Chaotic said:
Im looking to purchase a module, hopefully in the $500 (used) range. I dont need anymore synth sounds, dont care about a sequencer or a sampler. I just want awesome quality real instrument sounds: most importantly vibes, bass guitar, piano, harp, strings, horns.
what are your suggestions? I was looking into: Proteus 2000, Trinity rack, JV 3080, maybe a Motif (a lil more then $500 though)
It depends on function. Let me ask a few questions:
- Do you HAVE to play these sounds live, or is this for recording only?
- Do you have a relatively modern computer with a decent sequencer?
If you answered no to the first and yes to the second, then I'd advise you to look into the world of software synthesis! If all you're looking to do is fool people into thinking they are hearing the real instruments, then it's THE way to go. Any sound off of
EastWest's Quantum Leap Orchestra Silver Edition (a software orchestra library for $150), will knock the socks off of anything a Triton Extreme can do in terms of absolute realism.
The other problem with software is that it's a bit more of a pain to use in my opinion. I still always sequence everything on my SoundCanvas first, just because it's so much easier!
Of course, you want more than just orchestra sounds. You want vibes and basses and stuff too. Another excellent EastWest synth is Collosus. You just don't get better than that for a library of realistic sounding instruments for that kind of price...which admittedly is about double your budget.
So, now that that's out of the way, I think we can assume that software WON'T work for you, and that you'll need to play whatever it is live, and probably don't care to set up a computer powerful enough to handle softsynths, am I right? Assuming this is indeed the scenario, here's my under $500 hardware take:
For under $500, the top current workstations (Motif, Triton, FantomX, etc.) are out. The way the hardware synth market works, you're almost better off, from an economical perspective, buying whatever was hot BEFORE what's current. Assuming you're looking for a good easy-to-use digital patch-based synth...Something like a Roland XV-5050 or a Yamaha MU-100 (or
MU-128 if you can find one). For more acoustic-seeming patches, I think I'd lean towards the Yamaha (it uses the same expansion cards as the Motif), which can be Ebayed for around $300 these days. Motif Racks themselves have been going for $600-$800 on Ebay pretty easily these days, so it might be worth holding out for one of those too.
As mentioned earlier, a K2600 with the right upgrade ROMs will beat the snot out of any of these suggestions. But you wouldn't have mentioned a $500 budget if you could spend $3000 on Kurz, now would you?
If you really want to try something wild, further down the road, if you get one of these Yamaha modules...you could get the physical modelling upgrade for them. I've only gotten to use it a little bit. It's...hard to describe. It's like the sounds are realistic...but they don't sound like the real instruments...it's really bizarre, and quite unlike any other synth I've ever used....and also quite impossible to explain.
You mean you want something that does good acoustic sounds.