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The AN1x is a great sounding synth and there's nothing wrong with the interface. If it's in good shape, go for it.
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Jan 24, 2016 02:15
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Agent York Morgan posted:But what is bothering me is the interface. Does it suck just as bad as the Microkorg? Or does the fact that it has a LCD screen and more knobs make it more usable? I checked YouTube for some demo's of editing patches, but I couldn't get a grip on how bad it actually is. It's not bad, but it's not completely intuitive (like a MS2000). Your hands have a hard time learning what knob goes where, but it's rationally laid out. The FM and Synch are really important on the An1x and they're about the hardest part to visualise when using the interface. Why not look at a Radias?
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Jan 24, 2016 04:33
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The Volca FM thing pisses me off, because i bought a Reface DX and I bet the price will drop severely now that there's competition. It would have been perfect for me 6 months ago. It does exactly what people bitch about the reface not doing (6 op, DX7 compatible patches), for a lot less money. That said, none of the Volcas I have feel like more than babbys first synth (or drum machine) so who knows what people will find to not like about it.
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Jan 24, 2016 06:44
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AxeBreaker posted:
They are currently furiously bitching about 3 voice poly and the usual volca stuff about only x steps, x seq/patch memory slots etc.
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Jan 24, 2016 08:34
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Well, look on the bright side: the price of real DX7 hardware is tanking. I've seen a half-dozen listed in the past month, and they're at half the price they used to be. Glad I managed to sell mine at "vintage" pricing right before the Reface was announced.
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Jan 24, 2016 13:29
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W424 posted:They are currently furiously bitching about 3 voice poly and the usual volca stuff about only x steps, x seq/patch memory slots etc. It's $160. It's a decent FM sound module at that price point. The Reface is solid, but a little feature sparse for it's price point with 4 ops and one LFO. Even so, the mods/Yamaha folks at Yamahasynth feel justified calling it more capable than a DX7 because it has feedback on each operator. That said, I fell like there is still room in the middle for a 6-8 op ~$500 synth built by a major, hopefully with full size keys.
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Jan 24, 2016 21:48
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oops double post.
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Jan 24, 2016 21:48
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AxeBreaker posted:It's $160. It's a decent FM sound module at that price point. The Reface is solid, but a little feature sparse for it's price point with 4 ops and one LFO. Even so, the mods/Yamaha folks at Yamahasynth feel justified calling it more capable than a DX7 because it has feedback on each operator. That said, I fell like there is still room in the middle for a 6-8 op ~$500 synth built by a major, hopefully with full size keys. To be clear, I'm not bitching about it at all. For what you're describing, why not get a sy/tg 77/99, cheap as hell because they avoided the vintage price tag and much nicer than a dx7.
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Jan 24, 2016 22:28
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Agent York Morgan posted:But now I found the Yamaha AN1X which is in my budget (it's even cheaper), and I love the sound it makes and the features it has. But what is bothering me is the interface. Does it suck just as bad as the Microkorg? quote:Or does the fact that it has a LCD screen and more knobs make it more usable? I checked YouTube for some demo's of editing patches, but I couldn't get a grip on how bad it actually is. The screen is nice in the sense that presets have actual names, you don't have to try to decypher weird-rear end 7-segment versions of poo poo like "PhA" or "ПId" (for "phaser" and "midi" respectively), but don't count on having nice graphical representations of envelopes or something. It's a nice synth. No external ins and no vocoder though, so if you are using those on the MicroKorg, you might want to reconsider.
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Jan 25, 2016 00:02
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W424 posted:To be clear, I'm not bitching about it at all. For what you're describing, why not get a sy/tg 77/99, cheap as hell because they avoided the vintage price tag and much nicer than a dx7. I've thought about it but the size and age have put me off it. Plus I just have too much poo poo for my skill/talent level anyways.
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Jan 25, 2016 00:45
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Any suggestions for an alternative to the Alesis Ion? I want at least a 4 octave keyboard and as close to knob-per-function as possible, so the Micron and Miniak are out. How's the Roland JP-8000?
