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I was going over a list of things I've swapped in and out of the studio over the years (gosh has it been that long?) and in order to inspire some controversy, I wanted to give a quick list of what features specifically led me to swap out those synths for better shinier toys: Behringer XENYX 1204FX Mixer: This was actually a pretty nice desktop mixer with built in effects! I have a rack mixer I run all my synths in to now but I would probably get one of these again for on the go jams Akai MPK49 MIDI Keyboard: As far as MIDI keyboards go this Akai was one of the better ones. Lots of controls on the face and a good keybed but it was heavy as gently caress and once you try a 61 key keyboard 49 keys just feels stale KORG microKORG Classic: Ahh the classic Microkorg. Let me be frank, it is a very good sound engine packed in quite a small space. Plus a vocoder to let you sound like Chromeo or Daft Punk. As with most synths, the presets aren't great, and reprogramming the presets became tedious due to how the editing panel works. Connect this thing to a BCR2000 or Remote SL or software programmer and you'll be in business, otherwise it's completely uninspiring. x0xb0x TB-303 clone: Hands down my favorite 303 clone. Sold it off because I will be building a x0xi0, the x0xb0x's bigger brother. Roland MC-202: Another fantastic Roland monosynth. If i had more classic Roland stuff to interface with it I might have kept it around, but sadly using the sequencer takes a lot of patience, you can't route in or out a lot of more modern gear without some fancy CV interface, and I prefer the SH-101. Elektron Monomachine MKII SFX-60: Elektron makes some bad rear end boxes. The Monomachine was purchased because of the different sound engines it featured (SID, FM, digital, wavetable, and more) and that you get 6 different tracks to play with. For a synth this deep the Elektron interface ended up being a bit of a burden (though I really like the UI on the Machinedrum) and to me the sound was very cold and digital. I've heard some real magic come out of a Monomachine, but I'll be damned if I could make it happen. Yamaha RX5 drum machine: Very retro 80s drum machine from Yamaha. I'll be honest, I liked the look and the features on this thing more than I liked the sounds, but the sounds were still pretty good for something from this era. Having individual outs for each drum, individual volume faders, and lots of tweakability on the sounds was a great selling point. If I still had one I'd probably try to adapt an external controller like a BCR2000 for making changes to the sounds. I found the UI and programming for this drum machine less than inspiring. Future Retro Revolution: My second favorite 303 clone (sound wise). The real gem of the Revolution is the sequencer and the on board features (overdrive circuit, not-too-terrible dedicated effects, audio in, cv integration). For a 303 clone it's a big honking unit though. Sold off in favor of the smaller Future Retro Orb sequencer. Novation X-Station 49: Bought this as a multipurpose keyboard controller plus VA synth. With the built in effects turned on you could produce some pretty good synth sounds (for a cheap VA that is). Worked pretty good as a controller for other gear too. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I could have a Remote SL Zero as my control surface for my hardware and scrap the terrible keyboard the X-Station featured. After a while I also came to really dislike how the unit sounded. Dave Smith Instruments Tempest: This is probably the deepest instrument I've ever laid hands on. Beautiful sounds, even the built in drum hits. Could be used as a synthesizer sound source as well as a drum machine. So many possibilities with the Tempest! However being able to get lost in tweaking 1 drum sound for hours on end does not help in any way with recording or finishing a complete track. The Tempest is the k-hole of drum machines. MFB-503 Drumcomputer: Cool design, meant to be an OK emulation of some classic 808 and 909 sounds. In expensive and small, which is good. Was not fond of the sounds or the programming. Rodec Restyler: I liked the concept of this external filter with envelope follower, in practice I had no idea what i was doing. Akai MPC 2500: I've got an MPC 1000 and love it to bits. I figured I could upgrade to a 2500 and make it more of a centerpiece in the studio (has a few more controls on the face, full MPC pad layout too). Downsides were the machine is huge and heavy as gently caress and I would have to drop $120 on the 2500 version of JJOS if I really wanted to get anything done. Back to the MPC 1000 for now. Dotcom Jillionaire fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Mar 19, 2014 |
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Mar 19, 2014 04:53
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net work error posted:Interested in hearing what you didn't like about the 503 specifically. I've considered getting one before but always find mixed reviews, also the lack of midi out is kind of annoying. The bass drum and the snare were probably the best part (which is most likely the sounds people want decent emulation of the most). For it's size and the fact that it has 3 outs (1 for BD, 1 for snare, 1 for mix) it is a pretty OK toy. Lack of MIDI out is one thing, but I probably wouldn't be using the sequencer on the 503 to control other gear. For me it really came down to there being too many button combinations to remember when programming or switching between drum sounds (I can be irrationally stubborn about these kinds of things at times). If you can find one for a good price I'd say go for it but otherwise I'll stick to samples for now.
