Hardware Synth/Workstations Vs. RTAS/VST Synth plugins?

[storoi90]

Hi!

i just wanted your opinions on this topic. Are there any major differences between the two, and is it worth the money?

I´ve been using RTAS plugin synths like Omnisphere, Synplant, Xpand 2 etc. for a while now, but after listening to some demos of the Korg Krome 61, Korg Kronos 61, Roland Fantom G6/G8, Jupiter 50/80 and Yamaha Motif XF6/7/8, i gotta say i am pretty impressed. I just find that the hardware synths have much more depth and richness to the sound, compared to multi-synths like Xpand 2 and Omnisphere.
That´s off course listening to demos on youtube, i haven´t tried one my self. I am really torn on this, cuz i know alot of producers are very much in the box these days, using various plugins, but some still use these hardware synths.

Also, i running PT LE 8 with an Mbox 2 Mini. How do you guys figure a Yamaha Motif XF6 for instance would mesh with that? If i record through the audio-outputs it might reduce the quality right?, but if i go MIDI-out it should stay the same or what?

[mjbphotos]

If you record MIDI from the Yamaha, you will have data only, not the sound. You would need to send the recorded MIDI track back to the Yamaha to drive the audio from it. Then you will still need to record the audio. The advantage of doing this is you can edit the MIDI first (really no different than driving a VSTi from a recorded MIDI track).

[storoi90]

You would need to send the recorded MIDI track back to the Yamaha to drive the audio from it. Then you will still need to record the audio.

Right, but you can still record it as audio direct from the Yamaha? From the R & L outputs?
That´s what i really want. I print all my MIDI to audio inside Pro Tools anyway.. would be great to skip that and record it direct as audio.

But what about the quality of sounds? Is it worth laying down about 2,500 $ for a hardware synth, just for recording in the studio?

[mjbphotos]

The Mbox Mini is not a high end audio interface, you might want to upgrade from that, but you can certainly send the audio from your Yama (or any other hardware synth) through the AI to PT.
Only you can decide if its worth the investment on new hardware for your use!

[Chris Smith]

Most of those Workstations sound that way due to the heavy processing on the outputs. the effects, but without those enabled probably sound just the same (if not worser) than your VSTs.


I'm a contemporary keyboardist but I'm not going back to hardware workstations anytime soon. Komplete8 Ultimate, Omnisphere, some brass libraries and a few other soft synths and I've pretty much got most workstations beat hands down.

[MP Mikey]

For a single instrument I would use software. I agree with Chris Smith. But if you want to make a full production and keep everything as long as possible in midi it is very comfortable to have a Fantom for playing some tracks. I mainly use a Fantom Rack for adding strings and pads. These instuments ask a lot of computer power so it's very fine to keep them separated.