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Jan 25, 2016 04:22
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Built some Synthrotek modules this weekend (2x DS-M, 1x VCLFO, 1x Stereo out). Recorded a track with them and, you know, a few other modules (here: https://soundcloud.com/mattwalters/ympektid-have-one ). It was a good weekend. Highly recommend the DS-M and VCLFO. Both relatively easy builds, they both pack a lot of awesome in relatively small, inexpensive packages. The DS-M actually tracks 1V/oct from C0-C4 or so too, which is kind of amazing. The MST Stereo Out is kind of interesting, it's a useful utility module, but without VC control of panning, it's less useful that I'd like. It's turning out to be a useful submix for things that I'm preparing to send through Clouds or out the uJack, at least. Today I learned that doing poo poo in stereo chews up a lot of VCAs. And I also learned that I need to remember to check that the channel I'm recording to is recording 1+2 Stereo rather than 1 Mono. Especially need to remember to do that before tearing down patches and starting new ones. 
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Jan 25, 2016 05:02
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So Math posted:Any suggestions for an alternative to the Alesis Ion? I want at least a 4 octave keyboard and as close to knob-per-function as possible, so the Micron and Miniak are out. How's the Roland JP-8000? The Sh-201 is a lot of fun. Maybe not the best sounding thing ever.
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Jan 25, 2016 05:49
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So Math posted:Any suggestions for an alternative to the Alesis Ion? I want at least a 4 octave keyboard and as close to knob-per-function as possible, so the Micron and Miniak are out. How's the Roland JP-8000? IIRC the faders and encoders have a tendency to crap out so if it's possible I would try to buy one you can test before purchasing, but outside of that it's decent.
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Jan 25, 2016 05:57
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Laserjet 4P posted:I don't know how they stay in business, they seem pretty niche. I'm glad to see that people are starting to take more expressive controllers seriously now that hardware technology has improved, and the Roli is visually the most piano-like and therefore familiar looking I guess? I haven't played one; guitar is my main performance instrument and I'm way more interested in the Linnstrument and Madrona Soundplane.
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Jan 25, 2016 06:47
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Sorry if this is a stupid question, but if every FM synth is digital and requires you to use editor software to make patches, why not just use a VST? I guess I just don't really get the appeal of owning a physical FM synth. Also does the DX7 really sound any better than Dexed?
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Jan 25, 2016 14:40
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64bit_Dophins posted:Sorry if this is a stupid question, but if every FM synth is digital and requires you to use editor software to make patches, why not just use a VST? Mostly it comes down to fanciness. There's not really any overly compelling reason. Take, for instance, the SY/TG77, it's just a good synth, regardless of the engine, sounds nice, lots of multistage looping envelopes, authentic early '90s rompler sound. There's not really any compelling reason to use a VST over it. As a synth that had to be made and not a piece of abstract code that can be altered at will, hardware FM synths are laid out in a way to be played and edited. The only way I can really explain that is, well, try programming FM8 and not just being overwhelmed by options and programming flow.
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Jan 25, 2016 15:20
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Laserjet 4P posted:I don't know how they stay in business, they seem pretty niche. For the record the ROLI boards aren't something I'd have a use for either, but at least a couple of the Sonic State regulars became converts the moment they got their hands on them (and ROLI are not Sonic State advertisers). People who like the ROLIs seem to be the types who like having a lot of real-time modulation/expression options when playing live, and these are apparently the best-ever devices for that sort of thing. I am an anal robot who needs complete automation control over every CC, so I am absolutely not the target here, but I can see a number of live players liking the expressive possibilities. ROLI as a company though, seems to have bigger plans. They bought the JUCE framework last year (a C++ SDK that lots of vendors use to develop cross-platform MIDI/audio software)- and I don't mean they licensed it; they acquired the whole project. They've already released an app based on the framework that can work standalone, but they market as a "sound engine for a Seaboard RISE." I'm expecting interesting things from these guys in the coming years. EDIT: And they've almost certainly wrangled some serious VC.
