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Synapse Audio x Hans Zimmer (soon?)

Is the sound any better than the old version?
The older version only really sounded good in Mono. They tried to do a Poly mode in the old one but it didn't really work out that well at least for me.

LHZ has poly and to my ears sounds a tad bit more present and deeper especially in the bass. Not that the older version was a slouch but it was defintely more of a Minimoog emulation where LHZ kind of reminds me more of the Moog One with a lot of fancier features like the MSEG.
 
The older version only really sounded good in Mono. They tried to do a Poly mode in the old one but it didn't really work out that well at least for me.

LHZ has poly and to my ears sounds a tad bit more present and deeper especially in the bass. Not that the older version was a slouch but it was defintely more of a Minimoog emulation where LHZ kind of reminds me more of the Moog One with a lot of fancier features like the MSEG.
Is it safe to say that the Legend HZ is to the original Legend what the Mariana is to Taurus emulations (kind of)?
 
Well, call me a sceptic or even ignorant, but ... what does this bring to the table that u-he, cherry audio and others haven't already? I mean, apart from the name. I don't hear it. And almost $200 is not shy for a synth plugin in 2024.
It's a great question.

I love my U-He and Cherry Audio synths. I don't have anything from Synapse yet. Legend HZ is a substantial evolutionary step forward for me. It sounds more detailed and cohesive than Diva and Repro and Zebra HZ to me. More detailed than my GX80. That doesn't mean I toss those out. They still make music.

Each of us has to make our own upgrade path decisions. Soft synths are getting better, and there are several strategies we could use:

- Good enough is good enough (once I have instruments which work for me, I can stop buying)
- Cutting edge (always buy the best as soon as it is available)
- Timed upgrades (when there is a big enough difference, upgrade part of your stable)

I use the third option, mostly. Diva is looking a bit nervous but I am going to hold on to the U-He synths for now, and consider adding some delicious Synapse stuff in a year or so.
 
The older version only really sounded good in Mono. They tried to do a Poly mode in the old one but it didn't really work out that well at least for me.

LHZ has poly and to my ears sounds a tad bit more present and deeper especially in the bass. Not that the older version was a slouch but it was defintely more of a Minimoog emulation where LHZ kind of reminds me more of the Moog One with a lot of fancier features like the MSEG.
I own the Softube Model 72, which sounds fantastic, but I rarely use mono synths, so perhaps I should check it out. Thanks
 
I'm a bit uncertain if HZ replaces the normal Legend or goes in parallel.
In the manual I see that the name of the DLL is the same (Legend.DLL) as the one I already have installed, so I guess it does replace it totally.
But in the manual they don't specify anything about (or at least I couldn't find); the same (i.e nothing) about backwards compatibility of patches made on the first Legend, given that the new presets would now be placed (on Windows) in Documents/Synapse Audio/Legend HZ, so a different directory from the previous Legend release.
Any clues from who have already upgraded and installed it?
 
The fattest oscillators you’ve ever heard
Did they actually change the oscillators from the original The Legend circuit-modeling of the Minimoog D (aside from adding more, of course)? Or did they change the effects to get fatter sounds from them? (Wouldn't expect MSEG to add fatness....)
 
While Synapse Dune featured native MTS-ESP support, it doesn't appear that their new The Legend HZ does...

Hopefully it will be discovered to have undocumented support. May test the demo at some point.
No demo available as of yet...

Will test for undocumented MTS-ESP when one is available.


Found that the new Arturia Augmented YANGTZE had totally undocumented native MTS-ESP support by testing their demo a few days back. Would be very interested in purchasing a license for The Legend HZ if so.
 
Did they actually change the oscillators from the original The Legend circuit-modeling of the Minimoog D (aside from adding more, of course)? Or did they change the effects to get fatter sounds from them? (Wouldn't expect MSEG to add fatness....)
The Moog oscillators are far more harsh, when listed to directly (e.g. in a modular system). I believe Synapse did something new with respect to the filter.

The Moog filter is notorious for thinning out the low-end at even low settings of resonance. My guess is that Synapse has added something to preserve the low-end from the oscillators as they come into the filter.

The mixer also colors the sound, but that is more like distortion based on the asymmetric nature of the mixer.

There is a certain smoothness to the demos, which probably means a delay or something like that at the end of the signal chain.

It sounds really good!
 
