Buying my first synth help!

People are opting for the repro 5 over the prophet 6 so I'm fairly sure it's a force to be reckoned with. It's cpu heavy though. 

I was thinking this. I think maybe just go really good ITB then. I've got controllers. Maybe I just need a sequencer. I was thinking omnisphere. Yeah sorry, I just thought I'd ask for help 

Seriously, Nord Lead 1 or 2 (or their rack equivalents) are amazing VA synths, can get nice and warm sounding with the right reverb, and also into weirder territory with the FM (and ringmod on the NL2). Plus there's the hidden Pelle's mode if you want to get really weird. 

edit: not sure why people are facepalming my original post. I bought a Nord Lead a few years back for $400 in useless Australian money, that's probably like £100 or something. 

  On 3/22/2020 at 11:55 AM, Nil said:

isn't the MicroFreak a mono too ?

I think it's 3-voice paraphonic. 

My bad then. Regarding Nords, I supposed it's simply a matter of finding one for a reasonable price ?

I really wish they would release  a new Nord lead FPGA based (and of course in rack if possible) would be a no brainer

  On 3/22/2020 at 11:55 AM, Nil said:

isn't the MicroFreak a mono too ?

I thought it was a para..Or could behave like either a mono or para.

  On 3/22/2020 at 2:17 PM, Nil said:

My bad then. Regarding Nords, I supposed it's simply a matter of finding one for a reasonable price ?

Yeah somehow I'd thought that ship had sailed

  On 3/22/2020 at 12:53 PM, Polytrix said:

I was thinking this. I think maybe just go really good ITB then. I've got controllers. Maybe I just need a sequencer. I was thinking omnisphere. Yeah sorry, I just thought I'd ask for help 

software sucks. . .  .   .   . imo. for me. right now. not for you or anyone else. i used to do a lot of interesting stuff with software and if you're into it or anyone is, great. you can do literally anything with it, after all. bang for buck? software, obviously...lots of shit out there for 100% free, just need a computer that can handle a little bit of processing, easy peasy. 

that said, if you're feeling the itch to move beyond the software and controllers, it may be worth trying out. once i went hardware it's been great, i feel like a different world opened up, i mean, i guess literally it did? musically, at least, different space. but at the same time of course hardware isn't a magic bullet...if you're having trouble composing and finishing tunes in software then getting some hardware won't fix your problems (just generally, idk if you're releasing/producing/whatever)...

 i'd say try out working with some hardware at a shop or a friend's if possible...but if not or you just wanna dive in on something on your own, maybe just try and get something in your price range that should hold most or all it's value. the JV1080s likely aren't plummeting in price any time soon, so if you're into that, give one a go for a few months. if you hate it, just sell it and you're only out what you spent on shipping essentially. or any number of other suggestions mentioned, there's so many options for hardware that's out now and has been out over the last 10-20 years...not a ton of polys with keyboards except maybe some older workstation lite type things? at least in your price range....but you're also going to have to compromise somewhere with just a couple hundred to spend. compromise definitely isn't bad, but just do your research (someone mentioned that's the most fun part and i'd almost agree!  )

or just focus on software of course. nothing wrong with it, maybe just try to find more inspiring DAWs/apps/softsynths/etc?

  On 3/22/2020 at 1:38 PM, modey said:

Seriously, Nord Lead 1 or 2 (or their rack equivalents) are amazing VA synths, can get nice and warm sounding with the right reverb, and also into weirder territory with the FM (and ringmod on the NL2). Plus there's the hidden Pelle's mode if you want to get really weird. 

 

edit: not sure why people are facepalming my original post. I bought a Nord Lead a few years back for $400 in useless Australian money, that's probably like £100 or something. 

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The cheapest I can find go for €400, and those are 95-2000 year versions. They're probably good compared with the other options presented here though. 

You can find Nord Leads on Reverb I guess for 500€ or something like that as it turns out. That's still a far cry from £250-300.

