Do you ever use a synth's own effects?

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I was just thinking, because many times (if not always) in the mixing stage I disable all synths' own effects that can be replicated with a dedicated plugin (delay, reverb, chorus - to name a few).

I don't know if this is a remnant of some thinking from the years before when the effects on most VSTs weren't exactly that spectacular, or just liking the freedom and possibilities of tweaking everything in a separate plugin.

Do you use the onboard effects? On what synths you use them? Are there examples of a modern synth with bad effects? Fish?

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yes.

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The FX in Absynth are unique, usually use something in it.
Reaktor Kontour integrates Echo and Flange well into certain factory presets I noticed so here I may turn these on or leave them on and possibly automate levels.

same with many Reaktor factory patches. Reverb itself, pretty much never as I have one I always send to with a lot of variety and it's a stunning sound. Before convolution of rooms I wasn't highly into reverb, algo reverb.

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I do indeed.
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Yes..if they are "good enough". I love the reverb on Diva for instance.
Also, on some synths it is possible to apply fx per voice, which i think is awesome (Falcon, Phase Plant).

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Yes, some synths include effect parameters in their list of modulation targets, which can allow for more dynamic use of the effects.
Other synths may have effects which are specifically tuned to work well with the synth they are built into or perhaps they have a unique implementation, as Jan mentioned.

Even if a synth or effect is of poor quality, it may fit in the context of what I'm trying to do, so I try not to think in terms of bad or good.

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Didn't we just have a similar kind of thread?

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=522072

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I just had another experience like that, BTW. On Rob Papen's new BIT synth. Anything i threw at it in regards of external effects (of course the ones i usually use) sounded better to me than the onboard fx of the synth.

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It matters which fx. Compression mostly. Once in a while a delay or chorus.

If the fx type will be used multiple times, such as reverb or saturation, I prefer to use sends for fx. Makes fx much more cohesive.

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Just depends on the reason for using the synth effect. If its integral to the sound, I’ll leave it.

If its something like reverb, or delay and it at the end of the signal, I’ll usually replace it.

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As others have alluded to, built in effects are only really useful if they are integrated into the signal path in such a way that they can be used in the actual synthesis process.
The effects that are just tacked on at the end are really only there to make presets sound better.
9 times out of 10 I'll use dedicated effects that are either deeper, sound better, or that I am just more familiar with. There are always exceptions though.

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I prefer to use external FXs, because most of the time they sound way better than the FXs in the synths.

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That's how it is.

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Why wouldn't I? They were built with the synth's profile and meant to complement the sound.

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Only ever if they are ‘modulatable’, and not always even then.

I feel that, as with many hardware synths, they are often added on as an afterthought, because everyone else does, etc.
Last edited by kvotchin on Wed Jun 12, 2019 5:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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