Multitimbre sound module for under $500..

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Sterling30

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I need the best orchrastra sounds on the market but I have to stay under $500 price-wise.. (I will spend more of the Kurzweil 2000VP V.A.S.T. module I've seen being closed out for $699.00, but it seems to be out of stock everywhere..)

Any suggestions for places on the I* for the Kurzweil module??? I need something by next monday...

Thanks..

Gregg
 
Gregg,
The Roland JV1010 is the best sound Module in your
price range ( New of course).
The orchestral sounds arent going to fool anybody, but
they are decent, and there are a lot of patches in
this little unit. I am a pro violinist, so it is
not for me, but a couple of patches,like octave
strings or slow strings or film score, sound
pretty darn fine.

The Proteus is better for classical stuff,
and it costs much more. The K2000 is great,
if you can snag one for $699 then pawn your
dog and get it. I had a Proteus and a K2000,
I sold them for a down payment on a violin
bow. They were great and sorely missed.

I do classical stuff, and I can still do it
with my JV1010,so it is not a bad idea. A
proteus or K2000 is better, bet the JV1010
will work in a pinch. Let me know what
you get, I am always interested in folks doing
orchesrtal scores. Cheers, David
 
Pro Violinist?? Cool...

David,

Well, I've been pulling up data on the units you mention and it looks like the Roland JV1010 is the one I'm going to buy, but I would love to have the Proteus 2000, (the version with mainly orchrastra sounds..)

I spent the afternoon on an arrangement of a song I've had sitting idle for some time and this one is very special to me, but were not going to much at all in the way of strings, ect. It is going to be a very minimal string and keyboard arrangement, but I think this song has alot of potential, but it's really been a hard one to finish, especially lyric wise.. (I've got a great vocalist for the demo and and if it gets turned down by the people it's intended for, I'll still have a first-rate effort and I think this one will get alot of people's attention.. (We'll see..

Classical violinest huh?? Well I sure do admire Classical music and that people who play it. And I hope to expand the following song into a symphony someday, but it's realy going to take alot of work and if any finished product ever does happen, it'll be more than a small miracle, that's for sure..

Anyway, here it is.. It's at www.mp3.com/sterling30 and it's the first song on the page. (It's called "Stephanie".., Tell me what you think about it..)

The orchrastration was done on a Kurzmeil 2000VP so I'm quite familar with that sound modules capabilities..

Gregg

[Edited by Sterling30 on 01-29-2001 at 22:58]
 
I would suggest you look at the Alesis QSR.

it has the sounds of the qs8.1 and qs7.1 keyboards and can be had for $350 on ebay.com

I have heard that it sounds rather thin in program mode, but in mix mode, it can't be beat. The samples are 48 khz uncompressed and the borsendorfer piano is out of this world.

I had the Jv1010 and it was rather nice but I just could not get it to sound like what I was hearing on CDs. I think now that it is because I was using less than optimum cables. Before I sold it to a friend at work though, i thought that the d/a converters might have had something to do with the problem.

I plan to invest in a qsr asap but right now I have to make do with my keyboard and my korg ns5r sound module.

check http://www.sonicstate.com for reviews on most synths.
 
I second the QSR

Gregg,

I second Cyan's reccomendation of the Alesis QSR. You can get one used like he said for about 350 bucks on ebay, but you can even get a new one from Sweetwater for 497. So with unsurpassed tech support and in house service, I'd go with Sweetwater.

As for the voices on this unit, I'd say that they're the best value for your dollar when it comes to amount and quality of voices. This thing is LOADED and almost every last voice sounds DAMNED GOOD. Especially the organ voices and if you spend some time with eq and tweak, some damned good symphonic sounds as well.

You said that you were looking for something under 500 bucks and 497 is about as close as you're gonna get :D I'd buy one new myself if I weren't a broke bastard. ;) Maybe I should get a new profession. :P

--Tax
 
Gregg, I checked out your Mp3, nice work. The piano
sounded really nice, but thats what I would
expect with a Kurzweil.

Being a string player, I would probably do things
a bit differently in that field. It needs a little
more variation there, maybe some moving sixteenth
notes that emulate a river flowing, some more
sustained pads, and less reliance on the
8th note patterns that are so dominant.

In the movie Amadeus, the King ( or whoever) says
to Mozart, " Too many notes"! In your case, add
some more notes to the strings.

Cyan and Tax, I have an alesis Nanosynth. How
does this differ from the QSR? It was dirt cheap ($179)
and I like a few patches on it, but for me the
JV1010 is far better. Ideas?
 
hey davidK,

the nanosynth is not even in a league with the QSR. not even the quadrasynth module can compare to the QSR. and the quadrasynth is better than the nanosynth.

Lets put it this way. People sell their quadrasynths when they hear the QSR . And you know what they do with the money? they buy a QSR.

