Softube Modular... Worth it?

Hey KZbin
Just picked up a copy of Softube Modular. I'd checked out the demo over two years ago, but never grabbed it... there's a number of alternatives I've looked at over the years as far as a Eurorack VST is concerned. Lets have a chat and look at the pros and cons to Modular and its competitors and patch together some modules to check out what it sounds like.
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#Softube #Modular ‪@SoftubeStudios‬

[@nichttuntun3364]

Short update. I own it now and work myself into it, what probably is a never ending process, and this thing is killer. Never heard such amazing convincing analog sounding audio quality ITB. Even with extreme modulations it's still totally convincing. I would even say there is nothing in comparison at the moment in software world. Yes sure Diva, Repro, Oddity2, OBX II 2 Pro, all are great but on long distance they lose their breath on half way. I'm very impressed from Softubes system. Can't stop patching this thing. Endless sonic joy :)

[@sub-jec-tiv]

Update update. Now that Softube has released several synths, Modular is better than ever.

[@SomeOne-uy4kj]

I just bought a whole buncha modules; pretty much committed to using this synth as my goto modular. The only caveat I can offer is this: performance and CPU usage. Of course, it varies, according to which- and how many -modules are being used. However, I have found that usage oscillates between 8%-35%. Most of the drum presets- that use Heartbeat -were going between 22%-33%...mostly high 20's and low 30'. The sound is there, and so are the possibilities. Parallels, Model 72, Model 84, Monument Bass, Statement Lead, Buchla, et al are tone masters laid on their own track in your DAW. Now, ya can mix 'em up within Modular. Cheers!

[@nichttuntun3364]

The softube audio quality is amazing in general. I own a Doepfer404 and softube is so close with their modeling technology. Great great stuff. I thought about for years now which modular VST I'll grab and yeah, definitely Softube...the other solutions, tried the demos, never convinced me totally for various reasons.

[@adamsmith7058]

Softube Modular came out in about 2017 not 2010. Ten years ago such a thing was not possible.

[@danm3570]

Great tutorial, you make something that looks extremely complicated look simple

[@m-vendor]

Sounds like it has an amazing goa trance potential

[@lewisknudsen1]

I'm sold, thanks for making this!

[@TheComicRealm]

Superb

[@amusicians2cents]

Great video! If you would be limited to these 2 options: 1.) getting Repro or 2.) getting softube modular + some additional modules, Which one would you choose for getting the most analog sound? (no external effects allowed to make it sound more analogish/warm (ex. no saturation, tape VSTs etc..)) Thank you for your help/tip!

[@MarulaMusic]

Tough question, they're both incredibly good emulations... Really depends what you want to achieve. Repro is a poly, it's quick and easy to use and you'll probably end up writing more music with it. Modular... Well its a modular. It's mono, fiddly and you'll probably end up just making noise with it... But it's a shit load of fun 😉

[@amusicians2cents]

@@MarulaMusic Thanks so much! I expected an answer something like this, and I totally agree, more probably then not I would end up making just some noises with it and having a shit load of fun :) Your channel is great, thanks for your hard work, keep it up!

[@AresMaresGreece]

I am here not as a defender of VCV Rack but as a Eurorack defender! Some things need to be clarified a bit because you are sounding a bit ...wrong at some places. 1) VCV Rack ...bloat? Well you can load / use as many or as little as you like! I don't understand what do you actually mean by ...bloat? 2) VCV Rack bad performance and / or crashes. I am using VCV Rack for almost 2 years now and the only crash I had was from a module I used that it was in alpha stage. 3) I bought Softube Modular because I am hooked to Eurorack ( software and hardware ) and the first thing that made me ( almost... ) regret it is the CPU usage. Can you please comment on this? And I am not talking about super complex patches with many modules... 4) VCV Rack is standalone! Yes you can not use it as VST inside a DAW, but can you do this in ...any real Eurorack hardware? Because VCV Rack as Sortube Modular are ...emulators of the real thing? To use Softube Modular you need a DAW ( or a plugin host at least... )! 5) You are reviewing it as a ...normal synth? Eurorack is NOT a ...normal synth! It is an audio hardware powerhouse and sonic playground... If you are going into this with a ...normal synth mindset then you are really missing the point! These pieces of software are trying to EMULATE the real hardware! They are not trying to be ...normal synths!!!

