Good Distortion for Synths

[teknosmoker]

Originally Posted by robd

you could send some of your sounds to me, and I would be happy to run them through just the distortion at a variety of representative settings and send them back to you.....

I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it. I'd just like to work with one in a "hands on" situation if possible.

I may be traveling to Europe in a couple of months. In my travels, I will try taking one for a test drive.

Originally Posted by dlmorley

I had the prototype filter bank in my Serge system! The guy who builds the Filterbank (Herman) is an old friend...........I don't recall him having anyone want to return the filterbank and he has sold a LOT.

That's an impressive statement! From what I've heard, I have a feeling that I will like the Filterbank.

I already have a variety of filters (Mutronics Mutator, Frostwave Resonator, MF-101, etc.......), but could always use a different color to work with. I'd just like to play with it to be sure that it's not a piece of gear that has a specific character which makes me think, "Oh, that's a Filterbank. I recognize that sound.".



-T

[Mike Tholen]

Just get the damn Sherman Filterbank...you WON'T be disappointed.

[robot gigante]

I like the original Sansamp with the jumper switches. It doesn't always work for everything, but it's a good option.

I second the suggestion of running the synth through an amp.

Probably one of the nastiest sounds that I've gotten was by overdriving a couple old Spectra Sonics line mixers. It sounds so godawful in such a good way! But I imagine they are pretty hard to find.

[littledoodler]

I had a sherman filterbank 2 for a while and sold it. It was really good for drum machines, but i found that with my synth (omega 8) you had to drive the input a ton to trigger it. no thanks. I would rather have a distortion that is more delicate.

[dlmorley]

Originally Posted by littledoodler

I had a sherman filterbank 2 for a while and sold it. It was really good for drum machines, but i found that with my synth (omega 8) you had to drive the input a ton to trigger it. no thanks. I would rather have a distortion that is more delicate.

You can trigger it from midi too

[Reptil]

and, what's wrong with using an external CV trigger?
I love the sound of the sherman, but the layout is too complicated for my brain, to find it attractive enough to buy it. It is certainly a nice box. And not too complicated. Just for me it looks that way LOL

[Jesse Skeens]

Originally Posted by littledoodler

I had a sherman filterbank 2 for a while and sold it. It was really good for drum machines, but i found that with my synth (omega 8) you had to drive the input a ton to trigger it. no thanks. I would rather have a distortion that is more delicate.

I sold mine because of this. Killer box though but for me I needed something abit more subtle. You can trigger it from midi but even still the distortion was a bit too all or nothing. I do mainly house stuff, but for more aggressive music its great.

[dlmorley]

I do understand that for some it is just too much. No subtle warmth from slight overdriving here. But, it isn't just nasty. It can be subtle, albeit in an aggresive way. (?!)
In any case, nothing else sounds like it..

[robd]

For those who found they had to drive it too hard to get it to trigger, did you try switching that one switch to "sensitrig" ? That always fixed that for me. You could also run a midi cable from your synth and use that to trigger it (or cv).

I agree that the layout seems a little commplex. I can see why he did it, but the hp/lp/bp balance knob and compensation knob are a little bit difficult for me to get my head around. I would have an easier time with it if they each had their own volume knob. It does, however, allow you to do some stuff you couldn't do with the simpler layout.

[littledoodler]

Well,
the sensitrig was a step in the right direction, but still wasn't enough for me. that thing is truly a beast though!

[Jay Selway]

Honestly, the best results I've had with distortion was from running my virus or whatever synth into my allen & heath dj mixer. Crank the gain way the hell up on the channel. Slam all the eq knobs all the way up then tweak the filters on HPF a bit on mixer. Great stuff...

When I'm too lazy to do that, Antares Tube, Bit Crusher, then Izotope Trash seems to be a pretty violent plug in distortion chain. But it will never get that warm analog distortion sound...

[rids]

If you want warm, your going to have to run it through an amp or something with some nice tubes. I have a Guyatone Metal Monster pedal that is pretty nice, although mainly use it for guitars. Has a tube in it. You could find a peice that's circuit bent and get some wacked out distortion. But I think a tubed pedal, amp, or overloading the inputs on a mixer would work well. Do you have any preamps to use? That would help you out a lot.

IMHO, the Sherman does have that 'Oh that's a Sherman' sound to it. Easy to pick out for me. Not sure how versatile it is because I actually hear people using it the same way. Why is that? Because that gritty crunch it gives off is the most pleasing in it's arsenal? Still, it's a cool peice, just distinguishably so.

[frugalpole]

the menatone fish factor sounds amazing. it makes soft synths sound good.

[Feinstrom]

What about the Alesis Bitrman in combination with an Alesis Philtre?
Cheap, versatile, dirty, stereo, syncable modulation - I call it "the thinking man's Sherman bank".
But then again, I never spent more than an hour with a Sherman bank...

Oh yes, and I have got an eight-channel distortion unit called "Schredder" that a friend of mine built for me. Now that is evil!