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Mar 19, 2014 05:35
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magiccarpet posted:There's a new APC 40 out. It looks to be a quarter of the size of the original APC 40 for starters. It would make for a very nice multipurpose controller or a dedicated surface for just Ableton. I assume it only has USB on it though. If there were some MIDI in/out I'd really be jonesing to buy one.
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Mar 19, 2014 15:26
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If soldering turns out to be necessary the fix might be as simple as reflowing the solder point, that is, touching the point with the soldering iron and letting the solder warm up for a few seconds to flow into any cracks that may have formed. If the jack needs to be replaced that is a little more of an intermediate project, but also not that challenging if you have the right component and don't mind snipping the broken piece off your precious hardware. I'd try the deox-it thing first though!
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Mar 19, 2014 16:43
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Can anyone recommend a nifty desktop mixer (8-16 channels) for quick plugging and jamming with my machines? I'd prefer something more compact with a good feature set, effects routing, and some funky characteristics. I came across the KORG Zero8 mixer the other day and like the look and design (I'm a sucker for one-off unique things) but I can't imagine it's a great mixer. Budget would be $200-$400 or so. Allen and Heath? Another Mackie?
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Mar 19, 2014 19:15
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KiNK demonstrates why you should all just buy hardware for godsakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X4G6oRRpSM
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Mar 19, 2014 19:46
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But synths are the only medicine that works? PS: I ended up buying TWO Emu E4XT Ultras and will be cobbling together a super Emu. I'm pretty turned off by how slow/loud the SCSI hard drive performs but I plan to buy a SCSI compact flash drive and get rid of the hard drive eventually. The E4XT sounds bea-ti-ful otherwise. Dotcom Jillionaire fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Mar 20, 2014 |
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Mar 20, 2014 16:58
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Who likes the Korg Poly 800?! I might, but then again I have a Roland JX-3P that does roughly the same sounds. If I'm thinking I should have both the I probably should get both. It is the synth thread way  But seriously, interested in people's experiences with the Poly 800.