Again I'd just trawl the used listings for everything £300 and under to see if something jumps out. As a fallback it's always easy to get a MicroKORG or some more popular staple gear.

http://ixox.fr/preenfm2/

PreenFM is a Volca FM on steroids. It's a very good hardware synth that has 8 voices instead of the volca's 3 so you can get decent polyphony and have tons of versatility with it as your disposal. The only problem with it is that is FM is very labourous to program and you will have to either rely on other people patches, have some background information on frequency modulation, or rely on a software editor to make the editing process more visual.

You might have to scour some sites to find it. I just looked and its sold out on their website

I have mixed feelings on hardware vs. software. Software can do just about anything but there are so many undesirable things about being sat in front of a screen, poking and prodding a GUI with a mouse. And in most cases you're still walled into someone else's workflow. Hardware feels "healthier" and more fun but it's expensive and even more limited (but it also tends to be easier to combine with other stuff).

Over the last year or so I've started to feel like very open-ended hybrid stuff like the Organelle, Norns, and Zoia are a great answer to this. People have done amazing stuff. But I'm unexpectedly it hard/awkward to make time to roll my own, which is humbling. So, for example, this week, once again I've come up short on building my amazing imaginary Supercollider sampler and this time I think I'm just going to do something with the Octatrack and Monologue, both of which are flexible, fun, and sound good. And the latter happens to be in your price range.

I think it's really important for everyone to step back and question what they're really, really looking for in your tools. If you truly don't know or don't care care (yet), just grab the lowest hanging fruit that looks good. Expect to make some mistakes and get frustrated, it's just part of the journey. Once you have a little experience you'll have a better idea of what you actually want. And there's always a TON of good that comes out of hunkering down and pulling the most out of whatever tools you happen to be working with, whether it's GarageBand or a TX81Z or some iPad app.

If you don't mind shipping internationally and want something that's on the esoteric side, you could get a Kawai K1m well in your price range (there's one for £170.30 on eBay Japan right now -that's about 3x what I paid 4 years ago so it's a bit harder to blanket recommend one now, but it's still not bad) and maybe even have enough left over for a secondhand Volca Keys or something depending on shipping costs.  I'm a big fan but it's definitely not a conventional polysynth so don't just grab one without doing a bit of research. It's very much its own architecture, no filters or anything, you have four single cycle waveforms with their own complex envelopes and some pitch modulation and cross-modulation possiilities, and you use that to do pseudo-additive synthesis (because there are groups of waveforms that you can use to kind of simulate adding different overtones by crossfading between them with the envelopes and joystick, although that's just a start).  I've never used another synth quite like it, the Yamaha TG33 is probably the closest but they sound very different from each other and I think the K1/k1m/k1r sounds a lot more interesting.

But if you like "old school lofi crusty sound" it's definitely got that, more so than the JV1080 for sure (although the 1080 is way more flexible). Just ignore the k1m user presets because they're wretched like most old digital synths (and a lot of new ones for that matter), although they do definitely have a certain charm.

Here's a demo of some more interesting aftermarket presets:

Another thing is that even though it doesn't have much in the way of realtime control, the MIDI implementation is pretty good, so you can modify just about every parameter in real time from your DAW or controller and get into some really exotic, unique sounds if you don't mind dealing with SYSEX.  There's already a CTRLR panel for it but I've never tried that so I can't vouch for it.  https://github.com/krylenko/KawaiK1Panel

I don't know, it would be kind of a weird choice for "first synth" but it definitely stands out (and it was probably a lot of people's first synth when it was new). It's esoteric and limited in a lot of ways but it absolutely stands out so if you want something a bit unique it's worth a look.

Also, Kawai released sysex dumps of all of their K1 expansion cards to the public domain years ago, and some of those sound a lot better than the factory presets.

Are we having another hardware v software thread? 

