Phase Plant Vs. Current! Which One is Right for You?

[@ethnicalbert]

Phase plant is just soooo versatile. It’s mind blowing for film and game audio design which is what I do

[@TonyThomas10000]

My latest fave is Hyperion by Wavesequencer. It is modular, multitimbral, and has layers. You can easily build and stack your own synths.

[@aquaticborealis4877]

Hyperion might be overall the best sounding synth I’ve heard, particularly for realistic analog sounds of various types and large evolving soundscapes. It’s the one synth where I’ll have to pause and look to see if I’m playing one of my hardware synths, or Hyperion. Paul (Wavesequencer) has done an amazing job, and is also a capable sound designer. Many wonderful presets.

[@sarmad5]

My favourite childhood cartoon is Pink Panther

[@illywhackerDJ]

I've never thought of checking out Phase Plant, but I absolutely love Current. I find myself creating my best patches on Current. You pointed out that you weren't too keen on the LFO randomisation, but, I find it's perfect for creating sounds with 'analogue drift'. We each have our own needs and desires though! Great video. I'll give Phase Plant more attention.

[@crowkangi]

I like them both. More and more I need a synth where I can find a good sound quickly because I’m writing a whole song. Getting caught up too much in sound design can stifle the process. I try to separate sessions where I’ll not sound design or only compose.

[@cthulholmhastur5317]

👍⚡ Thanks for this. I wasn't even aware of Current. Liked and subscribed.

[@freshlybakeddnb5330]

Multipass changed my life 😁 the greatest synth plugin addition imo, and it's ability to be used in the DAW really helps

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

When you own it all… you don’t have time to make patches.

[@threethievesmusic]

Once you learn it, the work flow in Phase Plant is so fast.

[@Alckemy]

I agree

[@daviHuggMonster]

I have both, both are useful. I do use current more often then phaseplant. But I do have synth wise a lot of options . But can't say any of them are bad. Some may choose just one. Can't go wrong with any of them. Their payment options are nice too, rent to own kinda thing so if you don't want to pay a large amount in one go both have that option.

[@angrytoken]

i have phase plant, current, pigments and vital 😀 and more another synth. I use everything.

[@3DaveO]

cool, agree on the last 3... but haven't tried current so much :)

[@dtown5id]

I've been a long term Multipass user, since it came out, and was anticipating PP before it came out but its never really clicked for me as a synth. I mostly get how to use it, thank to you, just isnt for me I guess. Been using Current every session since it came out, and love it, but im still deeply in love with Vital

[@3DaveO]

Vital is my quick Goto. To get a good sound while testing out beat patterns etc. Any Pigments people?:)

[@PeteGunnShow]

i own both. different uses for each of them. current delivers a certain sound that you cant get out of phaseplant because of the effects and wave table morhphing options. lately current has been getting alot more use. but every time i do bust out phase plant i always ask myself why i dont use it more. also my tip for new current users, if you get the all access pass, dont just download every pack that is available. it clutters up your library. just download the stuff you want instead of downloading eveyrthing just because you can (like i did)

[@DSWL_]

you CAAAAN make a wt in serum or vital then literally just drag it onto the wt window in current and it adds it to your user wt folder. which i thought was a cool feature

[@Alckemy]

I don’t like having to use another synth to do another synths job lol

[@Sylvain_de_Boscherville]

I'll try CURRENT, the major disadvantage of PhasePlant is its sales system which is not common, the "premium" effects modules, are paid, it can be annoying for the presets because you can't change their settings, you have to accept the limitations in short.

[@piet245]

I have both and i am happy with both

[@sooler]

Same, why chose? :)

[@insertbrandaccountnamehere3436]

Favorite Childhood chartoon is probably Adventure Time

[@yajrobot]

Hey! Watched Metalocalypse in my teens, love it!

[@mysteriousstranger9496]

I just got current. Excited to dig in to it. Will you be making tuts on it?

[@Alckemy]

I have quite a few:)

[@frequency_sequencer]

Very few tutorials about current as it never took off in the creator community

[@Alckemy]

I tried lol

[@henaege]

I would have to go with Robotech. If I missed an episode I was UPSET

[@bassti-music]

my favorite Childhood Cartoon is the Avatar TV Series :)

[@SamPye-de4kn]

Clearly the best solution to this dilemma is to get both.

