Analoguesque
New member
Hi All, I'm on a tight budget to get a VA synth (about $600-$700), and was quite excited to see a few new ones that wouldn't break the bank. However all of them seem to have these crazy limitations, some of which defy logic. For example the Roland JP-08 (and I'm guessing the other 2 boutique synths too) does not transmit midi from the sliders. FFS, really? You recreate a synth whose main draw is simplicity and the ability to tweak on-the-fly, and then hobble it by not being able to record the tweaks?
The Roland System-1 looks and sounds amazing, but I'm not sold on anything that REQUIRES a computer, unless it has 100% class compliant drivers. I learned my lesson with the M-Audio Venom (and several other M-Audio products) ... 'nuff said! Wish they would just allow updates from a USB stick, for crying out loud! I get the 4-note poly limitation which is no biggie, but 8 patch memory locations. AUFKM? I understand that this may have been increased to 64 patches with an update though, but I haven't looked into it. IMHO opinion it sounds really good, and I'm not much of a Roland fanboy. Also not sure how many "plug-out" synths will really be released for this in the end.
I looked at a couple of other options, like the JDXI. But almost every demo concentrates on these little mini-multitrack recordings that can be done on the synth. They don't demo the sounds much, which is really what I care about. Also looked at some of the Korg's but none grabbed me.
Then I looked at the Novation Ultranova, which I guess I hadn't bothered with because it's about 4 years old. It really is an awesome synth!! I'm swayed towards it but I can't help thinking, surely there must be something better 4 years along? Am I missing something?
So back to the M-Audio Venom ... this one totally disappointed me. I have programed a lot of single-cycle waveform synths and samplers over the years, and I have to say almost all of them sounded better than the Venom. I know it's all about a particular sound and the Venom does some harsh, biting sounds very well, but I was really not able to tweak the fatness out of it that I wanted. For the most part, anything the Venom could do, my E-Mu Esynth
could do a whole lot better with single-cycle waveforms. Hell, even my old SoundBlaster AWE64 was more adept. Anyway my point is that if any of the synth sound like the Venom, it's probably not gonna get my juices flowing.
I'm looking for something that "sounds" analog, but let's not get into that whole "then buy an analog synth" debate though
. I really like the sound of the Roland System-1 and the Novation Ultranova. My preference is for something that is easily editable from the front panel (and is thus also tweakable live), and has a good "analog" sound to it. The "tweaks" must also transmit midi though.
Any other synths out there I should be considering for around $600-$700 ... or maybe I should save a little more?
I would appreciate any help on this. I know it is very subjective but I have honestly researched myself into total confusion at this point.
The Roland System-1 looks and sounds amazing, but I'm not sold on anything that REQUIRES a computer, unless it has 100% class compliant drivers. I learned my lesson with the M-Audio Venom (and several other M-Audio products) ... 'nuff said! Wish they would just allow updates from a USB stick, for crying out loud! I get the 4-note poly limitation which is no biggie, but 8 patch memory locations. AUFKM? I understand that this may have been increased to 64 patches with an update though, but I haven't looked into it. IMHO opinion it sounds really good, and I'm not much of a Roland fanboy. Also not sure how many "plug-out" synths will really be released for this in the end.
I looked at a couple of other options, like the JDXI. But almost every demo concentrates on these little mini-multitrack recordings that can be done on the synth. They don't demo the sounds much, which is really what I care about. Also looked at some of the Korg's but none grabbed me.
Then I looked at the Novation Ultranova, which I guess I hadn't bothered with because it's about 4 years old. It really is an awesome synth!! I'm swayed towards it but I can't help thinking, surely there must be something better 4 years along? Am I missing something?
So back to the M-Audio Venom ... this one totally disappointed me. I have programed a lot of single-cycle waveform synths and samplers over the years, and I have to say almost all of them sounded better than the Venom. I know it's all about a particular sound and the Venom does some harsh, biting sounds very well, but I was really not able to tweak the fatness out of it that I wanted. For the most part, anything the Venom could do, my E-Mu Esynth
could do a whole lot better with single-cycle waveforms. Hell, even my old SoundBlaster AWE64 was more adept. Anyway my point is that if any of the synth sound like the Venom, it's probably not gonna get my juices flowing.I'm looking for something that "sounds" analog, but let's not get into that whole "then buy an analog synth" debate though
. I really like the sound of the Roland System-1 and the Novation Ultranova. My preference is for something that is easily editable from the front panel (and is thus also tweakable live), and has a good "analog" sound to it. The "tweaks" must also transmit midi though.Any other synths out there I should be considering for around $600-$700 ... or maybe I should save a little more?
I would appreciate any help on this. I know it is very subjective but I have honestly researched myself into total confusion at this point.
