Digital Bliss

Digital Bliss follows in the ample footsteps of Vintage Synth 2001, but this time with an emphasis on vintage digital and hybrid synths rather than purely analog.

That said, not all the sounds are digital. This collection contains a full 128 patches, focusing on digital pads, leads, basses, and FX—yet still includes some analog patches because, let’s be honest, you can never have too many!

Don’t mistake “digital” for “thin.” This SoundFont has enough low-end ballz to knock an elephant on its back! Several velocity-sensitive patches are also included, each responding to up to seven layers of velocity. This ensures expressive playability, bringing a live feel to your music and allowing for dynamic performance—just like the classic analog synths of the past.

These banks were originally designed to provide samplers—specifically E-Mu samplers—with FM sounds and various analog-style waveforms. The waveforms were generated using custom software based on 4-operator FM synthesis, featuring multiple algorithms for waveform modification and a resonant filter.

To ensure seamless looping and consistent pitch across the keyboard, the software was designed to fade to simple waveforms at a fixed amplitude, with no shifting or FX. It could automatically generate waveforms at pitches A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5, making it easy to create perfectly looping multisamples.

Many of the samples have FM attack transients, giving them a distinct FM character. However, E-Mu samplers allow playback to start at any point in the waveform, enabling a variety of sounds from a single sample by shifting the start point. This means you could even remove the attack altogether by skipping past the complex transient.

Additionally, the loop start point on E-Mu samplers could be adjusted, so you weren’t locked into the original loop. Since these waveforms transitioned from complex to simple tones (close to a sine wave) and were designed for easy looping, you could alter their complexity just by changing the loop start point.

For example, if a waveform fades from a saw to a sine wave, you could position the loop start anywhere in that range—allowing you to choose a bright, harmonically rich sound or a softer tone (or something in between). This extends the usefulness of a single sample beyond expectations, turning it into multiple patches that sound completely different—similar to the “Variation” buttons on modern synths like the Roland System-8, which alter waveforms at the turn of a knob.

Instructions:
1. Download the archive
2. Extract the lv2 folder.
3. Copy the folder to your SD card under the folder dspcard/plugins/lv2/
4. Exit usb mode (or place SD card back in your S2400)
5. Press SHIFT + Effects/Quantize and select 'Sync Files'
6. Reboot when prompted.