S
Sentridoh
New member
I am looking into buying my 1st snyth and I have no idea as to want I want, what kind to get and where to look. I don't much to spend($200-$300). What should I do?
T
The Green Hornet
New member
Yo Sentri:]]]
Save your money! For two or three hundred, you won't get much good sound, or much, period.
For 1k, you can buy some pretty good keyboards. [the market is flooded with keyboards if you look at the catalogs.]
Do you want a workstation so you can sequence and record?
Do you just want a synth like mine? A DX-7 which is a marvelous keyboard. [but, of course, the DX-7 is not made anymore because better boards are made.]
There is a learning curve. It too me three years, three manuals, four cassette instructional tapes, and two DX-7 for Dummies, to learn how to manipulate my synth -- I love the DX-7. It was made out of steel not plastic -- but, that's not relevant.
You can go cheapo but your results will equal the ability and sound of the keyboard you buy. Go out and shop and listen and play the keys on all the synths you can. Research will save you money and most music stores have synths all hooked up {to great speakers of course] to lure you into buying.
Go for it.
Green Hornet
Save your money! For two or three hundred, you won't get much good sound, or much, period.
For 1k, you can buy some pretty good keyboards. [the market is flooded with keyboards if you look at the catalogs.]
Do you want a workstation so you can sequence and record?
Do you just want a synth like mine? A DX-7 which is a marvelous keyboard. [but, of course, the DX-7 is not made anymore because better boards are made.]
There is a learning curve. It too me three years, three manuals, four cassette instructional tapes, and two DX-7 for Dummies, to learn how to manipulate my synth -- I love the DX-7. It was made out of steel not plastic -- but, that's not relevant.
You can go cheapo but your results will equal the ability and sound of the keyboard you buy. Go out and shop and listen and play the keys on all the synths you can. Research will save you money and most music stores have synths all hooked up {to great speakers of course] to lure you into buying.
Go for it.
Green Hornet
Chriss
Jitens Half Brother
yup you need to save some bucks up yea.. if you're smart you'll save up for either a Supernova (the old version) or the Waldorf Micro Q... Anything below that isn't worth it really...
A
Atwork
New member
This might be a possibility:
www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/mar00/articles/reddarkstar.htm
you'd have to buy a controller keyboard to go with it.
www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/mar00/articles/reddarkstar.htm
you'd have to buy a controller keyboard to go with it.
Roel
That SMART guy.
Buy the real thing...
MOTM (Listen to the demo's on the news-page!!!)
Oakley (You have to build these yourself though.)
What are you planning to do with your synth? Do you want to create synth-type sounds all by yourself, or just playback samples that sound like real instruments?
There's lotsa nice virtual analogs these days. Nord lead, Nord modular and minimodular, Virus, Q and micro Q, SuperNova, ... All very nice...
But 300$ is not gonna get you anywhere. Maybe a used old synth to get you going. You can still use it as a controller once you get a decent module...
MOTM (Listen to the demo's on the news-page!!!)
Oakley (You have to build these yourself though.)
What are you planning to do with your synth? Do you want to create synth-type sounds all by yourself, or just playback samples that sound like real instruments?
There's lotsa nice virtual analogs these days. Nord lead, Nord modular and minimodular, Virus, Q and micro Q, SuperNova, ... All very nice...
But 300$ is not gonna get you anywhere. Maybe a used old synth to get you going. You can still use it as a controller once you get a decent module...
Chriss
Jitens Half Brother
lol.. now I have to say this:
Don't listen to any of those two weirdoes
..
The Dark Star may be cheap but it really sux arse bigtime.. you'll grow out of it way before you can afford a proper synth..
With the MOTM and other analogue devices you'd get a killer smooth sound, but you'll only get one or two voices for the same price as a kick arse V/A synth like the MicroQ or the Supernova..
For a first synth one voice and one part simply isn't gonna cut it.. you'd have to buy a sampler at the same time.. So beware of the analogue devices..
Now - damn you - tell us what kind of music you'll be doing with it or we can't help ya...
Don't listen to any of those two weirdoes
..The Dark Star may be cheap but it really sux arse bigtime.. you'll grow out of it way before you can afford a proper synth..
With the MOTM and other analogue devices you'd get a killer smooth sound, but you'll only get one or two voices for the same price as a kick arse V/A synth like the MicroQ or the Supernova..
