What is the point of making hardware synths on a Pi when you could just make a VST?

What's the point of giving constructive feedback when you can question people's motivation instead?

Do you think that making a VST is a realistic alternative to the linked instruments in the submission article? I'm guessing they're building hardware because they want something physical, it's pretty self-evident isn't it?

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rfl890 3 days ago | parent [-]

Hardware synths have their own custom DSP circuit which separates them from VSTs as it gives each synth a unique sound. If you take out the DSP circuit and replace it with a general purpose CPU, then you basically have a fancy layer over what is essentially a VST plugin. Sure, the hardware aspect is convenient, but in terms of sound I think we should stick to custom circuits.

	▲	diggan 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		I was thinking more of the physical controls rather than the implementation details :) Most of the reasons I use hardware rather than software boils down to "feels great" and "is more fun" basically, because of the physical controls. The precise and exact sound is less interesting, how you're able to conjure it at just the right moment and with precise controls tend to be more interesting for me personally.

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beAbU a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You need the VST anyway. Customers are going to ask for a "digital" version (VST) of your successful hardware synths. Arturia's VSTs are great and very popular for this reason.

So if you already have a VST, but you also have customers asking for actual hardware, why not slap your existing VST onto a Pi, and ship your "hardware" synth with this Pi inside? You end up supporting one software product across both lines.

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otabdeveloper4 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

For a musical instrument you want something portable and playable live, which is the opposite of what your VST contraption is.

(Only a very tiny minority of people want to record music. Music is mostly a realtime experience.)

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lucyjojo 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

reliability

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sbarre 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I can't tell if this is sarcasm.