[@Alckemy]

Definitely, but this is more for if you had to pick one

[@ChromeArray]

I like Minimal Audio's plugins and already own Hybrid Filter, Rift, Morph EQ, and Fuse Compressor. Current is very tempting but lately I've been really into Bitwig's Grid and I think it would be hard to give up that kind of flexibility and creativity. Phase Plant feels like a logical next step. All the flexibility of the Grid but with a more streamlined workflow. Thanks for the comparison video! BTW, if you have affiliate links for these synths, you should probably have them in the description box.

[@frequency_sequencer]

I am on Bitwig too but I use Phase plant for sound design as polygrid is too deep for simple stuff, sonically I love the sound of Pigments the most

[@Anon-yd2xz]

Ive been using Phase Plant for several years now. I like the workflow and the fact that you can build pretty much whatever you want from the ground up. Just one thing that bothers me is that you cant really get good distortion in the plugin.

[@DaftyBoi412]

Danger Mouse by far! I loved that shii.

[@moonstrobe]

I will go for Phase Plant, because I have Phase Plant (and all the associated stuff) and I hate cloud services.

[@Trickey2413]

favorite childhood series is probably spiderman the animated series or Alpha teens on machines.

[@cyborgmetropolis7652]

I own Phaseplant and only really go though the patches. I need to spend some time learning it.

[@Time4CakeAndSodomy]

virtual riot just put out a good tutorial

[@sokkumboppaz]

Personally, although I really like Current and think it's a great synth, Phase Plant's versatility makes it really hard to move away from. Any other synth feels like a step backwards, even if it's an amazing piece of software. Current, Pigments, Vital, Hive 2, Massive X, all feel severely restricting compared to Phase Plant for me now.

[@Alckemy]

Same. But you have to reach that point of lunacy to want to start doing everything from scratch

[@virajkhatri7574]

Phase Plant does not have the wavetable warp modes that Current has. I use both, I use PP to make wavetables and then I process them into Current. You can't compare Massive-X and Hive 2, those are Analog Hybrid synths, and Pigments is an overall Hybrid with an Additive generator that Phaseplant also does not have. tl;dr it is pointless to compare these synths, especially when you can use all of them in tandem.

[@virajkhatri7574]

@@Alckemy This

[@frequency_sequencer]

@@Alckemy If I need patches, nothing gives more options than Serum with so many people making them, I think the Current patches sound too DnB and I don't think many are making patch banks for Current

[@Alckemy]

@@virajkhatri7574 when I hear people say you can’t compare I can’t help but feel like they didn’t watch the video. Phaseplant doesn’t have the table warping Inherently but between harmonic shaping and fm it can make whatever harmonics current can produce. The warping process in its own right like serum for example is just applying a mathematical pattern to the source. Take sync or bend for example. I stated this at the very beginning of the video. It is for people who are trying to decide between what they should get, not which one is better.

[@markquavertune2003]

Gigantor . This cartoon even had a theme song . Current has a pretty interface .But I like to dig deep into phaseplant .What do you think of twin 3 ?

[@Alckemy]

I think it’s ok. I use it on the iPad but I don’t think it has an analog sound like they describe. You can start some stuff with it or do get into abusing lfos for things like ring modulation but you’d have to really know what you’re doing to get the most out of it

[@markquavertune2003]

@@Alckemy Twin 3 can produce some surprising results .Especially if you like to build your own presets .Because of the way the filters can be modulated . I do like phaseplant quite a lot .I had a look at Current .It is on sale now but the deal breaker for me is two activations .Does that mean in two computers or hard drives away I have to buy it again?

[@Alckemy]

@@markquavertune2003the filters aren’t enough for me personally because of what you have available after them but like I said- they’re great to start with. Up to two activations, so to hard drives later you need to uninstall them from your older computers to put them on your new ones

[@fallenleaf24]

also to add. Phaseplant is $200 but you will want the other stuff too making it $554 all in disperser, convolver, slice eq, will end up needed. being (£217) Faturator, carve eq, shaper tables are good to haves, being ($177) Current is $200 unless you want the outboard efx. then thats nothing to do with the synth.

[@fallenleaf24]

I will add that I have both! I rarely use Phaseplant as It tiring to have to build everything up from scratch. I"m only just back in the studio after 8 years.. I feel like im starting from scratch! & Phaseplant is overwhelming. I have saved presets so that it starts up acting like a normal synth. envelopes, LFOS etc. I have one for each type. Granular, wavetable, analogue. I feel like thats not really allowing me to reach Phaseplants power which is complete creative freedom! Buy squashing it into the same parameters as other Soft Synths I'm not using it to its same potential, So I will keep it for another year. If I don't make use out of It I will sell it. as I have $600 in it.. lol

[@fkknsikk]

It's 400 when not on sale for the Kilohearts Ultimate bundle.

