Hello all,
I'd like to apologize up front for creating yet another thread asking the same old questions. I have spent a significant amount of time searching and reading older threads, but (like many others), I feel like my question has a slight twist on the previous questions, and most importantly, the messages that I found to be the most useful and informative are over a year old, and I wanted to get updated opinions/responses.
That being said, here's my situation:
I am a guitar/bass player that wants to get some recording done. However, due to my current situation (location and time), it is not feasible for me to work towards building a mini-studio to record guitars and bass. As such, I have decided to take the plunge and invest in a keyboard/synth setup, as I believe it will be "easier" and faster for me to record musical ideas digitally vs. recording mic'ed instruments. I will probably still record some guitar and bass (as most of my music was written on those), but I plan on translating the bulk of the ideas into piano, strings, orchestral sounds. At this point, I am 99% sure that I will be using my computer (which I am currently rebuilding) as the sequencer using either Cubase or Nuendo, both of which I have some experience with.
At this point in time, the budget is not really a major concern, though I would definitely like to keep it under $5k. That basically rules out the Oasys, not that I was looking at that seriously anyway. I am open to both soft synths and workstations, as each has its own benefits. I've done some research, including spending several hours at GC trying out different keyboards, and here's my narrowed down list (as far as workstations are concerned, in no particular order):
1. Motif XS
2. Fantom X
3. Triton Extreme
4. K2661 (have not tried this out myself)
5. M3
6. Rack + controller
For soft synths, I have done some research, and I think the first one I would get would be Kontakt 2, though there are many others that sound very interesting.
My requirements/preferences are as follows:
1. My music will be a combo of rock, electronic, and soundtrack type stuff, with the emphasis probably on the latter two, due the difficulty in finding a good recorded guitar tone. Think of the band Air, as an example of what I think it may sound like.
2. Sound quality and useability is my top priority. The sound I am most concerned about are strings, as they often sound very cheesey. Based on my trials, I found that I liked the strings on the Motif XS the best, although they did have a lot of... grit, for lack of a better term, that I wouldn't want on every single track. I think I can tame that, though. (Side note: how do the sounds on the Motif ES rack compare to the XS boards' sounds?) The Triton had very pleasant strings as well, though a bit more synthy. They would be great for filling in sounds, but they lack the "personality" of the Motif . I wasn't too impressed with the Fantom X's sounds, but I've read great things about the expansion ROM's, which I have not heard myself. Similarly, I was not too terribly impressed with the Korg M-3. However, I definitely did not take the time to tap into its Karma/Oasys engine. In all honesty, I think that may be a bit overkill for me at this point, though I guess I really don't know what exactly the Oasys and Karma engines can do. So maybe it is something I want....
3. Along the lines of the point above, I am not afraid to tinker with the sounds to get what I want. However, I want to avoid situations where I have to tweak for a month before the sound is useable. And by useable, I mean it does not sound blatantly artificial. The Kurzweils sound like they are incredibly powerful and versatile. However, I have not seen any in stores yet. I will keep looking to try it out myself.
4. I definitely enjoy the feel of a weighted keys, preferably 88 of them, but that is not a must. Worst case scenario, I go out and get a controller if I decide to get a board with <88 keys with a synth action.
5. At this point, I think I want to get a workstation and use soft synths to add to my library, vs. using the soft synths as my main setup.
Based on all of this, how would you, the synth experts, spend your money? It's very easy for me to go overboard with this, especially since I have some money to spend. So please keep in mind that this is for someone that's just starting out in the keyboard world and probably thinks he needs more than he really does. Again the sound/music objective is along the lines of soundtracks/scores and instrumentals.
Thanks in advance, and I apologize for the lenghty post.
-HJ
I'd like to apologize up front for creating yet another thread asking the same old questions. I have spent a significant amount of time searching and reading older threads, but (like many others), I feel like my question has a slight twist on the previous questions, and most importantly, the messages that I found to be the most useful and informative are over a year old, and I wanted to get updated opinions/responses.
That being said, here's my situation:
I am a guitar/bass player that wants to get some recording done. However, due to my current situation (location and time), it is not feasible for me to work towards building a mini-studio to record guitars and bass. As such, I have decided to take the plunge and invest in a keyboard/synth setup, as I believe it will be "easier" and faster for me to record musical ideas digitally vs. recording mic'ed instruments. I will probably still record some guitar and bass (as most of my music was written on those), but I plan on translating the bulk of the ideas into piano, strings, orchestral sounds. At this point, I am 99% sure that I will be using my computer (which I am currently rebuilding) as the sequencer using either Cubase or Nuendo, both of which I have some experience with.
At this point in time, the budget is not really a major concern, though I would definitely like to keep it under $5k. That basically rules out the Oasys, not that I was looking at that seriously anyway. I am open to both soft synths and workstations, as each has its own benefits. I've done some research, including spending several hours at GC trying out different keyboards, and here's my narrowed down list (as far as workstations are concerned, in no particular order):
1. Motif XS
2. Fantom X
3. Triton Extreme
4. K2661 (have not tried this out myself)
5. M3
6. Rack + controller
For soft synths, I have done some research, and I think the first one I would get would be Kontakt 2, though there are many others that sound very interesting.
My requirements/preferences are as follows:
1. My music will be a combo of rock, electronic, and soundtrack type stuff, with the emphasis probably on the latter two, due the difficulty in finding a good recorded guitar tone. Think of the band Air, as an example of what I think it may sound like.
2. Sound quality and useability is my top priority. The sound I am most concerned about are strings, as they often sound very cheesey. Based on my trials, I found that I liked the strings on the Motif XS the best, although they did have a lot of... grit, for lack of a better term, that I wouldn't want on every single track. I think I can tame that, though. (Side note: how do the sounds on the Motif ES rack compare to the XS boards' sounds?) The Triton had very pleasant strings as well, though a bit more synthy. They would be great for filling in sounds, but they lack the "personality" of the Motif . I wasn't too impressed with the Fantom X's sounds, but I've read great things about the expansion ROM's, which I have not heard myself. Similarly, I was not too terribly impressed with the Korg M-3. However, I definitely did not take the time to tap into its Karma/Oasys engine. In all honesty, I think that may be a bit overkill for me at this point, though I guess I really don't know what exactly the Oasys and Karma engines can do. So maybe it is something I want....
3. Along the lines of the point above, I am not afraid to tinker with the sounds to get what I want. However, I want to avoid situations where I have to tweak for a month before the sound is useable. And by useable, I mean it does not sound blatantly artificial. The Kurzweils sound like they are incredibly powerful and versatile. However, I have not seen any in stores yet. I will keep looking to try it out myself.
4. I definitely enjoy the feel of a weighted keys, preferably 88 of them, but that is not a must. Worst case scenario, I go out and get a controller if I decide to get a board with <88 keys with a synth action.
5. At this point, I think I want to get a workstation and use soft synths to add to my library, vs. using the soft synths as my main setup.
Based on all of this, how would you, the synth experts, spend your money? It's very easy for me to go overboard with this, especially since I have some money to spend. So please keep in mind that this is for someone that's just starting out in the keyboard world and probably thinks he needs more than he really does. Again the sound/music objective is along the lines of soundtracks/scores and instrumentals.
Thanks in advance, and I apologize for the lenghty post.
-HJ
Each has its good and bad points: the Yamaha has good pianos, E. Pianos, flutes, guitars etc. The Korg is much better at synthy ambient stuff.
Nah, cubase is probably great for what you want.
I've built a surprisingly good studio for fairly cheap and can do just about anything keyboardwise. However, if I had the money, I would get the fancier toys too.