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Mar 24, 2014 17:58
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HotCanadianChick posted:I'll give you mine for the cost of shipping. No idea if it still works or not, it's been in the garage for years now. I'm just crazy enough to possibly take it. I've been looking at videos of the Poly 800 MKii mostly. It's not going to make any modern cutting edge dance music but it has a classic quality to it. Granted these are custom patches, but I think it doesn't sound half bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPrp8a23gTE Edit: oh and someone modded a Nanoverb and a Toshiba laptop into their 800: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3Oqk1jU-Oo
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Mar 24, 2014 22:36
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Let's chat about guitar effects pedals for synths! I played guitar before I got into synthing (still do) and while having a dedicated multi-effects box for my synthing needs is nice, it can fall short in particular cases (plus I can't process my guitar through my stereo rack gear as easily). There's a lot to choose from in the realm of stompboxes. According to common knowledge, the stuff that doesn't sound as great on a guitar is almost perfect for synth bass and leads, however for certain types of effects like Reverb and Modulation, getting something cheap and skimpy won't really cut it. Many boutique effects pedals for effects like Distortion and Fuzz pay very particular attention to what frequency bands are "scooped", which is great for guitarists seeking a certain tone, but might not be what one is looking for with a synth. I've been looking at the following few FX pedals for different purposes. Finding demos on Youtube of these boxes isn't too hard, but getting a demo with a electronic instrument being played can be quite difficult. Reverb: Eventide Space (expensive as gently caress but I might actually end up getting one) Strymon Big Sky EHX Cathedral Reverb (seems like a good choice at half the price of the Eventide) BOSS RE-20 (have one of these since it gets good praises from the synth community but I don't think it suits my tastes) Distortion/Fuzz/Overdrive: ProCo Rat (hoping to get one of the older models with the LM308 chip for that classic acid sound) Blackout Effects Blunderbuss Fuzz (looks like an interesting pedal but I have no clue what it sounds like on a synth) Big Muffs (discussion of this one pedal could take up multiple threads, classic fuzz and a good price) ZVEX Wooly Mammoth (I like ZVEX a lot and might scoop one of these up, but it produces a very particular type of fuzz) Delay/Modulation: Strymon Timeline Strymon Mobius Eventide Timefactor All of the MoogerFooger pedals are great for synth needs, abet a bit expensive. I might end up with one of the Low Pass Filter pedals and possibly one of the Delays (though there are many BBD style pedals out there for much cheaper). Most important for me at this point is a good reverb and a good fuzz pedal. Any recommendations are welcome. Dotcom Jillionaire fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Mar 25, 2014 |
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Mar 25, 2014 17:06
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Yeah I've got a DP/4 non-plus sitting in a cabinet. It's a great multi-effects unit and has a lot of different options to play with. I'm interested specifically in pedals because it directly feeds the signal chain and gives me easy tweakability for the particular effect. Plus I play guitar as I said and would also be using these pedals for that purpose (really wish my DP/4 had the DI front input).
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Mar 25, 2014 20:29
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ejstheman posted:Perhaps a dumb question, but how does one say "moogerfooger"? "Moog" is like "mow" as in "mow the lawn" except with a "g" on the end, so I kind of want to say "MOW grr FOE grr" ("foe" as in "enemy"), but I also kind of want to rhyme it with "booger booger" because that makes it sound more like "motherfucker". Moog rhymes with Rogue
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Mar 26, 2014 01:22
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don't forget about doing a kiwi-3p mod! i'm raising the funds to buy one now.
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Mar 27, 2014 15:13
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I'm playing around with the OSX demo of Bitwig. I really like what i'm seeing. This project has come a long long way from what I saw years ago (when it was being touted as the "Linux DAW"). Their polysynth has some great built in presets. I like how you can see the waveforms modulating in real time like an oscilloscope. Very quick UI rendering too. Having both the arranger view ala Logic and the clip view ala Ableton helps me compose and bounce portions of a track rather quickly. For some reason when using Ableton my mind switches into a different gear and I treat clips differently than I would an arrangement. Being able to quickly swap between bottom views (piano roll, device parameters, etc) helps the workflow a great deal too. Next tests will be to see how it handles tracking and recording in from my interface and how effects sound on a recorded clip of audio. I might actually buy a license for this thing!
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Mar 27, 2014 18:16
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Hey who here is traxus12 on Youtube? I liked the new jam (and the new setup!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9eq5s4YSeQ
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Mar 28, 2014 20:49
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Yeah it really shows off a lot more gear now that you've re-organized. I noticed the Mackie VLZ mixer. In your old setup you had the Mackie LM 3402 (which I also have). I am in touch with someone on craigslist to buy a 1642-VLZ3 and wondering what your experience has been like with it. The LM is nice and compact (and 16 stereo channels) but having some sliders and all those assignable buses seems like a good choice for live hardware mixing.
