Thank you all for the responses, awesome info. I do also like to just experiment and get lost in sound design for what it’s worth, I had the Erica synths stereo filter that I had a lot of fun with on my alpha Juno 2, should have kept that filter
Sounds like the ld3 isn’t the right thing for me though from what you’re all saying. I could enjoy everything except maybe the lo-fi glitchy effects, if that’s really the focus then I would possibly get bored of the palette. I’m not into chip tune/retro bit crush sounds really. I could always chop stems into shorter bars/loops so could maybe get around that side of things. Shame because it seems so awesome to have a synth, sampler, effects unit and sequencer all in one, with FX mix busses! Do you guys know of any other modern machines that I could focus on for sound experiments and performance that could maybe do everything all in one? Not interested in MPC or Maschine DAW like machines, wanting something more like an instrument that is sound design and sound mangling focussed. Seems like maybe combining elek AR+DT+DN is more like the route I might have to take but would love just one unit, I can deal with limitations if it has scope to do little bits of everything. Hunt continues! Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge guys
You’re right, there aren’t many all-in-one options. You could go down the iOS path and try like… Drambo and some AUv3s. I’ve been fairly creative with that, though in the end I’m leaning more towards hardware again, its more immediate.
You could still try an LD3, there are a fair number of used ones on reverb, worst case you gotta pay the resell tax.
I think DT+DN would be a solid combo, that might be enough without needing the Analog Rytm. Especially with the Digitone II having more synthesis options. Maybe throw in an extra mono synth if you need some analog sound.
Drambo , Unless you really dont wanna use an Ipad but its really hard to beat.
Can be used as a sequencer , stem track player, modular synth, sampler etc.
The M8 is nice too (i have one) but the workflow is so different. Can be used to play backing track too. But seriously i would chose Drambo over the M8.
The Octatrack is also something to consider.
Thanks mate, I’ll look at Drambo. I kinda hate iPads and tablets in general but yes maybe the way to go. I was thinking about it today, listening to Djrum’s latest (frekm 1/2 are awesome) and I was like damn I should stop toying around and just go back to Ableton. I dream of produced sounds and that’s where I’ve made everything that I like. What’s the fascination with gadgetry
But was also thinking that comment above is about right, DT2+DN2 and multitracks out to Ableton is kinda best of all worlds for fun and production maybe.
@sovietpop thank you for sharing your music, love those drones very nice.
I love what Gotharman has built, LD3 looks amazing and those mix busses and filters are great features. I will have to admire it from afar. Thanks everyone
I don’t have my Zaturn, I may be getting a thing or two wrong, as I was confused about some of this as well.
I don’t have a hydra, the Zaturn seems somewhat similar but grittier, less voices, but sampling.
You can use controller tracks to switch between different sample slices or samples on a track, but you don’t have Elektron style locks which make sequencing multiple instrument presets on one track easy.
You can make a sample-based poly on one track, but it will eat up the polyphony. I’m not quite sure what you mean here, but you have 3 oscillators per group so you would be able to layer samples.
Sample length is limited by how much storage you upgrade. All storage is available instantly on all projects. But you need to think of the memory as something more permanent if you want to load your old songs. Its not as simple as with Elektron gear where you can have multiple projects stored on an SD card or flash storage and just open the one you want. Gotharman file management is simpler. You are going to run out of space if you have a bunch of tracks each loading a lot of large samples.
The FX should be the exact same (except the Zaturn may have a new effect or two?)
Its worth noting that polyphony on the Zaturn is confusing.
Unless I’m still confused, you DO have 8 voices of polyphony, with limitations (why Gotharman says 2x4 voice polyphony). For each of the 4 module groups, you can create 2 different instruments. So on Group 1 you could synthesize a kick drum and a play back a snare snare sample. You just have to consider which modules in the group are used by the kick drum vs the snare.