The qsr is a nice choice if you want excellent sounds, but it is not the best when it comes to ease of use/editability.
I'll take the sounds over ease of use anyday.

I have heard demos of the proteus 2000 and I don't think it is all that. I definitely will not pay $800 for the thing.

peace
 
I am in total agreement with the JV1010 recommendation. I use one and get great results. I also use the Quadrasynth and the MBD1 module. If you play your parts right, study classical recordings, and mix right, they'll sound convincing enough.
And regards to replicating the sound on CDs, it's all in the mix. If you've got a great sounding module like the JV, Proteus, or QSR, etc., just recording it isn't going to give you pro results. *Nobody* does their albums without treating the sounds in one way or another.
 
Alien

David,

Again, I agree totally with Cyan. I haven't heard the JV1010, but I have had some experience with some older JV units and I'd still go with the QSR.

It seems here that none of us (at least in this case) are into editing patches, creating new ones, etc. So in that event, the QSR has literally HUNDREDS of quality voices that track exceptionally well. (I know because it's all I've used to track my stuff.) If you're in it for the voices and not the ease of use, they (the voices) sell the unit. If you're not editing or creating patches, this thing is a cakewalk to use.

Until something comes along that impresses me more than the QSR, I will continue to shamelessly plug it to my dying breath. ;)

Cheers,
--Tax :D
 
Cyan and Tax, good to hear about the QSR, I will
check it out.

I bought my Nanosynth without even hearing it.
I figured For $179, that is in the price range
of a Casio or some Other crap. I am not disappointed,
for the price,it is still a viable unit.
I like the JV1010 much better of course, but
it was $220 more, and you get what you pay for.

I do complex stuff, so I use them together
and find that works pretty well.
 
...

David, (and others..)

I've allready ordered the JV-1010 so that's a done deal.. I have to have something good here by monday and the Proteus 2000 (Virtuoso) was not in stock.. (I've heard this unit before and it was the most realistic I've ever heard myself..

The person helping me with this arrangement is very competent also. Though our personalities really clash at times, I have to give him this credit.. He does give 100% when motivated and on this song he definitly is. (We're doing this on Logic Platinum too, though I do wish I had better moniters for the final mix..)

About the arrangement in "Stephanie.." It is pretty busy towards the end and that may be my fault.. We did at least 50 mixes on this song and I really want the ending to be quite more elaborate, but I couldn't translate that from guitar to keyboards as I was able to the first 2 verses. The third was completly Pete for the piano and though it's not what I wanted, it was very good and appreciated..

Truth is though, that work will be completely redone at some point in time. It was written on guitar and doing it that way, I didn't have to remain in any time frame so there's really an element that's missing to that song.. (There's sort of a "sway" in the correct version, but it cant be replicated on a synthasizer..)

I'll get it right one of these days though.. Thanks again..

Gregg
 
yeah,

Roger nichols says its terrible to hear a recording where all the sounds came from the same module. Its like a song where the lead singer also does all the backing vocals.

with that in mind, it would not be a bad idea to begin investing in more modules, and that may have been the problem with my recordings, as I know that many module oriented producers use a whole boatload of them.

Anyhow, what I would like to do is
keep my keyboard
keep my korg
buy a QSR
buy back my jv 1010 module.

Then I'll be in business.

Aliengroover, you said that nobody does albums without treating the sounds in some way.

Can you explain in some more detail. cos I used to basically leave my sounds flat. I had heard not to edit the drum kits, and I used to just roll off everything below 40.

is this what you mean? as in Eq? or are you talking about something else. Which reminds me, i usually set up a reverb and send all my instruments to it in varying amounts.


peace
 
also,

my friend who I sold the JV1010 to wants to buy an xp-30,

and he wants to sell the Jv1010 AND his roland xp-10 keyboard for $550(for both)

Let me know if you any of you guys are interested.

peace
 
CJ,

What I basically mean is, to treat your keyboard parts as you would treat the different instruments in a band. Record all the parts individually. If you're limited on tracks and/or use sequences, record primary instruments. For example:
1)kick and snare, 2)hat/cymbals and percussion, 3)bass, 4)keys, 5)strings, 6/7/etc.)additional keys, guitar, bells, whatever.
What I do is take key instruments like bass, for example, and run it through a bass amp and mic it, or along with other instruments, run them through a tube pre/compressor. Add some compression and EQ to your tracks, etc. Really work on creating a space for each part.
It is possible to get respectable tracks from one module. The reason Roger N. and others speak of not liking everthing coming out of one module is because people rarely give the sound it's own character. And people usually buy various modules because Korg, Roland, Emu, etc. each have their own "sound", which is a reference to how they process their samples and how their convertors sound.
But when finances don't permit, simply take the time give your sounds character.
 
alien,
both you and cyanjaguar make good points.
If you check out the demos on the JV1010, one
realizes it may be possible to use that machine
alone ( Although somehow I think the demos are
a little "optimistic" of what to expect us mortals
to achieve).

