Horrible aliasing

The Cherry Audio CA2600 is a powerful, self-contained duophonic synthesizer inspired by the groundbreaking ARP 2600 synthesizer.
gentleclockdivider
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Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2020 3:57 pm

Re: Horrible aliasing

Post by gentleclockdivider »

So this means it won't be fixed ?
That is pretyt dissappointing to say the least
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cherryaudio Greg
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Re: Horrible aliasing

Post by cherryaudio Greg »

Hi,

I don't know whether the aliasing with synched oscillators at high frequencies will be addressed. It may be at some point.

Greg
doctecazoid
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2021 10:05 pm

Re: Horrible aliasing - My Two Cents

Post by doctecazoid »

First of all, comparing oscillator sync between softsynths from two different manufacturers is to me an apples and oranges situation. Also, interestingly enough, the original ARP 2600 hardware synth did not have oscillator sync, so it's a feature CA added to its emulation of the 2600. I'm not sure if their emulation warrants denigration in that regard.

Having said that, I can replicate this aliasing phenomenon in my CA2600, and it has prompted me to wonder where this aliasing is coming from.

Theory: in creating synth emulations, Cherry Audio is leveraging the work it has done with their Voltage Modular product. By this I mean: while there may be custom code to emulate the oscillators, filters and other aspects of the original hardware synth, they are also incorporating code written for the Voltage Modular synth into their softsynth emulations. (It would certainly explain why they are able to sell them at such an attractive price point: they are not writing these things from scratch.)

I recently acquired their Voltage Modular synth, with its bare-bones basic modules, and put this theory to the test. I brought up the "Basic Square Wave" patch, added a second oscillator into the rack, hard synched the main oscillator to the newly added oscillator, and set the octave of both to 8'.

It turns out that the same aliasing issue is present when high notes are played. (It sounds a little different, but it's just as prominent.) So, it may be that the code implementing hard sync in the CA2600 came from the same code base used in the creation of Voltage Modular.

As to whether or not this is a make or break issue for users: there's a philosophical argument to be made as to whether someone should care or not.

Even hardware synths have their quirks. Back when Eno was working with a Minimoog and a VCS3, he noted that there were 'issues' with the synths that a synth technician might encounter and think they needed to be serviced and fixed. When taking his synths in for servicing, he had to inform them, and leave notes for them, telling them not to fix these quirks - Eno liked them and used the quirks in making his music.

The user gentleclockdivider has a point about the aliasing, and he does not like it, and feels Cherry Audio should fix it, and is not satisfied with their response. Speaking for myself, I feel like while yes, there's something funky going on with the hard sync, I have to weigh this issue against all the other aspects of the softsynth, from this perspective: can I make sounds with the synth that I hear in my head, or can I make sounds I've never heard before, that serve as an inspiration and a jumping off point to exploring further, which I can then incorporate into the music I make?

From that standpoint, with the CA2600 - and pretty much everything else Cherry Audio makes - the answer is yes. In fact when fiddling with the aliasing patch, I found that adjusting the fine tune control of the oscillator to which the main osc is synched while holding down a note results in something that sounds like a short wave radio frequency being adjusted, and that put a smile on my face - I may find a use for that in my work at some point.
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xuoham
Posts: 200
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:30 am
Location: Okinawa, Japan / Paris, France

Re: Horrible aliasing

Post by xuoham »

Kudos for this post !

Now, if CA-2600 would incorporate (as decided for the PS-20) polyphony ... ! :mrgreen:
hexfix93
Posts: 42
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:51 am

Re: Horrible aliasing

Post by hexfix93 »

I hope they offer this oversampling like in the mercury 4 on all their vsts. This would help a ton. A poly CA2600 would be simply amazing, esp if they offered a speed toggle on the env too.

Hexfix93 ov VAC
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