As musicians we're sensitive to ritual and how the workflow affects creativity. It's a bit like how the experience of an album will be different if you stream it over Spotify while doing whatever or seat yourself in a couch by a record player and really focus on the music. No one can tell you which process is best for you but it's a taste that gradually reveals itself. The sonic gaps between the various realms are getting bridged more and more anyway so it's mostly a matter of finding out what helps your process the best... including limitations. A strong tactile, live dimension (and getting out of the point-and-click DAW adventure game) is essential to me. In a lot of ways, software really helps with that. The way an actual instrument you own just begs you to play it is unbeatable, but I'll rather play software drum lines on my midi keyboard than program a drum machine. As for the gear being pricey bit, I think it helps you choose more carefully and respect it more. There's more second hand value to most gear than a lot of dumb stuff, and as this thread shows there's a ton of cool cheap stuff out there. Hell, my mates modding cars and upgrading their gamer PCs pour a load of dough into their hobbies despite a modest income. I respect if you're really up in the lo fi game or would rather put your disposable cash in an index fund.

I think I may go 1080

1080 is (allegedly, according to Roland marketing hype) the most recorded synth of all time for a reason.  It's a nice sounding ROMpler that's flexible and pretty fun to edit.

I went for the 1080 - £190 off reverb.

Christ know when it'll arrive tho considering corona.

Does anyone have one and can comment on how easy it is to make your own patches on it?

it's not a simple synthesiser to edit tbh. you need some editing software (e.g. this one: https://coffeeshopped.com/patch-base/editor/roland/jv-1080) and there are a multitude of parameters to play with. more akin to editing a complex FM synth.

Ok cool. That actually sounds quite appealing. 

Thanks BCM

Not sure if that editor works for windows tho? Need an iPad?

Ctrlr is also good and works on PC

https://ctrlr.org/tag/jv1080/

  On 3/22/2020 at 4:33 AM, ignatius said:

jv1080 is not what i think of as old school lofi crusty

 

Me either lol. Got quality sounds though.

  On 3/22/2020 at 3:50 PM, Entorwellian said:

http://ixox.fr/preenfm2/

PreenFM is a Volca FM on steroids. It's a very good hardware synth that has 8 voices instead of the volca's 3 so you can get decent polyphony and have tons of versatility with it as your disposal. The only problem with it is that is FM is very labourous to program and you will have to either rely on other people patches, have some background information on frequency modulation, or rely on a software editor to make the editing process more visual.

You might have to scour some sites to find it. I just looked and its sold out on their website

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great choice since you can also go VA with it (thanks to complex waves and a vast choice of filters) the editors is quite cool too.

you can find one assembled here : https://vandaal-electronics.com/shop/

  On 3/26/2020 at 8:46 PM, Stickfigger said:

Not to be a cunt but .. it comes naturally to me . There is going to be so many bargains on the second hand market over the coming months with all of the unemployment in the hospitality sector ... it's a good time to be acquiring second hand gear .

A second hand analog4 gets u 4 tracks and a sequencer straight off the bat, and it has stereo ins as well so you could get another device as well to sequence and use it's ins without need for a mixer or bigger sound card .

Start with a utility work horse and expand into specialisation 

 

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the secondhand market for synths is absurdly high but i gotta say this is an absolutely shite reason for prices to fall. a lot of people are going to have to part with some of their dreams

  On 3/26/2020 at 8:46 PM, Stickfigger said:

Not to be a cunt but .. it comes naturally to me . There is going to be so many bargains on the second hand market over the coming months with all of the unemployment in the hospitality sector ... it's a good time to be acquiring second hand gear .

A second hand analog4 gets u 4 tracks and a sequencer straight off the bat, and it has stereo ins as well so you could get another device as well to sequence and use it's ins without need for a mixer or bigger sound card .

Start with a utility work horse and expand into specialisation 

 

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Just popped in here to say: yay analog 4. Since I've bought it all my GAS has evaporated. There is no need to buy another synth, ever again, unless you want FM and wavetable in which case: use a computer.