Compared to the LD3, you could mostly set up the Zaturn to act like an LD3. The main difference is that the Zaturn has only one set of digital filters per Group, so if you have two instruments in that group you’ll have to use the analog filters for one of them or one of the fx. Oh and the Zaturn has less sequences.
Hopefully someone else can confirm this is how the Zaturn works. I’m also not sure how this interacts with the Zaturn poly functionality. But long-story-short it looks like you can bend the Zaturn to have more voices than just the 4.
Others have said on the ld3 there’s some aliasing or colouring on samples repitched, seeing that on Zaturn as well?
I actually don’t think I’d get bored of the ld3 palette. It’s a monster, think it’d be up to me to push boundaries. I do like its coloured sound and richness when not bit crushing, keeping fx and gain stages managed using normal gain setting seems the way. I do like Lofi and experimental, the busses could help keep things separated. It’s a machine for art which is a nice change from conventional sounds like Elektron. I watched some digitakt videos and don’t think I can bear to go back to that file system and interface.
I’ve been thinking about the stem situation. I’ve realised foremost I want a sound design tool and sonic experiment machine that I can get lost in. Like kurzweil k2000 + filters + external audio routing, that’s some dream vibes right there. Stems I might just have to work out another solution for and deal with sound design and experimentation first. I can always import 20-30 minutes of stereo samples, add chop points and get crazy with re-imagining and re-sequencing the songs and still have plenty space for mono samples if I went with the expanded memory.
I think I read that fx are different across Zaturn and ld3, Zaturn has a tube emulator that ld3 doesn’t I saw somewhere.
Ld3 really piquing my sound design brain now. Tasty af. Meska videos have helped get my head around it.
I don’t have the Zaturn yet, but I’m sure its the same sample engine as the other Gotharman gear. So yes sample speed adjustment is a basic algorithm that causes aliasing.
The Zaturn does have some FX the LD3 doesn’t. But the ones that overlap are the same engines.
Gotharman gear does have a lot of flavor. At least now you have a much better understanding of what it can and can’t do for you.
Can’t find any 2nd hand on Reverb, maybe not available in Australia
Any thoughts on what the most ‘musical’ (versatile, buttery, warm, rich etc lol) filter options would be? Using it as a stereo analog filter and compressor for other synths would be great. Could send hydrasynth and juno through a dedicated buss if I mix them onto a stereo pair.
My personal experience has been that using the Gotharman as a “warmer” wasn’t that worth it, but I used more noisy filters. Even with the analog filters and compressors, running it through the Gotharman is pretty digital and I’ve never felt the results were much warmer. Maybe other folks have had better experiences, I mostly tried this when trying to process multiple drum machine tracks.
This is not to say processing with the Gotharman isn’t fun and worth it, but I’ve found it better for getting gritty than getting warm. You could use it in a pinch though, and with some FX it can add some nice thick ambience.
The ladder filter that was recently released would be one of the more smooth sounding and it has the ability to compensate for bass loss when turning up the resonance.
That’s interesting. Maybe I need the Boum after all
Lots of interesting routing options with busses, especially with 6 ins and outs. Could send 2 stereo busses out and back in and sum all to a pseudo master bus that goes out to Boum. Bit of a mind melt but at least it could be a tool that keeps me busy for the rest of my life
Question re the controller track that you might be able to help me on. Can I record a poly synth performance from external midi controller to a controller track, and have it saved as poly midi performance using eg three of the 8 voices for triggering of internal or external synths? I could then record the audio of that performance once sound design is done and keep it as a stereo sample on the note track using one stereo voice?
You can use a poly midi sequence to sequence a sound and have the sound set to poly so it uses up to 8 voices. Poly sequencing is kinda weird, the sequencer ends up using multiple steps but setting their order parameter so they trigger at once. I haven’t done a ton of poly or bounce-down recording on Gotharman gear.
(I’m really hype to get mine, on paper it looks like a great compromise between the LD3 and the Urano).