For a first synth one voice and one part simply isn't gonna cut it.. you'd have to buy a sampler at the same time.. So beware of the analogue devices..
Now - damn you - tell us what kind of music you'll be doing with it or we can't help ya...
A
Atwork
New member
More reviews of the Dark Star here:
www.Dancetech.com
Look under "Synth section" and "Budget synths". There's reviews of other synths too, mostly older ones.
Dark Star is only 8 notes polyphonic, so probably not much use to a real keyboard player. It's aimed at the dance market and really only of use for electronic sounds. Not much good at piano sounds etc. Probably not lush or smooth, either. Sound on Sound described it as a "Moog for the 21st century?"
www.Dancetech.com
Look under "Synth section" and "Budget synths". There's reviews of other synths too, mostly older ones.
Dark Star is only 8 notes polyphonic, so probably not much use to a real keyboard player. It's aimed at the dance market and really only of use for electronic sounds. Not much good at piano sounds etc. Probably not lush or smooth, either. Sound on Sound described it as a "Moog for the 21st century?"
Chriss
Jitens Half Brother
Atwork said:
Lol.. That's funny... compared to any other V/A synth it's just a piece of useless junk.. Maybe they were referring to the fact that it's got a really small modulation matrix?
I tried it in a synth shop before i got my Supernova.. even mentioning the moog and the dark star in the same sentance is a federal crime..
A
Atwork
New member
More reviews of Dark Star, mostly positive:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Red-Sound/Dark-Star-01.html
read the reviews. Try it. Quite a few reviews mention that you have to spend time with it to get anything worthwhile out of it. Some of these reviewers liked this: it reminded them of their old analogue synths, except the Dark Star doesn't go out of tune.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Red-Sound/Dark-Star-01.html
read the reviews. Try it. Quite a few reviews mention that you have to spend time with it to get anything worthwhile out of it. Some of these reviewers liked this: it reminded them of their old analogue synths, except the Dark Star doesn't go out of tune.
Chriss
Jitens Half Brother
oh well.. it might be worth the buck if you're down in cash flow.. I'd just save up for a better piece with more voices and modulation...
Atwork, wadda you got yourself? Personally i only got my supernova, a behringer mixer, cubase 5 and halion sampler.. the rest is dj stuff..
Atwork, wadda you got yourself? Personally i only got my supernova, a behringer mixer, cubase 5 and halion sampler.. the rest is dj stuff..
A
Atwork
New member
There are better synths than Dark Star, I have no doubt about that. It's not in the same league as a Supernova or a Moog. No argument about that, but it does have potential.
What have I got? I've only recently started trying my hand at dance or electronic stuff. Before that I was recording with guitars, bass etc. Recently I've been messing round with Fruity Loops. I bought the DS to add some synth lines to tracks I've done in that. I've also got a Soundcraft mixer, n-Tracks, a couple of drum machines, some outboard boxes. I'm planning to experiment with the lot of them and see what I can come up with.
What have I got? I've only recently started trying my hand at dance or electronic stuff. Before that I was recording with guitars, bass etc. Recently I've been messing round with Fruity Loops. I bought the DS to add some synth lines to tracks I've done in that. I've also got a Soundcraft mixer, n-Tracks, a couple of drum machines, some outboard boxes. I'm planning to experiment with the lot of them and see what I can come up with.
Chriss
Jitens Half Brother
making techno and electronic rules.. no stupid drummer who won't - or can't - do what you want him too... no guitar player messing up the composition because he suddently get's a "hinch"
S
Sentridoh
New member
Korg
I went to the music shop and play on a Korg EA-1 and I really liked it. I was able to produce all the crazy, odd noises that I could handle. It seemed a bit flat though, but I could run through my FX processer. All in all I thought it was pretty good though.
Comments, Suggestions, Complaints?
I went to the music shop and play on a Korg EA-1 and I really liked it. I was able to produce all the crazy, odd noises that I could handle. It seemed a bit flat though, but I could run through my FX processer. All in all I thought it was pretty good though.
Comments, Suggestions, Complaints?
Chriss
Jitens Half Brother
The electribes series aren't my cup of tea.. their output is only 32khz 16 bit.. that's kinda lame.. I'd take a Dark Star over the EA i think... I mean.. an analogue modeling synth with a 9V power supply.. i use more on my bike...
