fake digital saw waves, "detuning" them until you get seasick, hoping to get "analogue fatness" out of that, is just a waste of processor power

to detriment of what ONLY a Kronos could do.

From what I've heard and played of the Oasys and Legacy synths, layering in this manner is not necessary to achieve a convincing and playable analog-type sound in the real world. By real world, I mean mixed in a live or recording setting, like in a song. I don't mean played one note at a time very slowly while I A/B against my Mini while wearing $300 headphones in a studio environment. Sure, you'll be able to find some subtle differences...pros and cons to each.

Also, IMO I'd much rather have a few analog modeling synths to play with than any number of reed or brass models or vocal processing. By what the manufacturers have put out since they introduced such things, I'm guessing that the majority of the keyboard-playing world agrees with that, and thus makes perfect sense to include at $3k or $4k. That said, sure, I'm hopeful that Korg tosses more physical models into Kronos updates or other synths in the future. More options are better than less in this case, all other things being equal.

ozy wrote:...eventually additive synthesis.

With MOD-7, you have six sinewave oscillators under envelope control, along with velocity, pressure and all the other midi controllers. You'll have your additive synthesizer. If you want more harmonics, experiment with FM algorithms.

And I'm with zeroesque on the quality of the VAs these days. While the Origin and Arturia's soft synths have taken me very close to those vintage transistorized real analogs, I still love my Radias and Virus for what they can deliver musically. While one day I intend to have an Andromeda, the Origin, Radias and Virus are making me very happy. And the Origin in particular, with synth elements from several different virtual analogs, does things nothing else will, other than a SCOPE system.