best affordable synth/keyboard?

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sessep_2002

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Hey people,

I'm not a keyboardist but am looking for a synth/keyboard for under $1500 to have in my home studio to add cool sounds, back
ground ambience, etc....any suggestions?

sessep
 
thanks for the input guys....i'll start with these...

sessep
 
Maybe I am too late here, but I have loved working with the Korg 2000 analog synth and the Roland RS-5 is a nice synth- either one will leave some money for you to get some extra things.

Micro
 
And...while a bit more money than what I suggested, I believe the Karma would be a good buy for what you are looking to spend.

Micro (again)
 
Vermona analog synths

Hi all

I'm in love with Vermona.

A German analogue synth manufacturer available at

www.gargantuansound.com

Why have vitual analog when the real thing is better, cooler and cheaper?

Cheers
 
i can't find any prices or pretty much anything on that site.. it's really screwed up, but the perFOURmer (silly name :D ) looks incredibly cool...
 
I'm a big fan of the Alesis 6/7/8.1 series. Good broad sound selection and fairly easy to manipulate once you learn to use it.
 
Agree on the Alesis (an 8.1 is my main axe now), but they have a rep for not being real roadworthy, and their support sucks since Numark bought them.

Also, you have to slog through a lot of patches to find a good one, but they are there.

Great action - a good studio keyboard.
 
well for ambience sounds, it almost definitely gotta be a V/A / analogue synth imo... and the best ones for the $ are definitely the ks4/ks5... oohlala... with fm and all sortsa shit... and enough effects to go around...
 
Chriss said:
well for ambience sounds, it almost definitely gotta be a V/A / analogue synth imo... and the best ones for the $ are definitely the ks4/ks5... oohlala... with fm and all sortsa shit... and enough effects to go around...
Click to expand...

Ummm-helloooo!

Roland's have been the pad kings since the days of the D-50!!

My XP30 has any kind of pad I need and adding the Vintage Synth expansion board only made it better.
 
"Ummm-helloooo! "
says who???

there's nothing a roland can do that any other good synth cannot... infact there's alot they can't do...
and ambience sounds isn't all about pads you know... and complex layered synth sounds are way cooler so getting an old roland would be foolish...

there are other great synths out there than the ks ones, but i they are extremely versatile with fm and normal synthesis, and heaps of great effects and filters...

the xp-30 has great sounds, but it is non the less not a modular and doesn't offer the same amount of sound control... you should hear some of the ambient pads i make on my V/A synth, there's not a rom synth anywhere that can even begin to reach that complexity..
 
but sessep, if all you need is the regular, dreamy pad stuff, then all the stuff mentioned would be fine...

if you want real ambience sounds and weirdness, what you should invest in, is a sampler...

if you want complex soundpatterns and cool, screwed up sounds as well, you should consider a v/a or real analogue synth...
 
I can't believe you guys would reccomend an alesis. I know they're cheap, but...:rolleyes:
 
Chriss said:
but sessep, if all you need is the regular, dreamy pad stuff, then all the stuff mentioned would be fine...

if you want real ambience sounds and weirdness, what you should invest in, is a sampler...

if you want complex soundpatterns and cool, screwed up sounds as well, you should consider a v/a or real analogue synth...
Click to expand...

Man, you really have to stop with this V/A is sound nirvana crap.

V/A's are cool but don't knock sample playback synths. They are far from toys and have as many sonic possibilities as any other type of synth. Most layer or have at least 4 parts/timbres/elements/waveforms interact with each other to product unique and complex sounds. Once you put a sample playback synth in its multitimbral mode (Combi on a Korg or Performace on a Roland) the sonic possibilities become even greater.

Oh yeah, sample playback synths have grown out of their infancy and guess what - they're much more inexpensive than any DSP based V/A. You get alot more polyphony for the price too (how many 64 and 128 voice V/A's are out there?)

Lets not forget how bug ridden V/A OS's have been in recent history (Waldorf, Access).

Real vintage analog synths introduce other problems that today's musicians probably don't wanna deal with (oscillator drift,etc...)

So in conclusion, stop knocking what isn't analog or V/A. The more you post, the more you come off as some kind of purist snob.
 
"just because you own a synth doesn't mean it's the best one"

That's what Chriss told me when I came back on him for dissing the lead3. It used to be if you didn't have a novation, you ain't shit. So I for one am happy he has at least widened his perspective to include va's in general.
I see both your points. I've got several of each kind and they are all beutiful and cool in their own ways. I want them all. But I'm running out of space, and some things need to go. I think I'm gonna sell my Jupiter 4 if anyones interested I'll let it go for $500.
 
subtractor said:
"just because you own a synth doesn't mean it's the best one"

That's what Chriss told me when I came back on him for dissing the lead3. It used to be if you didn't have a novation, you ain't shit. So I for one am happy he has at least widened his perspective to include va's in general.
I see both your points. I've got several of each kind and they are all beutiful and cool in their own ways. I want them all. But I'm running out of space, and some things need to go. I think I'm gonna sell my Jupiter 4 if anyones interested I'll let it go for $500.
Click to expand...

eh.. i have never said that if you don't own a novation you ain't worth shit.. they were just my preferred brand for alot of good reasons for a long time, but others have catched up well... and though getting a real analogue synth would be cool those are either limited in programmabillity or too expensive for the average user...

brzillian, i know perfectely well how rom synths work these days... and they still can produce the same kind of sounds that i enjoy so much... they'll have to get modulable sync oscillators and skew, more, and better programmable lfos and envelopes, that can be assigned to eachother.. and that would make them almost a V/A synth...

and i'm not saying that v/a is nirvana, stop being an ass... it's just my preferred media like obviously rom synths are yours, and you're bickering about it...
rom synths can produce sounds that no v/a could ever produce, and vice versa, v/a is just what i prefer cause of the way you program the sounds totally from scratch and with cool modulations...

and i prefer neither for ambient.. as i said, i would choose a sampler, so stop bitching will you.
 
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