Gain-Staging / Overdrive / Saturation
Posted: 22:10, 30 December 2016
Loving my System-8. As an owner of many vintage mono/poly synths (JP6, System-100m, Original MS-20, Original Arp Odyssey MkIII, Oberheim Xpander), the System-8 is by far one of the best sounding VAs to date, only rivaled by my Origin. Which contrary to some, is a wonderful sounding VA that can be practically indistinguishable against my JP6 and other analogs. But that's for another thread/conversation.
The one thing I've noticed that really makes the System-1/8 engine sound analog is the gain-staging and overdrive/saturation that appears to be modeled within various areas of the voicing signal path. While Roland has yet to provide any discrete details or documentation on this, I'd love to hear what others think. For me it is a critical part of the magic of the System-1/8 sound, more so than the OSC/Filter modeling.
Here's where I hear the various areas of gain-staging/overdrive/saturation modeled into the signal path:
1. OSC Mixer Levels - You can induce overdrive/saturation to the Filter when raising individual OSC levels or as a result of the sum of all OSC levels mixed, thus creating many wonderful (and pleasing) variations of color, timbre and resonance response of the Filter. Push the Filter harder, the less chance it has of self-oscillating, push it less, and the filter becomes thinner and easier to self-oscillate. The 121 Dual VCF module in my System-100m behaves exactly like this, and is wonderful to see this behavior modeled in the System-8
2. AMP Level & Tone Controls - Sweeping the Tone control to the left (increasing bass response) can create warm saturation and overdrive by way of the increased low frequency boosts. Changing the Level control also appears to induce overdrive/saturation to the master output.
3. Master Volume Control - This is the one area that I have some trouble with. It seems that if you have the volume anywhere past the 12 o-clock position, you start to induce clipping, and not a very pleasant type of clipping. I have yet to figure out how (if any) this inter-plays with the "boost" and "output gain" parameters within the "system" menu options. This is an area that definitely needs more clarification and details from Roland. I love overdrive/saturation, but what you hear induced by the master volume tends to be more harsh than pleasing to the ears. I noticed this as well in the System-1, but it doesn't appear to be as harsh and tends to be more on the musical / pleasing side of things. The one thing that helps with the System-1 is that in the software System-1 plugin, you can visually see whether you are clipping the master outputs by way of the VU meters at the top of the plugin UI. Although they are not very accurate, you at least get a visual representation of when it's being induced. With the System-8 there is no way to tell except with your ears. And again the clipping in the master output is not pleasant like what you hear in the OSC/Filter or AMP sections.
I'd love for Roland to release an addendum to the user/reference guide with more info. Details such as what parameter values saturation/overdrive start to be induced would be helpful for those times when you want a cleaner, smoother sound without saturation/overdrive. Right now it's a bit of a "play by ear", which can be fun in itself, but sometimes you need clinical accuracy when you're trying to achieve a certain sound/mood/vibe. It could also help generate more awareness of just how analog the engine can really sound as a result of the great modeling they've done in this area alone.
Cheers.
The one thing I've noticed that really makes the System-1/8 engine sound analog is the gain-staging and overdrive/saturation that appears to be modeled within various areas of the voicing signal path. While Roland has yet to provide any discrete details or documentation on this, I'd love to hear what others think. For me it is a critical part of the magic of the System-1/8 sound, more so than the OSC/Filter modeling.
Here's where I hear the various areas of gain-staging/overdrive/saturation modeled into the signal path:
1. OSC Mixer Levels - You can induce overdrive/saturation to the Filter when raising individual OSC levels or as a result of the sum of all OSC levels mixed, thus creating many wonderful (and pleasing) variations of color, timbre and resonance response of the Filter. Push the Filter harder, the less chance it has of self-oscillating, push it less, and the filter becomes thinner and easier to self-oscillate. The 121 Dual VCF module in my System-100m behaves exactly like this, and is wonderful to see this behavior modeled in the System-8
2. AMP Level & Tone Controls - Sweeping the Tone control to the left (increasing bass response) can create warm saturation and overdrive by way of the increased low frequency boosts. Changing the Level control also appears to induce overdrive/saturation to the master output.
3. Master Volume Control - This is the one area that I have some trouble with. It seems that if you have the volume anywhere past the 12 o-clock position, you start to induce clipping, and not a very pleasant type of clipping. I have yet to figure out how (if any) this inter-plays with the "boost" and "output gain" parameters within the "system" menu options. This is an area that definitely needs more clarification and details from Roland. I love overdrive/saturation, but what you hear induced by the master volume tends to be more harsh than pleasing to the ears. I noticed this as well in the System-1, but it doesn't appear to be as harsh and tends to be more on the musical / pleasing side of things. The one thing that helps with the System-1 is that in the software System-1 plugin, you can visually see whether you are clipping the master outputs by way of the VU meters at the top of the plugin UI. Although they are not very accurate, you at least get a visual representation of when it's being induced. With the System-8 there is no way to tell except with your ears. And again the clipping in the master output is not pleasant like what you hear in the OSC/Filter or AMP sections.
I'd love for Roland to release an addendum to the user/reference guide with more info. Details such as what parameter values saturation/overdrive start to be induced would be helpful for those times when you want a cleaner, smoother sound without saturation/overdrive. Right now it's a bit of a "play by ear", which can be fun in itself, but sometimes you need clinical accuracy when you're trying to achieve a certain sound/mood/vibe. It could also help generate more awareness of just how analog the engine can really sound as a result of the great modeling they've done in this area alone.
Cheers.