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Mar 28, 2014 21:36
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Machinedrums are probably at a good price now with the Elektron A4 RYTM coming out
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Mar 28, 2014 23:35
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Not a synth question per se, but I've been sampling out all of the sounds from my Roland MC-909 into Ableton. My goal is to output each individual patch and drum hit to its own .wav. Right now all of the patches are recorded into 4-5 clips of 128 waveforms each. I know I can use Ableton's slice options to cut each patch to a sample on a Drum Rack, but I'm looking for a way to easily cut out each individual sample and save it separately. The samples themselves have about a bar of silence between them, it would be very easy for software to detect the beginning and end of each sound. I'm basically looking for an equivalent to the MPC auto-chop feature but on my Mac. Any suggestions for a way to do this in Ableton/Logic/Audacity or can someone recommend other software?
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Mar 29, 2014 23:29
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Griff Lee posted:If you don't mind ponying up the cash I think this would solve you a lot of headaches. I'll stand by this endorsement btw, great great samples. MC-909, not TR-909. Though Goldbaby does have some nice sample packs (this is probably why *everyone* uses them). I'm gonna give SampleRobot and LiveSlice a whirl and see what they can do. Even though I've got everything set up in live, the recorded samples are just wav files. Can edit them anywhere.
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Mar 30, 2014 01:56
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I'm about to try and modernize my Emu E4XT with a CF reader too. It's been difficult to find any info about compatible 3.5" flash memory units. I see plenty of old Akais and Emus with some type of card reader replacing the floppy drive (in some of the info I've looked at it seems I need PCMCIA card with a CF reader that goes INTO the card reader in the floppy port) but finding a particular brand is difficult (and looking on eBay for such a thing only reveals way overpriced ancient hardware, but this is nothing new for eBay). In related news, I found out that the SmartMedia card in my MC-909 won't be compatible with an MC-505 since the 909 takes 3V cards and the 505 takes 5V cards. I'm so glad we live in an age where none of this matters anymore. EDIT: I updated my OP-1 last night and played a bit with the new toys. I forgot about testing master detune but I really enjoy the Dsynth engine, its sound is somewhere between the Cluster and FM engines (mostly harsh and metallic but it has some warm sweet spots when using sine waves). The sketch sequencer is fun to play with too. Now, I can't quite say it's very musical (at least with something like the Tambola you can get something rhythmic out of it) but I can't think of any other instrument out there that gives you this kind of sequencing. God I want an OpLab so badly. Dotcom Jillionaire fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Mar 31, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 16:26
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:I've done it with Justin TV before. ew gross
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Apr 1, 2014 16:08
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renderful posted:New Luke Vibert release incoming. Yeah this is the synth thread, not music discussion, but holy poo poo Vibert is forever linked to the 303. !!! Luke Vibert is almost the entire reason I started making music
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Apr 2, 2014 19:29
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Is anyone interested in a Doepfer Dark Time sequencer for $550? Pretty useful step sequencer with MIDI, dual CV everything, and USB. Will probably eBay it this weekend unless a goon wanted to taste the rainbow
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Apr 4, 2014 17:30
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it will be at least 800 for an sh 101
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Apr 4, 2014 19:13
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:He said Euro. i said usd (or more in canadian fun bux). the sh-101 and the mc-202 are the juno 106 of mono synths
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Apr 4, 2014 22:29
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ynohtna posted:On the long-past topic of using guitar pedals on synths, my recommendation for that is to have some EQ pedals to hand if you're lacking in full fat mixer channels (Behringer sell some graphic EQ pedals for dirt cheap). Being able to sonically sculpt the input to find the right sweet spot is a god-send. The Line6 PODs are also great at giving synth tones some wonderful heft and weight. I've been getting more into guitar effects the last month or so actually. So far I've found the OCD Fulltone overdrive to be pretty nifty for synthy bass stuff (it can do HP and LP overdrive) and I just got a Moog Ring Modulator in the mail. The Red Panda Particle is a quite interesting grain delay I have my eye on. Trying to find a good cheapo compression pedal as well for drums. I've got the POD X3 right now actually and it gives you a lot of options as far as effects go. I was able to make it do some REALLY great tones on some sub bass the other day, but now that I'm building out an actual pedal collection I'm think about selling off the X3.