[robd]

I have the bitrman, and, while it waas a great deal for $40, I don't think the distoriton on it is very good. By and large, the only effects I use on it are the bitreduction and the sample ratereduction. Unfortunately, they made it so you can't use both at once, and the effects that are built in to the unswitchable slots are crap. I would trade all three of them for being able to use the bit reduction and the decimator at the same ttime. I have also tried the philtre, and, while its a good deal for $40, it is not even remotely comparable to the sherman. OTOH, if you want to make really appalling sounds, which I sometimes do, it is capable of doing some really twisted digital shit up in the high register.

[Feinstrom]

Originally Posted by robd

I would trade all three of them for being able to use the bit reduction and the decimator at the same ttime.

There's a way around that, and it's only 40 bucks...

Of course, the Philtre is not comparable to the Sherman; it's a small, cheap, digital stompbox!
But a great one!
And a very capable distortion unit for synths!

A friend of mine actually prefers the Bitrman's phaser to the dedicated Alesis Phaze, so obviously it's a matter of taste.

[cdog]

Soldano SP77

[robd]

actually, buying as second bitrman would be a great idea, but I was under the impressin they didn't make them anymore. could be wrong, though. I actually downloaded a demo of a really great program called plogue bidule that I will be redgistering soon, though, and it cas the best sounding and most verstile bitreducer/decimater I have ever heard. They call it the deconcrisseur.

[Dirty Halo]

You'll NEVER turn back!

-a

DIRTY HALO www.dirtyhalo.com

[Feinstrom]

Originally Posted by robd

actually, buying as second bitrman would be a great idea, but I was under the impressin they didn't make them anymore.

No, they don't (OT mode on - BTW, does anyone here know about more than seven ModFX modules that were actually made? I think I read something about a Koruz and some speech-related modules, but never saw them advertized - OT mode off), but the second-hand price is about the same, at least in Germany.

[dlmorley]

I had all of the Alesis (I think I sold the vib/mod)
I think they are fun! The filtre is excellent. Phazer is cool. Bitrman does what people have been saying and I LOVE the compressor and the vocoder is quite unique! I haven't used them for a while so can't actually remeber details, but good units. Think I paid €200 for 7 pedals or something like that. You can connect them without cables which is cool.

[Thermionic]

Originally Posted by Mike Tholen

Just get the damn Sherman Filterbank...you WON'T be disappointed.

That was the first thought that went through my mind when I saw the thread title...

Shermans are fiddly though; it can take a lot of time making tiny adjustments if you want it to sit right in the mix and I know a few associates who sold their FBs for this reason - instant gratification it ain't, but if you persevere the results can be highly unusual.

What you really want is to mike-up the synth via an AC30 or early Fender amp, and then put it through a Sherman!

A good valve-based DI is a useful tool for adding girth / gentle overdrive to synths.

Justin

[rids]

Originally Posted by robd

actually, buying as second bitrman would be a great idea, but I was under the impressin they didn't make them anymore. could be wrong, though. I actually downloaded a demo of a really great program called plogue bidule that I will be redgistering soon, though, and it cas the best sounding and most verstile bitreducer/decimater I have ever heard. They call it the deconcrisseur.

Can't find much on the internet about them. Is the deconcrisseur the bitreducer/decimator?

[7 Hz]

I really dislike Shermans, they have crap distortion, thin filters, and are overcomplicated. Cool if you like stuff that sounds like FIIIZZZZXXXXSSSSSTTTTFFFF

[Beastie]

THERMONIC CULTURE VULTURE

[RadioBox]

I used to play my nord lead through a blown bose 301, and it sounded wonderful. Better than any distortion pedal I'd ever heard on a synth, only problem was it wasn't adjustable. But anytime I needed that distorted buzzing synth bass, it was my secret weapon, until my wife through it out

[robd]

As a matter of factr, I do like stuff that sounds like FIIIZZZZXXXXSSSSSTTTTFFFF.

Plogue is a lot like max/msp, but it seems easier to use. They havn't released the 1.0 version yet. The deconcrisseur is one of many modules in it and it is a bit/sample rate reducer.

[m.nash]

Malekko B:Assmaster - just picked it mine up this week and it is abolutely killer. Analog circuitry. I got the Germanium edition.

Completely compresses and phattens up the sound. Keeps the bass. Neat mid range boost effect. Awesome drift in distortion, giving an organic sound.

Highly recommended.

[space2012]

AKAI MFC42 Distortion

[Resonant Serpent]

Marshall JMP-1. Mine has Mesa tubes in it, and it sounds great. I can get all kinds of great tones-not just distortion, and being able to switch between the direct outs and the speaker emulation is great. It also has an effects loop that usually put the Moog low pass and ring mod on for tweaking.

Cinch Labs Oscillator Fuzz. I picked this up from a guy who makes them on ebay. It's a copy of the Death By Audio version, but it only cost me 90.00 instead of 300.00. Built like a tank with arbiter fuzz, oscillator, and a boost knob. The osc can be turned off, and the fuzz and boost sections both have bypass buttons. Nasty, nasty.

eBay Seller: daron k: Musical Instruments items on eBay.com