Digital synthesizer

A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to make musical sounds.

A number of the techniques used by digital synthesizers are adaptations of processes developed for analog synthesizers, such as additive synthesis and FM synthesis. Other techniques, such as wavetable synthesis and physical modeling, only became possible with the advent of digital technology.

Some digital synthesizers now exist in the form of 'softsynth' software that synthesizes sound using conventional PC hardware, though they require substantial hardware to get the same latency response as their dedicated equivalents. In order to reduce latency, some professional sound card manufacturers develop specialized digital signal processing hardware. Dedicated digital synthesizers frequently have the advantage of onboard accessibility, with switchable front panel controls to peruse their functions; whereas software synthesizers trump their dedicated counterparts with their additional functionality, aginst the handicap of a mouse-driven control system.

Digital synthesizers are generally more flexible than analog synthesizers, though aficionados claim that an analog synthesizer develops a personal sonic character as it ages.

External links

• http://www.jeskola.com
• There is also an MPEG-standard for synthesizing sounds, Mpeg4-SA. http://sound.media.mit.edu/mpeg4/
• An MPEG4-SA community page: http://www.saol.net/