[@SoundPeaks]

yeah and without Mutipass ($99) you can not have OTT

[@fallenleaf24]

@@SoundPeaks yup.. it's not just PhasePlant.. They are completely different animals!

[@antoniostabile5481]

Yes

[@musicbywalsh]

Does Fraggle Rock count?

[@wabbyboy39]

Option 3: Pigments

[@Alckemy]

Already reviewed. Doesn’t come close

[@adsm6464]

Phase Plant is the boss, I find the whole thing ridiculously logical and inspiring. The fact that you can load patches from others and use the premium effects you don't own minus the ability to edit them is a nice touch. Value to price ratio is high. The only issue is the cost of upgrading my PC so I can stack 60 snap heaps and 25 phase modulated granular oscillators in one patch without killing it😂

[@Alckemy]

They are a super pro consumer company. Thats a big reason why I still make videos for them

[@_DRMR_]

Neither of these run on my OS. I'll stick to Vital ;)

[@jonathanblack8602]

Time to upgrade from the 2014 macbook

[@_DRMR_]

@@jonathanblack8602 What's a "macbook"?

[@_DRMR_]

@@jonathanblack8602 Sorry what's a "macbook"?

[@_DRMR_]

@@jonathanblack8602 What's a 'macbook'?

[@5t3w]

Current doesn’t have as surgical tools as phaseplant and phaseplant doesn’t actually have true fm (vr explained in a vid recently). I’ve been using current a lot recently and have been using phaseplant since 2020 and I do miss being able to do a lot of post processing inside phaseplant comparably and luckily have a plethora of wave table to play with in current and have even started buying Ma plugins to use with other synths because their fx are so good. Phaseplant stops feeling like an empty void after you buckle down with it like any other synth and I recommend it over current atm…current has lots of room to grow still imo. Current does make great riddim basses pretty easily.

[@Alckemy]

Fm and pm are practically the same thing. They just go about it in a different way ^^

[@5t3w]

@ so rm and am are the same too?

[@Alckemy]

They are the same parallel as fm to pm, yes

[@michail_777]

In my opinion Phase Plant is very overloaded with tabs. On the other hand all synths take some getting used to.

[@Alckemy]

Phase plant only has 1 tab unless you open something like slice eq, but it doesn’t block your view of the synth. It just pulls up another window

[@michail_777]

@@Alckemy What if you have a lot of effects and they don't all fit? There is a window at the bottom where the tabs are closed, although they can be opened. So there's more than one tab. You even have it in your video.

[@Alckemy]

@@michail_777 they scroll if they don’t fit in one window

[@michail_777]

@@Alckemy Yes I agree.You can set 6 LFOs and scroll. You're totally right.

[@buckycore]

Current seems dull to me. It's pretty, and some patches are rad. Kinda Like Equator 2. So It's like an Equator 2 glowup. But still....Current: zzzz

[@HannielNefiel]

And here I thought I was the only one thinking about equator 2

[@Alckemy]

It’s definitely better than equator, but has a lot of room for inprovement

[@itinerantghost]

Great one! Dang! I really am missing out on creating effect racks using snapheap and using it outside of phase plant, but seeing yours game me some ideas! As of my favourite cartoon growing up? COBRA: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_(manga) There’s nothing quite like it!

[@raunokalda3568]

I mean its cool to see all these plugins and what they can do, but when you ask the producers what's that one thing you don't like about music production, majority of them would say sound design. It takes a lot of time to get the sounds you want and its just not fun, that's why sample packs and presets sell so well. The sad thing for all the sound designers/sample/preset makers is that AI is going to completely change that industry and make it obsolete, and its happening already with Suno, Udio etc. In the future and not in the very far future ( 2 - 3 years) Sound design will all be done with AI which gives a lot more time and freedom for music producers to be creative. We will have plugins that that make any sound you can dream of with just a simple prompt. I mean if you think you can out perform AI with your sample packs and presets then good on you, keep at it. But it will be easier to get onto the industrial revolution that's coming and make your own AI synth and sell it, because that will be the money maker. the plugin industry will become Effects plugin industry only because we don't need synth anymore but we do need effects to make sounds even better. I know its not something people want to hear in this industry but its coming and its coming fast.

[@Alckemy]

Who’s the majority? Who did you ask? It’ll definitely make things easier with ai but it can never add a human touch to things.

