FAW (Circle2) has released a new sub-bass synth: SubLab

[dangayle]

I’m using it for Techno. Kick 2 for the kick, this for the sub. One question though, why would you purposely limit it to trap or hip hop when other genres want/need a good sub? UK dubstep, Techno, Drum and Bass all need this.

[samsam]

The dev's comment seemed out of place to me too, plenty of uses beyond trap.

[shonky]

I’m using it for Techno. Kick 2 for the kick, this for the sub. One question though, why would you purposely limit it to trap or hip hop when other genres want/need a good sub? UK dubstep, Techno, Drum and Bass all need this.

Could you not use Kick 2 for the sub as well? Has the option of playing as notes as well as static pitches.

[dangayle]

Could you not use Kick 2 for the sub as well? Has the option of playing as notes as well as static pitches.

I have done that in the past, but I tend to start with presets. Flip through them and tweak to taste. Kick 2 has no specific sub patches, although I could make them easily enough myself.

[fisherKing]

am liking this one a lot (i just bought it); i usually use either a sine wave (the default tone) in logic's EXS, or spire (which has some great deep basses). this, as a dedicated subbass plugin... has great potential. let's see if i can blow out my sub...

[beatstudio]

I guess one can create a sub with any decent synth with some simple waves. I think nowadays the GUI of a vsti is important for some people

[dangayle]

I guess one can create a sub with any decent synth with some simple waves. I think nowadays the GUI of a vsti is important for some people

^ this

I'm not even wasting my time on stuff like Rob Papen anymore. If you're going to do skeuomorphic design, do it right, like U-he.

[perpetual3]

I guess one can create a sub with any decent synth with some simple waves. I think nowadays the GUI of a vsti is important for some people

It’s like Ableton, Bitwig and FL allowed artists to innovate, and then developers create a focused and refined, and limited, version of what one can whip up using creative routing in the DAW.

X Sub, Sublabs “x-factor” (couldn’t resist), is the real deal IMO. Very deep, clear, full with heft. The distortion is really good too, and the two really come together.

That being said, if you have a host like Ableton for example, you could recreate most, if not all, of Sublab. I know because I did - all but X Sub.

Is it worth it? I dunno yet. I paid $32 and have one month to decide.

[dangayle]

Even Softube came out with a dedicated bass synth. We're witnessing the next wave.

[sqigls]

Bass Master is the king in my opinion.

[DavidCarlyon]

On the fence here. Is it really just focused on Trap/Future bass style 808 sounds? i am making house.. Often it can be useful to have a solid sub (and i particularly like the idea that X-sub deals with the problem that many subs have with some notes being louder than others)
but the kind of sub sounds i go for aren't really 808 like...Shame there is no demo.

and then softube come out with one! Looks more analog focused, with cool effects. but the thing that is interesting about sub lab is the X sub oscillator.

[DavidCarlyon]

Bass Master is the king in my opinion.

i quite like that one, but it is sample based...and as such you can hear the samples being pitched up and down. I much prefer synthesis for most things. But Bassmaster does indeed have some cool sounds

[elxsound]

On the fence here. Is it really just focused on Trap/Future bass style 808 sounds? i am making house.. Often it can be useful to have a solid sub (and i particularly like the idea that X-sub deals with the problem that many subs have with some notes being louder than others)
but the kind of sub sounds i go for aren't really 808 like...Shame there is no demo.

and then softube come out with one! Looks more analog focused, with cool effects. but the thing that is interesting about sub lab is the X sub oscillator.

That’s just their target for marketing, but it can be used however you like... but just be prepared to make your own presets because the default ones are created for the same target.

The UI is thoughtfully simplistic and intuitive, so creating presets should be no problem, even for anyone not normally used to creating their own presets.

They also have several preset packs available since launch to purchase, while only including a small number of presets in the instrument (if that matters to you since Monoment Bass comes with lots of presets).

Both products are targeting completely different audiences but both can be useful in all electronic styles regardless of marketing.