Sorry fella, but the Electribe serie is my personal aversion.. it's stools...
they're way too toy-ish, undynamic and generally crappy.. only good thing about 'em is that they have a small sequencer on it.. but who'd wanna use that anyway?...
You should maybe check out the Roland JP8080 or JP8000 if you want something like the electribe.. you'd get an ok vocoder with it and way better sound.. It's 10 voice and got way better modulation..
It got 2 parts like the EA...
But two parts isn't much.. I usually come up to 5-8 tracks of synthesizer parts.
I'd recommend waiting for either a Waldorf MicroQ or Novation Supernova I though.. even an Access Virus Rack would be better...
You'd quickly feel too limited with only two parts and 10 voices.. i often use up to 30 voices cause i put unison on... (ahh unison.. Droool...)
What budget do you have and what music do ya wanna make?
Sorry fella, but the Electribe serie is my personal aversion.. it's stools...
they're way too toy-ish, undynamic and generally crappy.. only good thing about 'em is that they have a small sequencer on it.. but who'd wanna use that anyway?...
You should maybe check out the Roland JP8080 or JP8000 if you want something like the electribe.. you'd get an ok vocoder with it and way better sound.. It's 10 voice and got way better modulation..
It got 2 parts like the EA...
But two parts isn't much.. I usually come up to 5-8 tracks of synthesizer parts.
I'd recommend waiting for either a Waldorf MicroQ or Novation Supernova I though.. even an Access Virus Rack would be better...
You'd quickly feel too limited with only two parts and 10 voices.. i often use up to 30 voices cause i put unison on... (ahh unison.. Droool...)
What budget do you have and what music do ya wanna make?
Roel
That SMART guy.
Chriss said:I mean.. an analogue modeling synth with a 9V power supply.. i use more on my bike...
That is complete and utterly NONSENSE!
There is no commercial device that uses voltages higher than 5V for it's digital part. The more advanced digital chips these days even run at 2.3V or lower!! Because that allows them to lower current, power use and heat development,...The only difference between the synths with internal or external power supply is that with the latter, the supply isn't built in. This only means that the transformer, which is a heavy source of EM radiation won't have any influence on your internal circuit.
And even the REAL analog synths hardly ever use voltages over 15V...
Bikers!!
Chriss
Jitens Half Brother
lol.. well it just shows you how cool a bike is...
anyway.. that's not my general point.. i truly hate the electribes... even the Dark Star is way more dynamic
belgians..
anyway.. that's not my general point.. i truly hate the electribes... even the Dark Star is way more dynamic
belgians..
Roel
That SMART guy.
It's not a Belgian thingy... It's engineering. They really brainwashed me and forced me to make these non-related smart-ass remarks.
Engineers...
The Korg MS2000 comes to mind?
Engineers...
The Korg MS2000 comes to mind?
Chriss
Jitens Half Brother
4 voices.. nice modulation matrix.. kinda cool but unusable (for me) bass sounds.. wank pad sounds nice strings.. hehehe... i love synths..
Stupid bastards only making it 4 voice.. could have been a cool synth though.. allthough i wouldn't use it for trance stuff...
Don't forget the Clavia Nord Leads if you want some edgy sounds and cool analogue strings.. The NL3 got alot of FM too.. 4 op FM on an analogue modeling synth.. not bad..
the Supernova got 2*2 op FM and 8 algorithms too btw..
Stupid bastards only making it 4 voice.. could have been a cool synth though.. allthough i wouldn't use it for trance stuff...
Don't forget the Clavia Nord Leads if you want some edgy sounds and cool analogue strings.. The NL3 got alot of FM too.. 4 op FM on an analogue modeling synth.. not bad..
the Supernova got 2*2 op FM and 8 algorithms too btw..
S
Sentridoh
New member
Update
I came into some money and I saw someone mention the MS2000, so I looked into it and I am now the proud own of one!!! I got it for $600(used, but I know the guy and trust him, so damage is not an issue). But anyway, thought I would update you guys.
Thanks for the advice!
I came into some money and I saw someone mention the MS2000, so I looked into it and I am now the proud own of one!!! I got it for $600(used, but I know the guy and trust him, so damage is not an issue). But anyway, thought I would update you guys.
Thanks for the advice!
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