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Apr 7, 2014 17:12
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FYI I'm sampling out my RS 7000 and one of the pad patches is called Autism. Everyone should have an RS 7000 just so they can try out Autism
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Apr 8, 2014 17:25
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Apr 8, 2014 20:03
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Patch #96 in the Synth & Bass Lead 2 bank. I took a picture of it last night but sent it to someone via Snapchat :/
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Apr 8, 2014 21:38
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Protip: the word "analogue" does not mean "generates sounds through non-digital means" but actually relates to the synthesizer's ability to create sounds that are strikingly simliar or the "analogue" to instruments they are trying to imitate
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Apr 9, 2014 13:35
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Proteustalk: I've always been intrigued by the Emu romplers. The demos I've heard make these boxes sound *really* cool. Very much a set of professional quality samples that have been used in a lot of big time tunes. I see the original Proteus peppered about in various studios but I think the 2k added way more features. I'm also pretty sure you can swap a lot of the ROM chips between units, I've been considering adding one of the sound banks to my E4XT but it will end up cutting down my available sampling memory (plus the listings I've found for the chips are expensive as gently caress).
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Apr 11, 2014 01:24
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Radiapathy posted:Once I've sold enough synths I'm going to reward myself... with some synths. This is a solid plan! Just got an Eventide Space in the mail today. Everyone should have this effects box. So far I've been able to use it as a reverb and echo but also as a distortion/overdrive. There's over 100 presets to gently caress with in this unit. Just tested it with my SH-101 and now I'm going to move on to the JX-3p. Reverb heavennnnnn
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Apr 15, 2014 17:58
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VoodooXT posted:Oh god, what have I done? Post a sound demo maybe? What controller are you using to trigger the synth?
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Apr 16, 2014 01:57
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some good advice I heard once was to just lay a track down as quickly as possible with whatever sounds you have handy and later on tweak the sounds to your hearts content. this is not to say I tend to follow said advice, but its something to think about. making my poo poo sound good as I'm composing keeps me happy and motivated to continue working but I will also tend to get hung up on the minutia and eventually throw up my arms and do something else.
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Apr 16, 2014 06:00
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Speaking of acid, Future Music just put up a tour of Sharooz's studio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXPEA7y6KW0 EDIT: RE: Drumtalk: Your dilemma makes an excellent argument for why hardware drums can give you an edge on software/sampled drums 
Dotcom Jillionaire fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Apr 16, 2014 |
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Apr 16, 2014 23:08
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Don't drag me into this! I had mine for a month and a half and made a bunch of sample packs out of the sounds I created. The Tempest is extremely intuitive actually, it just contains limitless possibilities and tries to be everything when it should just stick to being a 4 voice synth engine and cost half as much. The digital waveforms were extremely well done and I ended up tweaking those more than I did the analog voices. The filter and low end sounds the analog voices could produce were awesome too. I just found myself playing with the Tempest more than I found myself making complete tracks/recording music, it was not conducive to workflow. I'll be here to buy the A4 when you're ready though!
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Apr 17, 2014 06:04
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A wise man once told me: "give no fucks what others think, buy what you want, don't post self loathing crap, don't rag on others, try new things, be your own person, get away from the internet, make some drat music, and always show love". That wise man was Lyndon Baines Johnson, our 36th president. In related news: I'm possibly going to be building a Shruthi XT with a 4PM filter. After having an Ambika and playing with every filter type Mutable Instruments makes except for the 4 pole I think I'm ready to move on to just a single Shruthi. I had a Yellow Magic for a while and it sound was good enough but I really hated programming on the 2x20 LCD display. The XT enclosure and control boards should fix this problem. Since an SMR-4 Shruthi comes with the XT kit I might end up having an extra Shruthi to screw around with (or if anyone is looking to buy one just give me a shout, I'm going to put it in one of those fancy metal enclosures). Also of note: I'm wondering if anyone here has used the Line6 POD HD effects units before. I've got a POD X3 and I'm getting more into using the amp modeling algorithms to enhance my synth sounds. The trick is to set the Room to 0 or otherwise tweak the amp settings so you're getting a "dry" signal with no added presence effects. I'm wondering if the sound quality on the HD models is miles ahead of the other POD units or if the HDs are just a cosmetic upgrade more or less.
