They both have strengths and weaknesses, and it simply doesn’t make sense to compare them without talking about some specific characters. Can a digital synth sound as good as an analog one?ĭefine good. A digital synth can sound horrible or it can sound way more interesting than an analog, depending on what type of sound and character you’re after. So let’s go from the most fundamental to the more recent concepts.
Obviously, I won’t be comparing specific models or talk about the exceptions in this article, rather discuss the benefits/disadvantages of the four major categories in general (as for professional or advanced amateur studio use). So I thought I’d post my thoughts about this in a very condensed and non-technical form. Yet I tried one and replaced it with a 32” monitor.įinally, no: we’re absolutely not going to end this story by saying “your mileage may vary.” We do not make use of clichés at Synth and Software, and automobile analogies are completely out.“Analog, digital, virtual analog, software synths… which one is the best option? Which ones sound the best? This is one of the most frequent questions I get from my listeners, students and even friends from the music industry. The dot pitch is about the same as a 32” one run at 3008 x 1692 – around. Many people I’ve discussed this with like 40” 4K monitors on their desktops. But even leaving aside ergonomics (where are you going to put your speakers?), the larger the monitor, the farther you have to turn your head to see the sides. The conventional wisdom is to go for the biggest monitor you can, because screen real estate is your friend – and it is. Gaming monitors generally have very high refresh rates and are very responsive – which is what you want if you’re shooting at things, but you don’t care about that when you’re adjusting the filter on a software synth. A 32” gaming monitor might have a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080 (1080p), while a standard 4K monitor, again, is 3840 x 2160. The main reason this warrants an explanation is that there are lots of very well-priced monitors that may sound like they’re big and appropriate for musicians, but they’re “gaming” monitors with lower maximum resolution than regular ones. Recent models have the pixels to display at very high resolutions, but the picture is going to be small. You’re generally sitting closer to them – yes, distance is another important consideration! – and their intended applications may be different. And another one for good measure.īy the way, laptops are a somewhat different case from the desktop monitors we’re talking about here. Here’s an online calculator (shown above) to help you determine the dot pitch at various resolutions for the size monitor you have or are considering. Apple must have done the research to determine a reasonable size for most people, me included (I happen to have good eyesight and run my current monitor at just over. To put that in meaningful terms, the 30” Apple Cinema Display from the early 2000s had a dot pitch of. It’s simply the number of dots per inch (well, technically it’s a measure how densely the pixels are packed, but it comes down to the same thing). This is the actual displayed size of the picture, determined by the physical size of the screen and the resolution at which you set it. But displaying a lower resolution that’s supported by your video card (or chips) is absolutely fine.Īssuming you’ve chosen a monitor capable of displaying enough pixels, the game is to scale the picture so it’s comfortable for your eyes and viewing distance.
Scaling above the native resolution means fewer pixels are used, so there may or may not be a noticeable effect and it’s generally not advisable.
You can scale the picture above and below that resolution in software, either built into macOS or Windows or with third-party utilities (which can offer more flexibility, or sometimes monitor cards just come with their own utility). Screens have a native resolution, meaning the number of actual pixels they have. Here it is on the same monitor at 4K resolution, which is 3840 x 2160 pixels:
The opening screenshot of Kontakt being greedy is with the monitor scaled down to 1080p resolution – that’s 1920 pixels across by 1080 height. Independently of their physical size, monitors can display different resolutions, measured in the number of pixels.