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Jan 25, 2016 16:25
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Synths and Synthesis Mk. II: I am an anal robot
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Jan 25, 2016 16:54
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Radiapathy posted:EDIT: And they've almost certainly wrangled some serious VC. If they took VC money, hopefully it won't negatively affect their willingness to experiment. They may end up being obligated to quickly expand market share, or to just get bought out before they've really found their ground. Per the 219, "taking VC money is like putting a stick of dynamite up your butt and hoping you can run quickly enough to put it out"
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Jan 25, 2016 18:00
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Apropos of Roli and "uniquely expressive controllers" in general: Here's a Cool New Thing from NAMM that may have been buried by all of the crazy new hardware surprises (crossposted from the iOS music thread). http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2016/01/22/yamaha-wireless-midi-adaptors-add-bluetooth-to-your-existing-gear/ Aside from the potential of turning almost any controller into a Gadget controller, I hope this'll incentivize more people to use iOS creatively with their older gear. TC-Data (MIDI controller sister app to TC-11) has been out for a few years now but a (hopefully) cheap, easy Bluetooth adapter would make interfacing it with, say, a Juno-106 a MUCH more compelling proposition than it would've been in the past. If this gets popular maybe we'll see some interesting new controller applications in the future. For all that "app-ifying" everything can often warrant an eye roll, smartphones and tablets combine a fairly sophisticated camera/sensor/compute/internet package with a fairly democratic infrastructure for creating software. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the weird-rear end ways in which we could get them to talk to any synth from the last 3 decades with a 5-pin connector.
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Jan 25, 2016 19:06
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64bit_Dophins posted:Sorry if this is a stupid question, but if every FM synth is digital and requires you to use editor software to make patches, why not just use a VST? Because you can play one without a computer? Also, the Reface DX in no way requires a computer to edit anything. Touch sliders aside, it's not any worse layout wise than any given VA, and is easier than a few. A computer helps for sharing and loading patches via SoundMondo but it totally isn't needed.
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Jan 25, 2016 19:12
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On the subject of FM and hardware vs. software, the only FM I have at hand is FM8, and I do indeed get overwhelmed with options and signal flow. What would be a good way to learn actual FM programming, rather than just little patch modifications? I'd like to get to the point where I could build an FM patch from scratch in most or all of the options out there. Am I best off grabbing one of the DX7 emulation vsts/iPad apps?
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Jan 25, 2016 19:32
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64bit_Dophins posted:Sorry if this is a stupid question, but if every FM synth is digital and requires you to use editor software to make patches, why not just use a VST? As other people have said, too many options like in FM8 can be a bad thing. I've pretty much given up on Reaktor for anything but presets because holy loving poo poo I don't have the time to learn it, but sitting down at a piece of hardware means that I not only can see the limitations but I can also twist knobs while thinking "what does this do" and see what comes up.
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Jan 25, 2016 20:18
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64bit_Dophins posted:Sorry if this is a stupid question, but if every FM synth is digital and requires you to use editor software to make patches, why not just use a VST? You probably won't be able to tell the difference between dexed and the DX7, if you're content with using VSTs there's really not much reason to get the hardware. To you folks ditching your microkorgs and ions, the answer is always An1x 
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Jan 25, 2016 20:31
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MockingQuantum posted:On the subject of FM and hardware vs. software, the only FM I have at hand is FM8, and I do indeed get overwhelmed with options and signal flow. What would be a good way to learn actual FM programming, rather than just little patch modifications? I'd like to get to the point where I could build an FM patch from scratch in most or all of the options out there. I learned a lot just by working through this book with FM8: http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Noise-Frequency-Modulation-ebook/dp/B008H7CEQG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453750577&sr=8-1&keywords=fm+synthesis Yeah there's a lot of options, but once you start to get the basic ideas the FM8 layout mostly just makes sense and becomes quite usable.
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Jan 25, 2016 20:37
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Trig Discipline posted:I learned a lot just by working through this book with FM8: Oh swell! I didn't even realize he had put out a book on FM. Definitely checking this out, thanks!
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Jan 25, 2016 20:48
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There's a book widely available on the net by John Chowning (the guy who patented FM) called FM Theory and Applications. Like all things I didn't finish it but it translates to Dexed reasonably well.
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Jan 25, 2016 21:04
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Electric Bugaloo posted:Apropos of Roli and "uniquely expressive controllers" in general: This is SO cool. Even just for wire mess (assuming it works as well as cables do). Really excited to see where this heads.
