Do Analog Synths Sound the Same? - is there a difference between identical synths?

Wow!! You have a Blue Marvin that goes all the way up to 11!

What a justification for having two. Smart chap. Must admit my christmas tree version isnt nowhere as close as pretty but I do like the group groups LED functions. Thanks for the comparision

A great demonstration for the passionate man, genius and madness coincide.

All components have anywhere between 5-10% tolerences. Over an entire circuit thso differences may build up to give slight variences. There are some good videos by Brian Wampler and JHS pedals debunking whether older guitar pedals are better than reissues such as the TS9 Tubescreamer. Wampler says its all down to just tolerances and that two from the same batch can be different. Internetz!!!

Would love a true vintage 2600 side by side against the Korg and this reissue

Just mix one signal with the inverted, and tune until no sound comes out. Then you know they sound the same.

You know what would be great video content ? Assemble a list of the most classic patches for Minimoog, 2600, MS-20, TB-303, etc and then compare how the patches sound on each of these classic synth designs. This way you can hear how a Minimoog bass sounds on a Pro-One and on a 2600, etc. In the end, one or two synths will emerge as the most capable of producing a broad palette of sounds, and these will become the proverbial Desert Island synths. If you could only have one or two synths, what would they be, and have the sonic proof.

Hey Starsky - as you say, we expect them to be slightly different. Analogue components have a tolerance factor and unless they are 100% you will get slight differences between different units. What's quite surprising is that they are so close. The tolerances are either very tight or the calibration is. Possibly a combination of the two. In the end, however, don't you think it's the music they produce that matters....? :-)

Yes!
- I mean pretty much all analog synths are 90% same sounding...

Hey! Beware of fresh YT claims! :D They may find something... maybe not Chem. Brothers :))

"Dee-dah-dooh-dah" stuff is just different phase starting points. I'm 99% sure of that. If you'll find a way to reset the phase (it's usual for DCOs as I remember) then you'll not get these.

Brighter sound can be because of slightly smaller/bigger capacitor's value in the filter. Sometimes they're not set to the highest audible frequency for the top value. If the filter is trimmable then you can try to make it sound brighter.

I want to know if the modern behringer analogs will age like the older analogs or if the components are just so much better that they won't change as much over time as older synths

Hello Starsky, I searched for the keyboard CME M-Key which you used and saw that the keyboard is velocity sensitive. Of course I believe that you send the same amount of velocity to both units but I didn't find it in the description of the video and I cannot find it in the video, at least not at the beginning of the video. So, did you send the same amount of velocity from the left and right part of your keyboard to the units?
Perhaps also switch the units/midi cables?😅
Have a nice day 😊 Florian

Some proper cork sniffing!

Fantastic! Great job!

This demo also shows the problems of creating and analog polysynth. Variation and warmth is one thing - loose tuning and uneven filtering when you don't want it is a nightmare.

I've always wanted to see a same-synth comparison. Figured there'd be differences.
It'd be interesting to do ones with Korg and Moog's synths too... see if higher priced ones are more fine-tuned or if they have comparable variation.

I’m buying another 2600 Xmas tree version

great stuff! I guess you have a whole collection of those 2600 by now have you?

Slap the word "Virtual" on one of them and I would bet that you would have had commenters swearing on that the virtual one didn't even come close to the "real analog thing". :)

nutter :-)

I have two Meerkats. Would you.......................................................................

GO ON LAAA. my minor patreon suport failed this month my bad but all in time...

BLack n Orange Black nOrange gotta color match my Oddy

that spring reverb is

On the Black/Orange 2600, could there be a firmware upgrade to fix the spring reverb delay ?

This exactly what I thought you could do when a watched that other vid about the 2600b from you

Great review. Alot of the differences are down to trimmers and there are alot in the 2600. Its currently a manual job at the factory as far as I know, although I am sure there are plans for automated computerised trimming. The components are typically 1% tolerance and wont contribute any audible variance, in fact my main concern in the design was that the components were too precise and did not allow sufficient variance in sound quality. In a synth that I feel could be too accurate its funny to see a video to compare the very small differences...☺️☺️☺️ love it!

In the filter comparison, the left one was not as bright as the right one because the left one's filter's fine-tune was not as the same setting as the right one's.

Otherwise, brilliant comparison.
Nice to hear they are the same (noting the most minuscule of differences due to them being analogue)

Now I want one!!!!! ..... no - I want two :)

You have to let them age first.

First comparison video of this kind I've ever seen and it makes sense they don't sound perfectly identical. Two instruments of any kind don't sound identical. Two acoustic Martin guitars, one sounds a little rounder, one a little more open. Two Les Paul guitars, one sounds warmer, one cuts through a bit more. Density of woods can add minor differences just like electronics and their tolerances and calibrations. It's like walking into an electronic store and seeing a wall of televisions. The color adjustments, not to mention component variances can make a huge visual impact. Analog/digital hardware synths and VST instruments all sound different, and they all can be used to make great music. It's as you said, if two hardware analog machines can sound even slightly different, what hope do we have comparing them to VSTs? And what hope do we have that VST creators can make a perfect emulation if a perfect example doesn't exist?

It's exactly why I love analog synths. When you buy one - it is your personal synth that is not quite like another even if it's from the same batch.

My question for a clone, or emulator, or re-issue is not "is it identical to the original?", but "can I make good music on it?"

If the audience are discussing tiny nuances of timbre during your screaming lead-synth break, you might want to look to your performance, not your synth

I genuinely enjoy comparing things, to really get to the devil in the details. THANK YOU so much for all the videos that you produce! You are offering a gift to the world.

Behringer still hasn’t honored my warranty on a “factory ruined” poly d. and owes me one of these but just like Thomans I’m sure they’ll just rip me off . 👽

"Might sound like a strange question." No no... is excellent. I mean, I'm like "duh, nothing." But how do I know? I don't. And they're analog... they cannot be identical, just really close.... Good question. Looking forward to watching.

Here's a question before I forget. Maybe you'll address it.

Is one of them broken?

[virtual] lol

Still, if they are on different machines with different ram speeds and cpu clocks and...

Just avoid any that were made on Friday afternoon

All components have a tolerance. It may be 1%, or 0.1%, but that is as close as they get. The trim pots are meant to be able to tune out the differences, but as someone said it may depend on the day/temperature/mood of the assembler. You could probably tune the pots yourself to make them as near identical as practical. This is the beauty of analogue synths - they don't all sound the same. They sound pretty close, ok very close, but not identical. In the same way two trumpets/violins don't sound the same.

Time well spent, more comforting to know there are wee differences than to guess but never know know :)

A null test would be usefull

you always hear about vintage synths sounding different amongst the same model, this is a great idea and proof of concept to the loudmouths saying the new stuff isn't as good as the old, thank you for your service

You could also analyse the noise floors. They are quite different because parts inside the synths have allowances for different tolerances.