Module for vintage keyboard sounds (again)

[akijook]

I know this has been brought up several times but I have been wondering... there seems to be a good market for a 1U rack, affordable module which would just do Wurlitzer, Rhodes, B3 and Mellotron sounds well. This seems evident enough in the number of threads that continually popup asking about them. However, there seems to be a real lack of choices out there.

The closest that comes to mind is the E-mu Vintage Keys module, which focuses on these sounds (and admittedly a bunch of unrelated sounds) but it has been the closest to providing a good sounding thing that is easy to tweak and control for live playing (most people are ruling out software VSTi's for this purpose, of which there are plenty of options). But ridiculously enough, this module is discontinued and E-mu/Creative has no plans of bringing it back. To me, there seems to be nothing out there which fills this void.

Roland apparently had a similar product, which is also discontinued. The closest equivalent they have is their JV-series modules with the 60s and 70s expansion board. However, you're paying for more than you need when you go this route, and the front-panel interface (for say, the JV-1010) seems less than ideal for it, considering you don't get any controls which are custom designed for that set of sounds. Or so it seems, let me know if someone else finds this very usable and reasonable for this purpose. I have to say I'm not a big fan of Roland sounds, so I'm hesitant in going down that path.

The Nord Electro rack would be great for Rhodes, Wurlies, Clav and B3. Having played the keyboard version, I know this to be true. However, it is a hell of alot of money to pay for a specialized rack of 4 sounds (a couple hundred more and you could get the keyboard version). But, most importantly for me, it doesn't do a Mellotron.

Hell, there are very few hardware modules out there which takes the Mellotron half seriously. Most people have resorted to big expensive samplers and CD sets. I'm personally too lazy to work out good loop points and what not, and would much prefer a module that just "does it". One which understands the instrument enough as to what makes it special and not just pretend that dirty strings or flute samples is what a Mellotron makes.

If there are any companies out there reading this, I really wish you could do something about this. I think there's a real surgence of players out there who are looking for an affordable option here with some decent versions of these sounds. Most of them have been addressed in the software VSTi market lately with the M-Tron, evp88, and B4 etc. all doing very reasonable imitations. Why is the hardware market lacking here?

If there are other options I have overlooked, do drop a note.

[ssscientist]

This will solve your problems. And is 'surgence' a brand new word that you made up just for this post? Or is it somehow related to those darn ol' 'insurgence' that keep blowing themselves up all over Iraq?

[akijook]

I've seen the Receptor... but its ultimately a PC without the screen IMO. And its even bigger than a laptop, so I'm not really sure if there's all that much appeal to it (for me). Admittedly, I wished for something like this not long ago, but at that size, and that price, I could just bring a laptop. And fixing problems would be easier with a laptop, whereas with that, you pretty much have to connect it up to a PC for diagonosis or re-configuring anything outside of what the knobs allow.

And is 'surgence' a brand new word that you made up just for this post?

Absolutely. It's like, "a renewal or restoration of surgeons". Trust me, the next time you're in a hospital, all the hip cool doctors would be like - "yo we need some surgence in the op room, stat!".

(ok i apologize for the dopey word)

[ssscientist]

LOL!

Apology accepted.

[Ramsely]

The vintage keys module is a good buy.