Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
By djst Sun Aug 22, 2021 4:34 pm
Before I bought the MPC, I did a lot of research and read many people complaining about the TubeSynth, so I immediately jumped over Hype and Odyssey as my go to synth.

Yesterday I scrolled through some presets of TubeSynth and I was surprised about how great they sound. I especially love the gritty LP filter. Anyway, I was mostly curious if there are others who agree that TubeSynth is a bit underrated.
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By 64hz Sun Aug 22, 2021 4:42 pm
I find it more clear to work with then hype which at this point I more see as a rompler with some edit options then the fabled synthesizer some make it out to be.
By djst Sun Aug 22, 2021 4:46 pm
64hz wrote:I find it more clear to work with then hype which at this point I more see as a rompler with some edit options then the fabled synthesizer some make it out to be.

I agree it feels more straightforward to use. It's also a lot more straightforward than Odyssey, though I'm taking the time to learn it anyway because in theory, it can produce amazing sounds. :)
By Straker Sun Aug 22, 2021 5:14 pm
Tubesynth is just an ordinary plugin that you could find 20 years ago in any daw.
You can find good use of it of course as you can find a good use of a casio synth of the 80s.
By HouseWithoutMouse Sun Aug 22, 2021 5:47 pm
Any sound is ok if you put a tweakable filter on it. Not to say anything about the Tube synth, but I just played with some simple "electric grand" samples, with a filter and a delay ... it was ok!
By djst Sun Aug 22, 2021 7:34 pm
Straker wrote:Tubesynth is just an ordinary plugin that you could find 20 years ago in any daw.
You can find good use of it of course as you can find a good use of a casio synth of the 80s.

I feel the configurable LP filter is beyond the average DAW synth plugin.
By Straker Sun Aug 22, 2021 7:40 pm
djst wrote:
Straker wrote:Tubesynth is just an ordinary plugin that you could find 20 years ago in any daw.
You can find good use of it of course as you can find a good use of a casio synth of the 80s.

I feel the configurable LP filter is beyond the average DAW synth plugin.

I think it's just a normal filter you can find anywhere on Air fx and synths and also on Akai fx.
I actually prefer Akai filters then Air ones.
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By hyena Mon Aug 23, 2021 12:21 pm
as i already stated in another thread i really love Tubesynth. is it groundbreaking? hell no, it is a classic subtractive poly synth BUT it has its own quirks and most of all its own character, a lot of gain staging\overdrive stages with which you can degrade the sound in very pleasant ways. the extra weird envelope is cool af as well!
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By Ultros Mon Aug 23, 2021 12:34 pm
I use it all the time tubesynth makes all sorts of wonderful sounds. There's nothing wrong with any of the synths, if it fits it fits.

Here are some more presets for tubesynth that I scooped from the force firmware, the force had some extra presets that the mpc didnt have. You know what to do with it, extract the zip and copy the presets to your usb, hdd, or sd.

Synths.zip
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By EnochLight Mon Aug 23, 2021 3:22 pm
As someone who was actually around 20 years ago :lol: , I can attest that in 2001 - something like TubeSynth in any DAW would have been considered a pretty awesome emulation. At the time, Reason's own Subtractor (which was responsible for countless tracks back in the day) was the closest, and that would cost you $299 USD (at the time) for all of Reason just to use it in ReWire mode in your DAW.

And yeah, I'm aware of many comparables available at the time (some even free), but for what it does in standalone, TubeSynth is still a good stock synth IMHO. I've been part of this community for several years, and lurked over at the Gearslutz MPC thread for some time before - TubeSynth doesn't have as bad as a reputation as the OP makes it out to have, IMHO. I think the biggest complaint we have is being locked into 4 note polyphony when you use it.
By Straker Mon Aug 23, 2021 4:42 pm
EnochLight wrote:As someone who was actually around 20 years ago :lol: , I can attest that in 2001 - something like TubeSynth in any DAW would have been considered a pretty awesome emulation. At the time, Reason's own Subtractor (which was responsible for countless tracks back in the day) was the closest, and that would cost you $299 USD (at the time) for all of Reason just to use it in ReWire mode in your DAW.

And yeah, I'm aware of many comparables available at the time (some even free), but for what it does in standalone, TubeSynth is still a good stock synth IMHO. I've been part of this community for several years, and lurked over at the Gearslutz MPC thread for some time before - TubeSynth doesn't have as bad as a reputation as the OP makes it out to have, IMHO. I think the biggest complaint we have is being locked into 4 note polyphony when you use it.

It's not bad. In my opinion, anything can be used in a creative way. There are countless Dub masterpieces made with cheap synths of the 80s, chinese toy synths and so on.
I think that Subtractor was way better in 2000, and now Reason has synths that Mpc will always dream about.
But Tubesynth is good to have, I sometimes also use it, you can obtain interesting sounds anyway.
It's a tool, and some tools can be useful in specific circumstances.
But as a proper synth, there are much better options today.
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By EnochLight Mon Aug 23, 2021 5:43 pm
Straker wrote:But as a proper synth, there are much better options today.


What makes a synth "proper", though? :hmmm: If you want advanced wavetable or additive synthesis or 8 oscillators with 32 note polyphony and Moog-quality ladder filters, then sure - you'd have to look elsewhere, but TubeSynth makes a perfectly fine subtractive synth IMHO (albeit with the limitations already discussed).

I dunno - when I see what MPC and Force are capable of as 100% fully standalone machines, even with all of the limitations of their included standalone synth plugins and sampler features, I just find it mind-boggling that anyone would have a hard time being productive on these machines as is - especially with 2.10 out (not saying you are saying that BTW). But I digress... :lol: