Well, I will take your (and others') negative experiences as a point of reference, but that alone may not rule it out for me.
Recommended combo of soft synths and workstations for under $5k?
- Thread starter Hugh Jazz
- Start date
Well, I will take your (and others') negative experiences as a point of reference, but that alone may not rule it out for me.
DavidK
New member
I am not bsr, but I will field the string question since I am HR's resident violinist
:No Romplers have particulary good strings. That said, I get by using a combination of the 3 romplers I have. Korgs have a few string patches that sound very good in the low register, I think the patch is called "Pro Strings".
There is an interesting softsynth called synful, it has a free 14 day demo.
http://www.synful.com/
See what you think. It's quirky but good.
The Roland Fantom has expansion boards that are dedicated to strings. I have one of the earlier versions in my JV1010 and its decent. I am not crazy about the Yamaha strings in my mm6, maybe they are better in the ES version. The Korg strings are lush if not realistic. Again, I said low register which means cello/viola range. For violins, I have the luxury of pulling out my fiddle and overdubbing violin sections.
Samples are probably the way to go for anything realistic in the string dept.
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
The best ROMpler strings I've found are for the Roland XV/Fantom series, the SRX-04 board called "Symphonique Strings". These are actually very good, I've found none better in the ROMpler hardware realm.
I use them layered with the Kirk Hunter "Emerald" orchestra strings, which I play in Kontakt2. The Kirk Hunter "Emerald" orchestral library is quite excellent, especially the strings (he's a violinist), and it is quite affordable at $325. One of the best deals around in orchestral libraries, in my opinion.
No hardware ROMpler can compare these days with a good softsampler library, but if you are going to be using strings with a workstation the Roland SRX-04 board is a really good one for section strings.
I use them layered with the Kirk Hunter "Emerald" orchestra strings, which I play in Kontakt2. The Kirk Hunter "Emerald" orchestral library is quite excellent, especially the strings (he's a violinist), and it is quite affordable at $325. One of the best deals around in orchestral libraries, in my opinion.
No hardware ROMpler can compare these days with a good softsampler library, but if you are going to be using strings with a workstation the Roland SRX-04 board is a really good one for section strings.
DavidK
New member
A wise idea.
I like layering strings quite a bit. In June, I had the luxury of hiring 9 real string players for one of my projects. It was great but thin, so I stuck a few synths underneath in various places. 9 strings (3 first violins, 3 seconds, 3 cellos) cant really play in tune, due to how intonation works in a string section. The ROMpler patches underneath really filled out the sound and blended in to make it more in tune.
bsr2002
Denny Crane
The pianos and strings are superiour on the ES out of the box than the TR. I do agree with the others that pianos are weak on all KORGS
But KORG has always had great synth and organs.
Plus both intruments can be tweeked, although I don't think much can be done on TR ac pianos unless you use the optional Sampling Board.
50cal
New member
Hugh
Did i tell ya the list of equipment my friends have they both had fairly close set-ups....this is tones list...oh yeah they have a gold single and a song on a platinum album as well as many songs in movies as well as artists......not to say there opinion should be the only one....Anyways here is Touch Tones list
Akai- Mpc-60,mpc 1000,mpc 2000xl,Mpc 3000, Mpc 4000, S1000(or 2000 dont remeber.
Roland- MV8000, V synth, Xv5080 maxed out with cards,Fantomx, 5050,
Studio electronics- SE1, ATCX
Kurzweil- K2000r
E.M.U.- Sp1200,proteus2000,mo phatt
Ensoniq- ASR-10,MR rack,ASRX,
yamaha-Motif Es
Korg- Triton
Waldorf- Micro q
Moog voyager,..and i forget what else..i think he has some new keyboards..
Anyways they both got the miko.......I beleive this is perfect for what you are wanting. I was impressed with the sounds they gave ya out the box. You can have em customized to your specs as well. i was most intrigued my the synth clone feat......the upcoming TIMBALIND edition has a great amount of quality sounds......You can run the NEVE plug ins or SSL plug ins...record your audio...Im not a computer type of guy......this really brought the best of both worlds......I think it would be a waste to shell out over $2,000 on a motif or the likes.....it seems so limited compared to the miko...I had a list of keyboards i wanted..i was also gonna get an AKAI DPS24 or Roland 2480.....not no more Im gonna sell the motif,the jp8000..for sure,and the proteus2000....The miko makes that set-up look like a punk..
Did i tell ya the list of equipment my friends have they both had fairly close set-ups....this is tones list...oh yeah they have a gold single and a song on a platinum album as well as many songs in movies as well as artists......not to say there opinion should be the only one....Anyways here is Touch Tones list
Akai- Mpc-60,mpc 1000,mpc 2000xl,Mpc 3000, Mpc 4000, S1000(or 2000 dont remeber.
Roland- MV8000, V synth, Xv5080 maxed out with cards,Fantomx, 5050,
Studio electronics- SE1, ATCX
Kurzweil- K2000r
E.M.U.- Sp1200,proteus2000,mo phatt
Ensoniq- ASR-10,MR rack,ASRX,
yamaha-Motif Es
Korg- Triton
Waldorf- Micro q
Moog voyager,..and i forget what else..i think he has some new keyboards..
Anyways they both got the miko.......I beleive this is perfect for what you are wanting. I was impressed with the sounds they gave ya out the box. You can have em customized to your specs as well. i was most intrigued my the synth clone feat......the upcoming TIMBALIND edition has a great amount of quality sounds......You can run the NEVE plug ins or SSL plug ins...record your audio...Im not a computer type of guy......this really brought the best of both worlds......I think it would be a waste to shell out over $2,000 on a motif or the likes.....it seems so limited compared to the miko...I had a list of keyboards i wanted..i was also gonna get an AKAI DPS24 or Roland 2480.....not no more Im gonna sell the motif,the jp8000..for sure,and the proteus2000....The miko makes that set-up look like a punk..
Stolen from other artists and put together by timbaland?
50cal
New member
....This has nothing to do with sampling,and copyright infringement...Its just all the requested patches to make it his signature edition...
I guess it may be time to update this thread after a mere 7 months. As it turns out, I never had the time to look further into any gear, let alone make music, so I'm still in the same boat and am starting to look into recording and composing once again. My thought process has changed a little bit regarding my needs and preferences for a setup.
Music-wise, the emphasis would be instrumental music I create, primarily soundtrack type stuff (think good music in good car commercials), with the other possibility being DIY rock/electronic stuff like NIN (but that probably won't be until later). The foundation of the music will probably be acoustic guitar, and then I will build around that using synths, possibly even replacing the guitar entirely.
Equipment-wise, I am now leaning back towards getting a computer (mine is and has been dead for a while) and building a DAW-based setup that may eventually involve into a mini-studio over the years. I am leaning towards a Macbook Pro, or possibly at a Mac Pro, though I don't think I want to shell out the extra $$$ on the latter just yet... plus, I like the idea of having a portable setup. I'm not too concerned about the dollar differential... I'd rather spend the extra $1000 on other parts of the setup either now or later.
That being said, here is what I am currently considering:
-Macbook Pro 17" / 2.5GHz / 4 GB RAM / 200 GB 7200 RPM HD (with an external drive for additional room if/when necessary)
-Logic Studio
-Apogee Duet
-One (or a pair of) condensor mic(s) (large diaphragm?) for recording the acoustic guitar
-Decent monitors... heard good things about the Adam 7's.
-Synth controller
I've never used Logic before, but I've heard it's great for composers (versus PT and the like for those recording live instruments), and I've heard that the sounds that come with it are good. I'm curious to try it out at some point.
Anyway, any thoughts on this new proposed setup?
Thanks,
HJ
EDIT: Forgot which forum I posted this in.... maybe I should move it? Still, I'd like to hear what people here have to say.
Music-wise, the emphasis would be instrumental music I create, primarily soundtrack type stuff (think good music in good car commercials), with the other possibility being DIY rock/electronic stuff like NIN (but that probably won't be until later). The foundation of the music will probably be acoustic guitar, and then I will build around that using synths, possibly even replacing the guitar entirely.
Equipment-wise, I am now leaning back towards getting a computer (mine is and has been dead for a while) and building a DAW-based setup that may eventually involve into a mini-studio over the years. I am leaning towards a Macbook Pro, or possibly at a Mac Pro, though I don't think I want to shell out the extra $$$ on the latter just yet... plus, I like the idea of having a portable setup. I'm not too concerned about the dollar differential... I'd rather spend the extra $1000 on other parts of the setup either now or later.
That being said, here is what I am currently considering:
-Macbook Pro 17" / 2.5GHz / 4 GB RAM / 200 GB 7200 RPM HD (with an external drive for additional room if/when necessary)
-Logic Studio
-Apogee Duet
-One (or a pair of) condensor mic(s) (large diaphragm?) for recording the acoustic guitar
-Decent monitors... heard good things about the Adam 7's.
-Synth controller
I've never used Logic before, but I've heard it's great for composers (versus PT and the like for those recording live instruments), and I've heard that the sounds that come with it are good. I'm curious to try it out at some point.
Anyway, any thoughts on this new proposed setup?
Thanks,
HJ
EDIT: Forgot which forum I posted this in.... maybe I should move it? Still, I'd like to hear what people here have to say.
Wow...lot's of stuff here. First off, Logic is a great program. Once you get past a little bit of a learning curve it does some amazing things. Don't expect to jump right in (although it seems with the newer version they have made life a little easier.) If you are doing soundtracks it should suit you just fine.
If you are doing NIN type stuff I can't recommend Native Instruments Reaktor ENOUGH!!! Not just because they use it but because it really is a great piece of software. Also check out Absynth, it might be more what you are looking for. I must say though that NI support is a little lacking...
I've never used the Apogee Duet so I really can't comment.
For a mic it really depends on your budget...there are so many out there...
Never used the Adam 7's, but I've worked on the S2A and S2.5A's and they were wonderful. Obviously a huge price difference but I'm assuming that the 7's sound pretty good.
As far as controllers, I would look into the Novation Remote "SL" series. They are really solid. Don't let the whole automapping feature sell it to you though...while it works "pretty well" it's still not great. Then again if you don't like to tweak stuff the Novation might not be your thing.
Don't forget to have fun!
If you are doing NIN type stuff I can't recommend Native Instruments Reaktor ENOUGH!!! Not just because they use it but because it really is a great piece of software. Also check out Absynth, it might be more what you are looking for. I must say though that NI support is a little lacking...
I've never used the Apogee Duet so I really can't comment.
For a mic it really depends on your budget...there are so many out there...
Never used the Adam 7's, but I've worked on the S2A and S2.5A's and they were wonderful. Obviously a huge price difference but I'm assuming that the 7's sound pretty good.
As far as controllers, I would look into the Novation Remote "SL" series. They are really solid. Don't let the whole automapping feature sell it to you though...while it works "pretty well" it's still not great. Then again if you don't like to tweak stuff the Novation might not be your thing.
Don't forget to have fun!
Get a Receptor Pro Jr with Komplete 5 Installed for about $3,200.00 and a controller keyboard/synth of your choice. I would get a Yamaha Motif XS or Korg M3 if budget allowed.
noisewreck
New member
If you're thinking about the K2661 I'd recommend you take a hard look at the new Kurzweil PC3 as well. You lose sampling and Live Mode (which is tied into the sampling and allows you to shuttle external audio through VAST and KDFX), but you gain immensely in synthesis horsepower.
Personally I have a K2600XS and I find that NI Komplete is a great complement to it. Perhaps through in something like MiniMonsta (which I prefer to Arturia's Minimoog), and you'd be pretty well covered.
Personally I have a K2600XS and I find that NI Komplete is a great complement to it. Perhaps through in something like MiniMonsta (which I prefer to Arturia's Minimoog), and you'd be pretty well covered.
noisewreck
New member
I wouldn't. To me that's one of the worst workstations Korg has ever put out. The 88 key keyboard feel mushy, although I must admit the 61 key synth action is quite good. However, it falls flat on it's ass when it comes to the sounds. Overall it lacks depth and sounds pretty one-dimentional. If you're looking for easy to use/program/play out of the box stuff, I'd go for one of the Motif or Triton iterations, but I'd steer clear of the M3.
My personal faves are no secret. I like depth of programmability and far out synthesis capabilities, along with top-notch sound quality, for which Reaktor and Kurzweil's synths fit the bill.