Digging up digits
It’s easy to assume that any discussion of vintage synths will be centred around the analogue classics, yet there are a great many early digital synthesisers that have become sought-after for their unique characteristics. While you might think that any digital sound synthesiser would be easy to emulate in software, there are those who will insist that it will never sound like the original.
You see, digital synthesisers of the past weren’t actually entirely digital – even something built entirely around digital sound generation and manipulation would require some sort of digital-to-analogue conversion to output the signal. These early D/A converters suffered from poor signal-to-noise ratios at the very least, and often exhibited aliasing and clock noise. Compared to today’s crystal clean softsynths, these guys were downright cantankerous!
Furthermore, most of the seminal instruments of the day were hybrids, offering digital oscillators that were then pumped through analogue filters and amplification stages. Take PPG’s Wave 2.2 for example – its 8-bit wavetable oscillator was followed by a low-pass filter based on the much-loved SSM 2044 analogue filter, the same filter used in Korg’s Mono/Poly and E-mu’s Emulator 1. Amplification was provided by the CEM 3360 VCA, as used in Oberheim’s OB-Xa.
In other words, this was the best of both worlds, and while something like PPG’s groundbreaking instruments were out of reach for the average garage musician, its combination of digital and analogue synthesis soon trickled down, finding its way into low-cost instruments like Korg’s DW-8000 and Ensoniq’s ESQ-1.
Additionally, early samplers such as Ensoniq’s Mirage relied on analogue filters to shape (and hide the flaws in) its lo-fi sampling technology. In this way, the company was able to bring the price of sampling into the hands of musicians who had up to then been priced out from the cutting edge.
This hybrid approach made the Mirage the very epitome of the vintage digital sound. It’s samples were gritty, grungy, and noisy as heck, but these very qualities have become desirable to today’s producers. This is also much of what makes Akai’s seminal MPC60 so beloved by hip-hop producers.
Luckily, there’s much a modern desktop jockey can do to recapture some of that early digital magic. Some of the above examples have been replicated in software form. Virtual PPGs are easily had, with Waldorf’s PPG 2.V being among the first on the market. It has since been upgraded to PPG 3.V, adding sample playback to its bag of tricks ( waldorfmusic.com).
You can also grab the free WaveSim from Hermann Seib ( hermannseib.com). This free Windows-based clone of the PPG Wave 2.2/2.3 offers all the character of the original and, for better or worse, an identical interface.
The aforementioned Ensoniq ESQ-1 and its follow up, the SQ-80, have been lovingly recreated by Siegried Kullmann as the free SQ8L, a Windows-only freebie from ( buchty.net).
If you’re in the mood for the Mirage, you could do worse than 112dB’s Morgana, an attempt to recreate the old-school lo-fi sampling experience. That one will set you back $169 from 112db.com.
Similarly, TAL-Software offer up TAL-Sampler, which emulates the DAC (digital -to-analogueconv erters) of your grandad’s favourite crunchy sampler and combines with with a simulated analogue filter section – tal-software.com.
You can also roll your own digital/analogue hybrid by shoving your favourite additive, FM, or wavetable synthesiser through any number of bit reduction effects. After that, go for an analogue filter such as our own ValveFilter CM to warm up those crunchy bits. While you’re at it, strap one of the three following plugins across the output…