[@MarulaMusic]

1) I mean just that... there is a lot of modules even the ones just included (like tons of input and output modules). Its a personal thing but I find locating stuff I want tiresome. Voltage for example I just start typing something, Softube is just more simple visually... it may be its changed since I last used VCV but that was m,y experience back then when I recorded this. 2) Again, this was my experience... I had major issues with audio drivers and midi controllers, like literally crashing as soon as you added a module or selected a sdriver. I think eventually I managed to solve it, there was a ton of other users having similar issues but it was a real pain to get working. 3) Haven't had an issue really... unless I'm running multiple instances. I generally run out of rack space before CPU. Its not light by any means though. 4) I'm aware VCV is standalone. Not sure why it has to be limited to this though. I'd much rather have the functionality of Modular whilst running it in my DAW and being able to sync it without issues to a project I'm working on. 5) I don't really understand what you're saying here? So because its Eurorack I should only be making weird experimental stuff with it? I'm by no means reviewing it as a 'normal' synth, whatever that means... but who says I have to use a Eurorack only one way? With some good programming a decent eurorack patch can be an incredibly dynamic and playable lead synth just like something like a minimoog which isn't modular at all. I'm very well aware they're emulating the hardware... it's one of the reasons I like Softube's Modular since I beleive they do it best (I've used a lot of the hardware equivelants too). That doesn't mean to say that when emulating in software you can't make use of the benefits of being in software and correct/change things that add quality of life.

[@sunchylde]

For me VCV crashed often (!) -- which on a mac is sth so rare usually. The only thing softube really have to add is a cv-to-midi output option. And i hope they'll add some more mutable modules, apart from that VCV is in no comparison anymore for me.

[@michaelarthurholloway9539]

Great sound, frustrating workflow. Softube really need to update this to the standards set by most other modulars, UI wise.

[@MarulaMusic]

Yeah when compared to something like Voltage the UI could definitely do with improvements.

[@sergenity]

🙏❤Thanks

[@djkurtstudio]

Softube sounds amazing but some of the modules are really expensive, you could go into the thousands. For that reason I went to VCV coz that's also sounds amazing. I also own Voltage Modular. I'm using them as an extension to Studio One for my productions, you can make way more noize with a modular setup! I would maybe invest some more money into softtube if I was making drone but I'm just using them as an external synth for sampling.

[@generalawareness101]

I am wanting something that is free running and I can play with it as I would a real Moog. Does the VCV do this?

[@djkurtstudio]

@@generalawareness101 VCV Rack is free and it really does sound amazing! There's a couple of modules that are paid but they're really cheap but there's thousands of modules that are free so you would get by no probs with a 100% free setup!

[@wemustkungfufite]

just gave this thing a shot and i gotta say, this thing feels like it was put together by someone who had never touched a modular system in their life. clock inputs but no clock generator? not a single LFO in sight except the default sine and you don't get other shapes? no attenuverters in sight? low pass filters everywhere but only a couple modules have high pass filters and you gotta pay extra money for them? no basic sound design stuff like frequency shifter, pitch shifter, bitcrusher yet you have a billion envelope generators. and dont get me started on the UI. This plugin just seems like a cash grab. If you happen to want to do any actual sound design just go for vcv rack instead. A shame because I really enjoyed the sound of it from demos

[@marvomd]

It sounds very well! It's possible to mapping the single knobs for a better performance or it's possible to manipolate the knobs only with the mouse? I should use the Launchcontrol Xl for example. However great video!

[@MarulaMusic]

All the controls can be automated so yeah, should be easy enough to assign a midi controller to anything you want. It has control surfaces too that can be added to a patch to make it easier to access certain controls.