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Jan 25, 2016 22:09
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Radiapathy posted:I don't know what the difference is, but while my reaction to every one of the little Boutique, Reface, and Volca instruments has been, "Well, that's just not for me," when it comes to Teenage Engineering products it's pretty consistently been, "That may not be for me, but drat is that brilliant/cool/innovative." Part of that may be the presentation - I've seen two NAMM demos so far and neither were very convincing that the person doing the demonstrating had a good idea how it worked and the result sounded like a Casio beat and looked like a bad Newgrounds flash on screen. I'll give it another look when they have a better example they can post, but this seems way to focused on the style over the substance so far. Right now it amounts to TE being proud of cramming a video/audio device into a 90's remote and most people responding with "yes, but why?" The OP-1 has always been a source of temptation for me, but this one has zero interest so far personally.
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Jan 25, 2016 23:07
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DID SOMEONE SAY FM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g5CoRxcnpI (direct line audio)
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Jan 25, 2016 23:30
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Alright synth thread, I need some Euro advice. I've got a small setup that I'd like to fill out and ideally not expand much more, if ever. I love Eurorack enough to hold on to what I've got, but not enough to continue trading modules forever and ever, so I'd kind of like to find a setup that works pretty well for what I want to do and call it a day, at least until I get a job that pays better. Here's my current setup: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/192277 Ignore the extra space in the bottom row, I only have a Cell 90 & the Mother 32 in its standalone case. I wanted my Euro setup to basically be a highly-modulatable effects box, so I'm not super concerned about having more sound sources. Any recommendations on what I should fill the rest of that space with? I know I'm short on VCAs, but I'm kind of a scrub when it comes to Euro so I don't know what else I'm missing, given that Maths is pretty flexible. I could also lose the Outs for a little extra space, I think, if I route audio back through the Mother 32.
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Jan 26, 2016 00:58
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the best bang for your buck is probably going to be utilities. definitely get a vca. the best vca/hp ratio module that i'm aware of is the zlob vnicursal but honestly that's probably overkill for such a small system, maybe look at the vca4p which has the advantage of having lin/exp switches or maybe even the µVCA which only has 2 but is highly flexible (instead of lin/exp being a switch it's a knob and you can morph between the two shapes). if you're looking for more modulation maybe check out Tides which gives you a ton of wave shapes and can be used as a VCO.
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Jan 26, 2016 01:38
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If the main use is effects then why not some more? Clouds, Elements (might not fit, not sure of the exact hp), or the 4ms SMR might be good things to look at. A wavefolder type module might be good, or a pedal interface module + guitar pedal(s).
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Jan 26, 2016 01:45
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+1 for clouds, not sure about the SMR... i was super excited to get one after seeing a bunch of demo videos but ultimately everything i was able to get out of it sounded more or less the same. that may speak to my own lack of creativity more than the capabilities of the module, though.
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Jan 26, 2016 02:02
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Clouds and Korgasmatron were the options I was looking at. And yeah, either uVCA or VCA4p were going to be my VCA options. Glad to hear that I'm not too far off the mark.
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Jan 26, 2016 02:20
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isn't Korgasmatron primarily a filter? not sure how much you'd get out of it for that much HP it takes up, but i'm admittedly unfamiliar with it.
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Jan 26, 2016 03:40
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Trig Discipline posted:I learned a lot just by working through this book with FM8: Picked this up since I've always found FM8 really hard to use.
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Jan 26, 2016 03:42
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Mr. Glass posted:isn't Korgasmatron primarily a filter? not sure how much you'd get out of it for that much HP it takes up, but i'm admittedly unfamiliar with it. It is primarily a filter, but a friend tells me it resonates very musically, so it was sort of a compromise over getting an additional VCO when I was first planning out the rack. Now that I have the Mom 32 I'll probably skip it in favor of Clouds.
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Jan 26, 2016 03:45
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MockingQuantum posted:Clouds and Korgasmatron were the options I was looking at. And yeah, either uVCA or VCA4p were going to be my VCA options. Glad to hear that I'm not too far off the mark. VCA4p also has a mix out, which is amazingly useful a lot of the time. I love the character of it. Clouds is pretty deep and has the benefit of a nice-sounding stereo reverb along with the granular resynthesis - I find it fun to play as an instrument. You might also consider Warps if you like slightly unhinged sonic mayhem. It doesn't do much subtle but I still love it.
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Jan 26, 2016 05:07
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