[perpetual3]

On the fence here. Is it really just focused on Trap/Future bass style 808 sounds? i am making house.. Often it can be useful to have a solid sub (and i particularly like the idea that X-sub deals with the problem that many subs have with some notes being louder than others)
but the kind of sub sounds i go for aren't really 808 like...Shame there is no demo.

and then softube come out with one! Looks more analog focused, with cool effects. but the thing that is interesting about sub lab is the X sub oscillator.

I bought it, make mainly deep, dubby based techno and house and some bass heavy beats.

You absolutely can use it for other genres, and it’s X sub is fantastic other than the annoying bug that it always plays the same, higher pitched note whenever you play C. Very annoying I hope they fix it soon.

Brainworks Bx_subsynth is on sale for $29 dollars and does have a demo. I’ll probably pick it up.

Do you have Native Instruments TRK-01 PLAY or BASS? If so, you may not need Sublab. Way more sound design potential with TRK-01 Play or Bass, and you can also dial in deep sub. Of course, it’s missing the XSub features, can’t glide (if some one had figured that our, please let me know), and lacks built in widening ( which makes no difference since polyend wider is free). Buts it’s so much more flexible in sound design and has great quality. NI really nailed it (needs glide though and widening to be more of an all in one solution).

Sublab’s synth section, it’s one osc, and I think it’s bit thin it buzzy on its own, and the filter is kind of weak, but the distortion is good, and you can filter (hp & lp) the distortion. There are very few mod options - one env per amp, flt, and pitch and no LFO’s; I would have appreciated at least one assignable env. The compressor lacks character as well, but it’s main job is to duck the bass with the kick sample. The glide is also fantastic, offering tempo sync. The bass maximizer is also very very good. Built in widening is very much appreciated.

For bass duties you could also use TAL Mod, and probably can find it second hand for $40. Again way more sound design potential, given it’s not a sub bass synth. For putting out clean subs, I set up the third osc as the sub osc and then duplicate and layer the synth. TAL Mod then allows massive unison on osc 1 & 2, panning, lots of modulation possibility, the dual filter topology, etc.

I also think U-he Repro-1 can make some amazing bass. 2nd osc, triangle wave → feedback to taste → filter to taste → RESQ → Jaws, two teeth, negative bias with min Mod, fold to taste, and then add just a touch of the Jaws asr or ar env Mod and tell me that isn’t earth shattering bass. Want some harmonics? Osc 1. I like to use the square wave with a hint of OSC 2 freq controlling the PW.

You can see where I’m going with this. Similar reasoning for nearly any decent synth. I’m also a big fan of NI Razor. Massive bass, and harmonically rich low mids and mids, with a very clean and detailed sound.

So, what the heck is Sublab good for? The sum of its parts. The xsub and synth come together so you can form deep, driven, clean, narrow, wide, bass very, very fast. So while the sound design options are in some ways limited compared to a general purpose analog synth, Sublab’s Bass quality is excellent, and you can dial it in very very quickly. Other synths will require additional plugins that may not work as well ( as the xsub for instance ), and layering if you want to keep the sub clean.

Also, in the short time I’ve used Sublab, I learned some interesting things about bass and bass processing. In conjunction with Bassroom and spectrum analyzer in Sublab, I’m able to dial in my low end faster and more accurately. Frankly, it’s been a revelation.

So, for $32, I think it’s more than worth it, especially since you have a 30 money back guarantee. Even with its limitations, I’d say it’s just short of a no brainer if you love bass at that price. You may want to buy it for one month, and learn from it so you can see how to duplicate the functionality. You’ll see how fast the Sublab workflow is and be better to assess whether you dig the sound. Of course, TRK-01 PLAY and BASS were free, so you can probably pick those up for next to nothing, and bx_subsynth is on sale for $3 less than Sublab.

[dangayle]

bx_subsynth isn't a "synth" it's a harmonic generator/filter. Adds sub-bass to an existing system. I've had it, found it mostly useless for my needs, FWIW.