[@marvomd]

@@MarulaMusic Thank you :)

[@shubhrasinha268]

Hey Nate, if you release patches for this in the near future, I'd go grab one now and learn all the awesome techniques from you! Really helps to learn from pros such as yourself, otherwise this is just a "jungular" mess! Ball's in your court mate :)

[@MarulaMusic]

I might look into it at a later stage... currently working on stuff for Hive and Repro.

[@ulfb5467]

Great channel and nice sounding toturial! Especially around 10:50, it sounds amazing. Is everything done with the standard modules? Thanks.

[@MarulaMusic]

Yep, the doepfer stuff is all standard and ships with modular. I've picked up a few extra since then including the Intellijel and 4MS stuff and as of today the Model 72 bundle.

[@ulfb5467]

@@MarulaMusic Thanks for the reply. I watched your video with Model 72. It looks really interesting and also the FX Module with other synths. Just downloaded a demo. The tricky part with Modul system is that it has a fairly high learning curve. I think I go for it. Thanks.

[@sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

Nate, do you by chance have any gear tours of your studio?

[@MarulaMusic]

Haven't done one... tbh not much gear at the moment to speak of. I've gotten rid of most of my outboard and primarily in Bitwig with a NI Komplete Kontrol Mk2 and Maschine Mk3. I've gotten rid of tons of plugins lately too, may do a seris looking at what I settled on in the end...

[@sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

@@MarulaMusic I'd love that... especially your experiences with outboard gear in today's age... AND for whose use-cases you feel outboard still largely applies. I'm interested largely in mixing and training my ear well enough for a future transition into mastering, so your insights would be valuable to me from that context. Thank you for your time.

[@ToxikDnB544]

It sounds like you put OTT on your mic XD

[@th3soundmachinz]

HAHAHAHAHA!

[@gumdr0p]

I definitely agree that the Softube sound quality is perhaps the best in software modular. Would you say Reaktor is a close 2nd? I find both better than VCV, although there are some modules even in that environment that attempt to emulate analog. Would love to buy Softube Modular patches from you!

[@MarulaMusic]

I love Reaktor but not for Blocks. Cherry Audio Voltage is fantastic and my alternative to Softube. If we could get a modular that sounds like Softube with a UI experience Like Voltage, you'd have the perfect modular VST.

[@MarulaMusic]

VCV has some great modules but IMHO its too much of a mess and too much hassle with no clear schedule as to when the bugs will be fixed for me to invest too much time into it.

[@SectorSevenSlumz]

Has this thing been canned? Not added any new modules for a long time. Wondering if it's worth buying

[@MarulaMusic]

You can pick it up for $49 now... I still like the doepfer modules. They have released new modules but its kinda fallen behind VCV and the like now.

[@SectorSevenSlumz]

@@MarulaMusic cheers for the reply. Shame they stopped adding models really. I have a fairly large system 168hp X3 but I often can't be arsed these days haha!

[@spiralmoment]

it really isn't, just get vcv, phase plant or reaktor or anything that isn't this.

[@Metalpazallteway]

I have phase plant. Not sure how this will add anything new to the sounds I can create or recreate, although this has a vintage feel so I'm not sure. What is your take on it?

[@MarulaMusic]

Phaseplant is a semi modular synth... it does some interesting stuff with audio rate modulation and so on, but I can't really compare it to softube modular. This is a eurorack emulation... maybe try out vcv rack first and see if you like it... it's free, and if you decide then you want something that integrates better into a daw you can grab Modular.

[@Metalpazallteway]

@@MarulaMusic Will do. Many thanks, yea Modular also reminds of the days I used Reason 3.

[@totopolo2379]

buy sone ears, check unison how bad implemented is in phaseplant vs vital/sylenth. Softube is way beyond any of those 3. Cardinal works better than VCV btw.

[@spiralmoment]

Phase plant runs circles around this piece of shit, imo.

[@drydessert4198]

11:01. 11:55. 15:23

[@timbeneton8068]

Please patches for Modular. My wallet is ready

[@totopolo2379]

kinda gei that marula name

[@Subholik3]

honestly I don't like it !