Members nerol1st Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I though I would post this here because I will probably have better luck with this question. I'm looking for a synth that uses 8 bit samples. I'm basically looking for commodor 64 sounds. I'm having a hard time finding a plugin specific to this that runs on OSX so now I'm searching for real synths that may have had this type of sound. Oh and I have no clue about keyboards so I'm not even sure this exists. I have heard of people modding a nintendo to play live but beyond that... Any help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members llamastorm Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I have gotten the "Magical 8 bit plug" (google it) to work under Ableton live under OS X if you mute the Right channel and just use it as mono so it doesn't, umh, explode. Doesn't work in Logic, which makes me very sad. I believe there are a few other chiptune sounding softsynths as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raymar Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I can think of two at the top of my head. You might be able to find a Mirage sampler on Ebay from the 80's that used 8 bit samples exclusively. Also VAZ 2010 and VAZ Modular softsynths both have a decimator effect that simulates reducing the bit depth from 16 bit all the way down to 1 bit, and you can also adjust the sample rate as well. Both can be modulated too for extra coolness. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jez Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 The amiga series used 8-bit samples and are also capable of sounding very chip-tuney, they cost practically bugger-all these days and all the software is pretty much free As for midi interfaces and all that stuff, no idea. I've never seen one but I'm sure it must exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Mirage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Re-Member Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 A decimator effect can also get sounds to have that lo-fi 8-bit quality to them, so you might not need a lo-fi sampling synth at all, just one with good effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cosmic.synth Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I though I would post this here because I will probably have better luck with this question. I'm looking for a synth that uses 8 bit samples. I'm basically looking for commodor 64 sounds. I'm having a hard time finding a plugin specific to this that runs on OSX so now I'm searching for real synths that may have had this type of sound. Oh and I have no clue about keyboards so I'm not even sure this exists. I have heard of people modding a nintendo to play live but beyond that... Any help is appreciated. Are you just looking for a synths with 8 bit samples? Ensoniq ESQ-1, ESQ-m and SQ-80 all have 8 bit samples. Those synths will get you far more than Commodore/SID sounds though, they actually sound pretty analog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Diametro Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 The Fusion has several decimator fx in its arse nal ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Audacity Works Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I have gotten the "Magical 8 bit plug" (google it) to work under Ableton live under OS X if you mute the Right channel and just use it as mono so it doesn't, umh, explode. Doesn't work in Logic, which makes me very sad.Why not set Logic's Bitcrusher plugin to 8 bit? Use it all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wetwareinterface Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 or just run a synth through a "solid state" distortion effect.make the synth hella basic and pulse and square waves work best. all the chip tune you need in just simple pulse waves with minimal filtering, as that's all the chip tune stuff is, pulse waves at different frequencies. doesn't much matter sound wise if they're 16 bit or 8 bit. it's the fact that everything is done with extreme frequency shifts of pulse waves that gives it that lo fi chip tune sound quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nerol1st Posted April 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I'm gonna try the bit crusher idea and report back. Didn't produce what I was after. All well. Thanks everyone so much for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members raffor Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 I don't believe you can recreate the old 8 bit machines with new software just because of the DAC. Even when you cut out the bits to make it 8 bit only, it is still a 16 or higher bit DAC using oversampling. That did not exist in the 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members robotsquid Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 I'm looking for a synth that uses 8 bit samples. I'm basically looking for commodor 64 sounds. I'm having a hard time finding a plugin specific to this that runs on OSX so now I'm searching for real synths that may have had this type of sound. No need, just get Quadrasid from ReFX. Runs on macs, sounds like a commodore 64. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yoozer Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 I don't believe you can recreate the old 8 bit machines with new software just because of the DAC. Even when you cut out the bits to make it 8 bit only, it is still a 16 or higher bit DAC using oversampling. That did not exist in the 80s. On a scale of "being anal" from 1 to 10, where 1 is "pffff" and 10 is "my sphincter is like an event horizon" 1: being purist about analog synthesizers 3: being purist about samplers 395: being purist about soundchips in game consoles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 better try the real thing its dead cheap now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J3RK Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 I second the suggestions to check out the Ensoniq synths (and Mirage Sampler,) and ReFX QuadraSID. The DOC chip (Ensoniq ESQ/SQ synths,) and SID chip were both made by the same guy, and their synthesis is very similar (with some additional functionality in the DOC chip.) I won't go into more detail here, but you can search for some of my old posts on this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spaceman Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Casio SK-1/SK-5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members syncretism Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 There's always the cleverly named Morgana soft sampler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members turretg Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 Kawai K1 and K1 Mark 2 I believe use 8 bit samples . Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mfb Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 Kawai K1 and K1 Mark 2 I believe use 8 bit samples . Hope this helps. Another modern approach would be the Kontakt soft-sampler, which has a Lo-Fi effect where you can dial in as few bits as you want (and a low samplerate). It can either work on each voice individually (I think e.g., ESQ-1 probably had 8-bit playback per voice and then mixed them in an analogue way), or overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yoozer Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 ..... The C64 has nothing to do with 8-bit samples.It's got an actual synthesizer inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J3RK Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 ..... Where do I fit into that? Though I do think you could use an 8 bit sampler, and use very short "chips" and make chip-tune sounding music for a similar effect. Still though, nothing but a SID, DOC, or good SID/DOC emulation will do if that's the exact sound you're looking for. Here's another suggestion: http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/ It's free, and it's a NEAR perfect (some slight filter differences as the original filter is analog,) Ensoniq SQ80 (DOC chip) emulation. Between this and QuadraSID, you could do just about anything "Bob Yannes" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 Even though the SID was an actual synth, there was a way you could get it to play back very brief samples, in all their unfiltered 8-bit "glory". What I don't understand is why anyone would actually WANT that. It sounds like crap. Crap, I tells ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J3RK Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 Even though the SID was an actual synth, there was a way you could get it to play back very brief samples, in all their unfiltered 8-bit "glory". What I don't understand is why anyone would actually WANT that. It sounds like crap.Crap, I tells ya. 4 bit actually. It was a trick using the volume register. I can see using it for percussion these days, but then, you could just use a bit crusher at 4 bits, and then maybe add a little distortion on top of that to get a similar effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 It was? Dang, shows how long it's been since I've POKE'd at the SID chip. I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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