Hi Paul,

Thanks for the Q&A.

There have been many VA synths released over the years that have had varying levels of success, both commercially and in terms of "sonic authenticity" when it comes to emulating real analog synths.

It seems to me that existence "hybrid" synths that have digital oscillators paired with analog filters indicates that digital filters still do not tick all the boxes yet when it comes to meeting the expectations synthesists have in regards to filters.

I would be interested to know if you agree or disagree with my assessment. If you do agree, why do you think digital filters don't fully satisfy what we are looking for as synthesists? With your insights into synth design and technology, do you think we will get to a point where digital filters can do everything that real analog filters can? What will it take?

Thanks!

Bloomin' eck! If they were giving out awards for questions then you'd get one. This is meaty again!

Right, so, short answer: YES agree in terms of emulation - they don't do it for me. However, that doesn't rule them out. It depends what you want to achieve. Can a digital filter make a good noise - yes, of course. Can it sound like an analogue filter - well, sort of, and this might be all you want, but why not use an analogue filter if that's what you want.

I'm all about sonic possibilities so in our instruments there's room for analogue filters, hybrid synths with analogue filters, and fully digital filters. The question I'm asking is, "does the filter sound good" - first and foremost. And, "does it do anything interesting and/or new?"

And to your final point, it's not beyond the realms of possibility in theory because the better the mathematical model the closer you get. However, I tend to think that's a bit futile. I'm not sure I would invest in reinventing the analogue wheel in the digital world.

I'd far rather use the digital domain to extend and go to places you can't possibly go in analogue!

Thank you so much for your answer!

I totally agree with your assessment that digital filters can sound interesting even though they might not be able to fully replicate the sound of analog filters at this point.
I also agree that it makes more sense to “use the digital domain to extend and go to places you can't possibly go in analogue.”