Dune 2 vs Spire?

[shonoob]

Just a random comparison!. I currently only own Serum as a synth really, and am looking into other synths to compliment it to inspire some new sounds. I mainly am into trance and progressive house type of music.

I haven't seen the two compared in quite some time, but after some research, these two synths are the ones that currently interest me. If you have any other suggestions please let me know as well!

Thanks!

[recursive one]

I mainly am into trance and progressive house type of music.

Then Spire.

[wagtunes]

This is just my personal opinion. Between Dune 2 and Spire, it's Dune 2 hands down.

Here's a demo I did.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... ew-patches

Spire sounds nice but I think it's overpriced. I think Dune 2 sounds just as good and it costs less.

Ultimately, demo both and decide for yourself because all you're going to get here is a lot of opinions between the two and/or people naming every synth in creation and you'll be no closer to making a decision than you are now.

My 2 cents for whatever they're worth.

[llze]

not using hive anymore?

[ATN69]

Spire without doubt. Check out Max Braiman on Youtube and you will understand why.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MaXXXXX2/videos

[shonoob]

not using hive anymore?

I ended up selling it, as I didn't find a use for it at the time, and certainly am more interested in Spire and Dune 2 now. I am quite surprised you remember my interest/acquisition in Hive BTW! Cheers!

[chk071]

I mainly am into trance and progressive house type of music.

Then Spire.

Best listen to this man.

[shonoob]

I mainly am into trance and progressive house type of music.

Then Spire.

Best listen to this man.

I don't want to jump the gun just yet on that assessment alone. If I wanted to make cinematic sounds for eg. DnB or Dubstep, could Spire still suffice? From what I read in the past, Dune 2 was superior for 'lushful' sounds, and CPU usage, thought I heard Spire upped its game in the past updates in that department.

[chk071]

I would surely not use Dune 2 for more aggressive sounds (as you mentioned DnB and Dubstep), that's something where Spire is vastly superior. Of course, Dune 2 is more versatile on the other hand. Spire for me is rather a more "general use" VA, although it also can do nice moving, almost wavetably stuff with the FM oscillator mode. Best demo to see which fits your uses more. Sound wise, i prefer Spire by miles.

[shonoob]

I would surely not use Dune 2 for more aggressive sounds (as you mentioned DnB and Dubstep), that's something where Spire is vastly superior. Of course, Dune 2 is more versatile on the other hand. Spire for me is rather a more "general use" VA, although it also can do nice moving, almost wavetably stuff with the FM oscillator mode. Best demo to see which fits your uses more. Sound wise, i prefer Spire by miles.

Thanks mate. I have read that about spire as well. I am currently unable to demo either of the two for another week, as I'm currently away from my main CPU, and my internet is so weak I can't download anything right now. So demoing will have to wait for now!

Can Spire make stuff like reese basses?

Cheers!

[recursive one]

The latest build of Spire is pretty moderate CPU-wise, I've just made a track with 30 instances of it playing in realtime - it didn't take even a half of avaiable CPU on my i7 laptop.

As for the "lushful/cinematic" sounds, this more relates to sound-design than to the synth used. If you stack two or three isntances of a synth with huge unison and drench it in reverb, everything will sound lushful. The advantage of Dune2 is that it may have 8 independent layers, but you can layer 8 Spires to the same effect. Sound-wise Spire may sound much more agressive, has more presence, better unison, better distortion and cleaner high end than Dune2, that's why I recommend it for trance and house. If you were asking about ambient I'd probably recommend Dune 2. However, Spire is good for pads and mellow keys either, not only for agressive sounds.

[shonoob]

The latest build of Spire is pretty moderate CPU-wise, I've just made a track with 30 instances of it playing in realtime - it didn't take even a half of avaiable CPU on my i7 laptop.

As for the "lushful/cinematic" sounds, this more relates to sound-design than to the synth used. If you stack two or three isntances of a synth with huge unison and drench it in reverb, everything will sound lushful. The advantage of Dune2 is that it may have 8 independent layers, but you can layer 8 Spires to the same effect. Sound-wise Spire may sound much more agressive, has more presence, better unison, better distortion and cleaner high end than Dune2, that's why I recommend it for trance and house. If you were asking about ambient I'd probably recommend Dune 2. However, Spire is good for pads and mellow keys either, not only for agressive sounds.

That is true mate! And to be quite honest, I don't expect to use it to that extent just for pads, etc, it was a simple interest. Sorry to stray from the main topic at hand, but what would you say is the best VST generally for mainly Pad use? Thank you!!!

[Dasheesh]

aaaannnnnnndddddd round and round we go. HIVE (hehehehe)

honestly though, Dune does audio rate modulation which makes me jealous. Hard to find that these days with all the bitchy whining about a cpu hit.

[fluffy_little_something]

The latest build of Spire is pretty moderate CPU-wise, I've just made a track with 30 instances of it playing in realtime - it didn't take even a half of avaiable CPU on my i7 laptop.

As for the "lushful/cinematic" sounds, this more relates to sound-design than to the synth used. If you stack two or three isntances of a synth with huge unison and drench it in reverb, everything will sound lushful. The advantage of Dune2 is that it may have 8 independent layers, but you can layer 8 Spires to the same effect. Sound-wise Spire may sound much more agressive, has more presence, better unison, better distortion and cleaner high end than Dune2, that's why I recommend it for trance and house. If you were asking about ambient I'd probably recommend Dune 2. However, Spire is good for pads and mellow keys either, not only for agressive sounds.

30 instances I don't know your music, but I am pretty sure it is too crowded


Regarding the price, Spire is on sale currently, so it might actually be a bit cheaper than Dune 2.

[Saukar30]

I own Dune 2 and love it... but for what you want to do I think Spire is way more suited to your needs. Technically, Dune 2 is a good all rounder EXCEPT with aggressive sounds. Out the box, Spire is strong on this. With Dune, it might take some coercing to achieve that same feel.