The fattest oscillators you’ve ever heard
I'd say as far as a VST I'd agree with said statement , against certain hardware pieces I own probably not ,but DAMN close (and in a track or cue ,probably indistinguishable ) Pretty killer softie no doubt , I been using the OG legend for many years ....Dune too...synapse makes amazing stuff , LOVE this new offering I think everyone should buy it lol (truly)
 
I'd say as far as a VST I'd agree with said statement , against certain hardware pieces I own probably not ,but DAMN close (and in a track or cue ,probably indistinguishable ) Pretty killer softie no doubt , I been using the OG legend for many years ....Dune too...synapse makes amazing stuff , LOVE this new offering I think everyone should buy it lol (truly)
That's a quote for their website! They'll probably skip the first sentence, though.
 
The Moog oscillators are far more harsh, when listed to directly (e.g. in a modular system). I believe Synapse did something new with respect to the filter.

The Moog filter is notorious for thinning out the low-end at even low settings of resonance. My guess is that Synapse has added something to preserve the low-end from the oscillators as they come into the filter.

The mixer also colors the sound, but that is more like distortion based on the asymmetric nature of the mixer.

There is a certain smoothness to the demos, which probably means a delay or something like that at the end of the signal chain.

It sounds really good!
The product page does mention "a fixed filter bank that was modeled after Hans Zimmer's personal Vintage 914 Fixed Filter Bank". From the user guide: "FIXED FILTER BANK has 14 parallel filters: twelve bandpass filters with fixed middle frequencies, and two shelf filters: LOW PASS and HIGH PASS. Moving from the top left to the bottom right corner, the 12 bandpass filters range from 125 Hz at the FIXED FILTER BANK's lowestfrequency to 5.6 kHz at its highest. Each filter has its own designated attenuator control knob, allowing for each filter to be boosted or attenuated."

Product page also refers to an "expanded effects section" but doesn't go into detail. The user guide says, "The Legend HZ's reverb unit is particularly suited to the unique sonic challenges that arise whentrying to get a synthesizer to sit well within certain spaces. Synthetic sound sources like plainoscillators can be static and even boring when compared to an organic sound source like thehuman voice. Though the human voice can be easily recorded in a cathedral, the same can't besaid for a synthesizer, which needs some form of manipulation to achieve pleasing results.To counter this problem, The Legend HZ's reverb unit automatically applies modulation to thesignal to create a richer, more interesting timbre." The user guide for The Legend doesn't mention applying modulation to the reverb, so I'd assume that's new. There are also new reverb parameters.

The user guide implies that the delay is different too: "The Legend HZ contains a tape delay unit that recreates the effect of using analog recordingtape to create a series of echoes." Whereas the user guide for The Legend doesn't mention tape and has fewer parameters (for example, HZ has a "tape sat" parameter for tape saturation).

The Legend HZ also has a compressor, but The Legend apparently doesn't (since it's not mentioned in the manual).

"The Legend HZ makes use of a relatively straightforward, yet versatile, compressor unit withsimple controls ... Toggling the switch in the POLY position will allow thecompressor to work polyphonically. In this case, each individual voice will have its owncompressor. ... It can also be used in MONO mode, at which point it would be placed before the FX chain (insteadof at the end of it) ...

SLOW/FAST refers to the release time of the compressor.This switch was provided since The Legend HZ's COMPRESSOR unit doesn't have an attackor release setting. Toggling the switch in one position or the other will select between a slowrelease time or a fast release time (the time it takes for the signal to return to its initial state afterbeing compressed)"


 
I'm a bit uncertain if HZ replaces the normal Legend or goes in parallel.
In the manual I see that the name of the DLL is the same (Legend.DLL) as the one I already have installed, so I guess it does replace it totally.
But in the manual they don't specify anything about (or at least I couldn't find); the same (i.e nothing) about backwards compatibility of patches made on the first Legend, given that the new presets would now be placed (on Windows) in Documents/Synapse Audio/Legend HZ, so a different directory from the previous Legend release.
Any clues from who have already upgraded and installed it?
Synapse Audio x Hans Zimmer (soon?)

Both are different plugins and you can access them separately.
Also, LegendHZ can load the legacy Legend patches.

Synapse Audio x Hans Zimmer (soon?)
 
Sad to admit, but it seems that today is not my day...

Update: It was fixed in close collaboration with the awesome support team.
 

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Sad to admit, but it seems that today is not my day...
Not my day either! The installer crashes every time I try to enter my activation code...
Synapse Audio x Hans Zimmer (soon?)
If I try to load the plugin in Logic, I get this...

Synapse Audio x Hans Zimmer (soon?)
Synapse Audio x Hans Zimmer (soon?)
Bizarrely there's no way to enter your serial number in the plugin itself. You have to re-install to get back to the activation screen. Online activation crashes every time, but I got around it by doing a challenge/response offline activation. I've never seen this before - what a weird way of managing authorizations. o_O
 
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