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Are Z3TA 2, Rapture Classic and Dimension Pro still functional and good sounding compared to actual established names ?


PopStarWannabe

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17 minutes ago, abacab said:

 

See my post earlier in this thread for a link to the free e-book "How to Make a Noise - a comprehensive guide to synthesizer programming" that covers many aspects of programming synth sounds.

The author uses the original version of Surge from Vember Audio, along with 5 other synths, including Cakewalk z3ta+ classic (many thoughts here  should also apply to Z3TA+2). Gives examples and comparisons of synth features, covering topics such as envelopes, filtering, sound sources, wave shaping, LFOs, and modulations.

Hard to believe that Surge was a $150 synth back in the day (2005 - 2007)!  Now free! Even z3ta+ classic was $99.

Ironically, Surge was the Serum of his time...Including being developed by the guy that created Serum.

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1 hour ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

Ironically, Surge was the Serum of his time...Including being developed by the guy that created Serum.

Wait, what? Surge was the new kid on the block back in the day, but...

Not the same guy! 🙄

The guy that created Serum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Duda

The guy that created Surge: https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/about/

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On 12/19/2020 at 10:38 AM, PopStarWannabe said:

And I don't want to invest time in, say, learning the waveshapers in Z3TA 2 and one day wake up and find out that it stopped working due to a change in Windows 10, or who knows, because it's not supported anymore.

 

In pre-digital days it was like milking an old piece of gear you knew was going to fall over eventually... parts were oft times unobtanium lol.

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On 12/26/2020 at 6:21 PM, abacab said:

Wait, what? Surge was the new kid on the block back in the day, but...

Not the same guy! 🙄

The guy that created Serum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Duda

The guy that created Surge: https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/about/

Bitwig, not Surge. My bad.

On another note, a lot of people are hoping the guy releases the source code of Shortcircuit so people can continue working on it.

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I used to use DimPro, Rapture, & Z3TA a lot.
Pentagon worked as a decent vocoder too.

I've still got the original discs and downloaded copies of the installers of the final versions when CW went bust.
Not got any of them loaded onto my current PC though.

Nowadays I just use the Arturia V Collection

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  • 1 year later...

I am a Folksinger who mostly uses Cakewalk for Demos, so I'm mostly interested in realistic acoustic sounds.  I've found 90% of what I need in Dim Pro 1.5.  I've bought two "world" add-ons to get instruments like hammered dulcimer, bowed psaltery, etc., and I run those through Dim Pro as well.  

I HAVE bought separate sounds to get a better banjo sound, though.  

What really helps is writing parts that those instruments would actually play.  Lots of folks hate string, woodwind, or brass sounds because they don't know how to write for the instrument they're trying to imitate.  

I'm sure if I was interested in coming up with unique synth sounds, I'd make other choices.  Or use the rack of analog synths I have left over from my rock and roll days.  🙂

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On 12/19/2020 at 2:23 AM, Vernon Barnes said:

Z3TA is a very capable synth that I originally tended to overlook because of the EDM heavy leanings of presets. If you get down and dirty with the programming it has incredible potential that few others match. 

You should also be able to find the Muz3um bank for Z3ta (also updated version for v2) which is based around the sound (and waveforms) of more vintage synths.

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1 hour ago, fret_man said:

Oooh! A link please. All the links I found (Cakewalk, KVR, Matrixsynth, Patcharena,  and even Wayback Machine) were all dead.

It looks like the links are dead.

This link still works! Just hit the download button to get the zip file. :)

https://web.archive.org/web/20130822062233/http://patcharena.com/downloads/comment.php?dlid=1009&ENGINEsessID=2311519e0788658009b3c9b74f5c4351

From the readme.txt:

Quote

Thanks for Download z3ta+ Muz3uM 2!!!

Featuring:

- Original Muz3uM patches, arps, and wavetables now converted to z3ta+
2.0 format.
- 540 new Muz3uM patches that take advantage of z3ta+ 2.0 features,
including waveshaping modulation and new filter types
- patches organized in categories (Arps, Bass, Keyboards, Leads, Pads,
Sequences) integrated with z3ta+ 2.0 browser

Concepts & Sound Design:
Francesco Silvestri

Additional Sound Design & Installer:
Chad Beckwith

Thanks:
Steve at Hollowsun.com - original analog samples

Special Thanks:
Rene - To whom we owe many beers. :)

- Francesco Silvestri


Installation:

- On Win simply run the included "z3ta+ - Muz3uM.exe"

- For OSX copy the content within the included folders:

OSX/MIDI Arpeggios
OSX/Programs
OSX/Wavetables

To these respective locations.

~/Documents/Cakewalk/Z3TA+ 2/MIDI Arpeggios
~/Documents/Cakewalk/Z3TA+ 2/Programs
~/Documents/Cakewalk/Z3TA+ 2/Wavetables


If you have any trouble installing on OSX email chad@patcharena.com.  I'll make an OSX installer if you guys want.

Cheers!

 

Edited by abacab
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37 minutes ago, Glenn Stanton said:
10 hours ago, Magic Russ said:

Muz3um presets for Rapture can be found here

http://patcharena.com/downloads/index.php?subcat=83&ENGINEessID=9133e8654dbb81493f3d191f6e7fc437

Note towards the bottom of that page are 30 presets I contributed.

looks like its a dead link

Yea, need to create a new session at the Wayback Machine 

Here is a Wayback Machine link before it creates a session ID for the PatchArea download page

https://web.archive.org/web/20181001235556/http://patcharena.com/downloads/

Open Virtual Instruments and Effects > Cakewalk to access the downloads as of 1 Oct 2018

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16 hours ago, Magic Russ said:

If you have downloaded the Muz3um patch set for Rapture, I invite you to download my Magic Russ in the Muz3um set of patches which I have posted to the Rapture Patches page on KVR.  I will also post the 30 for 30 set there tomorrow or so.

Already had the 30 for 30. Just added the Magic Russ in the Muz3um set. Very nice, and a fresh reminder of what a great sounding synth that Rapture is!!!

 Cool stuff! 👍

Just a note that for some reason at first the F5 preset refresh did not work for me in CbB, after adding the new folder to the Rapture Programs folder. But finally got that working. Maybe stuck keyboard, I dunno...

Edited by abacab
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4 minutes ago, Magic Russ said:

Glad you are enjoying that. 

Yes I am, thanks! :)

It takes special breed of cat to "crack the UI code" for Rapture sound design. It's definitely not the easiest synth to program from scratch, compared to most modern synths, and rather unique.

Edited by abacab
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