The showdown - Ti, Radias, Andromeda, Nord

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thedommer

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Ok so I knnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnow you guys have talked about these in the past. Every forum does. But I want to hear everyones opinions. That is opinions of those who have tried at least 2 or feel a certain one really accels in a certain area.

The main reason im looking into this is I love hands on. VST sucks at hands on. Although its a bit better now that I picked up my novation Remote SL. But its still not perfect and Im limited to being in front of the computer. I cant just sit down and play. I have to load a session and VSTs and its annoying. Plus I find a lot of VSTs just kinda suck. Its really hard to find an amazing one. So im looking into a really high end synth. And High end VSTs take alot of processing power that I prefer to have freed up for things like BFD and all my verbs and compressors etc. I've done a lot of searching and so far I'm leaning towards the Virus Ti because it is just so much fun.

Anyways I open the floor to all of you. Please don't add comments like "this has been done before" or "lame post" or whatever. just free your mind and write. Of course feel free to link to other topics in other forums that might help this one along.
 
I'm still a relative newcomer to synths, but a long-time musician and I think you've managed to answer a large part of your question by yourself when you said "I'm leaning towards the Virus Ti because it is just so much fun". The most important factor of any instrument from a guitar to a drum kit to a synth is that it must inspire you in some way. Inspire you to play better, be more creative, try something you've never done before.

I've brawled with so many acoustic guitars that I can't even count them. Then I found my particular Taylor 614 and everything just clicks...the instrument removes itself as a limitation to the music and begins contributing to the creative palette I have to work with. You can apply the same thought to which synth you want. Which one leaves you the most free to just have fun?
 
you make a good point. but at the same time I also want to know about sound quality, limitations etc. Im kinda an audiophile at times and I need to hear the best because it sounds like the best.
 
I own them all :-

Here is my take from my own experiences....

Virus TI:-

PROs:-

Amazing quality keyboard (easily the best quality to play, i love the feel)

sounds really nice , very obviously a virus (it has the legendary hypersaw sound) great for trance /dance etc.

Really good effects unit , probably better than many cheap to midrange effects racks.

16 layer sounds for performance with different arp patterns and effects settings for each channel ( really cool stuff )

Cons:-

TI software completely sucks , unpredictable lockups on keyboard and computer. will not co-exist with other USB devices on the same USB hub, has alot of compatibility issues.

Even in stand alone mode the TI is not stable ( has improved somewhat through various firmware updates) but not reliable enough for live play unless your extremely brave or can transition to a backup keyboard very fast! (i speak from experience on this one)

AUdio playback through USB causes glitching and pops when under load.

Very easy to exhaust DSP limit with unison mode on complicated patches, and its very easy to get to that limit with things like multiple effects running.

It's not the easiest synth to get to grips with.

Korg Radias:-

Pro's :-

Very clean sounds , very bright (if you like it that way)

4 timbres each with 3 oscillators and a built in percussion setup which is very usuable. Multiple filters with different routing abilities very much like the TI ( which also makes it sound very much like the TI sometimes ).

Has great software that actually works although the fonts are tiny and gives me a headache after about 1/2 hour on a 24inch LCD at optimum res (font size cant be changed).

Very easy to program and get to grips with compared to the TI, comes with a great manual for beginners and advanced people alike.

Cons:-

The keyboard absolutely sucks , pretty much like most other Korg keyboards, easily the worst quality i have in my collection. And the design makes it very difficult to mount on regular keyboard stands (something i found out last weekend) , it really has to sit on a table.

USB drivers are a pig to install and don't always go right the first time.

The filters sound a little ... too.... digital and clean almost too perfect but there again I have an Andy to compare to :)

The vocoder is not the best quality , it's something I probably wont use on it.

Nord lead 3:-

Pros:-

looks cool ( it's red and sexy )

unison mode does not reduce polyphony count ( how they did that i don't know ) , sounds amazingly clear , very high fidelity.

Has a broad range of capabilities for sound creation , it has so many different faces.

Very easy to use performance mode to control up to 4 patches at the same time including sound morphing between different textures.

Has that nord sound :)

control knobs have led's for positions on patches meaning the knobs dont have to be twiddled to find the initial starting place. The LED tells you this on patch change.

Nice and light but not built cheaply.

Cons:-

not the greatest quality keyboard i have. ( no where near the virus )

no effects , bad corner to cut , all synths should have at least some effects onboard in my opinion.

can sound a little thin in my opinion.

Hope that helps :)
 
thanks for the info. question. you said the virus had medium range effects. does that mean you wouldnt use alot of these in recording because they arent good enough? I just hate paying for something unless all of it is good. like if its not good enough it would be great if they could remove that section and save me 600 bucks :)
 
cortexx said:
The filters sound a little ... too.... digital and clean almost too perfect but there again I have an Andy to compare to :)
Click to expand...
So how do you like your Andromeda? I've been looking for one in the area to play around with, but they're kinda hard to come by around here for some reason...
 
Andromeda can make some very "haunting" pad sounds , im using it atm for some music in an up and coming video game im working on.

Its a very sophisticated piece but is very easy to get programming despite its foreboding array of knobs etc

i would recommend it to any beginner because the manual is amazing and the synth is easy enough for a beginner to learn on and sophisticated enough for a pro to enjoy !
 
Cool, I actually like that it has lots of knobs....means less fiddling around with menus and more fun creating sounds. I would probably also be using it more for pads, but I've also heard that it can come up with some nice balsy leads too. Thanks for the info!
 
The efects on the virus are amongst the best I have heard on a keyboard. At least as good as my lexicon rack , well worth using . ( I even feed other sound sources through the virus to process through its effects unit sometimes).
 
but I've also heard that it can come up with some nice balsy leads too
Click to expand...

Pretty much any VA synth can come up with great lead sounds with careful programming. In my opinion my v-synth has the best lead role simply because of the real time control it gives you with the d-beam and time trip pad, no other keyboard comes close to being as expressive as a v-synth keyboard if you play lead and like to put "feel" into your playing.

Having said that the korg karma isn't too bad either for lead but it's not really a dedicated synth as such , more of a workstation.
 
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