[zebproj]

If you compare codebases, SuperCollider is definitely the more "modern" of the 2. SC is written in a reasonably modern version of C++, and over the years has gone through significant refactoring. Csound is mostly implemented in C, with some of the newer bits written in C++. Many parts of Csound have been virtually untouched since the 90s.

Syntax-wise, Csound very closely resembles the MUSIC-N language used by early computer musicians in the 60s. "Trapped in Convert" by Richard Boulanger was written in Csound in 1979, and to this day is able to run on the latest version of Csound.

Both Csound and SC are both very capable DSP engines, with a good core set of DSP algorithms. You can get a "good" sound out of both if you know what you are doing.

I find people who are more CS-inclined tend to prefer SuperCollider over Csound because it's actually a programming language you can be expressive in. While there have been significant syntax improvements in Csound 6, I'd still call Csound a "text-based synthesizer" rather than a "programming language".

That being said, I also think Csound lends itself to those who have more of a formal background in music. Making an instrument in an Orchestra is just like making a synthesizer patch, and creating events in a Csound score is just like composing notes for an instrument to play.

FWIW, I've never managed to get SuperCollider to stick for me. The orchestra/score paradigm of Csound just seems to fit better with how I think about music. It's also easier to offline render WAV files in Csound, which was quite helpful for me.

[bmitc]

I have programming experience, but that's actually why I prefer Csound. Since Csound's engine is effectively oriented around building up instruments in a modular way, I feel it can simply be wrapped up into more general purpose programming languages to get a language with the power of the more modular synth engine.