ObjektSynth

[Paolo Valladolid <pvallado@waynesworld.ucsd.edu>]

In my little investigation of software synths, I found ObjektSynth at

http://www.objektsynth.com

What is different about this one is that it runs on BeOS.   Apparently
the ObjektSynth folks tackled the computer OS latency problem by
avoiding Mac OS and Windows altogether and throwing their lot in with
BeOS instead.

BeOS is a fairly new operating system that is being promoted by its
creators as an OS that takes more advantage of the latest hardware
than does Windows or Mac OS and was designed from the ground up for
real-time issues.  The Be corporation initially attempted to sell its
own PowerPC box as the hardware platform for BeOS but eventually gave
up and now sells its OS for PowerPCs (except the G3s - for some reason
Apple refuses to provide assistance to Be on those) and Intel processors.
The URL for BeOS is http://www.be.com

>From what I can gather, ObjektSynth essentially does the same thing as
the Nord Modular in that it simulates a modular analog synth (the most
powerful kind of analog synth because you can configure it any way you
want by patching together modules, but also the most expensive, high
maintenance kind ) in software.  But the Nord Modular has a greater 
variety 
of modules, is more portable (you bring just the Nord Modular - not your
computer - to a gig), doesn't require you to invest time and money in 
a new OS, and best of all has two independent analog inputs so you can 
plug your guitar/bass/Stick/mic/whatever into it and trigger synths 
functions.

Still, if you have an idea for a killer computer-based studio app that
runs free of the latencies of Windows or Mac OS and are daring enough,  
BeOS 
is available as an option.

Cheers,
Paolo