[@raunokalda3568]

@Alckemy nobody is going to care about human touch, labels most certainly don't because the piece of music you make using AI sounds still has to be good, so the human touch is your creativity plus the way you shape the sounds with effects and automations. These ai tools will have filters and modulation options like all the plugins do but sound itself is generated using prompts instead of created by you from scratch. Its the same thing how Vinyls, cassets, cd's and mp3's changed the way music was shared and played, people did not think that digital or electronic music can have any human feeling but it was a revolution just like hardware synths compared to real instruments or when computer music changed the industry with plugins people then though was a bad idea, yeah i bet Marsh, Ben Böhmer or Jordin Post feel terrible using plugins to make amazing music OR you making your presets and samples or whatever it is that you do, now... im sure you are very good at what you do but we just have to accept the fact and try to adapt to the new reality. Im sure you are aware of Synplant 2 by Sonic Charge or the AI sound generator By MicroMusic, if not prepare to have your mind blown because both of these are infants still crawling around but once they start making baby steps music industry will change completely.

[@Alckemy]

@@raunokalda3568 you’re talking about ai and labels in one sentence… people are still going to do this as a hobby for one; two everyone is moving towards independent releases. I’ve already discussed all of these topics on the channel if you want more. I also have a review of synplant 2.

[@raunokalda3568]

@Alckemy i hope you know that being an independent artist and finding success is so much harder than getting signed to a lable with millions of fans ready to buy/stream your songs? This independent movement came out of the fact that making music is not easy and making good music is even harder and a lot of the songs you make never get released anyway so its good to upload thoss and wait for the best and yes its easier to get your music out there. But that's not success, its exposure which is good but if you get signed and then supported by other djs and other lables reach out to you because they love your stuff, i mean sure being independent can work but you will grow better and faster signed to a lable and AI is going to help you cut all the hours or even weeks of sound design and give you more time to be creative and make morr new music.

[@Alckemy]

@@raunokalda3568 I don’t know what you think the music industry is but no one is making money right now. Big artists are going independent because no one is buying music anyway. Tldr you need to treat this game like a hobby and enjoy it. There’s no money to be made unless you’re that .0001 Taylor swift. I’m no one special, but I do have the opportunity to talk to a lot of people who are way higher up in the industry than I am.

[@SoundPeaks]

How do you handle the fact that every OSC in PP has its own ENV? I really don't like this. You have separate ENV AND you can not use it elsewhere :(

[@Alckemy]

Just put your oscillators in the same group lol

[@SoundPeaks]

@@Alckemy how do you set different filters for each oscillator then lol My point - Phase Plant has areas where it simply can not make the same relatively easy things as Serum. For example, to have the same ENV for AMP and Filter. Or a filter doesn't have the mix knob.

[@Alckemy]

you can make another group and just put a filter on each group. and then route them in several different ways. I mean to sound rude but this process is so simple that if it's a real hangup then maybe you absolutely should stick with serum or vital. serum has too many tabs, limited oscillators and effects, and very restrictive fm/sampler options. it's great. but it's hella archaic by today's standards

[@SoundPeaks]

@@Alckemy I’m a proficient sound designer specializing in heavy bass music. I recently wrote a detailed article on Phase Plant, highlighting its flaws compared to Serum - I know it inside and out, though I haven't done extensive sound design in it yet. I'm reaching out because I'm hoping you could offer some advice. For example, if I set up two groups, I can’t apply the same envelope (ENV) to both oscillators, and I can't assign different filters with a shared AMP envelope, as you can in Vital. This means I either have to plan patches meticulously or anticipate where design limitations might crop up. Personally, I’d rather have a single AMP envelope than deal with phase issues caused by individual envelopes per oscillator and trying to manually copy each ENV across oscillators or groups. It’s a big trade-off, honestly, and it feels a bit disappointing that while Phase Plant has so much power, there are still certain things Serum can do that Phase Plant can’t. At very least the absence of an easy way to clone ENVs is a disadvantage.

[@h.hristov]

Dexter’s Laboratory

[@orbitfold]

Phase Plant would be amazing if they somehow made it not sound like ass

[@kcrosley]

Current is a steaming pile of shit because… how the fuck do you import wavetables to it. Also, phase plant not much better. So…. 🤷‍♂️

[@Alckemy]

Well aren’t you just a bundle of joy

[@dirg3music]

Click import pack, then point it to the folder where you store your wavetables for any of your other synths, it'll import whole folders that way.