It, of course, would be easier if the JV1010
had multiple outputs, but if it did it would
cost much More and we wouldnt buy it :)

What you are talking about is more the world
of audio than midi, which is what I am about
to explore soon, with compressors, amp sims,etc
( I dont own much now except for a quadraverb).

I do like using multiple modules though. I used
to have tons of stuff, and I sold it for a
down payment on a violin bow, so now
I got the JV1010 and the Nanosynth, which
sound much different.

The NanoSynth sounds dull compared to the JV1010,
but it still is a workhorse to me.I took
a lot of time picking out the Patches in the
Nanosynth that sound really good, and out
of the 500 presets I found about 20 nice ones
to use. I always use them first, and then it
gives me lots of choices with the JV1010.

Of course, once I get my electric violin,
the synths will probably gather dust as I work
with that thing. It sucks paying for something
up front and having to wait, but I hope it
is worth it. Cheers, David
 
Down payment on a bow??

that's dedication.

Anyhu DavidK,

I just wanted to say that almost anything I've heard would sound dull compared to the jv 1010.

My friend who buys nothing but roland and sold his xp-80 to buy an xv-88 says that listening to a korg is like looking through muddy waters.

And I agree to an extent, Although it is a matter of personal preference.
I demoed the jv1010 against the korg ns5r in the same session, going through the same channel, and I discovered that the jv 1010 is a very bright sounding module.

the korg has a dark, warm sound, while the jv 1010 has a brighter, sharper sound.

THe roland would not work for all sounds and the korg would not work for all sounds. Even the demo on the roland sounds bright.

that said, it would be a very good idea to have at least two modules as you do.
 
For something a little different,there's the Korg N1R.I got one at the same time I got my JV1010 and I find that the two complement each other nicely.You'll probably have to look for it used since it's discontinued.
 
When it comes to creating on synths, its better to have contrasting palettes to "paint" a good musical picture. I have found that having boards with different characteristics is good for my music. I have a small setup with a Roland XP 30, an Emu Mo' Phatt and Gigasampler64. With these three pieces, I can create pretty-much anything that's possible. There are a lot of nice boards that if I was greedy, I would want, but the character on each of these three pieces are different enough that I can make music that still sounds fresh (not like it was done with the same board(s). Plus, I can always buy new samples for Gigasampler and have basically a new additional set of sounds.

The board itself will never give you all that you need (if you compare a sequence to a recorded CD). There's a lot of processing that takes place between the keyboard and the tape (hard disk) and between the tape (hard disk) and the final mixdown format. So comparing a raw sequence (using only the synth's effects) is not an accurate comparison. Once you start recording the individual instruments as audio and putting certain instruments through certain preamps, compressors, filters, stomp boxes, FX processors, etc... THEN things will start to shape into the collage of musical colors that we usually hear on CDs. (Off course, this is assuming that the mix is balanced, processed, and EQ'd correctly.....) Then you will be comparing "apples" to "apples".

Rev E

P.S. Cyan Jaguar, I'm sorry that you sold the JV 1010. Other than the lack of keys and the slightly lower volume, there isn't ANY difference between that module and the basic sound set of Roland XPs (XP30, 50, 80, etc) and JV 1080/2080 You should buy it back (or it's keyboard equivalent). Post me a message or email me and let me know exactly what type of music you are trying to do. I may be able to help you with your decision so that you're buying the right things the first time. BTW, include examples of Artists doing the type of music that you want to do.
 
hi Rev. E,

I will send you an email as soon as I get off the board.

But one question that everybody can benefit from is this?

What is the purpose of sending the outputs of the module or keyboard through a preamp. Is it to make it sound louder?
Or to make it sound sweeter or colored?

thanks

peace.
 
the korg x5dr is relatively inexpensive, and while if i had to have one module in the price the jv 1010, or a used 1080 would win, the korg also has a lot to offer with its own thang goin on.

Emu seems to have some of the coolest things around for more twisted sounds.the mo phatt, audity, orbit and morpheus all will kick as for synthy sounds.Some people dont like their stuff though.

the proteus 2000 is great and has the zplane filters, but it may not be convincing in place of an orchestra though it does boast 128 polyohany.Ive heard some complaints that the p2k has more "techno type sounds on it then some folks like. the emu virtuoso is a module dedicated to strings and such, but i wonder if you could just get a rom for the p2k to have all its sounds....

maybe if your crafty you could get a sampler into your hands like the emu es-4000.This way you wouldnt be stuck with the sounds the rom of your synth.
http://www.harmony-central.com
http://www.sonicstate.com
there are a lot of user review of synths at the 2 above mentioned sites.One thing ive learned is that everybody has different tastes, and most people have bad taste.
 
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