Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

SynthEdit VS SuperCollider

Compare SynthEdit VS SuperCollider and see what are their differences

SynthEdit logo SynthEdit

Visual programming software to build your own synthesizer.

SuperCollider logo SuperCollider

A real time audio synthesis engine, and an object-oriented programming language specialised for...
  • SynthEdit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-12
  • SuperCollider Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-25

SynthEdit features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    SynthEdit offers a drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible for users with varying levels of technical expertise. This lowers the learning curve for beginners who want to create their own audio plugins.
  • Modular Design
    The modular design allows users to customize and build their own virtual instruments and effects from scratch using a wide range of components. This provides flexibility and creativity in sound design.
  • Extensive Community Support
    SynthEdit has a large and active user community that shares modules, pre-built instruments, and tutorials. This resource base can be incredibly helpful for new users and advanced creators alike.
  • Affordable
    Compared to other audio development software, SynthEdit is relatively affordable, making it a cost-effective choice for small developers and hobbyists looking to create high-quality audio plugins.

Possible disadvantages of SynthEdit

  • Limited Mac Support
    As of the last update, SynthEdit primarily operates on Windows, which can be a limitation for Mac users who want to develop or use plugins without resorting to workarounds such as using virtual machines.
  • Resource Intensive
    SynthEdit can be resource-heavy, which may cause performance issues on less powerful machines. This can affect both the plugin development process and the use of SynthEdit-generated plugins in DAWs.
  • Graphical Limitations
    While functional, the graphical user interface options may lack polish compared to professional-grade tools, which might be a concern for users looking to create visually appealing products.
  • Limited to Audio Development
    SynthEdit is specifically tuned for audio plugin development, so it lacks versatility for other types of software development, which might limit its usefulness for developers interested in multi-discipline projects.

SuperCollider features and specs

  • Powerful Synthesis Engine
    SuperCollider offers a powerful real-time audio synthesis engine that allows users to create complex and nuanced sounds, making it ideal for experimental music and sound design.
  • Extensive Library of Ugens
    SuperCollider comes with a comprehensive library of unit generators (UGens), which are ready-made building blocks for audio and control signal processing.
  • Flexibility
    SuperCollider supports a wide range of methods for sound generation and manipulation, from simple waveform synthesis to algorithmic composition and live coding.
  • Cross-Platform
    SuperCollider is cross-platform and runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, making it accessible to a wide range of users.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, SuperCollider is free to use and has an active community that contributes to its development, ensuring it continually evolves and improves.
  • Live Coding
    SuperCollider supports live coding, allowing users to write and modify code in real-time during performances, which is highly valued in the experimental and electronic music communities.
  • Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
    SuperCollider includes its own IDE, which provides features like syntax highlighting, code completion, and documentation tools, making it more accessible to users.

Possible disadvantages of SuperCollider

  • Steep Learning Curve
    SuperCollider has a steep learning curve, particularly for those who are new to programming or digital signal processing, which can be initially discouraging.
  • Sparse Documentation
    While there is documentation available, some users find it sparse or difficult to understand compared to other music programming environments, making it harder to learn.
  • Complex Syntax
    The syntax of SuperCollider can be complex and less intuitive for beginners, which can result in a slower learning process for new users.
  • Performance Overheads
    Real-time performance might suffer on less powerful hardware due to the computational demands of complex synthesis and processing tasks.
  • Fragmented Community Resources
    Although there is a community around SuperCollider, resources such as tutorials and forums can be fragmented and vary in quality, which can make finding reliable help challenging.
  • Limited GUI Capabilities
    SuperCollider's native GUI capabilities are limited and less polished compared to more specialized software for graphical user interfaces.

Analysis of SuperCollider

Overall verdict

  • Yes, SuperCollider is considered a very good tool, especially for those interested in experimental music and sound art. It is widely used by musicians, composers, and researchers within the digital audio community, largely due to its expansive feature set and supportive community.

Why this product is good

  • SuperCollider is highly regarded for its capabilities in sound synthesis and algorithmic composition. It offers a powerful and flexible environment for sound design, live coding, and generative music. The platform is open-source, which allows users to contribute and extend its functionalities. Its programming language is specifically designed for music and audio, providing a rich and versatile set of tools for creating complex auditory experiences.

Recommended for

  • Musicians looking to create experimental or generative music
  • Sound designers interested in creating complex audio environments
  • Composers specializing in algorithmic composition
  • Researchers focusing on audio synthesis and digital signal processing
  • Artists looking for an open-source platform for live coding and sound art

SynthEdit videos

SynthEdit - Let Make Our First VST Synth Part 02

More videos:

  • Tutorial - SynthEdit Tutorial 7 - The ADSR2 Module Explained

SuperCollider videos

Making Music with SuperCollider

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SynthEdit and SuperCollider)
3D
21 21%
79% 79
Prototyping Tools
43 43%
57% 57
Music Generation
19 19%
81% 81
Music Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, SuperCollider seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 33 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

SynthEdit mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of SynthEdit yet. Tracking of SynthEdit recommendations started around Mar 2021.

SuperCollider mentions (33)

  • Describing musical domain with F#
    At this point, we can produce the array of pitches that are midi notes. To create sound from these notes I've used a specialized programming language called SuperCollider. I won't dive much into details here, but you may have a look at the code if you're interested. Beware, there are quite a lot of branches there and all of them contain some interesting code. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Ask HN: Create audio software akin to physics engines?
    This is essentially sound design from first principles. There's a good book here: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Sound-Press-Andy-Farnell/dp/0262014416 Note that the software used (Pure Data) can be replaced by another high-level language (SuperCollider: https://supercollider.github.io/) pretty easily. I know of no "tool" to do what you want because there are few things that are universal to different kinds of... - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Harnessing Screams with Tidal Looper
    Since then, I've been working more and more with TidalCycles. TidalCycles is an open-source live coding framework for creating patterns written in Haskell. TidalCycles uses SuperCollider on the backend, another language I've been using for live coding. Recently, I started using Tidal Looper for live vocal processing. This blog post will walk you through what you need to get started with vocal looping with Tidal... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Csound
    Csound is... "interesting". If you want to play with something more modern, have a look at https://supercollider.github.io/ instead. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • MuseScore 4.1 is now available
    For the intrepid, especially those annoyed with the purported input-sluggishness of musescore et al, an interesting text-based alternative is LilyPond https://lilypond.org/ My dad wrote an opera using LilyPond in vim, though I believe these days he's actually doing more with supercollider, which skips sheetmusic and goes right to sounds: https://supercollider.github.io/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing SynthEdit and SuperCollider, you can also consider the following products

VCV Rack - A cross-platform modular synthesizer.

Pure Data - Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical...

Sonic Pi - Sonic Pi is a new kind of instrument for a new generation of musicians. It is simple to learn, powerful enough for live performances and free to download.

miRack - Eurorack-style modular synthesizer for iOS.

ChucK - A strongly-timed music programming language

Reaktor - Native Instruments Reaktor is a virtual, modular synthesis platform.