The oscillators can run freely or can begin at the same phase position of their respective waveform cycles each time a note is struck. This behavior is chosen in the Osc(illator) Start pop-up menu.
Choose “free,” “soft,” or “hard” to change the waveform phase start position.
Free: The initial oscillator phase start point is random for each played note. This adds life to the sound. The downside is that the output level may differ each time a note is played, making the attack phase sound less punchy—even if the performance is identical each time—such as when the note is triggered by a MIDI region. This setting is useful when you are emulating sounds typical of hardware analog synthesizers.
Soft: The initial oscillator phase starts at a zero crossing for each played note. This mimics the sonic character (and precision) typical of digital synthesizers.
Hard: The initial oscillator phase starts at the highest level in the waveform cycle for each played note. The extra punch that this setting can provide is audible only if the ENV3 Attack Time parameter is set to a low value—a very fast attack, in other words. This setting is highly recommended for electronic percussion and hard basses.
Note: Osc Start soft and hard result in a constant output level of the initial oscillator phase every time the sound is played back. This may be of importance when you use the Bounce function of Logic Pro X at close to maximum recording levels.