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Apr 17, 2014 18:03
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A Winner is Jew posted:I'm actually really interested in know how this goes since a Shruthi XT is still on my list of future purchases I'm actually planning on making instead of just what I'm lusting after, especially once I read up on the SDE mods for it and would probably do at least the core 3 and filter shape SDE mods down the line. I'd also love to know if you think there would be enough space to possible add a second filter board mounted internally once you get the build underway since the only two filter boards I'm interested in are the SMR-4 and Digital ones, and having 1 XT unit to control both (A/B switched obviously) would pretty much be perfect, even if I had to forgo the SDE mods. If I remember correctly, the SDE mods add some neat features but I don't think they were the most musical sounding things in the world. The SDE stuff was talked about maybe a year or two ago on the MI forums but I haven't heard or seen much about it for a while now. There might have been some firmware changes in the Shruthi that addressed or added some of these features in the software but I am not 100% about this. Once I have the XT case in front of me I can give a better assessment but judging how the case looks compared to the Shruthis I've played with, there won't be a lot of extra room for another filter board. You could probably commission a custom case to house everything (you could buy the XT kit and just get new, taller side panels cut by fcd72 on the MI forums). I know it's definitely possible to wire more than 1 filter board to a single Shruthi control board cause someone built this monster with 4 filter boards:  The Digital filter is another example of a fun thing to play with that doesn't quite have musical qualities either (though maybe you're going for this kind of wacky sound given you want to do the SDE mods too). SMR-4 is a great sounding bread and butter board, the most accessible of all the filters, but in my opinion it's nothing special either. I'm sure creating the Shruthi you're talking about is completely possible, it's just a matter of how much engineering you're able to accomplish on your own (or from the helpful folks at the MI forum). There might be complications using multiple filters with the standard XT kit (due to the expansion port on the Shruthi being used up by the control surfaces) but again I am very intermediate with a lot of this electronics stuff. WAFFLEHOUND posted:Since I'm not going to buy an OP-1, any suggestions on apps for the iPad? I usually have that with me and can noodle on that a bit. There's this: http://bit.ly/1nsInDz But you should consider an OP-1 cause they're awesome. treasureplane posted:Has anyone actually heard the Rhythm Wolf yet? It's been over a month. There was one video I remember seeing from Musicmesse where one of the Akai reps was demoing the sounds but I can't seem to find it at the moment. Dotcom Jillionaire fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Apr 17, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 19:52
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net work error posted:Don't look at it as a waste, look at it as someone keeping the forums alive via spite. goons make the world go round
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Apr 17, 2014 22:44
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A Winner is Jew posted:
Sure thing. I'm probably going to order the XT kit in the next few days. I'm debating whether or not to buy the 4PM PCBs, extra enclosure, and preprogrammed chips now or when I have enough time to assemble a parts list for the 4PM build, but if you wanted to buy the Shruthi in the next month or so I could get it together sooner. Let's talk. WorldWarWonderful posted:Any comments to an ESX as a good sampler? I have an EMX and I like the UI, and I'm looking to make something more ambient / glitchy with it. I know it's no Octatrack but I'm looking for something reasonably priced What do you think about the EMX soundwise? I've been looking into getting one just for fun if I can find one for around $200 but people either incredibly despise the sounds or find them relatively charming. The videos I've listened to make it seem not so terrible but I can't say for sure since I haven't played with one yet. I tend to like derivative cheapish sounds synth stuff (this is coming from a guy who bought a Roland D2 for the cheesy 505 sounds).
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Apr 18, 2014 01:41
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